Hay Vendor Question

[WildGooseChase]

I self care board 2 mares. I buy all my hay, grain and do all their care. The facility is not responsible for them in any capacity. Since I buy a lot of hay, I often times ask the facility owner to add on to her orders so they come in at the same time instead of having the vendor come out twice. I keep my hay in a separate place from the rest of the facility to keep track of how much I’m feeding and how much I have.

It has come to light that the vendor has complained about delivering both orders and stacking it in two different places(literally 12 feet apart, our hay mows are in the same aisle, one on one side above stalls, the other on the other side of the aisle above stalls). The facility owner doesn’t want to piss him off, but I pay for delivery and stacking just like she does. I do not think it is fair to have to pay for delivery and stacking, only for them to put it in the wrong spot, so either I have to move it or pay someone else to move it again. The facility owner is now giving me a hard time about it in fear that the vendor will drop her as a client over this. I told her that I don’t think it’s fair for me to have to pay twice to have it stacked in the right place, me to move it myself, or to just leave it on her mow for other staff to accidently feed out. I keep my feed separate for a reason. I simply cannot afford to have other staff feed it out accidently.

I am contemplating looking for another vendor or just going to pick up 20 bales from the vendor mentioned above, at a time and stacking it myself to save the delivery/stacking fee. What would you do in this situation?

EDITED TO ADD: I never post on here and some of the comments below is why. I am not looking for drama, I am looking for suggestions on how to smooth things over with him at an affordable cost to me, or move on. I am not the bad guy here for questioning the situation, nor am I on a “rampage” as someone claimed.

[lenapesadie]

I would call the vendor and advise that you had been combining your order with facility order for convenience but that your hay has to be stacked in that separate area. Perhaps the vendor needs a few extra dollars for the separate stack area? Perhaps a separate delivery date would solve the issue? I would be reluctant to go from hay delivered and stacked by vendor to self pick up and self stacking.

[WildGooseChase]

He is aware that it’s two different orders. I pay him the same rate that the facility does for the same services. I just don’t think it’s right to ask me to pay more for the same services.

[SonnysMom]

Another option is have him stack and deliver with her stuff and just tarp yours. This makes it inconvenient for the staff to access it and accidentally feed it. This way you don’t need to move it.
If you like the quality of the hay and the availability sometimes it isn’t worth rocking the boat. There is a reason the facility owner is afraid he will drop her as a client. She is probably afraid she can’t find hay of equal quality for the same price. I swear some hay dealers are as bad as farriers.

You can look around to see what is available from other hay vendors and check with other locals to make sure they will have enough for you every spring and that their quality and service is consistently good. Nothing like making it to March or April and your vendor is out of hay so you are scrambling to find anything.

It may be that the vendor made a joke that the facility owner took the wrong way or the vendor was having a bad day and didn’t really mean it. But why take the chance.

If you and your horses like the hay I personally would work with you have and see if you can find a way to clearly designate the hay as yours. Tarps, signs, bright rope, a piece of plywood between yours and theirs. Just let the hay guy stack it where he wants.

[trubandloki]

@WildGooseChase

He is aware that it’s two different orders. I pay him the same rate that the facility does for the same services. I just don’t think it’s right to ask me to pay more for the same services

Is your barn owner paying the same as anyone off the street would pay or is maybe the barn owner getting a deal as a consistent long term, volume customer that you have tagged along with and the vendor is frustrated having to do extra work at a lower than going rate price?

Is your stacking area more difficult to access or stack in?

[WildGooseChase]

I’ve been peeking around at other dealers. I think I’ll just go with someone else if I can find someone down here that will deliver for a fee. I’m happy to pay the fee, but don’t feel it’s right for me to pay twice or end up having it stacked in the wrong place putting me out more money to “make it work.” At the end of the day it’s costing me way to much money to do either route, so It may be in my best interest to find my own vendor. Thanks for all your help! Getting outside perspectives is always helpful

[lenapesadie]

If your order was delivered in a different day then I imagine you’d be responsible for a full delivery fee? Locally, hay is priced as cost per bale + delivery fee + stacking fee (usually priced as per bale). Of course your area maybe different. I’d explore what it is going to cost me to pay my own delivery fee for my own delivery of hay before making a decision. Picking up my own hay is a PITA and stacking myself in a loft would be worse. Changing vendors means exposing myself to unknown quality and still paying a full delivery fee instead of splitting it with facility. If an additional $20 per delivery solves the problem I think that’s worth it to avoid having to pick up myself or switch vendors.

[lenapesadie]

Nothing wrong with pricing out other vendors.

[WildGooseChase]

No, he hasn’t raised his price in a few years, but I am not aware of any special deal between him and the owner. She is one of my good friends and would have told me by now (been boarding here for 4 years). My hay pile is just as easy to get to. They back their trailer down the aisle and it gets stored above stalls on each side of the aisle. I have the smaller side, she takes the bigger side.

[WildGooseChase]

It comes in the same delivery. I pay .40c a bale for him to stack it, which is what she pays on a bigger scale $40 per 100 bales. He agreed to this when I first started ordering from him.

[Willesdon]

Phone the vendor, offer to order your hay on a separate day and pay the fee for it to be stacked in its usual place and that way he can do two deliveries. I think the vendor is just being a pain. Tell him you are also looking around at other vendors because you really, really don’t want him to be unhappy but… we live in hard times and you pay hard cash.

[trubandloki]

@WildGooseChase

No, he hasn’t raised his price in a few years

@WildGooseChase

He agreed to this when I first started ordering from him.

I think those are your problem.

Having stacked a lot of hay, I can see how having to count a certain number and make sure you unload so you are stacking that exact number on the other side could be a nuisance.

If I was you, and I wanted to keep my friend/barn owner happy and keep my good hay provider I would simply call them up and ask what you need to do to make this all work out. Paying a little more per bale for stacking a second place, in a smaller quantity would be where I would start.
I realize you do not think you should have to pay more than your friend (who clearly buys quite a bit more hay), but to me it makes sense that your smaller order might cost a bit more per bale for delivery and stacking.

[lenapesadie]

I think a friendly call to the current vendor is still in order. Politely asking what he needs to stack your hay in your loft. You’ll need that info anyways to do a realistic price comparison to other vendors.

In the past I have “piggybacked” my hay orders with my parents’. They are a higher volume customer with a long standing relationship with the preferred hay guy in the area. Sometimes it’s not just the price. Sometimes availability and quality come into play. Any hay guy with a decent mind for business is going to prioritize his “better” customers.

In my area, good hay can be hard to come by so my history makes me reluctant to consider swapping vendors as a good plan. But if you’re in an area with plentiful good hay my concerns may be irrelevant

[clanter]

@WildGooseChase

I just don’t think it’s right to ask me to pay more for the same services.

I had a commercial service company for many years, we never provided the same rates for a smaller contractor than the rates we had for volume users. Basically the reason goes back to the backroom costs where it was less expensive to oversee an account of great volume than a one or two time client…even if that smaller client paid cash the account’s oversight often required more attention than the larger volume customer… the smaller client was more likely to have issues with the service and request greater demands… and attention

Thus higher rates would be charged from the beginning. If unacceptable, then my company really was not affected since we did not depend upon the smaller clients use of our service.

[WildGooseChase]

The delivery fee for 100 bales is $40, so I just offered to pay the full $40 instead of the 40c per bale like before. We will see if that eases things up. (I don’t pay the full fee because I’ve never had more than 60 bales delivered at a time)

[clanter]

@WildGooseChase

The delivery fee for 100 bales is $40, so I just offered to pay the full $40 instead of the 40c per bale like before. We will see if that eases things up. (I don’t pay the full fee because I’ve never had more than 60 bales delivered at a time)

there might be a minimum service charge, even if two deliveries are being made at the same place and time? (maybe not)

My company (which was a service company, not related to hay) had a base charge that covered mainly our back office fees such as pro-rated insurance and cost of the equipment

[WildGooseChase]

If there was, he should have said something before we agreed on the 40c per bale. All in all, I’m trying to make things easier and more worth his while before going onto another vendor. If he won’t stack it in the right place for the full $40 then I’ll probably move on.

[trubandloki]

@WildGooseChase

If there was, he should have said something before we agreed on the 40c per bale. All in all, I’m trying to make things easier and more worth his while before going onto another vendor. If he won’t stack it in the right place for the full $40 then I’ll probably move on.

I would guess that saying something was not done because he did not want to offend his good client, your friend/barn owner.
He is saying something now and it has you all on a rampage of ‘how dare he’ so I can see why he did not say anything when it all started.

[WildGooseChase]

Not really on a how dare he rampage. But okay. Think what you want. I can’t change that, but what I can change is my own situation. I literally just said that I am trying to make it worth his while first before moving on. If we can’t reach an agreement, then we can’t reach an agreement.

[2DogsFarm]

@trubandloki

call them up and ask what you need to do to make this all work out.

This is what I’d do.
Hayguys can be finicky & where I live they are the ones calling the shots.
Suppy vs Demand.
As for pricing, for all you know your BO friend may get a deeply discounted price you are not aware of.
I use the same hayguy as a friend who runs a boarding barn.
He is not her sole supplier, but often picks up, delivers & stacks hay from other suppliers to her barn.
Hayguy is my neighbor & we barter for hay.
He cuts & bales a small section of my acreage & keeps or sells that hay.
I get a property that looks civilized, he gets 100-150 small squares conveniently located.
He delivers & stacks the 300 bales I buy for my year’s worth.
I let them store loaded wagons - currently 1 empty & 3 still loaded - in my indoor over the Winter. They leave me about 2/3 of the arena clear to ride in.

I do pay for hay, but an embarassingly low price - less than 1/4 of his other customers, including my friend. So price is not based on quantity in this case.
He ask that I not share my price with other customers & I am happy to keep this between us.