Bombarde16 Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 No, not the golden delicious breakfast cereal we all loved as children. This is the wreckage of a large (7" wide, 120" long) stick of flat sawn red oak. It looked perfect on the outside and I needed it to finish out as 1.5" x 1.5" spindles for a balustrade. I waaay overestimated and came home with what should have been more than enough for the job, figuring that any leftover certainly wouldn't go to waste. And then it passes through the band saw with long stretches where it feels like the saw is cutting very easily...far easier than it should. What gives? Sure enough, the entire interior of the board was a honeycombed wasteland of vast, gaping splits, some with over a 1/4" of separation inside. I thought I was going to get this balustrade done next week. Nope. Maybe I'll be able to salvage some smaller bits for another project. But whoever cooked this board made a mess of it. Thus far, I haven't named the lumberyard in question. (Southern Pennsylvania locals, PM me if you're curious.) I emailed them to ask if there's any chance they'd replace this board. Yes, their return policy clearly states that there are no returns on milled lumber. No, I'm not a big spending customer by any stretch. But I figured I'd give them a chance to go above and beyond the call of duty for a little guy and thereby win a customer for life as well as an enthusiastic review online. If not, I'll take it as a learning experience and shop elsewhere. Posed for the forum's collective wisdom: Am I being too hard on the folks that sold me this board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 Any company, earns your money, by producing a viable product, with good customer service. If they can't or will not stand by the product they sold, that should be the last penny they see from you. There are sources that will back their product with good customer service. It may take a while to find them, but when you do. Stick with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 I think it's pretty clear that this board was not properly kiln dried, or perhaps was damaged by improper felling or handling, so I think the lumber yard should take it back & pass it along to their supplier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 The lumber mill I've been buying from for 45 years is usually very accommodating on problems like this. Especially if you buy FAS grade hardwoods. Common grades your supposed to expect even hidden flaws. However I'm not sure they are going to be as liberal with occasional buyers of small orders. Of course I usually buy 20-30 % extra to allow for waste, mistakes and flaws. I only fuss about issues like yours when it shows up in several boards or makes a single large plank unusable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanky Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 That looks like wind shake damage to me. If a tree on the side of the mtn that gets alot of wind,, you will see some of that in the trees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 It doesn't hurt to have the conversation. When dealing with a natural product like this especially one that has relatively low profit margin i wouldn't expect them to bend over backwards for me, though i'd become a loyal customer if they did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Moore Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 The yard I buy from would and has taken lumber back when I opened it up and it had imperfections Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 I wouldn't try to do this over the phone or via email. Take the board back to them so the can really see the condition, cause person you are talking to may not know what is normal and just passing on the company line about returns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanky Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 What about the ole sawmill guy that buys a good log from a logger for 300 ft and he starts sawing on it and in the middle of the log it go’s to junk. He gets 200 bdft of good lumber. Who does he go to crying? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanky Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 If I look at the log and buy it, you want hear me crying to you about getting screwed. But thats just me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanky Posted February 6, 2019 Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 WELL!!!! To clear ends on the log the day I bought it. If you buy wood you gamble! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Bombarde16 Posted February 7, 2019 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted February 7, 2019 Thanks for all the replies. To wrap things up nice and tidy: I sent an email to this company via their website, Groff & Groff Lumber in Quarryville, describing the situation. After hitting send, I started typing the first post in this thread. Literally five minutes later, I received a reply from the company, apologizing that the board was unusable and that I should bring it back. I stopped there later that afternoon. Two guys in the yard took a break from running a monster slab through a thicknesser (i.e. stuff that actually makes them money) to help me pick out another board. One stressed how surprised he was that I found one that was honeycombed and, after we picked a board that looked promising, offered to make an initial crosscut to be sure. It came out fine and I was on my way with even more board footage than I had initially purchased. Needless to say, this far exceeded my expectations. I know I have at least one project in the works for 2019 for which the shopping list will run well over 200bf of hardwood with perhaps a few exotics thrown in. Rest assured that I'll honor these folks with my patronage again. Now to get back to that balustrade. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted February 7, 2019 Report Share Posted February 7, 2019 Glad to hear they took care of you, whether they ‘needed’ to or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted February 7, 2019 Report Share Posted February 7, 2019 That's how a business is supposed to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 I bet lots of companies are flexible, if you are pleasant about the situation instead of being demanding the results could be much better. Glad it worked out well for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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