Just had to laugh.

Got a call this morning, hay buyer wanted to come out and look at some grass I have for sale. The converstation began with "I just need a couple bales, I talked with you last week". Then he moved on to say that he would show up in a couple hours to "look at the hay". I proceded to tell him that I had a prior appointment in town this morning, but would be back in the early afternoon or be around all day tomorrow. At that point he said he would be there to look at the hay at said time. I told him I would rather he wait until I would be home. At this point he implied that if I wanted his business I would be there today. That is where I had to choke back the laughter. I must love sweating in the summer, cause it sure isnt the pay check. Have a good one-Erik

Did you tell him if he wanted the hay, he would come when you were there?

I would have told hime "sorry I just sold it all" cause he doesn't sound to serious anyway.

Whatta ya wanna bet he's gonna whine about the "quality" not being what he expects (even if it's good hay) and the price is too high, and the bales are too small (or too big) and 20 other issues. Probably wants to buy it 2 or 3 bales at a time, and would expect you to be open 24/7/365.

I would have told him he would not be needing any hay in He*l, cause that is where you can go!

Gene

My neighbour, who had an important medical exam scheduled, called me one morning and asked if I would come over and show a buyer the hay that was for sale. The buyer had said he would be there at a certain time. Usually people show up later than they say they will, but I arrived at the neighbours place 25 minutes early and met a 1 ton dually with a bale handler leaving the yard with two round bales loaded on it. I told them who I was, and asked if they were so and so. The driver said "Well that"s none of your f*#@ing business" and drove off. I caught up to them and called the local police who sent a car out right away. I stayed on the phone to give directions, but I hadn"t got a licence number because the plate was obscured. Approx. ten minutes later two police cars approached from the rear and as soon as the driver seen that, he opened the bale handler and dropped a bale on the road. Then he accelerated hard so the bale on the deck rolled off as well. Both the police cars and I were able to avoid the bales. One bale rolled into the ditch but one stayed on the road. The police took chase of the truck, and I pushed the second bale off the road. Following a 15 minute chase the police stopped the truck which in turn had been stolen.

You just never know who you"re "dealing" with sometimes.

My belief is that criminals are for ever looking for "greener pastures" if you will , an as such are seeking out the more gullable ( read "honest" ) type people to practice their craft on. Rural folks tend to have a few familiar exclaimations when they encounter these situations such as "why would anyone do that" , "can't trust anyone these days" , "but he's family! " , " well I shoulda , coulda , mighta , etc , etc , etc... we can't keep the world out of our back yards anymore....they've found it easy pickin' so unfortunately our ways and beliefs about "other people" may need to be "altered" just a little. Sometime we "choose" whether to be a "victim" or not. We must make better choices.

When not too far away meet the at the local post if you have never sold them hay and take them to the hay-if a no show no problem with stealing.

Dad has a hay lease on two adjoining properties. Pulled 15 bales off one place this year and some # off the other place. Well, the lady gets 4 bales, her 25%.
So dad moves some of the adjoining properties hay just down the road where it is easier to get to, across the road from the town gossip man.

Well, dad goes to get a bale to feed out of the 5 bales he has stacked and they are all gone. Goes over to the local gossip man and he says ya, the lady sold it.

At this point dad if fuming mad. He calls her and she says ya she sold it?????? He tells her to get it back it wasn't her's to sell, she'd already gotten her 25%.

Day later, the hay finally shows back up. Unbelievable the greed of some people.

About 15 years ago when I made alot of idiot cubes, had a lady that wanted some hay. So I had 2 loads that I didn't get unloaded which had about 120 bales on each.She came and looked at the hay and agreed on a price since I didn't have to help unload them. About an hour later she called and said she found a couple of bales that had just a touch of mold on them. I told her to bring back the moldy bales and I would replace them, no problem.Some time later she pulls in the yard with the whole load instead of just a couple of bales. I said why the whole load and not just the couple of moldy ones and she said well the back row was too damp and the front was too dry and it was alot of work unloading them back out of the hay mound.You couldn't even see any mould on the bales she pointed at. I let her take the other load and told her not to bring any back. Evidently I should have started baling 3 minutes later and finished the load 5 minutes sooner for her to have the same moisture because the windrows were nice and even and the ground was flat and dry. Landlord couldn't beleive she brought the whole load back and he couldn't find any mold either. Needless to say I didn't sell her any more hay.

I was trying to make a living making hay a couple decades ago and learned that according to the buyer there is always something wrong with the hay or the market is soft etc. That's haggleing. It's the nature of business, all business. Buyers and sellers have been haggleing for thousands of years. I read comments on here about poor customer service at different establishments. If you can be at the barn when it is convenient to the customer that is a bit higher level of customer service than if you make him meet you at your convenience. You have a prior commitment so that is that for that time slot as far as you are concerned. It is an opportunity to check out some one elses hay for this particular customer. I know when I was in the hay business (in a smallish way) when the buyer said the truck will be there to load at such and such a time that was that and I better be there with the elevator set up ready to load or no sale.

Here is a good one too. I used to make fifteen to twenty thousand small squares each year. You did what you had too in the eighties. I had several thousand bales of perfect timothy hay, green as alfalfa. A hay buyer came and wanted the whole lot. He was even willing to pay me more to store the hay until winter. I agreed with the proviso that I had to be paid in full before Dec. 1st plus a deposit to seal the deal. Dec. came and went, no hay buyer. The next April he called and told me he was coming after "his" hay. I told him to come and get his deposit back. I had sold it after calling him six times, with no answer, and mailing him a certified letter in Feb. He came out to my place and started threating me physically for selling his hay. Well lets just say that the knowledge learned in Nam was still good. LOL After he was cooled down by this old man. He did admit he had gotten my messages but hay price was going up so he was waiting to get it. I told him all he had to do was pay me and we could have worked storage out. AFTER THAT I never held or saved hay for NO ONE. First come first served. ALSO cash before loading. I mean cash too no rubber checks.