Pre-buying coal - shady accounting?

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FOilCompanies
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Location: Ashtabula County / Northeast Ohio
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 254
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite / Nut
Other Heating: Wood

Post by FOilCompanies » Mon. Dec. 26, 2022 12:54 pm

I don't have a particularly convenient place to store coal. I can put it in my basement, which is taller than a crawl space but not as tall as a full basement and still has a dirt floor. Shouldn't hurt the coal, but it's a PIA to haul down and bring up.

The way my local dealer works is if you pre-buy, you can pick it up from them whenever you want. They enter into a book that you have paid for X bags, and every time you take some, they subtract it in their book.

Last year I pre-bought two pallets. At one point I sent my wife out to get a trailer load, and she came back with 44 bags. Yet I was "charged" 49 bags from my pre-bought pallets. I had originally wanted 49 bags, but I know how to count and I got 44.

We can point fingers all day, but even if my wife didn't count accurately, still, the dealer entered a number in their book that was larger than the number of bags I got. If I had been there myself to ensure an accurate count, still nothing would have stopped them from, for example, entering that I took 54 bags.

I have no way to prove this. I sent the dealer a message when I discovered this but didn't get a response. And then, the very next day, I fell and broke my elbow, so hauling coal was out of the question for a while. By the time I was back to being able to haul, they had closed up for the summer. (They'd have opened up on a one-off if I wanted to go in and get the rest of my coal, but I decided not to make them do that.)

I no longer have the cell phone I used to send that message, because I upgraded around that exact time. In essence, I have no way to prove that I got shorted. But how would I prove that I got shorted in the future? Let's say I walk in and tell them I want 45 bags. I count them myself and drive off with 45. But they enter that I took 50. I find that out the next time I go in, and I tell them that I only took 45. Well, where's my proof? They don't give an invoice or a slip of any kind when you take from your pre-bought supply - only when you purchase anything. If I send my wife out and she's inaccurate with her count (assuming she actually does the count rather than merely trusting them), how could I prove it when the trailer gets home and I offload less than what I was supposed to get?

Obviously something shady is going on, but are there any other coal dealers out there who operate in such a way that it is impossible for there to be an issue like this? If yes, how? (Or is this common and I should just store every last bit of pre-bought coal I get, or at least insist upon a paper trail for myself whenever I pick any up? As of now I'm out five bags from a pre-bought supply and I don't feel like there's anything I can do about it except change dealers... if there's even another dealer nearby. I know of none. I won't name my dealer because I can't prove anything. I just know what happened.)

 
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davidmcbeth3
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Mon. Dec. 26, 2022 1:27 pm

They don't give an invoice or a slip of any kind when you take from your pre-bought supply ..

^^ That's the issue. Seek out such or do not continue with this process.

Only option is small claims court...a judge would find in your favor as you would testify as to how many bags you took and the retailer would testify that they have no clue.


 
FOilCompanies
Member
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri. Feb. 11, 2022 8:01 pm
Location: Ashtabula County / Northeast Ohio
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 254
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite / Nut
Other Heating: Wood

Post by FOilCompanies » Sun. Jan. 08, 2023 8:35 am

I'll give my dealer this: when I talked to the owner of the business, he just let me have the five bags without trouble. I will always henceforth be the one to take from my pre-bought supply.

And, they're changing their methodology, such that all pre-bought coal has to be removed from their premises by May 1 or else there will be storage fees. I can't argue with that. I'd have gotten all of it before then had I not broken my elbow last year. The guy who runs the coal dealer also has a lawn care business for the warmer months and I didn't want to drag him in to open the coal store just so I could get the rest of my coal. I figured I'd leave him alone and get it when he opened up for the next cold season.

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