Full cord ? Give me a break !

[dave7965]

I answered an add for $115 for a delivered cord of unsplit seasoned oak. Against my better judgement, I didnt measure before he dumped and as soon as he did I knew it was short. He said as he left "that's more than a cord " and I said " I dont think so". I immediatley stacked it and sure enough it was half a cord. I called and the boss said he would deliver the rest tomorrow. Well that turned out to be about 1/8 of a cord (I wasnt home at the time of del.). I called him again and told him that he was now up to about 90 cu ft. He said nobody else has complained and I told him to feel free to come and measure. Long story short he told me he would send me back $25.
In my experience, at least half or more wood sellers are either incompetent, sloppy or dishonest. I pick up my own wood whenever possible. This happens even when I tell them on the phone that it must be measured. I can only imagine how many people out there are getting cheated.

I love this website !

 

[Dix]

I've come to the conclusion that most wood dealers don't have a clue as to the needs of EPA stoves.

I had a horrible wood guy, but until coming here, I didn't know that.

I now have a better wood guy ( who I am trying to educate. It's working), but you have to order 1 year ahead. That's the best seasoned I have found here.

Lucky for me, I'm taking some mega trees down (carpenter ants, bastids. I'll be damned if they will eat up the wood before I can use it for heat !!).

 

[fossil]

Movin' to the Wood Shed. Buyer beware...find an honest, reliable wood provider or two...or three, and stick with 'em. Rick

 

[Battenkiller]

Movin' to the Wood Shed. Buyer beware...find an honest, reliable wood provider or two...or three, and stick with 'em. Rick

And don't be petty about a couple splits they may have accidentally shorted you. If the guy is good, it will average out in the long run. They work hard, and a cord is not so easy to measure like a gallon of gas.

 

[hareball]

Yup, I was ripped off on my first 2 deliveries off craigslist. The first was by 2 women that left me a half cord that was very short and lasted a whole 4 days. I tried another seller with better results but still short but atleast that delivery had a portion of seasoned splits.

 

[Chief Ryan]

Last year was my first year heating with wood. I've been burning wood in my fireplace for years so i have some experience with what a cord should look like even dumped in a pile.

I wanted to start last year with at least 2 cords so i at least had some seasoned wood until i could gather some of my own. I found a guy a few mile away selling a cord for 170. So i asked him, what size cord?? Just to see if he knew and he said 4x4x8. OK give me 2!! Two days later he delivered and the instant i saw it i knew i got screwed.

After stacking it was 3x4x13=156. It was 100 cuft short of 2 cords. I called him back, we measured he still felt he was right but agreed to give me some more.

In the end i was shorted at least 3/4 of a cord. I cut my losses and gave up.

The only thing that can be done is make sure you get a receipt, then you can do something about it.

The good thing is i haven't bought not even a toothpick since then.

 

[Chief Ryan]

Movin' to the Wood Shed. Buyer beware...find an honest, reliable wood provider or two...or three, and stick with 'em. Rick

And don't be petty about a couple splits they may have accidentally shorted you. If the guy is good, it will average out in the long run. They work hard, and a cord is not so easy to measure like a gallon of gas.

These stories don't sound like a couple of sticks I'm sure they do work hard, I work hard, and i'm sure we all work hard. That's not the point. If it were only a few stick no one would care. It's quite a bit more than that.

I've seen deliveries of sticks and bark that some of these guys deliver. It's not right and everybody knows it. And there are the guys who do the right thing and give receipts. I've gotten wood from them both and the last time i went with the cheaper guy and i paid for it, no pun intended!

I know it's not as easy the measure a cord of wood as compared to a gallon of gas but somehow where all able to figure it out.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Wood Dog.

It is very sad when people are trying to buy wood for their stoves. Some dealers just do not understand stoves, some dealers are only interested in dollars and some are downright crooked. You will find very, very few who are honest and know what they are talking about. They seem to think that Mr. Average Wood Burner is uneducated and then take advantage of him. A terrible way to run a business.

I just sold some wood and the guy got to look at my stack of wood and choose what he wanted. We both agreed on the size of a cord of wood and the price. Both parties satisfied. However, I do not advertise any wood for sale (at least I haven't yet) but whenever I sell wood there will not be unsatisfied customers. I'll even throw in some kindling at no extra charge. Best of all, I and the buyer know this wood is well seasoned.



Why exactly is it not easy to measure a cord of wood?

It is actually very simple if you have a tape measure. 4' is 48" and 8' is 96". If one can not multiply on paper, there are many calculators available or a spreadsheet program on the computer works nicely. So I just do not understand why a cord of wood would be difficult to measure.

 

[Stevebass4]

I answered an add for $115 for a delivered cord of unsplit seasoned oak. Against my better judgement, I didnt measure before he dumped and as soon as he did I knew it was short. He said as he left "that's more than a cord " and I said " I dont think so". I immediatley stacked it and sure enough it was half a cord. I called and the boss said he would deliver the rest tomorrow. Well that turned out to be about 1/8 of a cord (I wasnt home at the time of del.). I called him again and told him that he was now up to about 90 cu ft. He said nobody else has complained and I told him to feel free to come and measure. Long story short he told me he would send me back $25.
In my experience, at least half or more wood sellers are either incompetent, sloppy or dishonest. I pick up my own wood whenever possible. This happens even when I tell them on the phone that it must be measured. I can only imagine how many people out there are getting cheated.

I love this website !

you should have been tipped off at the price - as cords in our neck of the country sell for $300+.. no one could sell / make any money if they sold cords of oak or even pine at $115.00

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

don't be petty about a couple splits they may have accidentally shorted you. If the guy is good, it will average out in the long run. They work hard, and a cord is not so easy to measure like a gallon of gas.

Good advice. For those of you that buy FIREWOOD, you need to build relationships. NOT try to impress a seller with your knowledge. I know quite a few sellers. Trust me when I say they ARE NOT impressed with people arguing about the volume of wood. They will not sell to you again in the future. Then, you'll get someone even worse.

But if you insist on 'Knowing your rights", check out the subtitle Buying Firewood at (broken link removed to http://www.monroecounty.gov/safety-weights.php). Not my part of the State, but good advice none-the-less.

 

[dave7965]

I live right near you and I've never seen $300 cords ! There are certainly bargains to be had. Last April I got 3 cords 2 year seasoned mixed hardwoods for $100 each. However I agree..build relationships whenever possible

 

[Danno77]

first clue = "unsplit and seasoned"

 

[Danno77]

BTW, if he's advertising $115 for 128cuft of wood, and you end up with 90cuft, that's 70% of the amount promised. so, if he wants to refund you the difference then he should be charging you 70% of $115 which comes out to about 81 bucks. my math tells me that he still owes you $9.

 

[chuckda4th]

I agree to recommend measuring your wood ASAP after a delivery, preferably while they're there. I can only fit a half cord at my house, and the guy said if I pre-paid he'd give me a "full cord rate" and deliver it in two trips. First half was questionable since there was already some wood on my pile, but the resulting pile was so high that I just gave them the benefit of the doubt and ignored it. They just delivered my second "half" and my 4'x8' pile isn't even full. I measured it out, and it's 40x19x96 which equals out to only 2/3 of what I should have gotten. That's a HUGE discrepancy.

Hate making these phone calls now to get them to do something about it. I'm on pace to buy 2 cords every winter going forward, so there's definitely incentive for him not to screw me, but who knows if that will matter. Frustrating.

 

[Stevebass4]

I live right near you and I've never seen $300 cords ! There are certainly bargains to be had. Last April I got 3 cords 2 year seasoned mixed hardwoods for $100 each. However I agree..build relationships whenever possible

http://boston.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=firewood+&catAbbreviation=sss&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max

most here range between $225.00 and $300.00

if you find a guy selling full cords of wood (even green) for $100.00 a cord - PLEASE let me know - i will stop buying log length

 

[WoodNewbie]

This is why I burn biobricks.

 

[mnowaczyk]

first clue = "unsplit and seasoned"

Exactly. If you are taking the time to split your own wood, why not take the time to understand that wood would have to be years old before "seasoning" if not split... or would that be more like "rotting".

 

[CarbonNeutral]

don't be petty about a couple splits they may have accidentally shorted you. If the guy is good, it will average out in the long run. They work hard, and a cord is not so easy to measure like a gallon of gas.

Good advice. For those of you that buy FIREWOOD, you need to build relationships. NOT try to impress a seller with your knowledge. I know quite a few sellers. Trust me when I say they ARE NOT impressed with people arguing about the volume of wood. They will not sell to you again in the future. Then, you'll get someone even worse.

But if you insist on 'Knowing your rights", check out the subtitle Buying Firewood at (broken link removed to http://www.monroecounty.gov/safety-weights.php). Not my part of the State, but good advice none-the-less.

While I agree about a 'couple of splits', I disagree with the rest of your post - maybe I'm misreading what you are implying - of course people should know their rights. I shouldn't have to impress a seller - they should know absolutely that a cord is 128cu.ft. tightly stacked. If buyers are arguing with the sellers you know, what other reasons is there than the sellers are shorting the buyers?

And as for it balancing out - maybe if your guy is good, and it's only 10% down, but more often we're talking 20% less than there should be - no way next time round you're getting 20% more.

If I was selling wood I would make absolutely certain that I was delivering a cord, or even slightly more. Then there's no debate, and I guarantee you those customers will keep coming back even if I'm charging a premium.

 

[mnowaczyk]

For $165 I got enough to fill 3 firewood racks that are less than a half cord each. It could be better seasoned, but how long can you expect these guys to hang onto this wood before selling it... right?

I believe that if you get 75% of what you order, and the wood is nearly dry, and split, and the price is reasonable... that's probably a good wood supplier.

I'm sticking with the guy who delivered the above, but will get a year ahead to assure I do my own seasoning of my "seasoned" wood. Then maybe start a little scavaging with as many racks as I can fit on my city property comfortably.
Oh... Maybe one reason I got a full cord was because I asked on the phone what I was going to get. "Is this a Face Cord / pickup truck full? Or is this going to be a full cord?" "This is a dump truck full." It was not exactly a full dump truck, and the wood was not neatly stacked in the dump truck. The guy did not have time to stack it for me. The pile was more than two full parking spaces in my driveway, and at least 3-4 feet high in the center before I sorted and stacked it based on size... not dryness as I now realize i should have.

I emptied one of the three stacks (that were delivered 12/27) and just ordered the next cord, and requested the dryest stuff I can get. We will see. I'm hoping I get a delivery as good as the first time... who knows, maybe a little dryer? I hope I don't compromise order size.

So much of this stove stuff is actually the wood and the chimney... why would anyone inexperienced ever guess that!??!

 

[Danno77]

75% is acceptable? not IMO... if I order a 6piece chicken mcnugget meal then I sure as heck better not open up the box to find there are only 4 and a half.

You can go ahead and poke it and taste the half-nugget and claim that they seem to taste good, so all-in-all you don't mind being shorted what you paid for. I'll be heading back up to the register.

 

[Danno77]

sorry, for the dbl posting...

btw, try this: when he delivers you a full cord for $165 bucks go ahead and try to give him $124 (that's ~75%) and see if he says anything about you being a respectable buyer.....

 

[Stevebass4]

just re-read the OP

how do you measure a cord of round - there's no air space - there is a local guy in Norton ma that will drop off a cord +/- for $60.00 - it need to be cut into 1/3s and split

 

[Danno77]

just re-read the OP

how do you measure a cord of round - there's no air space - there is a local guy in Norton ma that will drop off a cord +/- for $60.00 - it need to be cut into 1/3s and split

nah a cord is a cord. wait 'til your stihl dealer says he has your new saw. it came today, it was just in 20 different boxes of parts. But it is a saw, you just have to put it together yourself.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

don't be petty about a couple splits they may have accidentally shorted you. If the guy is good, it will average out in the long run. They work hard, and a cord is not so easy to measure like a gallon of gas.

Good advice. For those of you that buy FIREWOOD, you need to build relationships. NOT try to impress a seller with your knowledge. I know quite a few sellers. Trust me when I say they ARE NOT impressed with people arguing about the volume of wood. They will not sell to you again in the future. Then, you'll get someone even worse.

But if you insist on 'Knowing your rights", check out the subtitle Buying Firewood at (broken link removed to http://www.monroecounty.gov/safety-weights.php). Not my part of the State, but good advice none-the-less.

. . . I disagree with the rest of your post . . .

No sweat, it's your pergogative # que up Babby Brown # to disagree. But I would be VERY WARY of pumping up a new wood burner to stack and measure and measure MC of wood purchased. The Newbie purchaser may even be right, but he/she will not be able to get wood from that seller again. And it won't take long to develop a reputation, whereupon the Newbie will have to buy firewood at the grocery store!!

 

[WoodNewbie]

So it is OK to be dishonest? I wouldn't mind not to buy anything again from such providers...and this is actually what I am doing.