Late customer

[cantoo]

I moved snow 3 times and in the freezing cold I cut and split about an extra 8 cord last weekend for some people that needed wood. "Sorry got no money right now, Christmas time you know". Could have been worse I could have delivered the wood and got no money at least I still have the wood.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I moved snow 3 times and in the freezing cold I cut and split about an extra 8 cord last weekend for some people that needed wood. "Sorry got no money right now, Christmas time you know". Could have been worse. I could have delivered the wood and got no money. At least I still have the wood.

Do not deliver unless they agree to pay. That's the rule. I delivered two years ago and the lady said, "Please don't deposit this check for at least a month." I never brought firewood back there again. Rubber checks don't work very well in my book.

There is no such thing as free firewood.

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Somewhat humorous, polite, but to the point,

Over the years, after being burned enough times and listening to my share of hard luck stories, all new customers get the speech, prior to delivery or pick up.

"In God we trust, all others pay cash".

I don't know who originally came up with this phrase so I can't give props. I have found it to be a very easy, method to get the point across, without ruffling any feathers so to speak. Most people just chuckle, no one has ever shown offense.

Take Care

 

[turnkey4099]

Ah yes, customer shows up, we agree on a price, load his truck and he tries to bargain down again. Happened with that late customer in my OP.

 

[cantoo]

Harry, that's when you start to bargain up. When the truck is full say " darn that looks like a lot more wood than I was thinking, I'm gonna need a few more dollars" Could you imagine the look on the customers face yet they assume it's okay to try to drive us down at that point?

 

[Wood Doctor]

Harry, that's when you start to bargain up. When the truck is full say " darn that looks like a lot more wood than I was thinking, I'm gonna need a few more dollars" Could you imagine the look on the customers face yet they assume it's okay to try to drive us down at that point?

Customers usually think that a $10 bill is worth a pound of gold when it's time to pay up. That's been my experience if you ever try to raise the price after a delivery, even after you arrive and find out the driveway slopes up at a 30-degree grade and the road is slippery.

 

[Cody]

We sold wood by the pickup load, and usually gave you a good load, not level but not heaped. Well, one guy always brought a trailer and I kept telling dad that we were loading him with too much. So being the ******* that I am, I grabbed a tape on day and measured. Sure enough, he was getting over 100 cubic feet, where an 8' truck box is around 60. Guy got pissed off and complained that we were going to be charging more for wood now, well no ****? I told him he should be happy he got x amount of trailer loads for the price he did as it was our fault really. Apparently our generosity wasn't appreciated. He complained about every load from there on out and soon found himself getting wood elsewhere. I wasn't too thrilled about leaving someone out in the cold like that but he made the decision.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

 

[Wood Doctor]

We sold wood by the pickup load, and usually gave you a good load, not level but not heaped. Well, one guy always brought a trailer and I kept telling dad that we were loading him with too much. So being the ******* that I am, I grabbed a tape on day and measured. Sure enough, he was getting over 100 cubic feet, where an 8' truck box is around 60. Guy got pissed off and complained that we were going to be charging more for wood now, well no ****? I told him he should be happy he got x amount of trailer loads for the price he did as it was our fault really. Apparently our generosity wasn't appreciated. He complained about every load from there on out and soon found himself getting wood elsewhere. I wasn't too thrilled about leaving someone out in the cold like that but he made the decision.

Trailers hold more than they appear to hold. I tried a 5' x 8' trailer for awhile and found out that I was delivering about 20 cu ft more than my racked up pickup truck could hold. The key was the time it took to fill it and unload it since it is not a dump trailer. The extra row of logs and extra depth is what did it. Like you, I was delivering 100 cu ft in that trailer and the pickup could only hold 80, even when racked up with a load almost cab high. The trouble with my el cheapo trailer is that it has no springs, so the highway bounce was huge. I use it only for very local deliveries with no highway driving. Also, I must admit that I am lousy at backing up a trailer in reverse, especially up steep driveways.

 

[Cody]

Trailers hold more than they appear to hold. I tried a 5' x 8' trailer for awhile and found out that I was delivering about 20 cu ft more than my racked up pickup truck could hold. The key was the time it took to fill it and unload it since it is not a dump trailer. The extra row of logs and extra depth is what did it. Like you, I was delivering 100 cu ft in that trailer and the pickup could only hold 80, even when racked up with a load almost cab high. The trouble with my el cheapo trailer is that it has no springs, so the highway bounce was huge. I use it only for very local deliveries with no highway driving. Also, I must admit that I am lousy at backing up a trailer in reverse, especially up steep driveways.

Well, in the trailer we were stacking the wood probably 3 feet high, that's nearly twice the height of a truck box. This particular trailer was also right under 6' width, and I thought it was only 5' wide. He lived in an old bank, and remodeled it very nicely. He stored the wood in the trailer and used the side door to access it.