Asking deposit back

P

Planplan78

Registered
Hello,

In March last year i contacted a very well known cuemaker from the US.

In June i made a deposit of 600 dollars.

In August and sept i contacted him and asked about what i can expect about time etc. because its the first time i let a cue build.

In sept i contacted him again about any progress, he said hé would get a blank and it would take around 6 weeks to convert, after that he would contact me to discuss the details of the cue.

Until now i didn't had any contact or info and because of this i contacted him again. 3,5 months later.

In this message i asked about the progress and if there were any problems i could understand and we could change plans.

He read this message but didn't reply me.

Now im worried and i want to ask the deposit i made back because the lack of communication so i can ask another cuemaker to build me a cue.

Am i right?

I hope to hear from you.
 
When you ordered the cue, what did he tell you was the expected date for delivery??
 
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A well know cue maker that makes a cue in 6 weeks?
I have a sneaking suspicion who this well known cue maker might be, and if I'm right, let me point out that you can be well known for all the wrong reasons..
 
Time frame seems pretty short for a well known cuemaker, at least a good cuemaker. Not Krown is it? If so you ain't getting it back anytime soon.
 
you can't make a good cue in 6 weeks....... I usually take 8 to 12 weeks...... I did make my first cue in a week but.... well you know............. as for a deposit....... I have never asked for one.......... I have had a half dozen buyers back out when the cue was finished............ sold them all in an hour to a week................ no problem....................
 
6 weeks to convert a blank isn’t a problem if the blank is seasoned so I’m not sure why you guys are talking as if it’s from scratch. If you’ve sent one message that has gone unanswered then send him another. If he ignores that message then ask for your deposit back. If he refuses to make it right then you can take the defamation route.


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str8eight said:
6 weeks to convert a blank isn’t a problem if the blank is seasoned so I’m not sure why you guys are talking as if it’s from scratch. If you’ve sent one message that has gone unanswered then send him another. If he ignores that message then ask for your deposit back. If he refuses to make it right then you can take the defamation route.


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Click to expand...

Think it was more the "well known" and short time frame. Most of the good cuemakers aren't going to start work on a cue the day you order it. Certainly some of them will, and deliver on time, but it is rare. Only orders from cuemakers that have been problems for me were promised short time frames. None of those were even close on delivery time. From the way the OP phrased his questions it seems there are some expectations that haven't been met that raise some red flags.
 
Planplan78 said:
Hello,

In March last year i contacted a very well known cuemaker from the US.

In June i made a deposit of 600 dollars.

In August and sept i contacted him and asked about what i can expect about time etc. because its the first time i let a cue build.

In sept i contacted him again about any progress, he said hé would get a blank and it would take around 6 weeks to convert, after that he would contact me to discuss the details of the cue.

Until now i didn't had any contact or info and because of this i contacted him again. 3,5 months later.

In this message i asked about the progress and if there were any problems i could understand and we could change plans.

He read this message but didn't reply me.

Now im worried and i want to ask the deposit i made back because the lack of communication so i can ask another cuemaker to build me a cue.

Am i right?

I hope to hear from you.
Click to expand...
This is exactly why I stopped taking orders. Because communication is key and too much of it wears you out. Start building custom cues and communication is expected. Lots of it all the time from some.

Yes you should get your deposit back. If he already spent money on a blank he should have communicated this to you.

God bless you builders who pander to this market. You are exceptional humans.
 
whammo57 said:
you can't make a good cue in 6 weeks....... I usually take 8 to 12 weeks...... I did make my first cue in a week but.... well you know............. as for a deposit....... I have never asked for one.......... I have had a half dozen buyers back out when the cue was finished............ sold them all in an hour to a week................ no problem...................
Click to expand...

I played in a tournament when I was first starting to build cues and a very respectable cue builder was there and playing with an attractive bocote sneaky pete cue that he told me he had built that week including a flawless CA finish.

Started with a seasoned blank from Schmelke. I bet that cue is still alive and straight.
 
Things like the basic conversion of the blank are things that don't take long in terms of shop time. People generally do things like this when they need a break from more tedious work. First question would be where the blank is coming from. Another thing, it seems that all custom builders of anything are hopeless optimists when it comes to timeframes. Sometimes cue builders are on time or early, they are exceptions.

Communication is a whole 'nuther issue. Needy customers that need lots of hand holding are not going to be happy with a one man or small shop. When talking with customers no chips are being made. There has to be limits placed or your cue builder will rapidly fall behind. Easy to spend over half your time in communications!. If your "very well known" cue builder has a couple dozen cues under construction and most customers call him every week and talk twenty or thirty minutes then the cue builder loses an average of one day of time starting, stopping, and taking care of phone communications. E-mail may be as bad or worse especially for a poke and peck typist. Time management is required. The guy that spends five minutes on the phone or less and gets off is rare. Even so the work flow is broken, fine time for a cup of coffee or a snack.

Years ago I contributed a lot to charity. My business was going well and I was happy to do so. The problem was every charity soliciting every month insisted on talking to me personally. Played hell with my work flow. I kept up with it one week. Ten hours a week lost to the phone or in person visits by charities. I kept telling them they got exactly the same thing when I delegated things and just spent seconds telling my office manager what to cut a check for. Didn't work, they all had to talk to me. When it was all added up I gave a thousand a month or a bit more, $12,000 to $15,000 a year off the top of my net profits. No problem with that, but the ten to twelve hours a week lost I could have been spending with my family. After begging the charities to let me delegate things for three months I shut down giving to over a dozen charities and focused on only a couple that I had special reasons to give to. The others weren't satisfied with my money, they insisted on taking my time which I didn't have to spare running multiple businesses and with a young family.

Customers should talk to cue builders when they need to. However, they need to consider if they need to or they just feel like chatting. Bored customers and too polite cue builders can eat huge holes in the builders' time. When you are wondering why a cue isn't getting built as fast as planned, you and a dozen customers like you may be the reason why. Most cue builders aren't good at time management. Don't be part of the problem.

Hu
 
JC said:
I played in a tournament when I was first starting to build cues and a very respectable cue builder was there and playing with an attractive bocote sneaky pete cue that he told me he had built that week including a flawless CA finish.

Started with a seasoned blank from Schmelke. I bet that cue is still alive and straight.
Click to expand...
exactly my point........ that the blank was not finished in a week................................

Kim
 
Taking your story at face value, as a customer you would be within your rights to ask for a refund assuming there isn't some written document spelling it out otherwise. The principle issue here is communication. Of course that also means that your request for refund may end up completely ignored...
 
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