Cue Components
- Thread starter usakr
- Start date
He sells plenty of knockoffs. Awful person. You'd be happier to buy elsewhere
the experience varies to say the least!
I quit dealing with certainly the largest company that happens to sell cue components also when I got a badly botched order. I wasn't mad since everything was for stock or testing. Figured I would call and no problem. Nope! I ate over a hundred dollars worth of components, none too tasty so I never have a kind word for the A folks. A good christian supplier just ignored my requests for support with equipment he sold. I don't think real highly of him either.
I dealt with Joe at Cue Components a few times then I had an issue, didn't get as much ivory as ordered. Put it on the scales and took a picture, e-mailed that to Joe. He said he would make up the original order and send that and the original order. I thought he had misspoken and didn't expect him to double my order but that is exactly what he did.
Joe doesn't have much tolerance for BS'ers and no question if someone calls him irate even if justifiably so they probably won't get good results. Dealing with him reasonably has always gotten me good results.
All of us have our favorite suppliers and those we don't like. Joe says he has maybe one or two percent unhappy customers. Could be true, he moves a lot of volume or used to. I haven't been building or working on cues for years now so I haven't kept up with Joe and Cue Components. If I need something I will call Joe first though.
Cue Components has been good for me to deal with, so has Prather. Some of the people that primarily sell retail also sell components and I have had fine dealings with them. All you can do is as much homework as possible and try a supplier or two. One thing when you see an unhappy customer squalling, it has been my experience that one unhappy customer tends to make more noise than twenty happy customers. I have angered a few myself over the years but I figured I couldn't afford to do it very often. Now I am retired, I can anger everybody!(grin)
Hu
I quit dealing with certainly the largest company that happens to sell cue components also when I got a badly botched order. I wasn't mad since everything was for stock or testing. Figured I would call and no problem. Nope! I ate over a hundred dollars worth of components, none too tasty so I never have a kind word for the A folks. A good christian supplier just ignored my requests for support with equipment he sold. I don't think real highly of him either.
I dealt with Joe at Cue Components a few times then I had an issue, didn't get as much ivory as ordered. Put it on the scales and took a picture, e-mailed that to Joe. He said he would make up the original order and send that and the original order. I thought he had misspoken and didn't expect him to double my order but that is exactly what he did.
Joe doesn't have much tolerance for BS'ers and no question if someone calls him irate even if justifiably so they probably won't get good results. Dealing with him reasonably has always gotten me good results.
All of us have our favorite suppliers and those we don't like. Joe says he has maybe one or two percent unhappy customers. Could be true, he moves a lot of volume or used to. I haven't been building or working on cues for years now so I haven't kept up with Joe and Cue Components. If I need something I will call Joe first though.
Cue Components has been good for me to deal with, so has Prather. Some of the people that primarily sell retail also sell components and I have had fine dealings with them. All you can do is as much homework as possible and try a supplier or two. One thing when you see an unhappy customer squalling, it has been my experience that one unhappy customer tends to make more noise than twenty happy customers. I have angered a few myself over the years but I figured I couldn't afford to do it very often. Now I am retired, I can anger everybody!(grin)
Hu
Getting Back on Track
I had some thoughts to try that were a bit different than standard practices. When talking to a friend and supplier of mine I asked him what he thought about my ideas.
He said he was sure that when I got through re-inventing the wheel it would be rounder and better than ever! I rubbed the large dent in my head and laughed awhile then paid attention to what he had said. He was the world record holder and had been for a decade or two. Jef is gone now and I sure miss him. He was one of the good guys of the world.
Hu
I had some thoughts to try that were a bit different than standard practices. When talking to a friend and supplier of mine I asked him what he thought about my ideas.
He said he was sure that when I got through re-inventing the wheel it would be rounder and better than ever! I rubbed the large dent in my head and laughed awhile then paid attention to what he had said. He was the world record holder and had been for a decade or two. Jef is gone now and I sure miss him. He was one of the good guys of the world.
Hu
I bought some layered tips he touted. Had them installed by a cuemaker with over 25yrs experience. EVERY one came apart. When notified of this he went smoooooth off on both me and the maker. Complete a-hole imo.
Gotta love his policy. Anyway I dealt once. He says the shipping charge is real time and not inflated. It was definitely too high with a handling charge.
We are Cue Components of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. We're a small family run business with a large inventory offering friendly and personal service. You're not a number but a name with us as we endeavor to service your cue building needs. Advice is only a phone call or email away.
We enjoy talking with many of you but we ask that you please
Read This Before You Call:
Some of this may sound ridiculous but it's not to us.
1) Gather your thoughts before you call so you know what you are going to say.
2) Lower the radio, stereo or whatever it is these days that produces loud musical sounds.
3) Finish the argument with your mom, parents, wife, inlaw, son or whomever it is that you have a disagreement with prior to calling.
4) Make certain you have a good cell connection. This is paramount! We don't want to play, "can you hear me now".
5) Don't call us from your car because you have nothing else to do or no one else to talk to.
6) Don't call when you've been drinking. We don't understand alco-phonics.
7) If you just burned a doobie, call us tomorrow as time is not in slow motion for us.
8) If you just hit the meth pipe, call tomorrow as we are not here today.
9) If you just downed some dilaudids, see #8.
10) If you are calling to ask if something is in stock, the answer is we stock everything we sell so there is no need to call.
11) If you cannot find it on our web site, 99.9% of the time we don't carry it and no we don't know where you can get it; try Google. We are not the information desk at the library.
12) If you cannot communicate your thoughts in a logical, orderly, conscious and semi-intelligent manner perhaps you would be better served by calling our competitors and be sure to tell them we referred you.
13) Please do not call us if you don't speak fairly good English. We do not speak German, Italian, Swedish, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, any Eastern European language, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese or Alienese. We speak English, period. Please email us if your English is not very good. We find this to be best.
14) To our friends in California: contrary to popular belief (in California), the world does not revolve around California. To the contrary, it revolves around eastern times so please adjust the time of your calls to coincide with when we actually work. And no, we do not work at 10pm in the evening nor when you get home from the pool room at 5am. (you can't imagine!)
15) Try to use your God given brains for more than just a hat rack; have some respect and consideration for us when phoning.
If the above sounds ridiculous to you, then come spend a week answering our phones! You'll have a revelation and fully understand the term, the 'dumbing down of America'.
Our phone policy: Please do not call to pick our brains or to just shoot the breeze. Time is precious and we're very busy. You do not need to call us to place an order; you can do that more efficiently and quicker online. If you have a question about a product, feel free to call. We do not provide 'how-to instructions' or 'free lessons' on cue construction over the phone. If we know you and we've built up a friendship, we are more inclined to offer out our advice and knowledge. Unless you've purchased from us or have taken our courses, we do not offer any phone support to anyone we do not know. Do not waste our time or yours with trying to pick our brain (what little we have left). Please respect our wishes.
Basically.... tire kickers, brain pickers - go away. Sincere people are most welcomed. We are very nice people and will go out of our way to serve you. We do not want to deal with leeches who waste our time (you know who you are). When and if you make an investment in us we will make an investment in you. It's that's simple.
We are Cue Components of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. We're a small family run business with a large inventory offering friendly and personal service. You're not a number but a name with us as we endeavor to service your cue building needs. Advice is only a phone call or email away.
We enjoy talking with many of you but we ask that you please
Read This Before You Call:
Some of this may sound ridiculous but it's not to us.
1) Gather your thoughts before you call so you know what you are going to say.
2) Lower the radio, stereo or whatever it is these days that produces loud musical sounds.
3) Finish the argument with your mom, parents, wife, inlaw, son or whomever it is that you have a disagreement with prior to calling.
4) Make certain you have a good cell connection. This is paramount! We don't want to play, "can you hear me now".
5) Don't call us from your car because you have nothing else to do or no one else to talk to.
6) Don't call when you've been drinking. We don't understand alco-phonics.
7) If you just burned a doobie, call us tomorrow as time is not in slow motion for us.
8) If you just hit the meth pipe, call tomorrow as we are not here today.
9) If you just downed some dilaudids, see #8.
10) If you are calling to ask if something is in stock, the answer is we stock everything we sell so there is no need to call.
11) If you cannot find it on our web site, 99.9% of the time we don't carry it and no we don't know where you can get it; try Google. We are not the information desk at the library.
12) If you cannot communicate your thoughts in a logical, orderly, conscious and semi-intelligent manner perhaps you would be better served by calling our competitors and be sure to tell them we referred you.
13) Please do not call us if you don't speak fairly good English. We do not speak German, Italian, Swedish, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, any Eastern European language, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese or Alienese. We speak English, period. Please email us if your English is not very good. We find this to be best.
14) To our friends in California: contrary to popular belief (in California), the world does not revolve around California. To the contrary, it revolves around eastern times so please adjust the time of your calls to coincide with when we actually work. And no, we do not work at 10pm in the evening nor when you get home from the pool room at 5am. (you can't imagine!)
15) Try to use your God given brains for more than just a hat rack; have some respect and consideration for us when phoning.
If the above sounds ridiculous to you, then come spend a week answering our phones! You'll have a revelation and fully understand the term, the 'dumbing down of America'.
Our phone policy: Please do not call to pick our brains or to just shoot the breeze. Time is precious and we're very busy. You do not need to call us to place an order; you can do that more efficiently and quicker online. If you have a question about a product, feel free to call. We do not provide 'how-to instructions' or 'free lessons' on cue construction over the phone. If we know you and we've built up a friendship, we are more inclined to offer out our advice and knowledge. Unless you've purchased from us or have taken our courses, we do not offer any phone support to anyone we do not know. Do not waste our time or yours with trying to pick our brain (what little we have left). Please respect our wishes.
Basically.... tire kickers, brain pickers - go away. Sincere people are most welcomed. We are very nice people and will go out of our way to serve you. We do not want to deal with leeches who waste our time (you know who you are). When and if you make an investment in us we will make an investment in you. It's that's simple.
Wow! That is so insulting, it makes me want to call just to mess with them. JK :thumbup:
It was less than a year, and he blamed me for my photos as his response. Not that he was an incredible douchebag trying to cut people down.
seems harsh but true
Most of us that have ran small businesses would like to say most or all of the same things. The time wasters can burn twenty-thirty hours a week or more. If people wonder why cue builders misjudge how long it will take to build a cue one big hole is the telephone. Few calculate how much time they spend on the phone to no good purpose.
Many years ago I had a very successful business. I was genuinely pleased to be able to give between ten and fifteen thousand a year to various charities. However, no matter how many times I told the people calling or passing by for money that they would get exactly the same thing talking to my office manager and please quit interrupting me they always insisted they had to talk to me. One week I clocked how long I spent dealing with donations. Ten hours. I had a hard time finding time for my family yet I was letting these people waste a full day a week of my time. They wasted one more day of my time. I cut my charities from dozens to two that I strongly believed in. The rest I wasted the time to tell them exactly why they would not get another cent.
Most thirty minute phone calls could be cut down to less than five if the person calling is organized before they call. Most technical questions I was called about could be answered in two minutes or less.
Another business, I had to come in early before I opened or stay after closing time to do any of the things I wanted to do. My days were often completely filled talking to people on the phone or face to face.
If I am ever foolish enough to have another business the phone will get set thirty or forty-five minute blocks of time twice a day, ignored outside of those times. The same goes for nonbusiness visitors.
Joe may not be very courteous with that writing but he is correct. Guess that is one reason we get along after starting off apparently unfriendly on the net. There was a thread similar to this on the cue builders forum. I said where there is smoke there is usually fire, I won't do business with Joe. Joe PM'ed me that he didn't want my business. I told him something like just as well, I didn't have time to deal with people like him. A few minutes later I got another PM, "you sound like the kind of person I like to do business with." I gave Joe a try with a small hundred dollar or so order and he has been my first choice since then unless I need a handful of a single item somebody else makes. If I want Prather perfects it seems like as a general thing Prather should reap the full reward.
Hu
Most of us that have ran small businesses would like to say most or all of the same things. The time wasters can burn twenty-thirty hours a week or more. If people wonder why cue builders misjudge how long it will take to build a cue one big hole is the telephone. Few calculate how much time they spend on the phone to no good purpose.
Many years ago I had a very successful business. I was genuinely pleased to be able to give between ten and fifteen thousand a year to various charities. However, no matter how many times I told the people calling or passing by for money that they would get exactly the same thing talking to my office manager and please quit interrupting me they always insisted they had to talk to me. One week I clocked how long I spent dealing with donations. Ten hours. I had a hard time finding time for my family yet I was letting these people waste a full day a week of my time. They wasted one more day of my time. I cut my charities from dozens to two that I strongly believed in. The rest I wasted the time to tell them exactly why they would not get another cent.
Most thirty minute phone calls could be cut down to less than five if the person calling is organized before they call. Most technical questions I was called about could be answered in two minutes or less.
Another business, I had to come in early before I opened or stay after closing time to do any of the things I wanted to do. My days were often completely filled talking to people on the phone or face to face.
If I am ever foolish enough to have another business the phone will get set thirty or forty-five minute blocks of time twice a day, ignored outside of those times. The same goes for nonbusiness visitors.
Joe may not be very courteous with that writing but he is correct. Guess that is one reason we get along after starting off apparently unfriendly on the net. There was a thread similar to this on the cue builders forum. I said where there is smoke there is usually fire, I won't do business with Joe. Joe PM'ed me that he didn't want my business. I told him something like just as well, I didn't have time to deal with people like him. A few minutes later I got another PM, "you sound like the kind of person I like to do business with." I gave Joe a try with a small hundred dollar or so order and he has been my first choice since then unless I need a handful of a single item somebody else makes. If I want Prather perfects it seems like as a general thing Prather should reap the full reward.
Hu
I like your rules. Of course I grew up on New Smyrna beach.
Hacienda Del Sol II
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
6) Don't call when you've been drinking. We don't understand alco-phonics.
7) If you just burned a doobie, call us tomorrow as time is not in slow motion for us.
8) If you just hit the meth pipe, call tomorrow as we are not here today.
9) If you just downed some dilaudids, see #8.
*** Concerning these 4 rules; I don't fool with none of that silly chit, what about Sopors or 'Ludes dude? Can I call after I've eaten a few?
7) If you just burned a doobie, call us tomorrow as time is not in slow motion for us.
8) If you just hit the meth pipe, call tomorrow as we are not here today.
9) If you just downed some dilaudids, see #8.
*** Concerning these 4 rules; I don't fool with none of that silly chit, what about Sopors or 'Ludes dude? Can I call after I've eaten a few?
Gotta credit Joe with forcing me to go full splice.:thumbup:
Pro woodwhacker for 45 yrs. Used to buy supplies like joint & ferrule material, tips, bumpers, & sometimes shaft wood. Like others said, being a small business, kind of got a kick out of his attitude or at least amused me. He over-hypes his own products, not as special as he promotes. However, convenient, mostly cost effective (for raw materials) & usually fast.
Company failed to completely fill a plastics order (ferrule solid rod & joint/butt materials) due to BO, which happens. They don't owe me any money, but without going into detail, customer service & response was lacking. Fine, taken with a grain of salt.
I buy "exotics" for (non-cue) customer projects in lumber form; IOW larger planks. Cue wood squares are usually cut from material that is not particularly valuable as a large piece. By cutting smaller squares out from between the defects; the wood is improved & cost/volume is better. It also dries a little faster. Gnarly grain or sap edge that might put off a solid wood user for other work (due to stress) is desirable for fancy turners including cue makers because the figure is attractive. So i did some back of envelop calculations & decided to try one of Joe's full-splice blanks instead of sawing up bigger, thicker boards in the shop for small sections of BEM & Cocobola.
The (wtte) "super, killer" BEM is barely BE at all. What really bothered me, though, is that after centering & turning, the joints never cleaned up. There were several sections that the poor joinery extends deep into the cue & had to be filled. With filler, somewhat obscure unless looking closely, but definitely not something I would be willing to sell. They never responded to a couple emails. Figured, "OK, I can machine better than that", so built the tooling & do so.
Cue making is like a lot of niche trades - you have to try out suppliers and buy individual components where it makes the most sense. I like Prather for G10 pins, bumpers, & other supplies. Still occasionally buy ferule rod & phenolic joint tubes from Joe. Unless he reads this & goes off on me.
smt
Pro woodwhacker for 45 yrs. Used to buy supplies like joint & ferrule material, tips, bumpers, & sometimes shaft wood. Like others said, being a small business, kind of got a kick out of his attitude or at least amused me. He over-hypes his own products, not as special as he promotes. However, convenient, mostly cost effective (for raw materials) & usually fast.
Company failed to completely fill a plastics order (ferrule solid rod & joint/butt materials) due to BO, which happens. They don't owe me any money, but without going into detail, customer service & response was lacking. Fine, taken with a grain of salt.
I buy "exotics" for (non-cue) customer projects in lumber form; IOW larger planks. Cue wood squares are usually cut from material that is not particularly valuable as a large piece. By cutting smaller squares out from between the defects; the wood is improved & cost/volume is better. It also dries a little faster. Gnarly grain or sap edge that might put off a solid wood user for other work (due to stress) is desirable for fancy turners including cue makers because the figure is attractive. So i did some back of envelop calculations & decided to try one of Joe's full-splice blanks instead of sawing up bigger, thicker boards in the shop for small sections of BEM & Cocobola.
The (wtte) "super, killer" BEM is barely BE at all. What really bothered me, though, is that after centering & turning, the joints never cleaned up. There were several sections that the poor joinery extends deep into the cue & had to be filled. With filler, somewhat obscure unless looking closely, but definitely not something I would be willing to sell. They never responded to a couple emails. Figured, "OK, I can machine better than that", so built the tooling & do so.
Cue making is like a lot of niche trades - you have to try out suppliers and buy individual components where it makes the most sense. I like Prather for G10 pins, bumpers, & other supplies. Still occasionally buy ferule rod & phenolic joint tubes from Joe. Unless he reads this & goes off on me.
smt
They could elininate all that condescending bullsh!t by stating all inquiries to be sent by email.
Such a dumbass!
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How bout Huffing? Paint, glue? Wonder if they are acceptable.
I've dealt with Joe a number of times, one time had an order that was missing two items, I emailed them the order number and the issue, it was dealt with right away, no questions asked. I ordered a few of the knock off tips they offer, one installed with no issues, two others delaminated during installation, probably wouldn't purchase again but at the cost it isn't something I'm going to call and complain about. No issues doing business with them.
What do you mean by knock off tips? Are his Mooris legit?