Shaft warped 2~3 mm. Acceptable?

LC3

Playing the table
Silver Member
I bought a used cue on eBay that was advertised as being straight, but it arrived with a warped shaft (2~3 mm when rolled on a flat table). Would you consider that grounds for either a return or a price adjustment? If a price adjustment is in order, should I value the cue as if I had bought just the butt? Thanks!
 
Are you certain that the table is truly level?

I nearly fell over when I test rolled a new 314/2 on my dresser top. When rolled on my pool table, I shown a flashlight under it, and it was perfectly uniform, and also nothing was visible to the naked eye.
 
I bought a used cue on eBay that was advertised as being straight, but it arrived with a warped shaft (2~3 mm when rolled on a flat table). Would you consider that grounds for either a return or a price adjustment? If a price adjustment is in order, should I value the cue as if I had bought just the butt? Thanks!
If you could bend it back to straight, would that be OK? Seems like that would be a lot easier than dealing with a refund and buying a new shaft.
 
I think it depends on what brand of cue it is and how much I paid. 3mm warp is plenty. I think I'd ask for $50 back or return the cue with shipping reimbursed.
 
Return the cue.....you will never be happy, even with a refunded discount.
6.25 mm is equal to 1/4" so it is obvious you have a cue with crooked shafts.
If the seller doesn't refund your payment in full, then you have a crooked seller.
Regardless, crooked is not good for you no matter how you try to rationalize it.
Remember 25.4 mm equals 1 inch so with a 2-3 mm warp, that seems pretty bad.
 
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Thanks for your replies. The cue is on its way back to him. It was a plain jane that, as I recall, sold new for probably a bit over $100. Even with a partial refund toward the cost of a new shaft, it wouldn't have been worth it. I thought about keeping it and trying to straighten the shaft, but it might not have worked and I would have been stuck with it.
 
A couple mm off on a cue that retails for a little over a C note?


A decent shaft alone costs more than a C note.


I would say it's expected when shopping in that market that shaft woods are inferior and methods are inferior. Even if straight when you get it, odds are good it will not stay that way.



Food for thought......



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The cue was advertised as being straight. If the warp were disclosed, I wouldn't have bought it.

If the cue were in today's catalog, it would probably be around $225-250 with a V-Pro shaft (at online retailer prices). But in terms of the cue's resale value, it wasn't worth it.
 
A couple mm off on a cue that retails for a little over a C note?


A decent shaft alone costs more than a C note.


I would say it's expected when shopping in that market that shaft woods are inferior and methods are inferior. Even if straight when you get it, odds are good it will not stay that way.



Food for thought......



.



Yeah, that^

Depending on how accurately you're measuring this it doesn't sound like it's off a lot. Are you talking just about variance in the light you see under the shaft or the tip coming off the table by that much?

If you're looking for perfection in a $100 cue I think you'll end up being disappointed a lot.
 
The cue was advertised as being straight. If the warp were disclosed, I wouldn't have bought it.

If the cue were in today's catalog, it would probably be around $225-250 with a V-Pro shaft (at online retailer prices). But in terms of the cue's resale value, it wasn't worth it.

Have you tried bending it back? I have had success with that. It may take a couple of tries.
 
I didn't try bending it back. Maybe it would have worked, but I'd be stuck if it didn't. I'll keep it in mind if a shaft I already own warps. I didn't expect perfection, but I expect the cue to be straight if it's advertised as being straight.
 
Jacoby made a shaft straightener.......I think it was Jacoby cues.....and it looked liked it worked
in the videos but I have not idea if the shaft remained straight? A warped shaft can be tough to fix.
 
Jacoby made a shaft straightener.......I think it was Jacoby cues.....and it looked liked it worked
in the videos but I have not idea if the shaft remained straight? A warped shaft can be tough to fix.

I came across one that was corkscrewed. Didn't pay anything for it. It was so amazing I hung onto it for a while before I trashed it.








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Return it, 2-3mm is noticeable. A problem when and if you sell it. You bought as straight and will have to sell it as warped.
If the seller said it was that warped, would you have bought it?
Getting all you money back now is easiest.
 
Thanks for your replies. The cue is on its way back to him. It was a plain jane that, as I recall, sold new for probably a bit over $100. Even with a partial refund toward the cost of a new shaft, it wouldn't have been worth it. I thought about keeping it and trying to straighten the shaft, but it might not have worked and I would have been stuck with it.

Good move. Not happy now you won't be happy later
 
Depends. Do you play for money or in tournaments? Do you want to be on the last ball before the 8/9/10 and hit the cue ball 2-3mm(or close to this) off the desired contact spot? depending on ur stroke that can put an entirely different reaction on the cue ball. If you don't care, get the price deduction, if you do care, get the refund.
 
In this season especially I wouldn't trust a cue to roll straight if it shipped across town. If it shipped across several states even less. The cue needs to normalize to the environment for a few days minimum before any serious evaluation can be determined. 3mm of runout is less than 1/8" and is overall, so actually less than 1/16" off center at the extreme, which is highly unlikely to affect anyones aim.
 
As long as the tip doesn't bobble, a small warp in the taper is nothing to worry about.
 
Would you consider that grounds for either a return or a price adjustment? If a price adjustment is in order, should I value the cue as if I had bought just the butt? Thanks!


Absolutely grounds for a return.
No price adjustment on stuff like that.
Even if it does work there's no way I'm going to support them in their lie about the product they sold by letting them get away with this.
 
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