Pete Tonkin Screwed Me

subdude1974 said:
To be truthful, he was never gonna finish the cue. He used my money as an interest free loan. Cue was supposed to be ready over a year ago. With many promises of shipping in the next week, weeks, end of the month. Then low and behold as soon as i say refund me, he finishes the cue within 2-3 weeks and sells it for more. Sorry ass.
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Here's the lesson you should take from this.

Never order a cue that's not 100% completed and ready to ship.

First "custom cue" I ordered was selected from a photo of cues in a cue rack.
18months later it was shipped.

The Cuebuilder would call me, since I never called him.
Later he coached me not to call on custom orders. I waged my finger at him and said "you called me!!" Don't give me that crap!!

I have a collector cue in for very minor repairs. Been there for well over a year. Maybe 2 by now.
A drop of glue here and a touch there and I'm happy. Talk to him every 8 months about other things.
Of course this won't ever be my playing cue, sooo that's doesn't enter the emotion.

I'm thinkin you F'd up and lost your opportunity for a Tonkin cue.
 
Kickin' Chicken said:
You said in your first post that “l thought he was a friend. Boy was I wrong”

You were aware his wife was sick and needed some sort of treatment and so you gave him much less $$$ than the cue was worth thinking it was almost ready and that you could make a score but Pete Tonkin strung you along you say until you asked for your money back and so he did give it back then according to you he sold the cue for $2500 more than he was selling it to you for. Did i get sll that right?

If i did get it right l think there’s a lot of room for examination on both sides regarding the definition of “friend”

Jmo
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I noticed that too.

First I thought it was a cue for him, not it's that it was at a discount for him so that he can make money on it, and someone else made money on it.
 
at least ask him for ten percent interest on your money he held for over a year. then both of you can have some closure on this.

well, once you asked for your money back you basically called off the original deal so he wasnt commited anymore. although wrong not to send it to you and hold you up for so long. but cuemakers seem to think they are so special that people can wait forever and be led on to when they get the cue.
 
u12armresl said:
I noticed that too.

First I thought it was a cue for him, not it's that it was at a discount for him so that he can make money on it, and someone else made money on it.
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I did it tonhelp himnout and also to make some money. I am a widow with 2 kids. But over the 20 months is when i thought we had developed a friendship. I found out i was mistaken.
 
ideologist said:
Can I hold on to $4000 for 22 months?
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Only when we become friends and your wife falls ill.
That way I will assume you have priorities greater than selling a deeply discounted cue for the known purpose of making a buck.
ideologist said:
I'll give you a $6500 cue in a week
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Only when we become friends and your wife falls ill.
That way I will know if you cannot come through but refund the money at my request, I can take comfort in knowing I helped my friend in a time when it was truely needed, having been there myself.

But I do not believe we will become friends. There are things in life far greater than the almighty dollar.
 
jimmyco said:
Only when we become friends and your wife falls ill.
That way I will assume you have priorities greater than selling a deeply discounted cue for the known purpose of making a buck.

Only when we become friends and your wife falls ill.
That way I will know if you cannot come through but refund the money at my request, I can take comfort in knowing I helped my friend in a time when it was truely needed, having been there myself.

But I do not believe we will become friends. There are things in life far greater than the almighty dollar.
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Your reading comprehension and logic are as good as your fake compassion

Renowned cuemaker says "I need to raise funds and will sell you a cue", then doesn't deliver. Somehow the guy who sent the cash is at fault
 
jimmyco said:
Sure is a pretty cue.
Sorry you missed out on the flip.
How is Pete's wife?
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He offered me a cue on his own volition. I didnt ask him for the discount. As my wife passed away as well and a single father of 2 kids, i find ways of making extra money. This was supposed to help me. Instead, it dragged out and tied my money up for 20 months and was a fruitless venture that only brought me anger and disappointment. For the record, if the cue had appeared a few momths down the road i wouldnt have cared. But the cue was shipped at the same time i got my refund. Literally, the cue I paid for 20 months ago, is the cue he sold to refund my money. You seriously dont see whatbis wrong with that picture?
 
Some people use family tragedies as an excuse to rid themselves of their moral obligations, while others use these tragedies to more clearly see theirs.

I think it's clear who is who here.
 
If the buyer reached out to the seller, knowing he needed money due to his wife’s condition, and took advantage of his situation that would be wrong.
The seller actually made the offer and for whatever reason failed to make good on it.
Just me but I would steer clear of the seller
 
subdude1974 said:
He offered me a cue on his own volition. I didnt ask him for the discount. As my wife passed away as well and a single father of 2 kids, i find ways of making extra money. This was supposed to help me. Instead, it dragged out and tied my money up for 20 months and was a fruitless venture that only brought me anger and disappointment. For the record, if the cue had appeared a few momths down the road i wouldnt have cared. But the cue was shipped at the same time i got my refund. Literally, the cue I paid for 20 months ago, is the cue he sold to refund my money. You seriously dont see whatbis wrong with that picture?
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Did Pete offer you the cue directly as a friend in need or was it that he made a public fb appeal asking if anyone might be interested in getting a High end Tonkin cue for way under market value because of his desperate situation with his wife’s illness? And you responded to that?

As for you being his friend as you alluded to in your first post, you walked that back in subsequent posts where you said you thought he was becoming your friend over the 20 months where he was stringing you along with inaccuracies about when he was going to ship you the cue.

My best guess with just having one side of this story is that you were not friends with Pete, but you saw him in need posting an opportunity you thought too good to pass up easy money and all and you went all in from there it’s a little murky I think you mentioned there was another person who also went in like you did and for whatever reason you say, he was given his cue in relatively short order, but yours never came and after 20 months you had enough and asked for your money back which he did refund , and almost simultaneously sold the cue that you had been waiting for. So if he did that I would agree it’s pretty crappy and you obviously missed out on the windfall you were hoping for but at least you got your original money back. You put him on blast and I guess at this point, there’s nothing else you can do but move on.

It would be nice to hear Pete’s side of it but with his wife passing and all, I’m guessing this would be a low priority.
 
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subdude1974 said:
He offered me a cue on his own volition. I didnt ask him for the discount. As my wife passed away as well and a single father of 2 kids, i find ways of making extra money. This was supposed to help me. Instead, it dragged out and tied my money up for 20 months and was a fruitless venture that only brought me anger and disappointment. For the record, if the cue had appeared a few momths down the road i wouldnt have cared. But the cue was shipped at the same time i got my refund. Literally, the cue I paid for 20 months ago, is the cue he sold to refund my money. You seriously dont see whatbis wrong with that picture?
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Stop dealing with these scumbags.
 
Kickin' Chicken said:
Did Pete offer you the cue directly as a friend in need or was it that he made a public fb appeal asking if anyone might be interested in getting a High end Tonkin cue for way under market value because of his desperate situation with his wife’s illness? And you responded to that?

As for you being his friend as you alluded to in your first post, you walked that back in subsequent posts where you said you thought he was becoming your friend over the 20 months where he was stringing you along with inaccuracies about when he was going to ship you the cue.

My best guess with just having one side of this story is that you were not friends with Pete, but you saw him in need posting an opportunity you thought too good to pass up easy money and all and you went all in from there it’s a little murky I think you mentioned there was another person who also went in like you did and for whatever reason you say, he was given his cue in relatively short order, but yours never came and after 20 months you had enough and asked for your money back which he did refund , and almost simultaneously sold the cue that you had been waiting for. So if he did that I would agree it’s pretty crappy and you obviously missed out on the windfall you were hoping for but at least you got your original money back. You put him on blast and I guess at this point, there’s nothing else you can do but move on.

It would be nice to hear Pete’s side of it but with his wife passing and all, I’m guessing this would be a low priority.
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He made a public post of facebook which i responded to. I did get ot to make money. I would be stupid to pass up that kind of deal. I stated i thought we were friends as we had spoken many times between him doing work on a cue for me before and this. We shared stories about our wives as well as other things. I didn't foresee this going the way it did. Like I said, i felt as though we had become friends. And the way you described it is exactly the way it went down. He wouldnt work on my cue and as soon as i asked for a refund, low and behold, he finished the cue quick and sold it. June 14 was the last time i asked him about the cue and he the cue was finished and shipped forst week of July. And yes, i am done with him. Money just cleared today but i wasnt letting it slide without saying something.
 
You were all about making a quick and big buck. But life is larger than that, get over it. You come here asking for confirmation that the other one did you wrong, yah, so what, it's not like you don't have faults, too. Happens when you're too focused on making a deal that would serve you better than him. Maybe you learned something from it. Don't be greedy, let others live, work with a trustee/escrow next time (doesn't paypal offer that?)
 
David, sorry to hear about your experience with Pete although not the first time I've heard of stories like this with different cue makers but at least you got your money back. A friend of mine sent money to a famous cue maker in Florida for a cue to be built and more than 15 years later...nothing.
 
Well a lesson I learned many years ago - lending money on ANY basis to another person without a legal contract is just about the same as giving the money away with no expectation of pay back - the cue maker was asking for a loan - you gave him one - see my above statement with regard to personal loans
 
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