I do not sell firewood as a source of income. every once in a while a customer of my business will inquire, and then it might happen mostly a 1/3 of a cord or a trunkfull. Once last season late, nothing so far this year. That's ok by me.
Things that drive me nuts about my firewood business that shouldn't
- Thread starter luckydozenfarm
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Swamp Yankee
Addicted to ArboristSite
How about
"If you give me a discount, I'll take a cord now and buy 5 from you next year." (Asking for a deposit on next year's wood makes this one disappear right quick)
"I can get better wood for $25 less a cord." (Begs question, why are you calling me?)
Expect you to back in past their shrubs and bushes and scratch the crap out of your truck.
"I'll leave the money with my wife, neighbor, etc. and it or the person to see never there even though the time is arranged."
"That's not oak. I only wanted oak, you're ripping me off." The truck was loaded with white oak, not red.
"Would you take a saw in trade, it's brand new?" as they produce a Home Depot Homelite from the garage.
And my favorite, "will you take a check?" (Regular, repeat customers excluded)
Take Care
"If you give me a discount, I'll take a cord now and buy 5 from you next year." (Asking for a deposit on next year's wood makes this one disappear right quick)
"I can get better wood for $25 less a cord." (Begs question, why are you calling me?)
Expect you to back in past their shrubs and bushes and scratch the crap out of your truck.
"I'll leave the money with my wife, neighbor, etc. and it or the person to see never there even though the time is arranged."
"That's not oak. I only wanted oak, you're ripping me off." The truck was loaded with white oak, not red.
"Would you take a saw in trade, it's brand new?" as they produce a Home Depot Homelite from the garage.
And my favorite, "will you take a check?" (Regular, repeat customers excluded)
Take Care
jrider
Addicted to ArboristSite
It shouldn't scare you away. I've been selling for 18 years and have a lot of good times doing it. Most people are cool and reasonable. It's the few wacko's you remember and have the stories about.
Same here - biggest issue with only a few customers is where they want the wood dropped or stacked.
A suprising % give a good tip.
luckydozenfarm
THE MAN OF STIHL
I didn't mean this to become a bash the customer thread. In my 15 years selling wood I have never had a bounced check. My prices are a little on the higher side, and when people ask, I tell them it's b/c I show up on time, stack it well, and blow the bark chips out with a leaf blower. I am 80-90% repeat customer based. It's just that sometimes I think to myself:
"Does the guy who designed this 8" wedge on this Speeco sleep good at night?"
"How did this guy ever get a job selling chainsaws?"
"Seriously, why do you park your $80,000 car on the street and then have $1000 worth of junk in your garage?"
"Why do they make bar oil jugs out of such thin, easily penetrable plastic?"
"How do you know it's not a cord when you just want me to throw it on the ground?"
"You just now thought of getting some wood? in January? "
"you had to Google 'How to start a fire in a fireplace' ??
OMG...this isn't rocket science, I guess its naïve of me to think that in the 100,000 years since man discovered fire, we'd have all this figured out by now.
Anyway, sometimes I think I'm surrounded by morons in this world.
"Does the guy who designed this 8" wedge on this Speeco sleep good at night?"
"How did this guy ever get a job selling chainsaws?"
"Seriously, why do you park your $80,000 car on the street and then have $1000 worth of junk in your garage?"
"Why do they make bar oil jugs out of such thin, easily penetrable plastic?"
"How do you know it's not a cord when you just want me to throw it on the ground?"
"You just now thought of getting some wood? in January? "
"you had to Google 'How to start a fire in a fireplace' ??
OMG...this isn't rocket science, I guess its naïve of me to think that in the 100,000 years since man discovered fire, we'd have all this figured out by now.
Anyway, sometimes I think I'm surrounded by morons in this world.
It's the wacko's that tend to suck the life out of you! If it wasn't for the 1 or 2 customers I get every year that send a "thank you card", or the one's that leave a tip, I think I would quit dealing with the public altogether! These are the people that keep me going and my sanity at reasonable level so I can listen to the rest of the moron's.
folks who park in their driveways & don't park on the street 
In our case it's because 1 truck, 1 Suv & two cars don't fit in a 2-car garage
In our case it's because 1 truck, 1 Suv & two cars don't fit in a 2-car garage
ponyexpress976
nipple fritters
I started out cutting wood to heat only my home. Then I found this place...and oh brother, did the mental illness kick in full time. I got good at scrounging, made a bunch of contacts with regular tree guys( they let me hang around a lot), and the through them got pretty competent at dropping stuff on my own. Be fore you know it I had access to way more than I could ever use so I started selling. Honestly, the crazies I come in contact don't really bother me (I worked in the mental health field for almost 15 years). I learned early on that sarcasm and having a little fun at their expense made it all worth while. Besides, I know you guys love to hear and appreciate a good story!
reddogrunner
ArboristSite Operative
Or how about this one.
You pull up in your rig and they want the wood anywhere but where you can get your rig safely. Whne you tell them that is extra they ***** and moan and wart to haggle. I don't unload anything anymore until I see the cash and money.
I tell them what a true cord is, what they get (more) and what their money pays for. I have a nice short list of clients who get it. They never ever question me any more. They get a quality product and service for a a good price.
Its the craigs lists types you gotta watch out for......
You pull up in your rig and they want the wood anywhere but where you can get your rig safely. Whne you tell them that is extra they ***** and moan and wart to haggle. I don't unload anything anymore until I see the cash and money.
I tell them what a true cord is, what they get (more) and what their money pays for. I have a nice short list of clients who get it. They never ever question me any more. They get a quality product and service for a a good price.
Its the craigs lists types you gotta watch out for......
jrider
Addicted to ArboristSite
Here is a good one. I dropped the wood off at this new customers house and he says "let me go in the house and get your money." About 30 seconds later he comes out with this large jar full of change and some one dollar bills and says "there is more than what youre asking for in here." Just as I started to ask " are you F ing kidding me?" He reaches in his pocket and hands me the payment in cash. I tried to give him $10 back just for making me laugh but he wouldn't take it. He is now a regular.
#9---almost. I just set a hot saw in my truck, set the bar oil (gallon jug) in front of the saw,,,,on the hot muffler. I don't think I need to explain what a hot muffler will do to a thin plastic bar oil container.
I tell customers up front I don't stack. I drop it in the driveway after I get paid. It reduces the chance for problems. If I get there and it is a single old lady or somebody disabled you bet I will stack it---wherever she wants it---for nothing. If there is one abled body in the house, they can do it themselves. They wouldn't want to pay my stacking fee anyway.
I tell customers up front I don't stack. I drop it in the driveway after I get paid. It reduces the chance for problems. If I get there and it is a single old lady or somebody disabled you bet I will stack it---wherever she wants it---for nothing. If there is one abled body in the house, they can do it themselves. They wouldn't want to pay my stacking fee anyway.
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I think all the things mentioned are usual stuff that I hear all the time. The worst being when you drive far and they say the don't want it now! But I made him take it anyway because his reason was wrong as hell,he told me the wood was green and it was a year old! No way was I letting that happen because I don't lie the wood was seasoned or I would have told him up front!
Uzi
ArboristSite Operative
When you show up to a delivery where you have to carry and stack wood somewhere that you can't get a truck into and the people and/or their kids stand there and watch you work. If I'd have pulled that stunt as a kid my parents would have probably had them dump it out in front and go home while I carried it all to the stack alone.
Hard to imagine able bodied people watching a guy stack their wood and not help. Dealing with public definitely isn't for everybody . It used to be up to about ten years ago People were reasonable but our culture has gotten used to entitlements and popular opinion has changed .. today people have a Burger King mentality they want it right now they want it cheap and they want it " their way!"
mainewoods
Addicted to ArboristSite
What is it that makes people, who don't cut-split or stack their own wood, and probably wouldn't know a cord of wood if they saw one, argue about the quantity you are delivering?
reddogrunner
ArboristSite Operative
I have a client who has physical issues. She gets taken care of in price and quantity. She yells at me for being to nice and not charging enough. My momma would kick my john brown hind parts if I treated her any different. Just sayin'
three feathers
ArboristSite Lurker
Not very many people would do that much work for what woodcutters make.
mainewoods
Addicted to ArboristSite
Welcome to AS, three feathers!
