The Consumer Guarantees Act, administered by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, covers the supply of firewood. This requires that goods must be fit for the purpose they are sold/bought for.
Ideally, purchasers should check the wood on delivery and refuse to accept it if it is not sufficiently dried. You can bring some freshly split pieces in to Environment Canterbury to be tested. If our meters confirm it is wet, you need to go back to the seller and ask for it to be replaced with dry wood or ask for a refund.
If you don't get any satisfaction, you can take it to the Disputes Tribunal, however there is a cost (about $30.00). However, a threat to do so may work in some cases.
The Commerce Commission administers the Fair Trading Act and could take action if, for instance, the seller misleadingly advertised dry wood and did not deliver. They do not take individual cases, but would possibly follow up if there was a trend, however of about 16,000 complaints last year they followed up on just 600.
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