HIDEY'S LANDSCAPE SUPPLY YARD

After a dump truck drops a bad load firewood, wood scraps, dirt and stone in the middle of a driveway, there is no good fix. Last fall we placed an internet order and paid for 2 cords of firewood for $450 plus delivery from what we thought was a reputable vendor. We couldn’t see the wood in the delivery truck. After dumping the driver commented on the poor quality and said we could exchange the very large pieces and small scraps. After doing some sorting we called Hideys to figure out how such a misconception occurred, what we could do this year and future years. We received a very mixed attitude. They couldn’t come look at our problem. Two of us went to Hideys to meet with their office manager. We were looking for how this went bad, whether Hidey’s could be our long term supplier, or, how to select another vendor. She acknowledged the bad shipment but continued with attitude and excuses ... we didn’t understand what bulk firewood is, we should have ordered premium, we could put the big wood in fireplace diagonally… and on and on. She showed us wood cleaning equipment I understood was new. I later read a review that stated this equipment was new the previous year. Hidey’s measures cords by a number of scoops from a loose thrown firewood dump. ------ [*** Link removed ***] ---- A loose thrown cord should take up about 180 cubic feet (6.66 cubic yards or 5.1 cubic meters) of space as is. The idea is that, when stacked, the total volume would equal roughly 128 cubic feet (3.5 cubic meters), or the volume of a full cord. A "thrown" cord takes approximately 30%+- more space than a stacked cord. A typical pickup truck w/ 6ft. bed is 54 cubic feet (2 cubic yards - level load-Stacked); an 8ft. bed is 81 cubic feet (3 cubic yards - heaped load- Stacked). Remembering now! that "thrown" takes 30%+- more (space) than stacked. Therefore a 6ft. truckload has 30%+- of a "thrown" cord; an 8ft. truckload has 45%+- of a "thrown" cord. -------- Hidey’s gave us an adjustment of a pickup full of loose thrown wood and we left. Neither of us was impressed or interested in future business. After sorting and stacking all the wood, at that time, we figured it was about a full cord. A little hard to know because the log size varied so much. We shoveled the dirt, rock and wood scraps into carts and dumped it in a low spot. Yesterday we received 4 cords of mixed hardwood from a new supplier. We could see the wood on the trailer. Good clean mostly even cut wood. Three pieces started and burned well. These cords must be metric because they are bigger than Hidey’s. The crew helped me stack much and showed me the best way. If Hidey’s simply supplied this quality wood I’d be using them annually. This vendor supplied better wood at a lower price with better service. I gave a bonus and now consider them my wood supplier. I now feel comfortable reviewing bulk firewood! Any company can have a bad day or delivery. How that company then handles things makes all the difference.

After they delivered, my son-in-law came by to do tree work. He was very upset that it appeared I was missing nearly half of the cord. In addition, the wood that was brought was largely poplar which was explained to me that it technically isn't hardwood because it burns too quickly. After Eric looked through the pile, he found a couple of pieces of hardwood and a lot of what he called junk (tree bark, shims, kindling). I called the office manager back and let her know of my disappointment considering how much money I paid (I also felt like I was taken advantage of since I did tell her I had never ordered firewood before). She then told me that the man who delivered wood for the past three days had not done it correctly. I told her if that was so, maybe she should come over and look at what was delivered to make it good. She said we would have to stack the wood to see if it was the correct amount and after that was done, (no one came over and they are 6 minutes from my house) she wanted me to send a photo with measurements around the pile. I had a pile of almost 16" long x 8" high x 17-20" (which this should have been 4 feet) wide so she guessed that I needed some amount she magically tapped out on her calculator and said the man would be by the next day. I remarked about how much junk wood was in the pile and she told me the junk wood was part of my order for hardwood (Eric was fuming about that--he said reputable companies give that away as it really is more junk wood and most of mine was shreds...Eric said a true cord is all firewood with it being a hardwood and not poplar). She wouldn't even address the poplar issue at all. I let her know I would never order anything from them again and that I would warn folks to stay far away from using them as a resource for firewood.

I was very disappointed with Hidey's. When the delivery truck arrived they only delivered 2/3 of our order. When the truck pulled into our yard it dumped mud all over our yard and sidewalk then when we informed the man of the lack of our full order he said to call the office. We did and we never got a return call.