Ponderosa Lumber Co

My wife and I buy distressed homes, one at a time, then move in and renovate/remodel. Our current home is 50 years old and many infrastructure elements are nearing the end of their service lives. The roof was one of those unplanned projects we've come to accept as commonplace in homes of this vintage. What started as a tear off and replacement of shingles ended up as a total replacement down to the rafters. I couldn't reuse one sheet of the old plywood sheathing. Everything had to go and paying someone an additional $6,000 to do the extra work simply wasn't in the budget. I had driven by Ponderosa Lumber many times, but had never purchased lumber there. As I am not a fan of big box home improvement stores and always like to promote local businesses, I called Ponderosa Lumber to inquire about the 100 sheets of 1/2" 5-ply CDX that I would need to resheath the roof. Their price was not exceptional, but it was on par and since they would deliver for only $45 more, I went ahead and purchased the materials from them. All went smoothly until the delivery showed up. The delivery truck had a tilting flat bed, similar to a dump truck, which simply tilted back and launched one and a half bunks of plywood onto my driveway. The driver, understandably, had some difficulty getting the load off without damaging the lumber. A piggyback forklift would have been a very good investment. After some ado, the driver dropped the lumber and left. After sifting through the lumber with the job in full progress, I started pulling out sheets that were either defective or not the correct dimensions. There were some 3/8", one or two 1/4" and several damaged or mill defects. I called Ponderosa Lumber and told them of the issue and that it would leave me short and hold up my job. At first, I was advised of a re-stocking fee. I said I don't pay re-stocking fees for bad lumber, try again. Next they said, "Well if you ordered 1/2", then it's 1/2". I asserted my familiarity with tape measures and said I would be by with the defective materials shortly. At the yard, I pulled in with the load and the same guy who delivered came out to look at it. After a painstaking and inordinately long examination of an obvious issue, we unloaded it. Here was one of those defining customer service moments. I inquired whether they had 7 sheets of the same type lumber in stock. Yes. Could I get them right now to replace the bad stuff so I can go on and complete my job? NO!! I had to wait until the next day to get replacements and heard some excuse about their supplier. I really don't care about the supplier. My concern was resheathing a 3,000 sq. ft. roof before the rainstorm came. And then, I had to insist that they deliver it to me amid a pregnant pause and heavy sigh. At the end of the day, I got the lumber as prescribed. But the road getting there was not a pleasant one.