Correction: A story on page 13 of the Nov. 7 issue should have stated
Murray Stanton has been selling hay for 20 years, not 25. As well, the
price of his hay was $160 per tonne, not $165.
Hay deals gone wrong have burned at least three families in Alberta and
Saskatchewan.
In some cases, a woman looking for feed phoned farmers using the
Alberta Agriculture feed and hay listings service. In other cases,
farmers looking to buy feed phoned her. They gave her a deposit, but
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never received feed.
Henry Thomas of Kincaid, Sask., was called by a woman claiming to be an
Alberta rancher desperate for feed.
“She sounded really nice on the phone so I said OK,” Thomas said.
She arranged transportation and promised to send $20,000 with the truck
driver.
Four days later, the driver arrived with no money. Thomas was reluctant
to load the hay so the driver phoned his boss. Thomas was assured the
woman was honest because she allegedly worked for the Alberta
government.
He let the first load go and when the trucker returned for more,
Kincaid called the woman, who said the money was directly deposited in
his account.
A personal cheque for $20,000 with a Quebec address finally arrived and
was held for seven business days. A stop payment order was issued just
before it could clear.
When Thomas contacted the woman, she told him several stories. Doing
his own detective work, he learned where the hay ended up and collected
most of his money from those who finally received it.
Ross and Glenda Hill, new producers living near Ponoka, Alta., needed
greenfeed and contacted a person on the hay list. A blonde, middle-aged
woman and a small child came to their home. The women was friendly and
persuasive, they said.
On Oct. 5, the couple gave her a cheque to cover a $2,000 deposit for a
load of greenfeed for delivery on Oct. 9. The feed never arrived and
repeated phone calls yielded a plethora of excuses. They finally asked
for their money back but so far, nothing has happened.
The Hills grew suspicious when they learned the cheque was cashed at a
Calgary Money Mart.
Murray Stanton has been selling hay for 25 years and has farms at
Innisfail, Alta., and Valleyview, Alta. He listed 500 hay bales from
his Valleyview farm and a woman contacted him with an offer to buy. He
asked for a $25,000 deposit with the rest payable when the hay was
delivered and deemed satisfactory by the customer.
He received assurances the money would be directly deposited in his
bank account.
In the meantime, a trucker picked up the hay without Stanton’s
knowledge and delivered it to a farm at Okotoks, Alta. Stanton happened
to know the trucker, who thought everything was above board. The
Okotoks buyers paid $135 per tonne and had already given the woman a
$2,000 deposit for greenfeed. Stanton’s price was $165 per tonne.
Repeated requests for payment have been unsuccessful. However, a woman
claiming to the buyer’s sister offered Stanton her car as collateral.
The car remains at Stanton’s farm.
He assumed the woman was a hay broker. Stanton still believes she may
have started with honest intentions, but got in over her head because
she did not have enough capital to back the deals.
The farmers have contacted the RCMP and worry more people may have
been hurt in this series of deals.
