Checking progress with cue maker. How often?

B

baller4lifeii

Registered
Hey all,

How often is appropriate when inquiring a cue maker about the progress of a cue??

So I ordered my first custom cue last year, around September, and it was suppose to take 2-3 months. It's still in progress. I'm not in a hurry. I don't mind the delay and definitely wouldn't want to rush the process.

I am, however, rather anxious to hear about the progress so I'd like to shoot my cue maker an email just to see how things are going every once in a while. Up until now, I've been waiting for at least a month in between inquiries. For example, last I heard about the cue was late April. I sent another inquiry around early June and have not heard back. He probably missed the email. I am anxious and really want to send another email, but don't want to come off as pushing/rushing.

So how about it, what do you think is appropriate? All opinions are welcomed. If you're a cue maker, do you feel offended/annoyed from frequent check-ins? And what would be considered as too much?

Thanks.

P.S. Apologies if this belongs in a different forum.
 
I would think that once every couple weeks would be ok, open up by saying hi how's it it going or something and then just ask if you could see a picture of the progress because you're excited to see the special cue he's creating just for you. I think they take better to it when there's a pleasant tone behind it. That being said I just ordered my first custom as well and I'm curious to see what others that have dealt with cue makers before have to say.
 
Having not heard from the maker since April on a cue that was supposed to be done in 2-3 months, you at least deserve an explanation.
It sounds like you have shown enough patience and consideration for the cuemaker in this case, and sending another e-mail would definitely not be pushing or rushing.

I've ordered a few cues over the years and all except one were finished later than promised, usually by a couple months, and in one case, I didn't receive anything at all. I try to be as patient as I can, but once the completion date passes, your cue should either be in the mail, or you should have an explanation and new completion date.
 
I had a similar situation with a nearly identical timeframe. Ordered a cue around September. Supposed to be done in December. Called in December and was told end of January due to unforeseen circumstances. Called mid-January and was told late February. I was still not in a hurry but was starting to get concerned. April first rolled around and still no cue. Hadn't had any actual contact with maker in 2 months. Not due to lack of effort on my part. Eventually sent and email and voicemail that basically said. Call me back or reply in some fashion or the order is cancelled. No reply for two weeks and then I decided to find a new cue maker. All that being said I think regular contact should be every few weeks. As long as the builder is still responding then I would not worry too much. The builder I am using now contacts me every few days with updates and pictures and I love that. It gives us a chance to make minor tweaks here and there with the design.
 
If I ever have a true custom cue made for me in this day and age, I would request in progress pictures as part of the overall process. Not to be sure it's actually being worked on, but as part of the overall package.

With pictures and emails, it's nice to follow the progress in the same way people do for remodels of their houses.

If I get a custom made, it will be by Chris Whitaker, whom I know. So pretty sure he would have no issue with this extra step to make a customer happy.
 
Shannon, who is the cue maker that is giving you the good service?


In general we need to here more success stories about custom cues on here, so we know which makers are reliable. Usually the first I hear about the customer service of a maker are the "no response on months" threads.

It would be great if there was an organized clearinghouse of reviews, like Angie's List does.
 
You don't even want to know how long I've been waiting. Lets just say I'm knocking on 2 years! In light of the situation I'm being VERY patient! Not easy at this point though.
 
I text him every single day and bug the shit out of him to finish it.......he is a good friend after all, so this may not be acceptable in your situation, lol.
 
The cuemaker I used had to figure out how best to do a couple of things I wanted, so we had emails back and forth every week or two at the beginning. Once it was down to the building, he'd email every so often to tell me where he was in the process, and what (if anything) was going wrong or delayed.

Communication isn't too hard, especially if its every couple weeks. Hopefully you didn't pre-pay!
 
In your case. I think the cue maker is in the wrong and needs to contact you immediately. I would give him a call and try to speak with him and ask him why it is taking so long and why is he not responding to your email?

I don't think it's acceptable for cue makers to be so blatantly late when finishing products. They shouldn't give a finished date if they cannot fulfill it. I would be pissed and probably cancelling my order, and also writing a post on az to warn others about his poor delivery time and communication, that's just bad business.

My 2 cents.
 
I had a custom cue made once. The original agreement on delivery date was 6 months. A year and a half later when I was presented with the cue it wasn't even what I ordered. Don't let it go on for too long.
 
Any cue makers want to come on and tell their side?

I was in Spitz's shop one time and saw a cue he was working on. It was a beautiful cue and I loved it. He said it would never leave the shop because it had some imperfections. I believe it was being made for the SBE, not a customer. But I could be wrong. I found the perfections (He calls it imperfections, I call it character) and if I had the $, may have tried to talk him out of not finishing it.

That being said, if it was for a customer, I think John would have communicated to the customer that there was an error made so he had to start over. I think all cue owners owe that to their customers to keep the communication lines open.
 
i build pool cues

i am just curious as to whether or not you have given this cuemaker any money as of yet, if so how much of the total cost
 
baller4lifeii said:
Hey all,

How often is appropriate when inquiring a cue maker about the progress of a cue??
Click to expand...


In my opinion you should be able to check it every day if you wanted to.

Also, you have been extremely patient and no self respecting cue maker could be this far behind by saying two months in September and it's now July and you still don't have it.
Two months after my order I would have asked for my money back, if you made a down payment.
 
Cue Maker

Bob Owen made my last cue , updated me 3 or 4 times on AZ .
worked ok for me , good luck . Robert
 
Man, you guys are a lot more patient and understanding than I'd be ....

I guess I'll never have a custom cue made ..... As far as I'm concerned .... That supposed cue maker is a scumbag. Supposed to be done in November, and now it's July ? Screw that.

Hope you didn't give him any money.


REV
 
I've been waiting 6 years for my cues by one of the respected cue makers on this forum. We're talking some thousands of dollars and he has until the end of this month to deliver my 9 cues or I let the lawyer take care of it!:mad:
Been patiently waiting long enough for: either my cues or all my money back!!
The ball is in his court!
 
I have had Bob Flynn (Denali Cues) make me a couple of custom break cues built exactly how I wanted them. Both were delivered sooner than he promised. He is currently making me two players which I am giving to my sons as Christmas gifts. Bob said no problem with that time line and I will not contact him even once between now and then. They will get done and they will be just like I ordered. Either men are men of their word or they are not. Bob Flynn is a man to do business with. And his cue's are quite unique.

JC
 
My theory is ....

Never rush an artist !! I usually have a cue to play with and I just say to myself "when it's time it's time " "when it's ready ,it's ready" I get anxious too about things and like to get it done. I just want it to be what I want and not be a pain to the guy doing the work.
 
I remember a thread a long time ago that discussed this in regards to sending pictures and progress. I think it is cuemaker dependant. Some cuemakers only do 10 cues a year so it may be a lot more feasible for them to snap a picture or two every once in awhile. Some do a lot more and do not necessarily have time for pictures.

A solution I had mentioned was a price option (say $20 for example) added to the beginning price if you would like picture updates. Even though I don't think it is overly difficult and too time consuming, some people are not very computer savy and have a hard time doing this. I understand they don't want to necessarily waste time to do it as they would rather be building so the price option IF they don't mind it is a good thing as to give them a little something for their time.

Other cuemakers don't mind it and like to send pictures as they understand its like a kid waiting for his present before christmas :).

The nightmare example my buddy had was his Jim Lee experience. Jim did have some health issues which prevented him from doing the cue, but he lied to my friend saying the pieces were cut and ready for assembly. After months and months and months we (since he is a really good friend of mine) asked for a picture just to proved it existed. Of course we never got the pictures so at the end of the day my friend was out his $100 deposit.
 
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