The latest from the ABIA

Dartman said:

Comments?


Important changes in the ABIA you need to be aware of. Due to recent developments and findings the ABIA has changed it's operating procedures.


THIS INFORMATION EFFECTS YOU



EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:


All membership benefits have been cancelled


All memberships have been terminated


EXPLANATION:


Change in membership requirements necessary to establish company and quality standards in line with the goal of the organization.


Abuse of the ABIA , It's logo and materials by companies / installers who do not meet basic company / competency standards.


The official ABIA logo is now prohibited to be displayed in all advertising materials without proper membership issuance and permission from the ABIA in writing.


Please remove all instances of your association by word or display of the official ABIA logo from your websites and any other online or print form indicating to your potential customers that your company is in any way affiliated with the American Billiard Installers Association.


Companies who feel they may meet the criteria set forth by the ABIA are invited to re-apply for membership now designed to promote the highest quality companies and installers in the country.


This message has been sent to all companies previously affiliated with the ABIA.

--
ABIA
Volunteer Staff

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Wonder what that's all about, and the fact that it was issued by a "volunteer staff" member and not someone I guess higher up....like by someone that OWNS the ABIA?

PS. I wonder if now they're looking for installers that KNOW what they're doing, instead of just anybody joining, even if they don't know how to work on pool tables I wonder how many complaints they got, before it came to this?

There goes your shiny little card Glen.
ABIA Member.

JoeyInCali said:

There goes your shiny little card Glen.
ABIA Member.

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Yeah...I know, and I was thinking about joining at the end of this month too...LOL

interesting that its happening right now....i smell a mole

Mr. Bond said:

interesting that its happening right now....i smell a mole

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better to look up than down in the ground

Dartman said:

And now this gem -
You may want to re-submit to make sure you are the first companies in your area to begin the application process.

Please remember that for cities under 500,000 population the ABIA will only allow 1 company to complete the application process and for cities with a population greater than 500,000 the ABIA will grant 2 memberships.

Someone tell me what sort of drugs these folks are using?

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Same drugs they were using when they dreamed up the ABIA in the first place...only now it's more streamlined...right straight into the veins, no need to smoke it now!!!

Glen

Dartman said:

And now this gem -
You may want to re-submit to make sure you are the first companies in your area to begin the application process.

Please remember that for cities under 500,000 population the ABIA will only allow 1 company to complete the application process and for cities with a population greater than 500,000 the ABIA will grant 2 memberships.

Someone tell me what sort of drugs these folks are using?

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This is nothing more than a sales pitch to pit installers against installers....."Be the ONLY ABIA members in your area, but act fast, send us your money now to guarantee you THAT spot"...I can see the disclaimer now...."Opps, sorry...didn't see that we already said you'd be the only person working in your area...when we accepted the money from the other 25 guys in your city as well, we didn't think you guys would find out about everyone else...so, we'll see what we can do about that....BUT, in the meantime....YOU can be the ONLY installers on your BLOCK...is THAT OK with you?"

Glen

Dartman said:

"Recent events have created the need for the organization to create a higher level of quality workmanship and company standards for it's members while boosting members credibility and identifying them as the "Top Level" companies in their local areas of service."

What recent events?
What was the initial level of quality workmanship?
How does an organization with no credibility boost the credibility of its' members?

What say you Jeff Black?

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If I were to guess, I'd say they got sued for "Certified Hack Work" from some customers that we NOT to happy with the "ABIA certified mechanic's" after the work was done, so a "lawyer" recommended filing a law suit against the ABIA for certifying them as..."Knowing what they're doing"...meaning, don't apply to the ABIA again, UNLESS you DO know what you're doing when it comes to working on pool tables....OH boy, I wonder who brought that up as an upcoming problem in the first place?

I pegged this operation when it first popped up almost two years ago. This so called "organization" is simply a scam. There aren't, and never were, any "benefits". The "organization" was always just a way for Jeff Black to generate revenue for Jeff Black.

I'll be very surprised if Jeff isn't eventually prosecuted for fraud and/or unfair business practices. A trade organization cannot, and should not protect it's members from competitors based on who joined and paid their dues first. Nor should it solicit benefits or it's members from wholesale organizations while secretly competing with those same wholesalers (remember the cheapo cloth?). If a multimillion dollar organization operated like that they'd have BBB and each state's attorney general on them so fast that their head would spin.

Can you imagine the BBB being a privately owned "for-profit" organization that restricted membership based on the population of each businesses location? Would anyone respect or value their evaluation of a businesses practices?

Why ANY mechanic would allow themselves and their work to be judged by an organization that's owned by a competitor that is himself unethical is beyond me. If I were a dues paying member I'd be organizing a class-action about now to get my money back.

Was this j.black from the portland area by chance?