[/IMG] Please be warned of a bad situation that can come from a timber solicitation that my Mom received in the mail last week. Even though a company's concept, offers and intentions all sound good, their website looks good and their representative speaks with good experience boasting a pedigree of association memberships, employment background, etc...don't be fooled. The advertisement that my Mom received, fails to mention vital information of public record that should be addressed prior to unsuspecting land owners contracting with this company. The owner has scammed numerous land owners including neighbors in our own community by stealing thousands and thousands of dollars in timber from them while making dishonest promises to them. Their company name has changed many times and they hold several different addresses in areas of Virginia as well as NC, making it hard to track their business records and references. The owner of WoodForest has used other business names like Taiga Inc, Empire Timber Corp, and Taiga Land & Lumber... which if you find on a BBB listing, will mostly note B ratings due to lack of information available. Brian Glover, William Massey, David Faircloth and RW Hasty may be experienced in the timber trade but are known to be related to or associated with each other and/or with the above businesses and some of them have been assessed with civil penalties and fines well over $100,000 publicly listed by the Virginia Forest Watch Org alone. Even in the toughest of economic times, if you are contacted by WoodForest or any other timber cruiser, buyer or logging company or you are considering selling your land or timber, remember to ask for current references... even though some references need references. You can also contact th NC Extension's Forest Resources Dept for guidance. Seek a well-known LOCAL company if possible. Post a personal reference here if you have had a positive experience with a timber company recently. Any one or any company can always improve or change for the better, but unfortunately many victims blind-sided by crooks, like a few timber company theives, have not and will not, find justice or reimbursement. Switching company names has helped these types of scam artists avoid detection, prosecution and/or payment of claims which allows them to stay in business. From personal experience and the mere thought of "wolves in sheep's clothing" preying on my unexpecting elderly "Mother Sheep" that owns land with timber, please do not rely on the words on a postcard or a salesperson speaking over the phone alone. This is just HomeGirl's way of saying...Don't mess with my MaMa and whatever you do...Don't mess with my 4042 friends in my HomeTown!!! TIMBERRRRRRRR!!!
