I thought since my new Diamond Pro-Am was delivered and setup last thursday I should review the entire process for anyone here interested in a new table.
I decided a while back based on what I had read on this forum that I wanted a Diamond Pro-Am even though I could get a used GC for a lot less money. I have played on both and the difference is like night and day for me. I ran into some money back in January and tried to contact Diamond through their website. I actually tried for like three days and got no response.
Finally I made a call to Manning Cues to ask about price and availability. The owner Heath Manning was very knowledgeable. I then came back to AZ billiards to see what others said about him and his company. I heard nothing but good things so I continued on and went through the steps to order the table. I had done a bit of online research before any of this and found out if you are a member of the BCAPL or an associate member through CSI the annual fee is $25 you can get a $250 discount off the purchase of a Diamond table. When I asked Heath if he could honor that discount he was more then happy to do that as well.
There was a few hiccups with the sale but they were no fault of Heath or Manning Cues. When I charged it on my debit card as my credit card limit was not high enough to make that purchase. Then my local bank charged me a 3% fee for an international order. I called my bank to dispute the charge and even though the product had not yet been delivered and would never be outside the USA they refused to refund the charge. I spoke to Heath about it and his reply was more then I ever expected. He told me that was not a problem that I should call my credit card company and verify they would not charge me that fee and call him back. When I did he said he would simply refund my purchase price to my bank account then take two payments from the credit card to cover the expense. As soon as the bank saw the refund of the purchase as the order to them was cancelled they had no choice but to refund the service charge on me as well. I gave him the first payment on the credit card as soon as he offered and two or three days later soon as my credit card company posted it online I paid off the card and called Heath to give him the second payment.
This did not delay in anyway my table delivery date. I was told the availability of the table was eight weeks. I ordered it in January. Diamond had some issues with their delivery schedule and I ended up waiting a bit longer but it was delivered and setup March 14. This was arranged to coincide with SBE as Diamond would be in this area anyhow. Prior to the Delivery truck arriving Heath stopped by to meet me in person on his way from Canada to the SBE where he spent his time at the Diamond booth.
When the truck arrived with two table mechanics in it I was surprised to see it only had a small sign on the doors indicating it was Diamond Tables. I kind of expected to see nice big artwork on the side of the truck with images of their products. I asked the mechanics about it and they said it was to avoid people from hitting the truck and sueing diamond thinking it was a huge company. I thought Diamond was a large company but they only have three installation teams travelling around the country. Yet they are producing the finest tables on the planet.
Delivery and setup went very smooth in general. I did have some questions when I found one of the table legs had the wrong last name on the plastic wrap covering it. but it matches the table color of the rest of the legs so that is fine.
I knew that the Dymondwood factory had burned down and that the color of the routing would be Black instead of white due to the bleeding of the stain. Heath had told me about that before delivery. What I was not prepared for was the difference in the actual color of the stain. When I ordered Rosewood I was expecting to see a color that was close to that which is depicted on the Diamond website. The problem there is the Diamond website only shows pictures of the dymondwood finishes. The actual table looks far more like a cherry finish then a rosewood finish. In fact it was indicated that it was the same stain for those two colors on several occasions from many people within Diamond including the installers and at the SBE booth. The table is beautiful just a bit darker then I expected.
It plays amazing and I believe the best seven foot table in the entire city which I live. I had ordered it to be a three piece slate primarily because of where it was being installed and not knowing where it will be setup in any future apartment or house I live in. Another thing I did not know was they do not use bees wax to seal the seams instead they actually super glue the slate together by wicking the glue with a paper towel then fill the seam with bondo and sand it smooth. The entire delivery and complete build and cleanup afterwards took about 5 hours. They took all the packaging materials with them as well.
Overall I would say it was a fantastic transaction I would recommend Manning Cues without hesitation to anyone considering purchasing billiards product of all kinds for their homes. When it comes to Diamond Billiards they do not need the praise as they have by far the finest product in the industry.
Some links to dropbox images
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ux313m7lfl...57.28.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6fjc379zoj...17.16.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/paz4gsx7x9...17.36.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p5bygolq40...17.55.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x5bp42smnh...18.07.jpg?dl=0
I decided a while back based on what I had read on this forum that I wanted a Diamond Pro-Am even though I could get a used GC for a lot less money. I have played on both and the difference is like night and day for me. I ran into some money back in January and tried to contact Diamond through their website. I actually tried for like three days and got no response.
Finally I made a call to Manning Cues to ask about price and availability. The owner Heath Manning was very knowledgeable. I then came back to AZ billiards to see what others said about him and his company. I heard nothing but good things so I continued on and went through the steps to order the table. I had done a bit of online research before any of this and found out if you are a member of the BCAPL or an associate member through CSI the annual fee is $25 you can get a $250 discount off the purchase of a Diamond table. When I asked Heath if he could honor that discount he was more then happy to do that as well.
There was a few hiccups with the sale but they were no fault of Heath or Manning Cues. When I charged it on my debit card as my credit card limit was not high enough to make that purchase. Then my local bank charged me a 3% fee for an international order. I called my bank to dispute the charge and even though the product had not yet been delivered and would never be outside the USA they refused to refund the charge. I spoke to Heath about it and his reply was more then I ever expected. He told me that was not a problem that I should call my credit card company and verify they would not charge me that fee and call him back. When I did he said he would simply refund my purchase price to my bank account then take two payments from the credit card to cover the expense. As soon as the bank saw the refund of the purchase as the order to them was cancelled they had no choice but to refund the service charge on me as well. I gave him the first payment on the credit card as soon as he offered and two or three days later soon as my credit card company posted it online I paid off the card and called Heath to give him the second payment.
This did not delay in anyway my table delivery date. I was told the availability of the table was eight weeks. I ordered it in January. Diamond had some issues with their delivery schedule and I ended up waiting a bit longer but it was delivered and setup March 14. This was arranged to coincide with SBE as Diamond would be in this area anyhow. Prior to the Delivery truck arriving Heath stopped by to meet me in person on his way from Canada to the SBE where he spent his time at the Diamond booth.
When the truck arrived with two table mechanics in it I was surprised to see it only had a small sign on the doors indicating it was Diamond Tables. I kind of expected to see nice big artwork on the side of the truck with images of their products. I asked the mechanics about it and they said it was to avoid people from hitting the truck and sueing diamond thinking it was a huge company. I thought Diamond was a large company but they only have three installation teams travelling around the country. Yet they are producing the finest tables on the planet.
Delivery and setup went very smooth in general. I did have some questions when I found one of the table legs had the wrong last name on the plastic wrap covering it. but it matches the table color of the rest of the legs so that is fine.
I knew that the Dymondwood factory had burned down and that the color of the routing would be Black instead of white due to the bleeding of the stain. Heath had told me about that before delivery. What I was not prepared for was the difference in the actual color of the stain. When I ordered Rosewood I was expecting to see a color that was close to that which is depicted on the Diamond website. The problem there is the Diamond website only shows pictures of the dymondwood finishes. The actual table looks far more like a cherry finish then a rosewood finish. In fact it was indicated that it was the same stain for those two colors on several occasions from many people within Diamond including the installers and at the SBE booth. The table is beautiful just a bit darker then I expected.
It plays amazing and I believe the best seven foot table in the entire city which I live. I had ordered it to be a three piece slate primarily because of where it was being installed and not knowing where it will be setup in any future apartment or house I live in. Another thing I did not know was they do not use bees wax to seal the seams instead they actually super glue the slate together by wicking the glue with a paper towel then fill the seam with bondo and sand it smooth. The entire delivery and complete build and cleanup afterwards took about 5 hours. They took all the packaging materials with them as well.
Overall I would say it was a fantastic transaction I would recommend Manning Cues without hesitation to anyone considering purchasing billiards product of all kinds for their homes. When it comes to Diamond Billiards they do not need the praise as they have by far the finest product in the industry.
Some links to dropbox images
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ux313m7lfl...57.28.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6fjc379zoj...17.16.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/paz4gsx7x9...17.36.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p5bygolq40...17.55.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x5bp42smnh...18.07.jpg?dl=0
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