Robert Harris Custom Cue Comp transaction HELP?!?

[petes6ss1120]

Up until this post, I would have ordered a custom from Mr. Harris.
I've admired some of the sleeve designs he's used, original or not.
When you see a design that looks clean and pretty, that's enough
to get me interested. And like I wrote, I've admired his cue-making.

I cannot explain what happened nor why but there are bound to be
some underlying circumstances that only petes66 and Mr. Harris are
entitled to know about. I am not suggesting there is an excuse for
what's happened but there's got to be some extenuating circumstances.

Anyway, now that the Az community is becoming involved, nothing but
worse will come from this already bad situation unless Mr. Harris comes
forth and straightens this out which I sincerely hope he decides to do quickly.

Like I wrote, this is horrible but I am not ready to throw the towel in on Harris
Custom Cues, at least not just yet. But rest assured, if this doesn't get fixed,
I'm a much worse enemy than friend & I'm considered to be a great friend too.
Well, the Az community is basically the same.......it can help or hurt business.

Robert, make me proud and don't leave me hanging in the breeze on this one.
You need to get this fixed fast or you will suffer financially a lot worse than the
price of these 3 cues. Your reputation is your brand and right now, your brand
isn't doing too good. Do not ruin it because recovering a good reputation is not
only a daunting challenge but critically important for any thriving enterprise.

Refund the money you have to OP and then sell the cues later to someone else
or offer the cues to the OP but step up to the plate on this opportunity to try and
turn chicken shit into chicken salad. It won't taste any better but it looks a lot
better than the status quo which will go downhill fast if you do not act quickly.


Matt B.

Well said Matt . Just to be clear and fair I'm not taking anything away from Mr.Harris workmanship . Although when dealing with customers when something is discussed and agreed upon in the beginning then I believe your job should be to stay true to it . His enthusiasm in the begging for what we were trying to create Was well received by me and enjoyed talking cues with him .We all go through problems in this life there are many more details through out this build that raised concerns though . One of them was that one of the second builds wasn't up to par so he had to restart although I saw a similar cue that he was posting for sale . I tried calling for a while , sent texts in 2015 (1 year and half later + ) with no response ( I have all texts , emails ) he then texted me saying sorry for the delay . The bottom line is that if I would of know that this build would of taken so long I would not have ventured into his build . I would of appreciated some honesty to at least give me the choice of pursuing this cue build . When a time estimation of 3 months each cue was given maybe earlier I already said to myself and him if it takes longer I understand , but not 2 and half years+ later with the latest excuse being he had filed for bankruptcy. With other cue builder they had always fallen right in there timeline which I had become accustomed to , it's obvious I would be seeking the same professionalism in this situation also . Sorry if not making a lot of sense but I'm typing away at work.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Fast Lenny]

I have seen his cues going up for sale cheap and I was surprised because the quality and inlays seemed to be nice. Sorry to hear about your troubles and for the money you were spending you should have been well taken care of.

 

[CJH]

Lot's of sound input here so far. Nobody likes to hear when someone becomes ill or injured to the point they can't work. However, this is no excuse for leaving a customer out his money and empty handed. One could make some arrangement to send refund money if the customer will not wait until health recovers. This is the cue makers responsibility! I stopped tolerating this type of crap in any business transaction. First, remove your risk from the transaction. Provide little to no upfront money or a very small % of the total job. Next, if things turn bad, go after your money as aggressively as you can within the law. Lawyers know how to do this beginning with one, very aggressive correspondence that explains that paying back the original amount is the easiest, softest path. After that, it gets increasingly more expensive including attorney fees. In my opinion, if you can order $5500 worth of custom cues, you can afford the lawyers letter.

If the OP's story is accurate, the cue maker is a criminal. He stole.

 

[sciarco]

Johnnyt ur bang on hard to trust any one these days.

 

[15cherries]

harris cue dealer

the dealer on AZ seems to have 8 new Robert Harris cues for sale and the OP doesn't have his cues yet? How does a builder make excuses for this? The 3 he has listed look fantastic and very high quality so I hope the OP gets his cues and they are as nice!

 

[worktheknight]

A couple of things surprise me here.

First, most cue makers have a number of cues in process at different stages for years. It would surprise me if someone felt a cue maker should stop the process on a bunch of other cues to make 3 cues, A nice hunk of money, for sure, but hardly enough to live on.

It also surprises me that Robert has not contacted often to give updates or to send photo's of the process. If I was buying a custom designed cue, I would want updates.

I also am hoping like heck that Robert gets this straightened out to satisfaction as I have had nothing but 100 % appreciation and respect of the Robert Harris Cues I have sold. I am not a super store by any means, but, I have sold 21 of the 25 cues I have negotiated with Mr. Harris to sell.

I myself, also find surprising that ANY cue maker takes on a job to "make" a cue for someone. I would believe it would be totally tough to deliver. If I could make cues, and trust me, I can't pound a nail straight, but, I believe the failure rate starts for a cue maker when he takes a custom order.

That being said, I Totally understand what this OP is stating. I however, will wait until the other side of the world, Mr. Harris, responds.

I of course am hoping this gets resolved soon for both parties and if cues can not be provided, the situation taken care.

Good Luck to both

 

[Billiardbills]

I just wanted to clarify this post is regarding Robert Harris of the panhandle area of Florida.

The Harris name gets confused a lot as there are several of them.

Ted Harris Custom Cues- Ft Lauderdale area, makes very limited amount of great cues. Great guy and a friend of mine.

Richard Harris Bluegrass Custom Cues- Winchester Ohio, makes some very nice cues in limited quantities.

Bob Harris Custom Cues- Cue dealer, collector and maker out of KY.

 

[poolguy4u]

I just wanted to clarify this post is regarding Robert Harris of the panhandle area of Florida.

The Harris name gets confused a lot as there are several of them.

Ted Harris Custom Cues- Ft Lauderdale area, makes very limited amount of great cues. Great guy and a friend of mine.

Richard Harris Bluegrass Custom Cues- Winchester Ohio, makes some very nice cues in limited quantities.

Bob Harris Custom Cues- Cue dealer, collector and maker out of KY.

:thumbup:



I'm glad you made this clear.

I didn't know and was hoping it wasn't Ted Harris.

Some don't remember...but Ted was going through some hard times a few years

ago and then someone came in and helped him out and gave him life again.





.

 

[jimmyg]

I understand that some cues are more intricate than others and require extra time and attention, but....How many actual "labor hours" does it take to make an average cue?

There are 8760 hours in a year, unless a cuemaker has a backlog of several hundred cues, I find it difficult to understand why there would be a multi-year wait for a cue. But, as long as buyers are willing to accept the current "pay and wait" system, it will remain. IMO.

 

[Type79]

I understand that some cues are more intricate than others and require extra time and attention, but....How many actual "labor hours" does it take to make an average cue?

There are 8760 hours in a year,IMO.

There are actually 2,080 hours in a year of 40 hour work weeks. If a custom cue is being made by a professional cuemaker, a new order will be in line behind other orders.

 

[jimmyg]

Originally Posted by jimmyg View Post: I understand that some cues are more intricate than others and require extra time and attention, but....How many actual "labor hours" does it take to make an average cue?

There are 8760 hours in a year, unless a cuemaker has a backlog of several hundred cues, I find it difficult to understand why there would be a multi-year wait for a cue. But, as long as buyers are willing to accept the current "pay and wait" system, it will remain. IMO.

There are actually 2,080 hours in a year of 40 hour work weeks. If a custom cue is being made by a professional cuemaker, a new order will be in line behind other orders.

The question remains...

 

[petes6ss1120]

Respectfully I understand what your are saying , BUT shouldn't this time frame be shared with a customer that the build may take that long instead of saying 3 months each cue to tie up the customers cash and have him wait ? 06/04/2014 was when money orders were made . This isn't my first build Im not some kid off the block who just thought let me get a cue built out of no where.I am well aware of time frames , I expressed this to Robert himself . But cmon man stop with the excuses anyone on AZ who was in the same boat as me would react the same way. ( I'm assuming) As I stated previously I was sent updates via text with the progress of the second cue .He did send me updates up to April 14th 2015 then in June I sent to him how are the cues looking ? (not being annoying at all and very respectful ), i get a text back saying looking good sorry for the delay . In September I sent a text again asking for an update ....No answer...mind I have tried calling without an answer . Novemeber 16th I send a casual "hey Robert how are you" no answer novemeber 24 th I ask "please Robert give me a call when you can.thank you." he gives me an update that there are issues with cue and he has to make modifications . No phone call nothing just a simple curious update for taking a longer time . I mean c'mon I understand builders have there schedule but give me a call , talk to me , I'm not an unreasonable guy but when i feel like I'm being pushed off and ignored how much patients can one show?Again I didn't give the timeline he did . Plus 2 1/2 years guys really ?!?!?! There is a lot more details I have investigated and noticed (which I have threw texts) .The one thing i can't understand is since then he has sold countless cues NOT CUSTOM ORDERS just cues that are posted on the wanted for sale forum ,I'm the one who his left on the back burners ? The customer who made a custom order and payed you pretty much upfront ?!?!?! (the stupidest thing I could of done !!!!).Its funny I can ask a few guys on here how long there cues took to build and I'm sure they wouldn't say 2 1/2 years!!!!!


Thank you Pete

 

[petes6ss1120]

I just wanted to clarify this post is regarding Robert Harris of the panhandle area of Florida.

The Harris name gets confused a lot as there are several of them.

Ted Harris Custom Cues- Ft Lauderdale area, makes very limited amount of great cues. Great guy and a friend of mine.

Richard Harris Bluegrass Custom Cues- Winchester Ohio, makes some very nice cues in limited quantities.

Bob Harris Custom Cues- Cue dealer, collector and maker out of KY.

Thank you !!! I know Ted Harris in Fort Lauderdale also and I'm glad you made this clarification Bill .

 

[Bavafongoul]

One of my custom cues took nearly 25 hours of cue-maker programming time for just the design alone.
That was without any wood crafting or inlays being cut & trimmed; the pool cue took > 80 hrs & 14 mths.
Progress pictures along the way attest to the detailed, painstaking labor required to complete this cue.
The price I received was a bargain for what was involved and the cue actually turned out magnificent.

 

[jimmyg]

One of my custom cues took nearly 25 hours of cue-maker programming time for just the design alone.
That was without any wood crafting or inlays being cut & trimmed; the pool cue took > 80 hrs & 14 mths.
Progress pictures along the way attest to the detailed, painstaking labor required to complete this cue.
The price I received was a bargain for what was involved and the cue actually turned out magnificent.

Although 25 hours of "cue-maker programming time" seems lot an awful lot of hours, not to mention the cost of those programming hours, I have no reason or basis to doubt your numbers.

That said, 14 months, two years, or any amount of time longer than two years, still seems very excessive to me. I can have a custom made suit made in two to four weeks, a complete home designed and built, or a Russian mail order bride delivered in less time. :smile:

 

[Bavafongoul]

I keep hearing that people can order and get a great custom cue in 90 days.
All of the cue-makers I have ever done any business, or spoken with, disagree.

The amount of time that custom cue-makers assign to their builds isn't from laziness.
Longer periods of time in between phases of construction isn't from the cue-maker being
lazy or too busy with other cue orders to get around to finishing the cue you ordered.


30 years from now my cues will look great. There won't be any flaws or quality issues with
any of my cues. The fastest I ever got one of my customs was just under a year and along
the way I received progress photos. As I mentioned, the last one took 14 months from start
to finish which included a lot of design discussion at the outset of the order placement.

Bob even made me a fancy set of protectors with matching rings......there are 32 ivory & abalone
inlays in every ring on my cue & even the protectors. Each inlay needed to be hand trimmed for a
perfect fit and then set into place. It can indeed take a long time for some custom cue designs.


None of this has anything to do with the dilemma at hand. Let's keep in mind this is the same
guy that for the past 5 years gave away a free cue via a drawing on the Forum that anyone
could enter. It was his expression of appreciation for the being successful at cue-making.

Now I haven;t the foggiest idea why this happened or is taking so long to resolve. I want to
believe there are mitigating circumstances, or at least I'd like to believe that. I have just been
lucky to have chosen a couple of great guys to work with on my last 4 customs. My experience
was so wonderful that I immediately ordered a 2nd custom after receiving the first one. The
communication was great, the cue-makers are really talented and there weren't "any" problems.

The Forum needs something positive to come out of this crappy situation and Mr. Harris is in the
best position to make that happen. I am betting that he will.........I sure hope so.



Matt B.

 

[petes6ss1120]

Once again let it be clear I'm not taking anything away from Mr.Harris ability's and although your story's of enjoyment of dealing
with people who have built your cues or have done some kind of custom work ,I wish I could say the same thing .
Of course time frames of 3 months is a short time depending of course on work load .I chose Mr Harris for a reason , he obviously has talent .
All I'm doing is posting my experience to find a remedy to my situation . Matt your 14 months may be accurate although you had progress picks and
updates throughout . My updates suddenly stopped .Bottom line 2 1/2 years later if I was properly informed I could have gotten 3 cues from different
makers in a time frame of at the most your 14 months . I mean cmon even after texting and calling instead of text don't i deserve a phone call ?!?
I gave $3,500 of MY hard earned money !!

 

[ribdoner]

no deposits!!!!!!! = no problems!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no deal with makers that want deposits

 

[Quesports]

I think that any cue maker has a right to ask for a deposit on a custom cue. The deposit is not the issue. The problems arise when the cue maker does not deliver as promised which would be an issue with or without the deposit. If there was a written contract giving a deliver date or even a window for delivery a lot of these issues might not arise at all. The word of mouth contract or promise is where the trouble seems to come from IMO. A written contract giving some description of the cue and the estimated delivery time window might be a way of stopping issues before they ever arise. I have never needed to do so myself on a builds because I did business with cue makers that have been doing cue making full time for over twenty years. Each of them has always delivered on time or ahead of schedule. Not sure what advice to give the OP other than to get legal advice and take action as necessary. Waiting is senseless the cue maker has most likey read this thread or has been made aware of it by now. JMO!

 

[jazznpool]

no deposits!!!!!!! = no problems!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no deal with makers that want deposits

Sure, a customer can order an individualized or freak cue and walk away from it no problem. I'm sure lots of excellent cuemakers agree with you. Great way to do businiess. :grin: