I would greatly appreciate your opinions on the following situation.
In December 2010 I realised that my supply was not going to last what was turned out to be a very cold and long winter therefore I ordered an additional two cords from my wood supplier at $160 per cord. Whilst he was there I asked him to give me an idea as to how much it would cost to cut and split a large oak that had fallen two months before and if it was financially worthwhile to do so for firewood. He explained how he would reverse his splitter right next to the tree. As I paid him for the delivered wood, he wrote out a quote for $170 for the fallen oak. He estimated it's yield to be approximately two cords. Although I would need to wheelbarrow the wood up a steep slope out of the woods and accross my property to the wood stack, I decided that this was worth doing to be able to use wood off our property and also considering the cost vs the amount of firewood. I had planned on paying him $250 for the work.
This past Saturday two of his men arrived to begin cutting and splitting. I told them about the quote and asked if this still sounded about right, they concurred and began work. On Monday we received a telephone call stating that his men had worked 10 hours and that the bill was $600 for the cutting and splitting of a tree that produced about two and a half cords. I pointed out that, had I known how much would be charged, I would never had agreed to having the tree cut and split because I could have had more than three and a half cords delivered at that price right beside my wood stack. I offered to pay the same cost that the wood would have cost had ot been delivered and dumped beside my wood stack however he then pointed out that the $170 was just for cutting the tree and he believed the yield to be SIX! cords from this large oak and if I was reluctant to pay that much he would come onto my property to remove the wood whilst still charging $170 for the cutting. My best estimate is that there is 2.5 to 3 cords.
I'm trying to decide what to do in fairness to all parties. Any thoughts?
In December 2010 I realised that my supply was not going to last what was turned out to be a very cold and long winter therefore I ordered an additional two cords from my wood supplier at $160 per cord. Whilst he was there I asked him to give me an idea as to how much it would cost to cut and split a large oak that had fallen two months before and if it was financially worthwhile to do so for firewood. He explained how he would reverse his splitter right next to the tree. As I paid him for the delivered wood, he wrote out a quote for $170 for the fallen oak. He estimated it's yield to be approximately two cords. Although I would need to wheelbarrow the wood up a steep slope out of the woods and accross my property to the wood stack, I decided that this was worth doing to be able to use wood off our property and also considering the cost vs the amount of firewood. I had planned on paying him $250 for the work.
This past Saturday two of his men arrived to begin cutting and splitting. I told them about the quote and asked if this still sounded about right, they concurred and began work. On Monday we received a telephone call stating that his men had worked 10 hours and that the bill was $600 for the cutting and splitting of a tree that produced about two and a half cords. I pointed out that, had I known how much would be charged, I would never had agreed to having the tree cut and split because I could have had more than three and a half cords delivered at that price right beside my wood stack. I offered to pay the same cost that the wood would have cost had ot been delivered and dumped beside my wood stack however he then pointed out that the $170 was just for cutting the tree and he believed the yield to be SIX! cords from this large oak and if I was reluctant to pay that much he would come onto my property to remove the wood whilst still charging $170 for the cutting. My best estimate is that there is 2.5 to 3 cords.
I'm trying to decide what to do in fairness to all parties. Any thoughts?