More baseless threats

I’ve continued to try and receive a refund for $150 that I paid for firewood that was never delivered.  See all my past posts about the unscrupulous dealer (John Alfano or John Works from Maine) and the various ways he has continued to avoid refunding my money.  A few posts back, I published several emails he sent threatening legal action due to a few Craigslist posts I had made describing what happened to me, in hopes that other people would think twice before falling into the same trap.

Well after he sent those emails, he had several more excuses as to why this whole mess happened and continues to drag out.  He told me he was going to mail my money back to me, but I had yet to receive it a week later and he stopped answering emails again.  But then my week was brightened by more uninformed, mildly threatening, but mostly comical emails in response to the re-posting of my Craigslist warnings.  I now present them in their unedited glory:

Do you really want to go legal route on this.?  you will get your $$ or wood either way but not like this!!!!!    defamation in public can really get expensive expecially when its on the www. you really need to think about this as you will pay all expenses, and I will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law!!!! you may not be happy now, think what the lawyers can do….   call or email with contact info or the forestery service can get a warrant to pull your cl account and persue in that manner or the lawyers can do it too. you have the number..  either way you need to fix this now… so I can fix and move on…otherwise we go to court and I win Case hands down……. balls in your court!

Then after seeing the ad in another state:

OK HERES THE DEAL YOU LEAVE ME KNOW CHOICE WE GO LEGAL. YOU LOSE! I WILL FINISH THIS..  YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THE TROUBLE YOU HAVE CAUSED ALL PROPER AUTH. ARE CONTACTED AND YOUR ON YOUR WAY TO BANKKRUPTCY !!  PULL IT OR LEAVE IT WORKS FOR ME!

Firstly, I’d like to put it out there, that if anyone has a spare keyboard they want to donate, I will gladly send it along to him.  It appears his caps lock key has been permanently stuck.

Secondly, as I mentioned in my prior posts about his legal threats, he has no legal standing.  He previously accused me of slander (which is spoken defamation), when in actuality if I was defaming him it would have been libel as it was in written form.  He is now accusing me of general defamation.  The problem with his argument/threat is that writing about your actual experience with minimal commentary is not defamation and is considered protected speech.  It is no different than if I went to Applebees, had a bad meal, and then wrote about it on Yelp.

It appears he may have watched too many crime shows.  The forestry department would have no involvement unless I made a report to them about him importing wood from Maine into New Hampshire or vice versa.  I don’t think he did this so I did not make that report.  However the forestry department does not execute warrants.  If he did file a lawsuit, his lawyers would have to issue Craigslist a subpoena for my email address.  I don’t think that the forestry department is going to be kicking in my door with a warrant anytime soon for a civil matter (especially with the sequestration in effect).

If he did file a lawsuit in court, he would either have to pay his lawyer or agree to give the lawyer a percentage of his settlement if he managed to win.  But a defendant does not have to pay for the plaintiff’s legal fees unless it is included in the settlement.  And losing in court does not automatically fling you into bankruptcy.

The emails he has been sending are a clear sign that he’s upset that his dishonest actions have been made public legally.  My perception is that he is throwing around legal terminology in the hopes that I stop making noise and just lose $150 quietly.  His perception is completely wrong.

After I received these emails, I proceeded to file a complaint with the New Hampshire Department and Measures.  They handle any issues concerning cordwood in the state.  They let me know that they would begin an investigation and keep me updated.  I don’t have any high expectations of getting my money back, but I can at least take some comfort if he does not further scam fellow residents of New Hampshire.  I recommend anyone else who has had a similar problem to contact their department of Weights and Measures.

A few days after that chain I received this entertaining email from him:

you really have no clue here do you. keep posting its your money!  you will get money with a public note explaining why you broke the law in more than one way, on here and in the local news papers, on both sites and they will need to be posted as long as they were up on cl. will talk with the lawyers in regards how much you will be responsible for this is not a power trip or a game here!  you were patient as was i still dealing with the shit on my end ..  then I was patient with you NOW IM NOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .  were going to court!  you`ll have to wait for your money even longer now.  could have brought you wood to fix but then you pulled this stunt!!!!!

It was tough to read with the excessive typos and exclamation points but I managed.  He really has no new points but is just regurgitating his same falsehoods about some imaginary law. I then sent him an email when the money did not arrive in my mail this past Saturday….a full week after he once again told me it was coming.

waiting for lawer to supena craigs list correspondence in regards to the postings…. if he tells me to send, I send. If he says wait for court we wait.. simple solution, not your ads you get money next day! If they are your ads we go to court. period.  I too am in touch with authorities in regards to this situation..  

I replied to him just to let him know how the legal system actually works and that he is still the party at fault in this situation regardless of if or how I publicized his poor business practices.  That has caused a few days of radio silence.  It definitely appears that he is irritated by the general public knowing about his dishonest practices so hopefully that puts some pressure on him to correct the situation.

Empty Threats

So as you faithful readers of this blog may know, I’ve been dealing with a guy (John Alfano or John Works depending on what day of the week it is) who scammed me when I gave him money to deliver firewood and he never did.  Rather than going through the court system, I figured the best thing to do was to warn others and inform the community about how to avoid this situation.  Part of this mission was posting to Craigslist in New Hampshire and Maine (where I had originally found this guy) to let people know what happened to me and provide his information so they would know his past business dealings when looking for firewood.   A few weeks went by and I had received many positive emails from people in New Hampshire and Maine saying they had similar experiences with this guy or they had other bad firewood experiences.  About a week ago I got several “excited” emails from the guy that took my money but delivered no wood.  I normally wouldn’t publish these for all to see, but I wasn’t big on how he threatened me.  So for the internet’s pleasure, I now present the unedited emails:

First:

john works <ac4c188df6fd3ad086487af8de66ad3f@reply.craigslist.org>	Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 7:56 AM
To: rqbtm-3656101166@sale.craigslist.org
Not sure who you are but the lawyers will by using my name and the way you did what you did is called slander and its worth alot of money in court. if I owe you wood its because i`ve had some problems on my end call me on my phone and leave a number to call and will call today as far as this ad goes its already been forwarded to lawyer and will proceed to take legal action in the am!!!!!!!  is a little wood worth thousands to you……    you have my number.  delete add then call will settle this now…    several laws have been broken you probably have know Idea or you would not have posted!!!!!

Followed a little later by:

john works <ac4c188df6fd3ad086487af8de66ad3f@reply.craigslist.org>	Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 1:31 PM
To: rqbtm-3656101166@sale.craigslist.org
you must have not got last e-mail yet personal info not allowed and slander in the public can be wort a lot more than a cord of wood you may want to call me and leave a message when this is removed.   I will not tolerate this kind of game.   my intentions have not changed as to finish the prior commitment but when something like this is done it changes all the rules..  I will prosecute to the fullest extent of the LAW!  including any and all future earnings which could be lost due to someone else!  could have been handled in a diff. prof. manner! even if I dropped the ball you never even saw the ball.   by the way the ball is now in your court! you will also be held responsible for all legal costs as well.   you have my phone number and my e-mail your up!   john alfano 207-710-8517 you probably have no idea of what this means in a courtroom.

And finally in response the the same ad on the Maine Craigslist:

john works <bd7f465bfd3134a89239825d40235b48@reply.craigslist.org>	Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 1:38 PM
To: wzw7j-3662996215@sale.craigslist.org

this is also another state which you crossed the line with so you really need to fix this fast as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Lawyers love these kind of cases as the are a winner for them!!!   clocks ticking gonna be an expensive cord of wood….  bankruptcy mean anything to you?

 

I had a good chuckle, as did everyone I showed these too.  He flagged my posts and they were taken down shortly thereafter (which is fair, because it was technically posted in the wrong category according to the guidelines).

If you are ever in a similar situation, then please don’t let these sort of tactics intimidate you.  First off, slander is spoken word and libel is written.  So if any of this was untrue it may be considered libel.  However due to the fact that I only published my personal and truthful experience with him (which is well documented via email), there is absolutely no way it would be considered libel.  Also I figured if he was ripping me off for $150, I can’t imagine he would have the money handy to pay the legal fees necessary for a civil case.

Its been over a week and I have yet to hear from his lawyer who was supposed to be ready to take all my money and force me into bankruptcy.

My advice is when dealing with people or companies that have wronged you, is to tell the truth.  By not lying and documenting what happened, its clear that I committed no crimes.  The truth will always work best.  Make sure to not let a person or company push you around with threats (Especially when they have egregious uses of exclamation points and dollar signs).   The only unfortunate part of this story is that taking money for a promised future service and never delivering, is not a criminal matter but a civil matter.

Remain cautious out there when doing any sort of business over Craigslist and try to always get the deal in writing.

Update on firewood issue

After being out $150 on paying for firewood that was never delivered (see all my previous posts about a man calling himself “John Alfano”), I decided it was time to try  again to get firewood for next winter.  I placed an ad on Craigslist to try and gauge what prices were for green and unsplit cords of wood in my area.  Having lost $150 via a Craigslist transaction on wood recently, I was very leery but thought it was worth a shot if I was careful.

I had hoped to hear from someone with an established company that I could verify had a good reputation either through online sources or friends.  I was surprised when I received the following reply to my ad:

It was a reply by the same guy who scammed me.  Craigslist now allows replies both ways to be anonymous, so I can’t verify his actual email address.  However, the phone number given here is the same one that was used by the man who had ripped me off before.  When I was dealing with him, he used “John Alfano” as his email name.  It looks like he has switched to using “John Works” in his correspondence.  His phone number of “207-710-8517” has remained the same.

I replied to him asking why he was trying to deliver wood to other people but claiming he had numerous issues preventing him from delivering to me.  The response I received was “This isn’t John but I will forward your email to him”.  That doesn’t make much sense and I think he might have been embarrassed to be caught red-handed like that.

As of today I still haven’t received my wood or my money back from him (although it has been requested numerous times over the past 2 months).

I did receive a few good leads however from Craigslist on firewood and I will be checking those out.

Yelp review for John Alfano and his firewood

A Yelp review has been started as another source for reviews and information on John Alfano and the firewood he sells/tries to sell/promises, etc.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/john-alfano-firewood-biddeford#hrid:_Ktg4n9_8J9D2_A-b5V_7w

If you’ve had any interactions with him, good or bad, make sure to leave a review.  From all the comments it seems that my situation has not been unique so using Yelp will provide another good resource for people buying firewood in the Seacoast of New Hampshire.

Update on John Alfano and his Firewood Scam

I received an email from someone who has also done business with John Alfano and had a very poor experience buying firewood from him.

They said he has a new ad on Craigslist in NH.  http://nh.craigslist.org/fod/3618683821.html

He is now advertising for grapple loads of logs in Rochester, Somersworth, Farmington. If his past dealings are any indication, he most likely will be unreliable and a rip-off artist selling a grapple load of logs.  If he has trouble selling one cord of wood, one can only imagine the issues that will happen with 7 or 8 cords of logs.

It probably doesn’t matter what form of wood he’s selling, but its best to steer clear of John Alfano.

I’ll keep posting anytime I hear or see an update of what John Alfano is doing and hopefully keep up the effort to prevent him from scamming more people out of firewood.

 

Another Warning about John Alfano

I had posted warnings on Craigslist in both New Hampshire and Maine about being cautious of any transactions with John Alfano involving firewood.  I received an email reply from a guy named Matt in Rochester.  He said he provided his address on Monday March 4th and was told that he would be receiving wood that day.  On Friday March 8th, he still hasn’t received his wood and said he’d be going elsewhere.  There seems to be a pattern here.

The scam involving John Alfano

I posted an ad on the New Hampshire Craigslist looking for green, unsplit firewood to be delivered to be in Dover, New Hampshire.  I received a reply from a man calling himself “John Alfano”.  The email that he used was “woodchopped@gmail.com” and the phone number I used to call him is 207-710-8517.  He drives a fairly new, full-size Toyota Tundra that is either dark blue or black.  His wife drives an older, dark green Chevy Suburban with vanity plates on it.  He said he was from Maine (not sure where) and both cars had Maine license plates.

After talking, we agreed that I would buy two cords of unsplit, green wood from him for $150 a piece, so $300 total.  He said he would be by Friday evening with the wood (February 1st, 2013).  He showed up an hour after he said he would be there and when he arrived said he only had time to bring the one cord then.  He said that he would deliver the other cord  first thing the next morning, Saturday February 2nd.  I wasn’t going to be around, so I paid him in full ($300) on the promise that he deliver the rest of the wood the next morning.  We shook hands and he left.

Saturday came and went with no delivery.  I called him first thing Sunday morning to ask when he was coming.  He promised that he would bring the wood by that afternoon, or first thing the next morning at the latest.  Sunday and Monday came and went with no wood delivery.  That week, I called him three days in a row and each day he made the same promise that it would be that day.  The wood was never delivered.

After that point, he stopped answering his cell phone.  He replied sporadically to my frequent emails.  Each time he had an excuse.  Either he had poor cell service, the weather was bad, or things came up.  Then after two weeks I heard nothing further from him.  Only after I sent him an email letting him know if I didn’t get my money back or the wood, I would be filing a police report, did he reply again.

This time he said the guy he’d been working with , “Steve”, stole his equipment and his wood.  And to top it off, he wanted to see if I would contact “forestry or sheriff officials” to help track him down.  Not sure why John Alfano has to spin such elaborate lies, but there is a definitely a pattern of not doing what he says he will (and was paid for) and making up excuses.

I went to talk to the police about this matter, and unfortunately they said there was nothing they could do.  Due to the fact that I gave him the money based on an agreement, there is no criminal statute that has been broken.  If I wanted to pursue him for restitution, I would need to file a civil case against him which would cost $180.  So it appears that I am out $150 due to John Alfano scamming me and ripping me off.

I am continuing to email and call him, and still getting responses that he will “try” to deliver the wood however I can’t believe that it will happen anytime soon.

My recommendation is that if someone named “John Alfano” contacts you about delivering wood, cutting trees, etc. that you steer clear of him.  He clearly is unreliable at best, and a scam artist at worse.  He appears to be taking money from hard-working individuals.  The email he was using was “woodchopped@gmail.com” and the phone number he used to contact me is 207-810-8517.

It is a shame that this happens still, but I hope to inform people in the area so they can save their hard-earned money.

—

Why this blog?

I started this blog to document my experience getting ripped off in a firewood transaction.  The guy’s name was John Alfano and he’s from Maine.  My hope is that by documenting my experience here and spreading awareness, that he is unable to continue to rip-off hard working people in New Hampshire and Maine

How to prevent being ripped off with firewood

I’ve learned the hard way how to not be ripped off when buying firewood.  I lost $150 but I hope that I can save as many people as possible from making the same mistakes.  Most firewood dealers are reputable, but the bad apples out there can easily ruin the experience of heating your home with wood.  In many cases, most people don’t have extra money to buy more wood so they may be literally left in the cold.

Tips:

1.  Get a recommendation on who to buy wood from.  Talk to your neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, etc. to find out who they have bought wood from and see how their experience was.  Do a quick Google search of the person just to see if anything red flags pop-up that you may not know of.  Its always best to do business with someone who has been fair to people you know.  They like the new business, and don’t want to lose their other customers by ripping you off.  If you can’t find any suggestions, try to find a company that has a legitimate business in place.  That way you know where to go if the deal goes wrong.  If a company does landscaping, tree work, etc. and sells wood on the side, they are hopefully going to be honest to keep their reputation.  Check to see if they have a location, a business card, etc.    Then check Google, the Better Business Bureau, etc. to see if anyone has complained.  Doing your homework can help make sure you get what you pay for.

2.  Get a receipt.  If the person selling you wood doesn’t give you a receipt, ask for one.  If they don’t have them, you can make one yourself.  Either write or type one up, including how much wood was being delivered, how much you were paying for it, and the date.  Have the seller sign it and sign it yourself.  If they want you can give them a copy as well.  This gives you proof if they do not deliver the full amount.

3.  Know how much is in a cord of wood.  One cord is 4x4x8 of stacked wood.  It is sometimes hard to tell how much you have when the wood is piled in a truck or trailer.  Most places will just dump the wood in place and not stack it for you (some may for an additional fee).  Once you stack the wood, measure the size of the pile.  If it comes up short, talk to the dealer.  If they are honest, they should bring you more wood for no charge.  If they dispute it, then it is probably a good idea to move on.  Having a receipt will help you keep the pressure on them to keep honest.

4.  Never pay ahead of time.  Always pay on delivery.  With cash transactions, it is always difficult to prove what happened.  Pay once the wood is delivered and you can make sure that your received what you wanted.  If a dealer requests pre-payment, try to go somewhere else.  Or you can have them fill out a contract to show that you are paying them ahead of time and specify how much wood you are to get and when.

5. Spread the word.  The wood business is a tough business.  If you have a good experience with someone, tell people you know so that you can help that business out.  Word of mouth is valuable for these hard working men.  If you have a bad experience, also spread the word.  Tell your neighbors, tell Craigslist, make a blog, etc.  If scam artists start finding they can’t sell their product, they will either get out of the business all together or change their ways.

6.  Use your judgement.  If a deal seems too good to be true, the dealer seems sketchy, or deliveries are unreliable, use your judgement.  Common sense goes a long way.

I hope these tips can help people who heat with wood to get a fair deal. I was ripped off by a man named “John Alfano” from Maine.  His email is woodchopped@gmail.com and his phone number is 207-710-8157.  I will never do business with him again.

Good luck!