OK - let me stir up a little trouble here. DISCLAIMER: I am from a part of the country that doesn't deal at all in cords. Only face cords. That's what I grew up with, and that's what's "normal" to me. Like it or not. (And I'm not saying I like it.)
So the problem several of you have mentioned is the variation in length. Splits can range from, say, 12" to maybe 18" or more. When buying a face cord you don't know if you're truly getting the "right" length (16"). I get that. I get that a seller could sell you all 12" stuff and you'd be short by 25%. But if we're not talking about that extreme case of dishonesty, then we're dealing with normal, everyday variation in cut lengths. Virtually all the wood I buy has a variation in lengths.
Given that, if I buy a face cord with that kind of length variability, why is that any less honest than if I buy a cord with the same variability? When you stack three face cords next to each other and they come out to be 4' wide, there's still a lot of variability in the lengths of the splits. And, frankly, there is a lot of air space between the rows, even if you stack them as close together as possible.
So when people use the word "cord," in some parts of the country a cord is a cord, and in some parts of the country, a cord is actually a face cord. So what? It's up to me as a consumer to know what I'm buying. It's up to me to figure out what the other guy is selling. I don't see the need for people to get all worked up about whether someone buys and sells cords and someone else buys and sells face cords. Anyone who has bought any amount of wood would usually know right away by the advertised price whether someone is selling cords or face cords.
-Speak
