When the temperatures started dropping back in the fall, Whitney Wisniewski decided it was time to get ready for winter.
“We came from Florida where we had missed having that warm coziness, so we said, ‘Let’s get firewood!’” she told us.
Whitney searched Craigslist and found what seemed like a great deal on some firewood. She said, “The man came and dumped it in the driveway and, you know, he wanted cash.”
Whitney says she paid almost $500 to John Murray, the man who posted the ad and delivered the wood.
And when he left, she says she realized there was a problem. “[I] started stacking it, and as I’m looking at it, it’s dwindling and I’m like, ‘Yeah, no, it’s not even going to be close,’” she told us.
Whitney says she received less than one cord of wood, nowhere near the two cords that she paid for.
And when she tried calling Murray, no answer.
Whitney emailed the Craigslist ad back and got a reply saying in part, “[It’s] your own fault for accepting the product. [Go] back to Florida…”
“I want to believe that people are good, I want to believe that things happen, mistakes happen, but people don’t really want to just stick it to you. But that was stick it to you and then some. And that made me mad,” Whitney said.
Whitney spent the next few weeks trying to get the wood she was owed, but no luck.
That’s when she called Solve It 7, and we called Murray.
Murray told us he was simply delivering wood that he picked up from his supplier and that he never checked the quantity.
He promised us that Whitney would get more wood.
A month later, Whitney did get another delivery of wood left in her driveway.
Solve It 7 also did some digging and found Murray was due in Orleans District Court for another incident involving someone else who ordered firewood. That’s where we caught up with him.
“I was trying to do everything I could. And it’s not that they didn’t get what they paid for, it’s that they got what I was selling,” Murray said.
Murray tells us he won’t be taking wood orders from anyone else. “I’m done. It’s too much of a headache,” he said.
As for Whitney, she told us, “If I can save somebody from this heartache and this aggravation, then that’s, you know, that’s the good thing for me. So, thank you very much.”
When you find someone online who you’d like to do business with, consumer experts say do your research – learn about their sales history and be vigilant about the details of what you’re buying. A well-established company may have more avenues when it comes to resolving your disputes.
Is there an issue that has you burning mad? We would love to help. Give us a call at 617-367-7777 or send us an email at solveit7@whdh.com.