Custom Cue Maker horror stories

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King Kong

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I have been waiting on a custom cue for sometime now. I was told a month and it would be complete. I was going to pay for it all up front and something told me to pay half and pay the other half when complete. The idea being to give the guy an incentive to get it done so he can get the rest. Is this practice uncommon? How do others handle buying a custom cue and the wait? I am really torn about calling because I do not want the cue just slapped together for the sake of him getting it done. I want the guy to take his time and when he is happy with it for him to send it on out. It has been a month and a half and I have not heard a word about the cue. I think it is typical for custom cue makers to over promise and under produce when gauging the time table. I am not all that torn about the delay because excellence takes time. But, I do not know why they do not pick up the phone and give you a curtsey call to say "Hey, I am running behind it will be done in the next 3 weeks". I am just curious if others have had this type of experience and who holds the record for the longest delay in getting their custom cue among us AZbilliards members. This is not a smear Thread so please do not post cue makers names. I did not mention a cue maker at all and it’s not fair to them in my opinion. But, if you were so horrified by the experience and the spirit moves you, this is America and a free country! I was curious, if I had paid in full would I have experienced the same delay? I just do not know how to deal with these situations. I am so anxious about getting it in my hands and adding it to my arsenal; I do not know what to do. Thanks for your thoughts.

King Kong
 
I think most cuemakers do buisness that way by asking for half up front and then the other half when cue is complete. I know tim scruggs does it like that. Just call the cue maker and ask him how the cue is going. If he says will I ran into this problem and that problem then you know why you have waited longer no harm to call the guy! I dont think they deliberatley say you can get it in a month and then just take longer on purpose something else might have came up. maker I have delt with when they say you get the cue you get the cue. I have had a couple that it took a little longer but they ran into problems. But you should just call him to see whats up!
 
I wouldn't be upset at all. It's been a few months since I placed my order for my new custom cue. Every few weeks I have emailed him to check up and see how the cue is coming along. And he has always responded to me in a timely manner. It's alright to check up with them and see how things are coming along, but I wouldn't hassle him about it. A month isn't a long time and wood has to be turned. It's not like you can just turn a whole piece of a certain wood in one day without any problems arising. Cuemakers usually have more than one order and work on cues in a group. My advice is quit thinking about it, because the more you think about it the more impatient you're going to get. Email him or give him a call and ask how things are coming along and I'm sure he will give you a response. Sending full payment for your cue isn't going to get it to you any quicker in my opinion. I don't think any cuemaker is willing to ruin their reputation just to get someone a cue within a month. It takes times and cuemakers also have family and kids they have to take care of as well as taking orders and working on other cues. Be patient, give him a call every few weeks to get an update. I'm sure you'll be glad you waited in the long run. Remember, some guys have to wait years before their order even gets started.
 
A custom cue done in a month?
It is customary to place 25% down for a custom cue order.
Pay the balance on time of delivery.
A friend of mine was promised a 4 year wait for his cues.
It's been 7 years. Still no cues.
 
Many of the cuemakers have the best of intentions I'm sure but there are things that crop up and cause delays for the best of them. I'd be clear with the cuemaker that you are not wanting him to rush but want to know about when the delivery date is projected.

One very disappointing experience I had with a better known maker was where the guy kept pushing back the delivery date AFTER he had taken my FINAL payment on a $1,700.00 cue. I had already waited 6-7 months. He talked on the phone of the cue and shafts being in the very final stages of finishing. When I saw him at a show he produced a rather rough cue butt that was not even close to being finished (or what I had ordered). I thought the guy was trustworthy but I got buffaloed! To his credit he offered me a complete refund by check on the spot and I felt very relieved when the check cleared.

I've had mostly positive experiences and learned a good deal about cue woods, design, and construction from cuemakers I've dealth with over the years. All things considered, building high-quality, precision pool cues takes enormous dedication and know how.

I dilemma I've recently thought about involves sending a large deposit ($500.00) to a very coveted cuemaker for a cue that will not even be started for at least 2 years! On one hand I'd really like for him to make me a cue but on the other hand after thinking about it I'm not comfortable allowing him to hold my money for so long without making a start on my cue. To me this is way out of line. I decided I would write him and kindly explain that I'd be glad to send a deposit when he was about to begin my cue and if that wasn't reasonable and acceptable, I'd have to pass on having one of his cues.

Martin




King Kong said:
I have been waiting on a custom cue for sometime now. I was told a month and it would be complete. I was going to pay for it all up front and something told me to pay half and pay the other half when complete. The idea being to give the guy an incentive to get it done so he can get the rest. Is this practice uncommon? How do others handle buying a custom cue and the wait? I am really torn about calling because I do not want the cue just slapped together for the sake of him getting it done. I want the guy to take his time and when he is happy with it for him to send it on out. It has been a month and a half and I have not heard a word about the cue. I think it is typical for custom cue makers to over promise and under produce when gauging the time table. I am not all that torn about the delay because excellence takes time. But, I do not know why they do not pick up the phone and give you a curtsey call to say "Hey, I am running behind it will be done in the next 3 weeks". I am just curious if others have had this type of experience and who holds the record for the longest delay in getting their custom cue among us AZbilliards members. This is not a smear Thread so please do not post cue makers names. I did not mention a cue maker at all and it’s not fair to them in my opinion. But, if you were so horrified by the experience and the spirit moves you, this is America and a free country! I was curious, if I had paid in full would I have experienced the same delay? I just do not know how to deal with these situations. I am so anxious about getting it in my hands and adding it to my arsenal; I do not know what to do. Thanks for your thoughts.

King Kong
Click to expand...
 
Cue maker business

If you are talking hand made, cue making is an art. Hopefully there was some reasoning behind your choosing of the "Artist". It is my opinion that to rush an order for the sake of money or anticipation, you are denying the artist to focus and may jeopordize the product.

My suggestion is to relax and enjoy the anticipation. Your hard earned cash will pay dividends when the cue arrives. Besides, I am sure we all have a nice cue to play with until the delivery arrives.

I play a Viking, hand made by Gordy Hart shortly before he retired. I paid big bucks for the cue (up front), and never questioned nor doubted his integrity.

My cue is now my cue, and I will always thank Viking for providing me with a great piece of art. I must add, not only does it look good but it plays even better.

Maybe it's a karma thing...

Patience pays dividends.
 
If I read your post correctly, your cue is only two weeks over due, so in custom cue terms, I wouldn't be too concerned. However, a custom cue being completed in a month raises my eybrows. It's not impossible if you happened to have ordered something that simply attatches a few bells and whistles to something that your cuemaker already had in progress, but in general, one months time for a cue starting from scratch is pretty quick.
As the other posts stated, most cue makers will ask for a certain percentage down payment before they will start the building process, and then ask for the rest once the cue is complete. It's a safety net for both the cue maker and the customer. I as a customer wouldn't pay the full amount for a cue that will be complete in 2-3 years because lot's can happen in that amount of time. And from the cue makers point of view, makers with long waiting periods often discover that their customer has vanished or is no longer interested in the cue once it's complete................lot's can happen in 2-3 years.
dave
 
JoeyInCali said:
A friend of mine was promised a 4 year wait for his cues.
It's been 7 years. Still no cues.
Click to expand...

Not Cool at all, and what is the Excuse for a 3 YEAR DEALY and still no Q? :mad:
 
Thomas Wayne told me this about 10 or 12 years ago:

There was a man cleaning out his closet and preparing a box for Goodwill. In going through the pockets of a suit he was donating, he found a ten year old repair claim ticket for a pair of long forgotten shoes. He looks in the phone book and sees that the shoe repair shop is still in business and decides to have some fun. He takes the ten year old claim ticket and walks into the shoe repair shop. Without saying a word, he hands the ticket to the guy behind the counter. The man looks at the ticket, says, "Just a second" and disappears into the back room. About five minutes goes by. He returns to the counter, hands the man his ticket back and says, "They'll be ready Friday."

Thomas explained to me that the joke was originally about "cuemakers", but they changed it to "shoemakers" to give it wider appeal.

There is real time and cuemaker time. Providing they're reputable, relax, enjoy and don't pressure him. You'll be happier with the result in the long run. I actually have had cuemakers either discount the cue for my patience or include a premium (leather 2x4 George case). Anticipation.......

Adios,

Pizza Bob
 
Kong,

Nobody likes to wait, but I bet every pool player would rather have excellent quality product LATE than an inferior product EARLY.

If a cuemaker doesn't have any help in their shop, just talking on the phone everyday to customers (giving cue updates, etc) could make every cue another month late. That is -> somebody STILL has to make the cues.

When you get your cue, you'll never look back and say "I wish I had this cue 2 weeks earlier." Just hold the fort, it wil be worth the wait, it ALWAYS is.

Just my $.02

-td
 
Horror Story

I purchased a cue ( $6,600 retail) that had a shaft go south. I personally handed the shaft back to the guy. No problem, I will make you another shaft. Well, it has been 14 months, still no shaft. The same guy shipped me a cue ( $5,500 cue ) that had 7 defects in it. Blemishes above the 5 points in the ebony, uneven joint ring, and a cracked Ivory inlay. I took it to another cuemaker friend of mine and had everything repaired for $475. Now the cuemaker is pissed off at me. Wanted me to let him fix it. Yeah right, when would I get it back, in 15 years as I see it. There are guys who are full of
sh!t and there are honest, hardworking cuemakers. Some people might say I just lost a friend. Nope, I never had a friend in this case. Just another dishonest, lying, low class, ignorant, piss poor example of a human being trying to make his nut! That is all this one cares about.
Purdman :cool:
 
I feel your pain! I ordered my first custom cue last year and the wait was a little longer than quoted. It was definitely hard to wait patiently for the cue to be finished as in the end it seemed that it was always going to be finished in two weeks. :) When it all boils down to it I think the wait I had was pretty standard and have no problem with how long I had to wait. I know that things happen and that the cuemakers that I've been ordering from are pretty busy so I just try to take my mind off of it and resist the urge to buy more cues...lol.
 
lukeinva said:
I think most cuemakers do buisness that way by asking for half up front and then the other half when cue is complete. I know tim scruggs does it like that.
Click to expand...
Several years ago, I ordered a cue from Tim Scruggs. He refused to take any down payment. The cue design was nice, with a few inlays, but nothing spectacular. He said if I didn't pick it up, he would have no problem selling it.
I picked it up. :D

On the other side of the coin, more recently I ordered a cue from another cue maker. He said it would be ready in 4 to 5 months and he required a 50% down payment.
After that time passed, I called and was told to call back in a couple of weeks. Well, time passed quickly and, by his choice, I was calling every couple of weeks, until a total of 9 months had passed.
Finally, my cue was ready. When I went to pick it up, there were several things that were not correct. For example, I did not get the ivory ferules that I had ordered and there was a problem with one of the shafts. After a few weeks, everything was straightened out, to my satisfaction.

I wasn't in a hurry for the cue, so the wait didn't bother me. I did not establish the completion date, he did. What did bother me was, in all of that time, he never once called me and told me that the cue would not be ready. Instead, he kept telling me to call and call and call. He also never apologized for the cue taking so much longer than the time period he had quoted.
Although I like the cue and I would like another one, this cue maker will never get another dollar from me.
Some guys are just too successful for their own good. Some day, when the orders dry up, they will be looking for all of the customers they once pissed off. :p
 
Rich R. said:
Several years ago, I ordered a cue from Tim Scruggs. He refused to take any down payment. The cue design was nice, with a few inlays, but nothing spectacular. He said if I didn't pick it up, he would have no problem selling it.
Click to expand...

While at a recent tournament I commissioned Joe Ezell, a cuemaker in Hattiesburg, MS, to make a cue and he said the exact same thing. I even went so far as to pull out the money and tried to give him $300 right there and he wouldn't take it.
 
cycopath said:
While at a recent tournament I commissioned Joe Ezell, a cuemaker in Hattiesburg, MS, to make a cue and he said the exact same thing. I even went so far as to pull out the money and tried to give him $300 right there and he wouldn't take it.
Click to expand...

Joe Ezell sounds like one of the good guys. Tim Scruggs is also 100%. There are a lot of honest, hard working cuemakers out there. There are also some that just plain don't give a crap.
Purdman :cool:
 
Donald A. Purdy said:
Joe Ezell sounds like one of the good guys. Tim Scruggs is also 100%. There are a lot of honest, hard working cuemakers out there. There are also some that just plain don't give a crap.
Purdman :cool:
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Thats the same ole story,It dosn't matter what you are talking about.You will always find the good with the bad.
I am waiting on a cue now for just about a year.I recently recieved some pictures of it and it looks better then what I imagined,so in the long run the wait will be worth it.If you dont want to wait then buy a cue already made.
 
cues ...

I have a good friend that is a custom cuemaker (he made mine), and he told me that a cue normally takes 4 to 6 months to make, if there are no special problems, i.e., like the wood you want being on backorder.

My cue took 4 months 3 weeks to make and has normal amount of inlays for
a $1100 cue.

He told me too that the wood has to cure for 5 weeks before the cue really
gets worked on.

Difficult and a lot of inlays can add a month or two to the normal time.
 
Donald A. Purdy said:
I purchased a cue ( $6,600 retail) that had a shaft go south. I personally handed the shaft back to the guy. No problem, I will make you another shaft. Well, it has been 14 months, still no shaft. The same guy shipped me a cue ( $5,500 cue ) that had 7 defects in it. Blemishes above the 5 points in the ebony, uneven joint ring, and a cracked Ivory inlay. I took it to another cuemaker friend of mine and had everything repaired for $475. Now the cuemaker is pissed off at me. Wanted me to let him fix it. Yeah right, when would I get it back, in 15 years as I see it. There are guys who are full of
sh!t and there are honest, hardworking cuemakers. Some people might say I just lost a friend. Nope, I never had a friend in this case. Just another dishonest, lying, low class, ignorant, piss poor example of a human being trying to make his nut! That is all this one cares about.
Purdman :cool:
Click to expand...

Hot dang, I just got my shaft. Droped it off at the Super Billiards Expo in 2004. Great job too. I wish I had kept the other crooked shaft. What am I gonna tell a buyer now? Duh! I don't know!!!!! Here is a picture of the joint and matching shaft/shafts. God help em man. Guys, this is a $6,600 pool cue.
Purdman :rolleyes:
 
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