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October 09, 2007

The wood guy calls ME!

I just received a phone call. I recognised the voice right away: Mike Salvisberg, from Mike's Firewood - the guy who damaged my garden wall and won't apologise for his accident or fix the damage he caused.

He didn't realise who he was calling at first because he was returning an earlier message I had left about "Ah, firewood delivery."

The conversation went like this:

Mike Salvisberg: What can I do for you?
Me: Well, you damaged my garden wall. I'd like it fixed.
Mike Salvisberg: Oh! That Mike. Look, we talked about this.
Me: No we didn't. You hung up on me.
Mike Salvisberg: Well, fix your garden yourself.

And then he hung up on me again!

This guy is a real gentleman, eh? Based on his attitude with me and my neighbrour, not in a million years would I order wood from him nor recommend him to anyone else.

I'll be finishing the small claims court papers this afternoon.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

This guy is a real nut job. I can't believe that he thinks customer service is not necessary in his line of business.

We moved into our new home this last March and needed some firewood. Michael's neighbour, which is Michael W., also needed some wood as his was running out. We both ordered a cord each from a guy and it took a month for delivery. I couldn't believe how rude he was to me when he arrived, but I brushed it off thinking it was just a rare rotten egg in Whitehorse.

After speaking with Michael P. (owner of this blog) I believe it was the same guy (Mike Salvisberg of Mike's Firewood) that delivered my wood last March.

This guy's business is just going to go downhill from this month onwards, or he'll get a reputation as one of the worst guys to deal with up north.

I don't think Mike Salvisberg of Mike's Firewood is technology savvy cause Michael P.'s blog is rated #1 when you Google "fire wood delivery whitehorse". When everyone in Whitehorse is ordering more wood by Googling for the contact information, you'll know who they WON'T buy from! Mike Salvisberg of Mike's Fire Wood definitely won't be getting my 3 cords of business this winter.

Btw, can you tell I've seeded this comment with different keywords so Mike P.'s blog will stay on top when people Google for firewood?? ;-) Technology is awesome.

ExploreNorth said...

Unfortunately firewood is a hot commodity (no pun intended), and firewood-seekers look in the newspapers, not on Google, so Firewood Mike has good reason to not give a damn what Mike P thinks. With his product already 25% higher than last year he'll do just fine unfortunately.

Meandering Michael said...

You know - you're right. I wonder what I could do about that...

Any suggestions?

Anonymous said...

I suggest you put classifieds in both the Yukon News and Whitehorse Star advertising "Free firewood." Whenever someone phones, apologize to him or her that you're all out of wood. Then add something like the following: "If you're planning to buy wood, whatever you do, don't buy it from Mike What's-His-Name because....." This method might be time consuming and life-disruptive, but no more so than a small claims suit. I think it would also offer the more immediate gratification you're probably looking for.

Anonymous said...

Couple of suggestions:

1) Call the RCMP in Haines Junction to report the damage, have your neighbour call as well. There is a very good chance he is not carrying commercial insurance and will have a tough time explaining that to the RCMP.

2) Follow through with the small claims court.

Less effective but satisfying suggestions could also be:

3) Place an ad in the Whitehorse Star and Yukon News with Salvisberg's home number offering a "Nintendo Wii -$150 OBO" He'll get hundreds of calls no doubt.

4) Order some wood from him but give him an address that doesn't exist

Anonymous said...

Michael - I don't know if you read the News online, but you can submit a free classified through their website. Registration is required, but it's much easier than walking it in.

Peter Tyrrell said...

Sounds like this guy's Achilles Heel is his crappy truck. Disable that and you'll deprive him of livelihood and the opportunity to cause more damage.

Get yourself an old ship of the line. Something like the HMS Indefatigable should do. Sail up and past the bounder's pickup, delivering your broadside with all 74 guns. That'll show him.

Meandering Michael said...

Thanks for all the suggestions. My problem is that I don't want to stoop to his level. I would prefer to remain "a gentleman in a quest for justice" as opposed to a...well, I'll let you fill in the blank.

Oh, yeah, you should see this guy's truck. The roof is all bashed in but that's just aesthetics; the truck is an accident waiting for a place to happen. I have called the RCMP to express my concerns about the size of the loads that are being carried. Braking is definitely a concern.

dogsled_stacie said...

I can't remember the name of his company, but for GOOD and reliable wood delivery, get a hold of Joel. He was advertising in the paper last winter. He may have had trouble backing out of my driveway but he didn't HIT anything and apologized a million times for how long he took and for "making a mess" of my driveway. It was snow, and it was gouged out after he left. Big deal. Bottom line: he was nice and trustworthy.

Michael - I bet that was the truck Mike hit a moose with last year on the way to Anchorage!

I bet he has no business license or anything...

Heather, aka: Mum said...

Oh God THIS is SOOO much fun to read!!!!!!!!!

Glen Hurlburt is in the Junction & sells firewood...he is an awesome man, polite, hardworking, community man!! Everyone resoect this fella!!! You'd get your wood on time & WITHOUT haveing to put us with the BS of Mike Salvisburg!!

Trust me I KNOW!!!

This just made my day :) Thanks everyone!!!!!

PS: Go get him Mike P !!

Anonymous said...

If this is the guy I think it is, he was run out of Ft. Smith NWT, because he is the devil. An evil man, with no compassion or manners. Apparently his mom in Switzerland has all kinds of money, but has nothing to do with him. Watch out he is evil and will stop at nothing....stay away from him, about oh maybe 7 yrs ago now the last we heard he moved to whitehorse...one day his time will come...let me tell you there will be a big celebration when that guy goes, he has made alot of enemies in his life....bad bad man

Heather, aka: Mum said...

Anonymous: I'd LOVE to have a conversation with you about Michael Salvisburg! He IS infact a very bad man & I've also lived his nastiness first hand IF you ever see this "comment" PLEASE feel free to contact me through MY blog!!

Michael P: Isn't it just amazing how far & wide this man's reputation has spread! Hopefully one day he'll be gone from MY neck of the woods...I just pitty the next community he moves to & poisons!!

Anonymous said...

Ya so what, he may be a little rude, but you guys don't have to talk bad about him. Seriously, and you say you don't want to stoop to his level? You're already past his lever, you're like little high school kids gossiping behind somebody's back. Not cool.
And FYI, although I don't see how it concerns you, his mother in Switzerland does have something do with him.
And how one of you said "let me tell you there will be a big celebration when that guy goes" that is so rude, and I really hope that there will be a celebration of happy people when you die.
How could you say that about somebody? Even if you don't like them. You clearly have no manners or compassion either.
And Micheal P, just because he doesn't have a nice vehicle, you shouldn't be as rude as you are. The guy doesn't have a whole lot of money, he kind of does have a son to raise, genius. Don't you think a kid is more important than a vehicle? I do. And you really shouldn't have to do anything to stop his buisness, just don't order from him. Don't stop other people. They can make up their own minds. He does need a way to make money. Would you appreciate it if somebody tried to ruin your career or whatever the hell it is you do? You probably have kids you need to take care of. You need money when you have kids.
So just give the guy a break.

Meandering Michael said...

Anonymous (if that's your real name), thanks for your posting.

If a North60 fuel delivery truck backed into a part of your property that you painstakingly built, you'd be pretty upset, right? You'd expect them to fix it, right? And you'd be REALLY upset if they said to you what Mike S said to me, right?

You would let other people know what North60 did to your property and how they treated you, right?

That's what I did, only it wasn't North60 - it was your friend, Mr. Salvisberg. You don't succeed in business by treating your customers like crap and treating their neighbours even worse.

I think you missed my point about his truck. I said that I DON'T CARE what his vehicle looks like. There's nothing more beautiful than a good beat-up truck, but with the loads that he was hauling and the way he was hauling them, it was a safety concern - for him and everyone else on the roads. How would that have been for his kid if he went off the road or collided with someone else and rolled with a few cords of wood through the cab?

Learning that he has a kid is one of the reasons why I didn't end up taking him to small claims court. Even though I should have. The man needs to learn some manners. Unlike Mr. Salvisberg, I have remained civil at all times. But he man still owes me an apology - for the property damage but especially for his rudeness.

If the man has a reputation for being more than a little rude, like he appears to (see above), it's probably well-deserved. If this blog entry gives him the opportunity to understand that, maybe he can learn to treat people better (especially those he has wronged) and maybe some good can come of this for everyone. Including him.

In the meantime, that's for sharing your thoughts and helping me to question my actions. Perhaps you can do the same with Mr. Salvisberg and help him see that he still owes me an apology. It's the honourable thing to do.

After I receive one, I'll be happy to remove these blog postings.

Anonymous said...

His having a kid shouldn't stop you from suing him. He is an evil man who is jealous of everyone else's happiness and will stop at nothing to cause pain to everyone around him. His son should distance himself from him if he has any sense. This guy has been getting away without lawsuits against him for far too long. Sue him for everything you can, lay charges if you can, and put a stop to his cruelty to everyone around him. I mean it. He's a serial suer himself. If you don't sue him and reduce his ability to cause harm, he'll hurt someone else sooner rather than later. I'd add a user name here but am not sure how to do that. So I'll pick anonymous. Good luck folks. Stay FAR FAR away from this man. And if you had a run-in with him already, make the most of it to save others.

Anonymous said...

Two things to add to the above comments:
1) In my opinion he's mentally ill.
2) Not related to 1), I wonder on what grounds we let him into Canada in the first place.

Also Anonymous