Question....

[54bogger]

Have any of you fella's ever sold firewood to someone only to have them call you 3hrs later to complain about the wood?
I had this happen yesterday for the first time. We had rain here for 3 days prior to the buyer getting the wood and he says it won't burn. I delivered the same wood in the rain all weekend without a single complaint.
I should have known something wasn't right when the man's wife first called and asked did I have seasoned firewood.
She said they bought some that was green and would not burn. I have come to the conclusion that this man has no experience with 'building' a fire.
Anyone else run into this before?

 

[c5rulz]

How long was the wood allowed to season after being SPLIT before you sold it to them?

 

[NSMaple1]

I would suspect wood that has been in the rain for 3 days wouldn't exactly take right off 3 hours after delivery. No matter how seasoned it was.

 

[rarefish383]

Back in the days of fire places we only seasoned wood 6-8 weeks, all Oak, and it burned fine. Always had a wheel barrow of small pine splits for kindling. I would guess he is not a master at building a fire. The only complaint I ever got about wood not burning was when the customer was trying to build a "small" fire like two of the fake logs. So, he only had two little splits on the grate, and was putting one sheet of news paper under, trying to keep the blaze down. That was back in the fire place days, Joe.

 

[lknchoppers]

If you have some firewood from the same batch split a couple pieces and take a moisture reading on the fresh splits with a moisture meter if you have one. 25% and under moisture content should be good to go.

 

[svk]

Probably does not know how to start a fire.

 

[rarefish383]

Don't blame her for asking about seasoned wood, back in the day I had several friends that sold wood on the side and none of it was seasoned. We used to tell people to always ask. That way if it was cut yesterday green they could at least threaten to call DNR Weights and Measures and file a complaint, Joe.

 

[LuDookie]

We live in an age of entitled complainers. That is why I have been reluctant to sell anything or provide services for the public.

 

[Del_]

Have any of you fella's ever sold firewood to someone only to have them call you 3hrs later to complain about the wood?
I had this happen yesterday for the first time. We had rain here for 3 days prior to the buyer getting the wood and he says it won't burn. I delivered the same wood in the rain all weekend without a single complaint.
I should have known something wasn't right when the man's wife first called and asked did I have seasoned firewood.
She said they bought some that was green and would not burn. I have come to the conclusion that this man has no experience with 'building' a fire.
Anyone else run into this before?

I would not let it bother me. Some people expect to get bone dry stored in a wood shed for two years type firewood and then leave it in the rain and complain that it will not burn. Those are not customers I want or what to keep. My best customers store the firewood I deliver out of the weather. Some by a year ahead.

 

[lknchoppers]

I had a guy in my area that complained about the firewood. Now this was split and stacked about a year ahead of time before I delivered. He is my Mom & Dad's neighbor's son in law so I thought I would give him a descent deal because he lives close by. He has bought a half cord the past two seasons. It was rainy for a day or two prior to the delivery and the wood was wet. As soon as I dumped it he said it looked short and wet. I told him after he stacked it out if he felt I shorted him to call me. Of course he did and he pissed , moaned and whined about being short, the wood was wet and the lengths varied. I told him I'll bring him more which I did about a 1/4 cord more. The stack he had really looked good maybe a couple cubic feet short. I offered to refund his money and pickup the firewood. He continued to ***** and moan even after I gave him clearly more than he paid for a freakin discount. I really felt like ***** slapping this guy and just left. I took his name out of my firewood contacts group and saved him as "Do Not Deliver To This Guy". I will not deliver to this guy ever again. It seems like over the years when ever someone complains there is nothing you can do to make it right. Now if I get a complaint which is very rare I offer to pickup the firewood and refund or give them more firewood to shut them up. Then I take them off my customer list and tell them I don't have any firewood if they call back. Sometimes they ask me for another guy to buy wood from and I send them to the worst supplier I know...lol

 

[Del_]

I had a guy in my area that complained about the firewood. Now this was split and stacked about a year ahead of time before I delivered. He is my Mom & Dad's neighbor's son in law so I thought I would give him a descent deal because he lives close by. He has bought a half cord the past two seasons. It was rainy for a day or two prior to the delivery and the wood was wet. As soon as I dumped it he said it looked short and wet. I told him after he stacked it out if he felt I shorted him to call me. Of course he did and he pissed , moaned and whined about being short, the wood was wet and the lengths varied. I told him I'll bring him more which I did about a 1/4 cord more. The stack he had really looked good maybe a couple cubic feet short. I offered to refund his money and pickup the firewood. He continued to ***** and moan even after I gave him clearly more than he paid for a freakin discount. I really felt like ***** slapping this guy and just left. I took his name out of my firewood contacts group and saved him as "Do Not Deliver To This Guy". I will not deliver to this guy ever again. It seems like over the years when ever someone complains there is nothing you can do to make it right. Now if I get a complaint which is very rare I offer to pickup the firewood and refund or give them more firewood to shut them up. Then I take them off my customer list and tell them I don't have any firewood if they call back. Sometimes they ask me for another guy to buy wood from and I send them to the worst supplier I know...lol

I had a delivery once, I was supposed to toss it over the fence from my pickup truck. Come to find out after tossing over the fence he expected it to be carried about 40 ft and stacked. I said I'd have to move my pickup. He went back in his house. I got in the truck and drove to my next customer. No words exchanged. I always like to have a second delivery arranged for just such occasions. The customer is not always right.

 

[jrider]

Had something similar with a so called friend from high school. We got 6" of rain a week before and then 6" of snow which slowly melted. The wood was seasoned but wet from the weather. He called me within an hour or two and questioned the size of some of the splits. He calls back to complain about the split size and that some of the pieces were crooked. About another hour passes and he calls and says wife can't get it to light very well. I told him I would pick it up and give him his money back. I also told him to delete me from his phone and forget he knows me. I loaded the wood up and took it to the next customer who messaged me later saying it was a great cord of wood. Ha!

 

[lknchoppers]

I always ask when stacking is required and if I can stack at the back of the truck or does it need to be carried more than 10 feet, if so I use a wheelbarrow and charge accordingly. A full cord stacked I charge $80 and if it's more than 10ft to the stacking area add another $50 for the wheel barrow. I had a guy tell me it needed to go just over 10 feet a couple weeks ago. Well it was over a fence and about 75 feet to the stacking area. I explained to him what we had previously discussed and just dropped it in the driveway. I would rather not stack anything anymore, it's too time consuming and tiring at the end of the day.

 

[lknchoppers]

Had something similar with a so called friend from high school. We got 6" of rain a week before and then 6" of snow which slowly melted. The wood was seasoned but wet from the weather. He called me within an hour or two and questioned the size of some of the splits. He calls back to complain about the split size and that some of the pieces were crooked. About another hour passes and he calls and says wife can't get it to light very well. I told him I would pick it up and give him his money back. I also told him to delete me from his phone and forget he knows me. I loaded the wood up and took it to the next customer who messaged me later saying it was a great cord of wood. Ha!

That guy must need that Artisan Firewood...lol...!!!

 

[54bogger]

How long was the wood allowed to season after being SPLIT before you sold it to them?

The wood was just split, but had been cut up into 16in blocks and sitting for 13 months. I told a customer today to look at the wood close and handle it, if it didn't suit him I would not unload it. He was fine with it and he even suspected the other gentleman had little to no experience building a fire.

 

[54bogger]

Don't blame her for asking about seasoned wood, back in the day I had several friends that sold wood on the side and none of it was seasoned. We used to tell people to always ask. That way if it was cut yesterday green they could at least threaten to call DNR Weights and Measures and file a complaint, Joe.

I'm not blaming her, just suspecting that her husband can't build a proper fire.

 

[rarefish383]

I'm not blaming her, just suspecting that her husband can't build a proper fire.[/Q
I'd agree, Joe.

 

[JeffHK454]

The wood was just split, but had been cut up into 16in blocks and sitting for 13 months. I told a customer today to look at the wood close and handle it, if it didn't suit him I would not unload it. He was fine with it and he even suspected the other gentleman had little to no experience building a fire.

I'm no expert but most wood will rot in rounds before it seasons...I've had Red Oak that sat in rounds for 3 years and was as "green" inside as the day I dropped tree.

Your customer might have a valid bich...unless you described what he was getting and he still complained.

 

[lknchoppers]

The wood was just split, but had been cut up into 16in blocks and sitting for 13 months. I told a customer today to look at the wood close and handle it, if it didn't suit him I would not unload it. He was fine with it and he even suspected the other gentleman had little to no experience building a fire.

If the wood was just split it is probably still wet inside, it's just the nature of the beast. When you say 16" blocks do you mean 16" bucked logs rounds or you actually noodled 16" blocks?

 

[c5rulz]

The wood was just split, but had been cut up into 16in blocks and sitting for 13 months. I told a customer today to look at the wood close and handle it, if it didn't suit him I would not unload it. He was fine with it and he even suspected the other gentleman had little to no experience building a fire.

I'd be pissed if I was the customer. Taking advantage of somebody that doesn't know better is not cool. They asked if it was "green" and you delivered it full well knowing it was "not seasoned".

An honest firewood seller will tell people when it was split and let them make up their mind from that information.

The rain you mention had nothing to do with why that firewood would not burn.