danst96
Established Member
Sounds like you have been taken to the cleaners. You are too nice lol, I would name and shame so all here know to avoid this timber merchant.
I would have used beech for a workbench but.. when i built a large bench i bought from Arnold lavers and it was £250 for steamed beech and i had a lot left over ..that was for legs aprons and a 50mm top
A charge of 250 for cancelling the order seems outrageous unless they have cut boards up for you..
But if they had done that i would be expecting to pay in full
A bespoke product would be if they have cut to size for you / have engraved it / have made it in any way different to a product they are offering to sell in their normal course of business - taking it off the shelf to select it for you does not make it a bespoke product - that clause is only there because once made bespoke it can't be resold otherwise as normal stock...... Their counterclaim is that its a bespoke product although it can be put back on the shelves and sold on. I do not disagree that there should be a restocking fee ...
Hi it sounds like you know what you’re talking about, he says they will refund the money less £250 so I take it from that, that he has paid up front. How does he get his money back?A bespoke product would be if they have cut to size for you / have engraved it / have made it in any way different to a product they are offering to sell in their normal course of business - taking it off the shelf to select it for you does not make it a bespoke product - that clause is only there because once made bespoke it can't be resold otherwise as normal stock...
A restocking fee is for when you send something back, not for them to pick it up off the table and put it back on the shelf / propped against the wall it covers their admin time in having to scan the item back into their system and put it back in stock - restocking... if it has never left them then they would have a difficult argument in charging it...
Have you paid them any money yet?
I would say to them that you are sorry to have messed them around, however there is no bespoke element and no need to restock something that is yet to leave stock... you are happy to give them a small token as apology for their time (£50 would suffice!) but you have cancelled the order... and will not be paying for it - their only option would be to take you to court where they could only claim against losses if you were seen to be in breach of contract and they would find it hard to prove any losses given that they would still have all the wood and it would still be as saleable... claims for time taking it off the shelf and putting it back / selecting the wood are irrelevant - if you were to go in then they would spend that time pulling wood out for you and you could still choose to say no thank you and not buy it - they couldn't then charge you for their time - that is just a cost of doing business...
they are seriously screwing you a) on the price and b) now on how they are dealing with it... they don't have a leg to stand on, so be firm...
of course if they have cut to order / milled a piece to your request or done anything else of that nature then it would be bespoke and you are probably in hock for the amount - or worse case scenario a substantial chunk of the cost...
Northern Redwood is in the 'softwood' classification but is slow growing and fairly closed grained so suitable for your substructure.Ive got this book about workbenches and they used ash so I just got it in my head that I was always using ash for my workbench. Is that a softwood?
Perhaps the supplier has ordered from elsewhere to fulfill the order and the £250 is what its cost him for the timber
A bespoke product would be if they have cut to size for you / have engraved it / have made it in any way different to a product they are offering to sell in their normal course of business - taking it off the shelf to select it for you does not make it a bespoke product - that clause is only there because once made bespoke it can't be resold otherwise as normal stock...
A restocking fee is for when you send something back, not for them to pick it up off the table and put it back on the shelf / propped against the wall it covers their admin time in having to scan the item back into their system and put it back in stock - restocking... if it has never left them then they would have a difficult argument in charging it...
Have you paid them any money yet?
I would say to them that you are sorry to have messed them around, however there is no bespoke element and no need to restock something that is yet to leave stock... you are happy to give them a small token as apology for their time (£50 would suffice!) but you have cancelled the order... and will not be paying for it - their only option would be to take you to court where they could only claim against losses if you were seen to be in breach of contract and they would find it hard to prove any losses given that they would still have all the wood and it would still be as saleable... claims for time taking it off the shelf and putting it back / selecting the wood are irrelevant - if you were to go in then they would spend that time pulling wood out for you and you could still choose to say no thank you and not buy it - they couldn't then charge you for their time - that is just a cost of doing business...
they are seriously screwing you a) on the price and b) now on how they are dealing with it... they don't have a leg to stand on, so be firm...
of course if they have cut to order / milled a piece to your request or done anything else of that nature then it would be bespoke and you are probably in hock for the amount - or worse case scenario a substantial chunk of the cost...
You feel bad and I understand how you feel. However, while yes you perhaps could have and should have done more due diligence, it does not change the fact that they are blatantly attempting to rip you off for the lumber.
Its sad that they would try that to be honest, even if they know you are new to the industry you will learn what a reasonable price to pay is and ultimately they will lose a customer that perhaps would go onto spend several thousands over the next 10 years. Now i can only assume you will avoid them.
I've used Sykes a few times, and I've found them to be excellent - I'd be disappointed if this was them. Their timber is a little pricier than elsewhere, I've found, but the quality is very good and has left me with far less waste than on timber I've had elsewhere. They're also a little more receptive to me calling up when I'm on my way there already and asking if they can sell me some timber.was the £1400 from sykes timber by any chance?
I've used Sykes a few times, and I've found them to be excellent - I'd be disappointed if this was them. Their timber is a little pricier than elsewhere, I've found, but the quality is very good and has left me with far less waste than on timber I've had elsewhere. They're also a little more receptive to me calling up when I'm on my way there already and asking if they can sell me some timber.
@starlingwood - you could also try Whitmores timber, which aren't a million miles from you. I've found them to be a but reluctant to give me an appointment sometimes, but their prices are decent. I've made benches out of Southern Yellow Pine and Beech, and found the Beech to be far more difficult to deal with grain and ends up with a lot of tear out. The Pine has been wonderful - easy to work with initially, very heavy and very dense and over time it hardens. My first bench now is absolutely rock hard. I've used ash for making some desks, and it's lovely, but I'd be a little hesitant to use it for making a bench - it feels quite delicate to me, as well as being expensive. The Pine for my bench only cost me £400, and there was absolutely loads of it!
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