First ever rejection

[gensetsteve]

You would have thought he would ask for stonking great logs if he had a large fire. We use big 1.5 metre vent bags the ones blank are 10" logs. The labels will say 12inch or 14" etc . When someone wants big logs we tip them in the mouth of a bay and scoop up.

[Rob D]

 

We are selling better logs this year than we did last year, which were better than the years before etc.

 

 

Same here - I have a better set up each year.

 

If you sell logs you will get a few people moaning - it goes with the territory.

[Big Bolt]

You should of told you get more logs the smaller they are ,

[Stereo]

I put more blame on the customer to be honest. Surely 'a load of logs' are going to be as the OP delivered if no other discussion takes place? Try taking 2 foot lengths to 99% of your customers and you will have a problem. This guy has some specific requirements which is fine but I feel he wasted your time by not telling you up front.

 

Then again, you should have asked and if this experience does one thing, at least you now know to ask all new customers what they need. So, it's a positive thing after all.

 

Next thing to do is get back to the guy and try to give him what he needs. Give him another chance. It may turn into a long term relationship.

[gensetsteve]

I had a customer last year who wanted no larger than 7 7/8" ie 8 inch would be too big. A good opportunity to sell a large quantity of 6" kindling I thought but he went somewhere else

[littlerob]

done a job around march april time this year for a manor house taking a big part rotton oak down he said if i ming loging it up for him said no problem made my life a bit easy buy not havinf to load it on the truck and about 4 to 5 loads of it so i said you know im not going to split it only saw it in to what lenght you want he said no problem i understand that involes more work that you priced for originaly for by taking the tree down so i then asked hot long you want logs sawed up to he said i show you so of we go to have a look and i was shocked at his wood boiler heating system measured up and he could put on 3feet long longs in by 16 inch diameter

[StephF]

Had my first customer tell me my logs were crap today. 8-10" 50% ash, 10% oak, 10% birch, 10% sycamore, 20% misc (poplar, cherry, chestnut). He said that my logs were what he would sweep off the floor after his real logs had been delivered. These are the same logs I deliver to most of my other customers. When we have been less choppy choppy and delivered bigger lumps to people in the past, they've kicked right off in numbers. He tried to think about it, whether he really wanted them, and I made my mind up and said I didn't want to sell them to him and drove back and attempted to tip them back into the bay. It was then I noticed that the trailer tipper controls were knackered anyway, and the manual control was missing. So probably best I didn't dump a load of what this guy thought was crap, lobbing it all off by hand after realising the tipper didnt work.

 

moral of the story is ask the customer what size fireplace they have. This guy had one as wide as my arms. My logs weren't suitable, but to the majority of my customers with log burners and smaller fireplaces, they are perfect size.

I'm suprised you got a face to face complaint, normally they just never order again if something is not to 'the standard they expect'!

You cant please everyone, just do your best, there are some very fussy people out there who are very hard to please!

We always ask a new customer what size log they prefer, but as all logs are around 8-10", its just to check they will go on the stove, would love to have storage for different sizes, but will cut to order when we have seasoned cordwood in yard.

[Dave Martin]

I ask every single customer the maximum size of log that their stove will take and keep a record on my database. I then ensure that there is nothing bigger on their delivery. The more I sell logs the more I think they should be £120 a cube for all the work involved.

[Ty Korrigan]

You got it bad eh?

How about this.

We just dismantled a cedar on Friday and evacuated the wood and chips back to our place.

I have a list of people who are interested in free firewood, so I call the most local one (French)

The woman asks me what type of wood is it?

When I tell her its cedar she refuses it and asks for some free oak instead!

I tell her that I sell oak for 200euros+ per cord and that only softwoods are free as a gesture to those on a limited income.

Thanks but no she says and hangs up!

Cheeky Moo!

Ty

[eggsarascal]

You got it bad eh?

How about this.

We just dismantled a cedar on Friday and evacuated the wood and chips back to our place.

I have a list of people who are interested in free firewood, so I call the most local one (French)

The woman asks me what type of wood is it?

When I tell her its cedar she refuses it and asks for some free oak instead!

I tell her that I sell oak for 200euros+ per cord and that only softwoods are free as a gesture to those on a limited income.

Thanks but no she says and hangs up!

Cheeky Moo!

Ty

 

you just can't win, mate