Rant: buying hardwood woes

Hi Folks, Not a question, more relating some recent experience.

For the new conservatory SWMBO has ordained that hardwood window cills and skirting are to be fitted, so a quick word with the lads who are building the conservatory and they point me in the direction of a "reasonable" wood supplier in the area.

I measure out the lengths I need and trot along to the supplier and am shown the profiles and materials that will do the job. "What lengths does this wood come in?" asks me. "4.0m, 4.3m and 4.6m sir" says the accomodating server.

So I came back home armed with lengths and prices and sat down to work out how to fit my required sizes into the stock lengths to optimise on wastage.

I then trots back to the suppliers a week later, the wood saw and tape measure in the car to chop these long lengths to fit inside my vehicle (no roof rack). As I am quoting the sizes and quantities the woman is typing them in to the computer system. Order complete (=A3130 worth) I spots the sign on the wall "free delivery over =A3100". Saves me making an arse of the expensive wood, so I elected for the delivery and was told it would be the next day.

You have probably guessed where this is going: what got delivered was three lengths of 4.3m and I had order one of 4.6 and two of 4.0 . Without checking whether these lengths would do I phones up the supplier and tells them that they have made a mistake. The upshot of the conversation is that the company told me that they had no stock of the lengths I needed so they substituted what they did have in stock as a favour for the speedy delivery.

Keyyyyyyrist! The idiot at the company then told me I was ridiculous when I invented the analogy that had I ordered a one litre tin of red paint and had they supplied a 1.5 litre tin of blue I ought to have been grateful.

Eventually I worked out that I could use the lengths supplied, but the idiot salesman said that my only recourse otherwise was to await for them to collect the erroneous delivery and then DRIVE BACK TO THE SHOP TO GET A CREDIT CARD REFUND!

Oh well, there's the experience: never trust suppliers to deliver what you ask for - always collect the goods yourself if at all practical... sigh.

Mungo

P=2ES. Head office still haven't responded to my email stating that their business practises were despicable.

Reply to
Mungo
Loading thread data ...

Mungo Out of courtesy you didn't name the supplier. Just to say I got a lot of hardwood a couple of years back, cut to one of the company's many available profiles and to length. Great advice and service from the timber shop supervisor etc. This was my local branch of Jewson - recommended.

Cheers Tam

Reply to
Tam C

By elimination Tam, it wasn't Jewsons

Mungo (still aggrieved :-)

Reply to
Mungo

Seems to me the wood yards have their own culture, full of tricks designed to catch and sting the customer until they learn the trade. I've learned to always inspect and measure any wood I havent picked myself, and if its from a company you've not dealt with before, trouble is fairly likely. Seems they always have a pile of banana wood to get rid of.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

My local yard doesn't appear to have those problems. When I ordered 1200 ft of shiplap in various lengths they just sent me all the length of the long ones but made sure there were 20 more lengths than I had ordered. Cheaper than cutting it apparently. I just made the shed 16 ft instead of 12 ft. 8-)

Reply to
dennis

Sound familiar to the experience I have had before.

What I now do is go to the yard, choose exactly what I want delivered, pile it in a corner, and then know that I will get what I want.

Reply to
JoeJoe

If not a regular customer most yards will get rid of their 'rubbish' on this sort of order.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

What exactly is the problem if you could use the lengths they sent? They obviously made a sensible guess that it would be ok and they were right.

cheers

Jacob

Reply to
owdman

You are caught in a trap of your own making here. If you are allowed to pick and choose from a pile it follows that someone else might have picked and chosen the better stuff before you got there - hence the banana wood. I always buy unseen by grade from a woodyard who take the stuff from the top of the pile as it comes. If it is seriously below what you expect from the grade then they give a rebate or take it back. The advantage is that what you are getting is not stuff that has been rejected by previous customers. This is for softwood - hardwood is a bit different. They are not out to rip everybody off, they want you to come back again as a happy customer.

cheers

Jacob

Reply to
owdman

The "problem" is that they delivered material that I didn't order. In this case you are right - I can adapt my cutting requirements to fit the wood delivered.

The supplier wasn't appraised of my size requirements - I worked out how to cut the wood out of the lengths myself. To be tempted with several sizes and then for them to supply a single size smacks of unscrupulous business practise. They hid behind "speed of delivery", presuming it was a higher goal than "accuracy". Getting it wrong twice as fast is infinitely slower in many circumstances - no Brownie points for being fast yet wrong...

Sense didn't come in to it on this ocassion. I posted the article to make others aware of the attitude I experienced at one suppliers - you can extrapolate this or contradict it depending on your prior experience, but if it can happen to me then perhaps this is endemic in such suppliers so other DIYers ought to be made aware.

Mungo

Reply to
Mungo

No probs - they were trying to give you what you needed and did so successfully. They obviously do a proper professional job. Just stop wingeing and be grateful!! Buying timber is a bit technical unlike hardware etc but luckily they are obviously used to dealing with amateurs.

cheers Jacob

Reply to
owdman

also normal practice that they give you the total length you ask for, but ignore the rest, despite saying yes we can supply in 6' pcs or whatever. Typical prat business practice.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

No - normal practice is to supply as near as ordered but over the length if not available without cutting.

Reply to
owdman

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

Which is pretty well guaranteed to stop it becoming a regular order!

Reply to
Guy King

Most DIYers are unlikely to do this unlike a trade customer. Which is why it's best to pick up the timber yourself - and not accept what they first offer.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.