Coker Cues Won't Deliver

NINEBALLART

NINEBALLART

NINEBALLART
Silver Member
I bought a Coker cue with 2 shafts. One shaft was a 1/2" shorter than the other one and did not line up at the joint. I went to see Coker at his shop and He said that there was a foul up and I got the wrong shaft and He would make me another one. He said to leave the butt and other shaft there and He would match a new one up to fit and look like the other shaft...
I received a call a few weeks later telling me the shaft would be ready at the end of the week. So I called back a week later and was told it would be ready tomorrow. To call back in the morning...Every morning for 6 weeks I called back and every day was told the same thing. "It will be ready tonight and you can pick it up tomorrow"....
Finally, after not having a cue for 8 weeks to play with, I showed up unannounced and demanded my cue back with or without the new shaft...Tom then pulled out this shaft, sanded it down to match my joint and sent me on my way.
I had not brought my case with me or even looked at the cue figuring it was O.K..... When I tried to put it in my case it was too fat the last 6 inches from the joint and would not go into my case. I tried it in 5 other cases I have and still too fat. By visual eye sight you can see how fat it is. The cue weighs 18.9 oz with the 1st shaft. With the new fat shaft it weighs 19.6 oz....Plus it has no taper back from the tip.
So a friend of mine who works one day a week for Coker took it back to him and he said he would fix it. She brings it back to me a week later and guess what?? No change. He did not touch it....
So she took it back again last week and Tom said to her, where's Art? I want him to bring it here. Not you. Tell him I am too busy to work on one shaft and to bring me his case so I can measure his case. What does my case have to do with it???? I have gotten nothing but the run around for over 2 months now and it looks like I am not going to get the 2nd shaft I payed for..
Tom is acting very strange lately and short tempered??? Don't know what his problem is but I just got screwed out of my second shaft.....
I am meeting someone today with a lathe that works on cues and will see if he can do anything...

Too bad because it is a beautiful cue and I love the way it plays. I have just won a big tournament with it and took 2nd and a 3rd in another...So the cue is fine but I paid for 2 shafts and only got one...
Since Tom is being so nasty and I have to look elsewhere to get the shaft fixed, I am just venting out my frustrations about it and to say , Watch Out......
 
Well, I suppose when you switch from Custom Cue maker to Production cue maker their must be sacrifice's made.

It is a shame, however the first thing that will go in most cases is customer service.

Manwon
 
Well as you live in Modesto, and I know where Coker is in SACTown you blew a bunch of money on Gas up and down highway 99 to his shop.

I personally feel the Customer Service you got is CRAP, and based upon your personal experience, I would not deal with Coker.

Before leaving SACTown for the Desert in 97, Coker was like the King of the Valley, and know for great Playing Cues, and standing behind their product 110%.

Guess Cokers has gone the way of many other businesses, where post sales service is non existent...
 
coker

Sorry to hear about you experience with Coker cues. I had a completely different experience with Coker I had my cue warp after playing with it for a year took it back to him and he said he would fix it. I came back eight weeks later to pick up my cue instead of turning it down he made me a whole new cue ...My wife ordered me another cue from him for me as a birthday present
Tom put a leather wrap on for free as a present...

Based on my experience with Tom I don't think he forgot about costumer service, but don't understand why he wouldn't fix or make a new shaft for you...
 
I'm also smart enough to realize that there are always THREE Sides to every story, or experience. Party "A's", Party "B's", and the Truth.
 
Tom used to provide great customer service. But lately he is acting strange. He had a stroke and just recently another illness and is on a lot of mediciation. Maybe this has something to do with it. He is also trying to sell the business and move to Hawaii...
But whatever the reason, this is what he just did to me and he was completely unreasonbable with it..
I love his cue and his work and the way his cues hit. But recently he has been getiing into it with a lot of customers. ??????
I just feel it a shame I had to go to an outside source and pay more money to get the shaft fixed so it is playable. Also the clear coat measures 10 inches up the shaft. That is over 1/3 of the shaft is clear coated....??? So what is going on?????
 
Notice I even picture the cue in my Avatar...I love the cue. Just wanted the 2nd shaft I paid for, and the one Tom said was wrong and he would replace. All I got was a run around for 2 months...So I am a little perturbed....
 
Wow....

Sorry to hear about your issues with Coker! Now I'm worried...I've got one in the pipe, and I hope I don't wind up with tree-trunk shafts and poor overall customer service.

I've heard such great things about Coker, up til now.

Hope it all pans out for ya. If Tom's been ill for quite awhile, that could very well explain the sudden change in his dealings with customers. What a shame.....but hope he'll be alright.

Take care, and glad to hear, at least, that you like to play with the one you have....albeit shy by one shaft.

Mark
 
art, let me look into this for you and i will talk to michi myself. can't promise you anything, but let me try.

guy
 
join the list of people who have to deal with this cuemaker unprofessionalism.
 
Thanks Guy. Appreciate the help. Of course a very close friend of Michi's who works there once in a while tried and got no where with Tom....It was not his wife, it was Tom...
For some reason Tom is trying to blame my cue case, but even with the human eye you can see it looks swollen. Even the girl who brought it up for me showed her 85 year old father and he could see the difference.
Everyone sees it but Tom...He has an 18 year old girl who just started there helping him and doing the clear coating and I think most of the large size is actually clear coat layed on too thick. Also 10 inches up the shaft. Tom actually sanded down some clear coat while I watched but just at the black joint cap so it would line up. But just behind the cap it is real swollen and huge and looks weird and won't fit any of my 5 cases and is real heavy. Like I said, the good shaft is 18.9 oz when on. The big shaft is 19.6 oz when on and real forward heavy and uncomfortable...
All he had to do was wet sand the clear coating down to a normal size shaft, or like all his other shafts. Very simple. But for some reason he is acting weird about it...I know he is behind on his work because of his illnesses but still. Just a little sanding and a re-coat is not that much...
He tried to tell me it was a new kind of shaft others like...I said I don't. So please fix it and he said he would but I get the old call tomorrow business...??????
Hope you have better luck with them...At 7:00 P.M. tonight I am meeting someone to see if he can do anything with it. So let me know if you have any luck....Thanks
 
well, i will call her tomorrow and in the meantime i have sent her a link to this post and she will read it, hopefully tonite. can't hurt to try and i don't mind. hopefully something will happen. this should be easy to prove. do you have access to a digital caliper like they use to measure the tips? if so measure both shafts at the same point up from the joint where you think it is thick and compare the measurements, never mind looking by eye. if you do measure it, let me know and i can compare my coker shafts.

guy
 
NINEBALLART said:
Thanks Guy. Appreciate the help. Of course a very close friend of Michi's who works there once in a while tried and got no where with Tom....It was not his wife, it was Tom...
For some reason Tom is trying to blame my cue case, but even with the human eye you can see it looks swollen. Even the girl who brought it up for me showed her 85 year old father and he could see the difference.
Everyone sees it but Tom...He has an 18 year old girl who just started there helping him and doing the clear coating and I think most of the large size is actually clear coat layed on too thick. Also 10 inches up the shaft. Tom actually sanded down some clear coat while I watched but just at the black joint cap so it would line up. But just behind the cap it is real swollen and huge and looks weird and won't fit any of my 5 cases and is real heavy. Like I said, the good shaft is 18.9 oz when on. The big shaft is 19.6 oz when on and real forward heavy and uncomfortable...
All he had to do was wet sand the clear coating down to a normal size shaft, or like all his other shafts. Very simple. But for some reason he is acting weird about it...I know he is behind on his work because of his illnesses but still. Just a little sanding and a re-coat is not that much...
He tried to tell me it was a new kind of shaft others like...I said I don't. So please fix it and he said he would but I get the old call tomorrow business...??????
Hope you have better luck with them...At 7:00 P.M. tonight I am meeting someone to see if he can do anything with it. So let me know if you have any luck....Thanks
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dam man sorry to hear that if u like the cue and u gettin the run around then jus don't try him agian ..If he sick or lookin 2 go out the biz .jus let him go and find someone who can fix his screw up .and put out little more to get what u want right ..
P s put your best shaft on a scale before u make a new one ..so the oz wont change..
 
When my friend took it up this last Thursday one of his helpers did mic it out and measure it and told Tom it was too big and a lot bigger. He got mad and said he was not stopping other things to work on my shaft. My friend tonight also is going to mic out both shafts and I will get it on paper and post it for you...I will give the dimensions of both from the same points...It is not my eyes. I am just telling you that because everyone I show it to can see it right away without even measuring it. It is that obvious to the naked eye. Everyone at the tournament yesterday could see it.
Plus it won't fit in my cases. Plus his helper measured it and it was measured out to be too big and a lot bigger than the other shaft..
But tonight I will get the
exact MEASUREMENTS FOR YOU...
 
Met my friend at Championship Billiards tonight and he took both my shafts with him and will measure both shafts inch by inch and give me the results tomorrow night..Him and serval other players that were there laughed when thay saw the shaft. Thats how bad it is visually. Without measuring it...Will post tomorrow night....
 
Yeah, Tom does seem to act pretty strange sometimes. I think he is just under lots of stress due to disease and probably numerous other issues. He really is a nice guy, but can be VERY stubborn. I hope you guys can work something out. Maybe Michi can convince him of the mistake. :confused:
 
I hope so because I like both of them. And I love his cues. They are great...Like I stated before, he is on a lot of medicine and is under stress. I was just trying to press his button and get him to do something...
 
NINEBALLART said:
I hope so because I like both of them. And I love his cues. They are great...Like I stated before, he is on a lot of medicine and is under stress. I was just trying to press his button and get him to do something...
Click to expand...

NINEBALLART Pm sent.
 
pressing buttons

I realize that you are feeling a bit desperate but I doubt the buttons you are pressing with these threads will get you the results you want. Had I made the cue, I would invite you to bring it to my shop, put the butt and both shafts in a band saw, and hand you your money back.

By your account he is old, he is sick, he is on a lot of medication, and he is under a lot of stress. So do you think that the solution to your problem is to add to the stress?

Here is a real offer: Send me both shafts. I'll match the second one to the first as closely as possible considering what you send, no charge. If you don't like the shaft you can *****(bellyache) about me for awhile. (edited for clarity since I see all stars where I put a less polite term for bellyache)

This is a serious offer. PM me if you are interested.

Hu


NINEBALLART said:
I hope so because I like both of them. And I love his cues. They are great...Like I stated before, he is on a lot of medicine and is under stress. I was just trying to press his button and get him to do something...
Click to expand...
 
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ShootingArts said:
I realize that you are feeling a bit desperate but I doubt the buttons you are pressing with these threads will get you the results you want. Had I made the cue, I would invite you to bring it to my shop, put the butt and both shafts in a band saw, and hand you your money back.

By your account he is old, he is sick, he is on a lot of medication, and he is under a lot of stress. So do you think that the solution to your problem is to add to the stress?

Here is a real offer: Send me both shafts. I'll match the second one to the first as closely as possible considering what you send, no charge. If you don't like the shaft you can *****(bellyache) about me for awhile. (edited for clarity since I see all stars where I put a less polite term for bellyache)

This is a serious offer. PM me if you are interested.

Hu
Click to expand...

I hesitated to get involved in this thread but I can't resist. This kind of stuff makes you wonder if the guy has ever faced any adversity. He has by his own admission a great playing cue, just won a major tournament with it, but the extra shaft isn't quite perfect so he is giving the cuemaker, who is in poor health, a lot of grief. Sounds pretty cold blooded to me, he knows the guy is in poor health so he is trying to rush him do get the work done before something happens to the guy.

I don't think I would band saw it, I think I would give him his money back and sell the cue to somebody (like me) who could appreciate a great playing cue.
 
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