I ordered a truckload of stone (gravel) for my rural driveway. I phoned in the order and told them I wanted 2 inch stone without the fines (fines means the sand and small pieces of stone). I was told that they are currently out of the 2 inch, but they could bring either
3 inch, or common gravel which means a pile of crushed rock of any size being an inch or smaller. I told them that this is for a hill, and that "gravel" would be worthless in the next rain storm and told them to bring the 3 inch without fines.The truck finally arrives one and a half days after they said they would come. The driver comes down my hill and gets the truck stuck in the 2 foot deep rut that was in the roadway from a bad storm we had. (I should note that although this rut was a definite problem, there was room to drive next to it, and I had been doing this with my car for several weeks without problems. But this trucker who seemed to be a complete idiot drives right into it and gets stuck. Then he asks me to pull him up the hill with my farm tractor, which I refused to do. I was not going to wreck my tractor pulling a huge truck with 20 tons of stone on it.
I should note that at this point I could not see what was in the dump truck due to the height of the truck. I told the guy to dump a small part of the load, pull forward further downhill, and I'd use my tractor loader to spread the stone so he could get back up the hill. I went to get my tractor while he dumped it. When I get back, I find that he had not brought the 3" stone without fines, but had instead brought that gravel, which was at least half sand. I told him he brought the wrong stuff. He told me that is all they had. Having little choice since the stuff was already dumped, I proceeded to spread what he dumped so he could get back up the hill. He gets back up the hill and even though I told him it was the wrong stuff, he insisted on dumping the rest of it (since it was already there).
As soon as he dumped it and left, I phoned the company and left a message for the original person I spoke to. Since then, I have called several more times and could only leave messages. I have not received a return call, and that was over 2 weeks ago. Yet, I got a bill in the mail 3 days after the stuff was delivered.
I do not feel I should have to pay anything for this, since it is not what I ordered. However, I was willing to pay them about half the cost since I can use the stuff somewhere, but that means moving all of it with my tractor loader. But after 2 weeks and no return phone calls, I have decided to pay nothing at all. Apparently if they are that uninterested in communication with their customers, then I am not going to show any interest in paying their bill. How difficult can it be to read a an order that states "deliver 3 inch without fines".
I am just wondering how others would deal with this matter. I am sure that if I refuse to pay, this will end up in court and I really do not need that hassle. Of course they are a large company and these companies always win in court anyhow. Plus there is no way I can prove that I left phone messages for them to call me.
I should mention that this gravel has already partially washed out from rain. It's too small for use on a hill.
Alvin