Firewood question - what would you do?

ken werner

Member
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3,377
Location
Central NY State
I received a load of firewood yesterday. At $65 a face cord, it was supposed to be maple which has been drying for 2 years.
My woodstove has a door opening of 7x9" and the wood was all to be split to fit in the door.

This is some of what I got:

IMG_9713.jpg

So what would you do?
 
Tell the guy that sold it to you to come and get it and either bring the right stuff or money back. If you wanted to be splitting logs you would have got your own and not paid him. :)
 
In addition to being the wrong size, some of that looks more like it's been spalting (rotting) for a couple years, instead of drying. I'd reject the whole load, and find another source.
 
Thanks for all your replies. Well, so I called. I told him that his wood was somewhere between fair and poor, that it's covered in mold, and has large amounts that are rotten.
I'd estimate that about 35% of the wood is ok, and about 50% has spalting and about 15% is rotten.

He offered to come with his splitter and split the ones that are too big. I told him some of the wood is so lousy I can't even give it away, and that I want him to come and get it, and replace it with decent wood.

He disagreed with me that wood with fungus isn't ok. "It won't hurt you to burn it" he said. And that he could sell this stuff to 50 other people who wouldn't complain.
Well we left it that he'll split the big stuff and replace the bad stuff. We'll see if he keeps his word. I'm surely not going to buy from him again. Sad thing is, the guy is 20 years retired military, fairly new in the area, and trying to establish himself in business locally with plowing, firewood, lawnmowing, etc. A rep in his line is important, and he's ruining his with the quality of his product.

I'll post follow-up when I have some.
 
Just for a frame of reference, a full cord of seasoned (dry) mixed hardwood (Birch, Alder, Big Leaf Maple) that is split and delivered runs about $180 to $220 around here. For a face cord, I think your price is reasonable. Too bad the actual product didn't match the promise.
 
Unfortunate. No one needs a headache. You can't explain a problem to someone who has such a different frame of reference. They will not understand. I'm glad he has 50 other people to sell to as I doubt he will sell to you again. I like to have faith in humanity but, when it comes to people; I'll be there when they deliver or do the job. Trying to fix it after instead of nipping it in the bud just makes things unpleasant.

He seems to be unclear on the difference between,

Firewood:

firewood.jpg

-and-

A bunch of "stuff" that has been laying in his yard:

IMG_9713.jpg

You are correct that his rep will make or break him. There are others who will agree with his assessment and they will be his customers. You, probably will not.
 
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...And that he could sell this stuff to 50 other people who wouldn't complain...

I think i'd have told him to give one of those 50 people a call and make both of you happy. I'll be interested to see how well he does at culling out the rotted stuff.
 
Well, I've got them culled. My firewood is stacked.
The pieces that need to be split again are in a pile, and the rotten junk is in another pile for him to take away.
Unfortunately, I stacked some of the poor wood before I got irritated enough, and realized it wasn't just a random bit of poor wood to stop and call him on it.

There are a lot better answers here than I was able to come up with. I don't like conflict, but I surely don't like being taken advantage of either.

Our community has a forum, with several hundred members, about 37% of local residents. I'm not threatening to bad mouth the guy, but if he drops the ball, I will "mention" my experience with him.
 
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Well that is not a very good way to run a business. I would mention, with photos and such the situation, as other may want to buy firewood. If they buy from this guy and have a problem, then find out that their neighbour Ken had a similar problem but did not share, they will be upset with you as well. No need for his poor performance to rub off on you!
 
As others have said, in one way or another, that wood is garbage. Looks like it's been laying on the ground for a couple of years.
I hope he makes it right, but I'd be shopping elsewhere next year. IMO, if you're buying a third of a cord from a commercial supplier, every piece should be hard and dry with plenty of end checking. (And for Stu's amusement, any birdesye or curly stuff that showed up therein, would of course, be a bonus:D
 
Good points guys. Actually, I bought 5 face cords, or should I say I paid for 5 face cords.
Stu, I like your suggestion about the photo. If it gets ugly, I will post the photo on the neighborhood forum.
 
What a bummer for you.
What a bummer for him since he is cutting his own throat.

I have heated exclusively with wood for over 50 years. I have paid for one chord in all of that time. The tree people know that they can drop wood off on the north side of my driveway. The only catch is 18" maximum length. If it is two feet in diameter, I will split it. I have sledge hammers, wedges, hatchets, axes, chain saw, and for the last few years a hydraulic log splitter. My catch is that I have to age it for a few years.

Enjoy,

JimB

Ken, don't let that guy get away with anything. He has proven that being a nice guy does not cut it with him.
 
Sounds like a typical "officer" mentality. As long as he says it with authority and enough volume, it must be right. Now that he is living in the real world, he will be getting a wake up call soon.
 
If you ask me, hes nailing his own coffin closed.

Id expect to hear things like this downstate near me, where people find dealers who are just so unscrupulous, yet there are so many people living here, they seem to stay around for a while.
 
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