B.C. man ordered to repay $3,800 after providing couple with 'absolute garbage' firewood

A B.C. couple who claimed a truckload of firewood they paid $3,800 for turned out to be "unusable" has been awarded a refund at the province's small claims tribunal.

A B.C. couple who claimed a truckload of firewood they paid $3,800 for turned out to be "unusable" has been awarded a refund at the province's small claims tribunal.

Michael James Hoglund and Tammy Lynne Hoglund purchased a logging truck load of firewood from Karl Blackmore in February 2022, according to the Civil Resolution Tribunal ruling in their case, which was published online Thursday. 

The pair told the tribunal the wood was delivered after dark during a snowstorm, and remained covered with snow until spring. When they were ready to process the "raw logs" in the spring, they found that the wood quality was "very low," according to the decision, which does not say where in B.C. the dispute unfolded.

They took Blackmore to the CRT seeking $5,000, representing a refund of the $3,800 cash they paid for the unusable wood, plus the cost of having it removed from their property.

For his part, Blackmore told the tribunal the Hoglunds didn't complain about the quality of the wood when he delivered it, and argued there was no proof that the wood the couple provided photos of was the same wood he sold them.

As the party bringing the claim, the Hoglunds had the burden of proving their allegations on a balance of probabilities, meaning it's "more likely than not" that what they alleged is true. In her decision, tribunal member Leah Volkers concluded they had done just that.

The Hoglunds submitted statements from two experts in support of their claim. The first was Mike Luke, described in the decision as the local logger the couple initially contacted in search of firewood.