Customers purchasing lumber should beware of touts, contractors’ collusion- Lumber dealers

Sep 17, 2011 News

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By Rabindra Rooplall

 

Lumber dealers are expressing their disgust at ‘touts’ who they say are affecting their business and in turn colluding with contractors to rob the unsuspecting patrons who have little or no ideas about lumber measurement and what exactly they are paying for.
One lumber dealer who was brave enough to go on record, Jainarine Singh, of Rainforest Lumber said that his daughter who is involved in his lumber business which is located in the city under “Sharmila Persaud”, has numerous issues with touts who are in essence damaging the business atmosphere where she trades.
Noting that consumers should be shown a license by persons claiming to be a lumber dealer, especially the touts, Singh said that the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) grants permission by way of a license to persons in the lumber trade.

However, if an individual does not have such a licence customers, should not partake in any business with these defaulters, majority of which are touts.
Adding that the licence costs $50,000, Singh said that in order for someone to be given a permit that person must fulfill certain specifications by the Forestry Commission. Only persons holding a licence should interact with clientele.
He further explained that a tout might approach a suspecting customer sometimes before or after a sale, and the customer would receive a price from the dealer, “let’s say its $150 a BM for a piece of wood, but the touts would pull them aside and tell the customer that they can get it for $130 because everyone is looking to save money.
“But in the long run the customers don’t get the measurement that they really ordered since very few people are capable of checking their lumber to know what they receive. The result is that their building cannot be completed.
They then come back to the lumber yard accusing the lumber owner of all sorts of things.”
The lumber dealer, who has been in the business for decades, further said that many of the touts have their own bill books. However, these bill books do not coincide with the forestry licences.
“There was even an incident the other day where one of them (tout) robbed a lady, and the lady get a piece of wood and put some lash on he and he had to give back the woman her money. These touts are overdoing this thing and hampering genuine sales. The police need to intervene,” Singh said.
Underscoring that some of the contractors are also involved in skullduggery, Singh said that all contractors should be registered since many persons after working some time with a contractor, would venture out on their own.
These persons collude with some lumber dealers to also fleece customers of their money. “In some cases contractors cover up for the touts. Many customers are being robbed…In some cases contractors could reduce the size of the house without the owner even knowing.”
In recalling an unfortunate event that happened decades ago, Singh noted that a contractor bought lumber for a customer to build a house. After purchasing the wood, the contractors returned with a sad story. He related that he had some other work to take care of and could not have carried through with the house building project.
The individual eventually had to purchase an additional truck load of wood since the amount bought was not the amount needed to complete the house. The contractor robbed the customer a large sum of money.
He also noted that the Forestry Commission can be contacted if customers need to enquire how to measure their lumber that is being purchased. Lumber yards should be able to advise customers on what are the best types of wood that can be used for interior or the exterior of their homes.
“These shortages the local contractors are talking about is strange. Sometimes contractor ‘A’ is buying wood from lumber yard ‘A’. If lumber yard A does not have all the wood he would still wait, but lumber yard ‘B’ has the necessary wood, but then he can’t get a kickback from lumber yard ‘B’ so he will wait on lumber yard A.” Singh lamented. “Some people are watching and they getting rob and don’t even know they getting rob.”
Another lumber dealer in the city, who prefers to remain anonymous, says touts affect the business ability to attract customers, and are outside of his and other dealers’ premises, influencing customers to buy from them (the touts) instead.
While not admitting that the lumber yard owners may have contributed to the situation, the dealer explained how the touts operate.
“They would purchase wood from the dealer, and offer it at a lower rate to the customers. The only way someone could sell a product for less than he bought it, would be by cheating the customer in some way. The touts give the customers less than they pay for.”
He added that carpenters who know the touts would approach them to purchase on behalf of their clients, and collect a commission in return.
The dealer claimed that while the touts furnish their customers with receipts of purchase, these are often labeled with fictitious names. “The bill has no TIN (tax identification number) and no telephone number,” he declared, adding that this precludes the payment of taxes.

 

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