Horse Customer Story

Hello all, got a bit of a story that i think you guys will get a kick out of, from what i read its something most of you have dealt with quite often over the years. A few weeks ago I got a text from some horse customers wanting to come look at timothy squares. She mentions that she wants absolutely no bottom bales no matter what. I explain that im almost sold out and many of the bales I have left were on the bottom, but were on pallets on a straw covered dirt floor so they will most likely be fine. She says ok and we set up a meeting time at the neighbors barn where it is stored. The couple shows up and seem like nice people, i take them in and show them the hay. She loves the hay, I give them the speech about how I use old equipment and so every now and then ill get a spot in the field that doesnt get tedded well, which may lead to a small dusty spot in the bale. I tell all my customers if the get a bad bale ill buy it back. Everything checks out for them but they didnt bring their trailer so they have to go home and get it, no big deal. We had just got two inches of rain a few days before and so my neighbors yard was soft, I made it very clear that i wanted him to take it slow and easy to avoid ruts. Hes backing it up and starts to sink in, then proceeds to floor it to make it through which obviously digs him im deeper. He thought he was in four wheel drive but didnt fully engage it, puts it in 4WD and proceeds to walk right through the now huge rut he made. We get it to the barn and start loading. The wife is incredibly picky about which bales she takes and is incredibly wishy washy about each bale. Every bale that feels heavy she panicks that it may be moldy. I take a bale she thought was heavy and break it open, we all inspect it and I personally thought it was some of the best hay ive ever made. They pay for the opened bale as well and throw it in the pickup bed. Theyre satisfied and i tell them to call if theres any problem. Very next day i get a call, the husband tells me the ENTIRE bale we opened up at the barn is moldy and must have been baled wet. I was almost speechless as we had just inspected the bale with a fine tooth comb and it looked perfect. He starts rambling on the phone about how hes worried to open any more because he doesnt want to be stuck with moldy bales that he will have to burn. I have him open another and he insists it feels wet but isnt moldy. I head over to there place 10 min later with the one ton ready to haul it all home, wondering how the hell i coulve missed seeing any issues. I get there and look at the bale, there is one thick-stemmed weed where the higher moisture stem caused a handful to clump, didnt have even the slightest off smell or mold color to it. Inspect his “wet” bale, its bone dry, just cold. I actually found it too comical to even be irritated, I never thought I would experience the legendary antics of the horsy customer. I understand the worry about feeding a horse moldy hay, but this was overboard. Plus I had to spend an hour fixing ruts in his yard. The neighbor didnt want any cash rent to use his barn, but after that fiasco I gave him 100 bucks, figuring it was probably still nowhere near what I should really give him but better than nothing. Debating saving their phone numbers under “do not sell too”. Sorry for such a long story, I still didnt cover some pf the funny details. Some people man...

Horse Customer Story