Is this common practice?

[RobP]

I ordered (from Chadwicks Timber), and paid for, five six metre lengths of 150 x 25 hardwood and requested that they cut me 13 1800 lengths, fully expecting to receive at least the remaining four metre offcut. However it was not delivered. And to cap it off they charged $44 for delivery on a $120 order. My local Mitre 10 only charge $12.50.
Have I the right to demand it or should I have been more explicit in my order?

[Brown Dog]

If you ordered and paid for 30m thats what you should get IMO...most places I have ordered timber from you usually get a little more (allowance for cracks splits and what not)

cheers
BD

[meerkat]

I would have thought that if you ordered and paid for the 6m lengths and the cuts were a service they provided they should've supplied you with the lot including the offcuts.

So yes get back to them, it might have just been an oversight.

[Wood Borer]

I would have expected to receive 13 lengths of 1800, 4 lengths of 600 (probably a bit shorter) and 1 length of 4200 (probably a bit shorter).

They can keep the sawdust but I would want the offcuts, even if it was to throw into the fire.

[Bob38S]

Not struck this one before - it doesn't sound right - if you paid for the total to not get the total.

I know some places charge for cutting and as long as they are upfront about it you can at least make an informed decision but if you paid for 5 x 6m lengths and had it cut into 13 x 1800mm lengths then you should get the balance - however, if you had the total cut eg 3 x 1800 per length per 5 sticks then probably the leftover bit from each stick would possibly be classed as waste to them [not to you of course].

I think it was possibly an oversight which you could resolve with a phone call - have you been down this road?

Regards,
Bob

[RobP]

I think it was possibly an oversight which you could resolve with a phone call - have you been down this road?

Regards,
Bob

Not yet. Just wanted to gauge opinions before I approach them.
I was not able to check the load on delivery as it was just left on my nature strip even though I was at home at the time.
Cheers
Rob

EDIT: OK, have sent them an email and await their response.

[RobP]

"Hello Robert,

Many apologies for not sending the offcuts with your
order it was a honest mistake.

A simple phone call would have
rectified the problem swiftly as we often only
check email messages when there is a break
from the volume of phone calls we can receive.

Your offcuts will be delivered on Monday.

For the record, the offcuts total $17.20 in value which
I agree isn't pocket money. Although we didn't charge
you for docking which would of been a value of $14.30.

Chadwicks have been in business for over 50 years
& this is the first time we have experienced
someone as special as yourself.

Chadwicks supply volumes of timber to builders etc...
all over Sydney & decided to offer sales over the counter
as a local service as there is a short supply of local
timber yards.

You can contact me on 9604 3322 to discuss
further as I haven't been able to contact you by phone.

Forums are a great way to communicate with people of common interest
but unfortunately to attract trolls that have nothing better to do with
their
time than to post nasty comments about companies etc.. before actually
picking
up or answering the phone to resolve the problem in a mature manner.

I will be posting a unedited version of this letter on the woodworkers
forum.

All the best,
David Chadwick"

[RobP]

For starters, I did not make any nasty comments about your company, I merely stated the facts and requested input.
I sent a contact message to your company several hours before you finally responded to my post to the woodworkers forum.
I find your comment "Chadwicks have been in business for over 50 years
& this is the first time we have experienced
someone as special as yourself." insulting in the extreme.
You do yourself no service by trying to demean a customer, no matter how small.
Fellow forum members, judge for yourselves.

MODERATORS have I done anything wrong?

Cheers
Rob

[mic-d]

Well there you go, you've learnt something I hope - don't mention the business name if you're making initial enquiries about the way-things-work.
But the business response was a bit OTT
Cheers
Michael

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Yep, as Mic said... it wasn't a good idea to name names for your query; not relevant to the question and is likely to irritate the named party. I'm really not surprised in the least at David's response... if I was in his shoes I'd be a tad upset, too.

Still, it seems to have been a simple mistake that has been resolved; I hope it stops here and doesn't blow into a case of lawyers at 20 paces.

[RobP]

I didn't initially name the business involved but when I contacted them and they didn't respond within a reasonable time, I felt justified in editing my first post to reveal their identity.
I'm sure the mods can confirm the timeline.
My point is that they should not treat small customers with contempt.
I'm sure the bulk of their customers are builders to whom the loss of a few metres of timber is of no consequence and they simply oncharge it to the client.
I, on the other hand, am a pensioner and have to count every cent.
I don't think I'm being unreasonable in my request but I'm quite happy to take it to the department of fair trading if necessary.

[mixin]

I find it disgusting that a representative of a business replies like that to an email.

I must admit, I wasn't sure of the 'common practice' with offcuts, as I plan to standard lengths & cut it all myself.

It was a question I was keen to see the answer to, but the response has turned me off considering using that company now.

[mic-d]

I don't think I'm being unreasonable in my request but I'm quite happy to take it to the department of fair trading if necessary.

Mate, don't get bent out of shape over such a small thing. You were wrong to expect a business to reply to your email within a few hours, if you didn't think that was a reasonable delay, then you should have tried calling. It sounds like the business would have made amends if you had of just called. You were only behind a couple of bucks because the business should have charged for docking and yes $44 sounds about right for delivery. People/businesses make mistakes, just sleep on it and let it go.

Cheers
Michael

[joe greiner]

Can't say I read their response as too much of an "insult." "Special" might not have been meant as especially derogatory sarcasm. Nasty comments from trolls would likely come from later replies, not you. I did find a bit of banana peel with the "mature manner," though.

As suggested, let it lie.

Joe

[BobL]

I fully sympathise, but agree with Mic - many businesses don't look at email until the end, or the morning, of the following day. I would always call or talk to them first before publicly naming them as there may be some kind of extenuating circumstances.

I would not like to have been called "special" (even though I am ;-) - but if you got around to talking to them first this "might" not have happened.