DP cues..logic says huh?

[Slider]

Between 1996 and 2001 I made a very good living marketing Real Rolex Watches (and other High-end Swiss brands in the same price range) on the Internet ... It was in it's infancy then and only a few of us were out there selling watches of that calibre at discounted prices.

You really have to be careful about buying watches these days. A few years ago I was in New York, standing right in front of the Rolex building, and a guy was offering about a dozen watches for sale. I had a funny feeling about the deal, and as I looked around, I realized that it wasn't the real Rolex building at all.

Ken

 

[Str8PoolPlayer]

High-End Merchandise ...

high end anything the market is awalys good because people with $$$ may be different people but there is still the $$ out there for expensive stuff, like the houses in Beverly hills only the names change on the mail box-they never sit vacent.

As I stated earlier, the really high-end stuff sells right away ... I skimmed-off many very special watches for my Personal Collection ... Pateks, AP's, A. Langes, IWC's, etc ... Most are Complications and one is a Patek Grand Complication (18k Hunting Case Pocket Watch) I purchased in 1971 for $5,100 ... It is now valued at over $750k and remains locked in a Safe Deposit Box until I croak, at which time my Son will inherit it ... I still dabble in Watches but mostly buy, sell, & trade High-End Pool Cues since I seem to get more use from them ... Top Quality Hand-crafted Pool Cues should always be a good investment, except in rare cases when a maker decides to whore them out the back door (like you-know-who) ...

 

[John Barton]

Customer Service is paramount in today's retail world where you can choose from countless Brands, Models, etc. and every retailer has the same merchandise at basically the same price ... What seperates them is their level of Customer Service (and in Dale Perry's case, the lack of any customer service) ... Quite possibly he is far too busy cranking out "cookie-cutter" cues to have time for ANY Customer Service ...

Wow, you really have it in for Dale Perry. I guess I am going to have to go back and read the "horror story" that inspires such ire. Nobody likes feeling screwed for any amount.

Perhaps Dale will be inspired to compromise with you to make it right. You know the old saying, a happy customer tells 3 people and an unhappy one tells everyone.

Hope it gets resolved.

 

[nola22]

You're absolutely right about the effects of a dissatisfied customer. After surfing this board for the last month, I've got the bug to buy a custom cue--you guys a bad influence on me! And I have to say I wouldn't buy a DP after following the various discussions about his work. I'm not a collector, and I really wouldn't care if one of his $400 cues appreciated in value. And most accounts indicate that his cues rate well for playbility. But when I hear that some of his cues have poor finishes and he that he seems to have poor customer service, I lose any incentive to send business his way. From all reports, guys like Ted Harris, Greg Sirca, and Bill Dominiak make similarly priced cues that look nice and play well--and they seem to stand by their products. I'll probably go with one of those guys when I buy my first custom.

 

[Str8PoolPlayer]

Customer Service ... Redux

If only Mr. Perry had stepped-up in the first place, you wouldn't be hearing this from me time and again ... He absolutely refused to even look at the Cue to determine the problem with the finish ... He flat stated, and I quote : "You must have damaged the cue yourself. I normally charge $150 to re-finish, but I will only charge you $100 since you just bought the cue from me" ... The Cue had never hit a ball and never out of the hard case until I showed it to friend and we both noticed the horrible finish bubbles all over the cue ... Eventually, I sold the cue at a considerable loss to a player who didn't mind the finish imperfections ... It is now TOO LATE for Mr. Perry to provide the Customer Service that was called for in the first place ...

If you want a really good cue at a really good price, look into Jacoby Cues ... I have known Dave Jacoby many years ... His Craftsmanship and Customer Service are of the Highest Level of Excellence ...

 

[John Barton]

Well, I did go and read the story and on the surface of it I'd have to say that Dale was wrong to not even look at it.

While I owned Instroke my philosophy was simple. If something is wrong I want to see it so that I can correct it if it's my fault and correct the process if need be so that more customers don't suffer the same issue.

In 13 years I only refused to repair/replace about 3 cases where the owner had clearly not taken the smallest bit of care. I got to be like Sherlock Holmes in deciphering how damage occurred. Sometimes it was a bit of shock to the customer when I would describe exactly HOW something happened.

You're right. Had Dale stepped up and at least been willing to discuss it then there wouldn't be an issue now.

I personally am going to start a customer service blog where I air my grievances with any company that grates me the wrong way. GoDaddy is number one on my list right now.

Well, the power of the internet cuts both ways.

Dale, if you are reading this, I love you man but you gotta trust your customers, they are worth more than gold.


And I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree about the recommendation to deal with Jacoby. Aside from just being damn good people they also stand behind their work 100%. I have dealt with them for many, many years and the very few problem cues I had were either repaired or replaced super quickly with no fuss at all. Dave, Peggy, and Brandon are top notch.

 

[John Barton]

high end anything the market is awalys good because people with $$$ may be different people but there is still the $$ out there for expensive stuff, like the houses in Beverly hills only the names change on the mail box-they never sit vacent.

Man you've got that right. Here in China you can walk down the street and there are more name brand shops with real high end goods than anywhere but Rodeo drive. There are plenty of Porsches, Jags, Hummers and so on. China may have a very low average wage but there are some very wealthy people here and the rich are getting richer.

 

[gsirca]

It's called efficiency. Dale has set up his shop so that it cam be managed by two people and turn out a goo dnumber of cues. What his cues are "worth" is forthe market to decide.

If the collectors were paying the bills then you woudn't see Dale selling direct on Ebay.

As for the playability, that's totally subjective. I have had several Dale Perry cues that I liked just fine. I personally am not turned on by the hit but I could run out with them with little adjustment.

Dale has adapted to the marketplace as it truly stands right now. Who are we to begrudge him how he chooses to support himself?

Yeah, the guy who bought a DP cue for a high price ten years ago on speculation that it might be worth more someday is not doing too well right now because of the street prices but that's the way the game is played.

And who is to say with any certainty that the cues wont appreciate?

No one has a lock on the future.

WOW,You hit the nail on the head,If all you do to make a living is build cues,and nobody is buying your cues ,what would you do ? and were would you sell your cues,Ebay is one place.....and most of the time it still is not enough to stay alive,i started on ebay about 8 years ago and at one time it was great,we all were making money,but now you have to sell two cues a week just to break even,(shop, power,parts ect.)

 

[Str8PoolPlayer]

Instroke was Great back then ...

While I owned Instroke my philosophy was simple. If something is wrong I want to see it so that I can correct it if it's my fault and correct the process if need be so that more customers don't suffer the same issue.

Over the years I purchased a lot of Instrokes, mostly German-made, and the Customer Service was First Rate ... The old style latches used to break quite easily and Instroke always repaired them immediately at NO CHARGE ...
I did, however, have a bad experience with Dan Whitten on a 3x6 Alligator Print Case where the dye kept flaking off, leaving ugly spots all over the Case (and I am talking about a Case that was treated like a newborn child) ... His answer to the problem was this, Quote : "Just go out and buy a Marking Pen of the same color and fill in the places that flaked off. That is what I would do here in the Shop" ... Mind you, we are talking about a almost new Case that cost $500.00 and I am supposed to patch it up with a Marking Pen ... The exact same thing happened to my best friend's 3x6 Case (also purchased the same time as mine), so we both listed them on eBay and never bought another Whitten ... I can't imagine we were the ONLY ones to ever experience this problem ... Jack Justis is THE MAN when it comes to Custom Cues Cases ... Impeccable Styling and Craftsmanship and Customer Service Extraordinaire ...

 

[Craig Fales]

Over the years I purchased a lot of Instrokes, mostly German-made, and the Customer Service was First Rate ... The old style latches used to break quite easily and Instroke always repaired them immediately at NO CHARGE ...
I did, however, have a bad experience with Dan Whitten on a 3x6 Alligator Print Case where the dye kept flaking off, leaving ugly spots all over the Case (and I am talking about a Case that was treated like a newborn child) ... His answer to the problem was this, Quote : "Just go out and buy a Marking Pen of the same color and fill in the places that flaked off. That is what I would do here in the Shop" ... Mind you, we are talking about a almost new Case that cost $500.00 and I am supposed to patch it up with a Marking Pen ... The exact same thing happened to my best friend's 3x6 Case (also purchased the same time as mine), so we both listed them on eBay and never bought another Whitten ... I can't imagine we were the ONLY ones to ever experience this problem ... Jack Justis is THE MAN when it comes to Custom Cues Cases ... Impeccable Styling and Craftsmanship and Customer Service Extraordinaire ...

I wonder if he dyes his leather himself and if so what is he using that it's flaking off...

 

[John Barton]

Over the years I purchased a lot of Instrokes, mostly German-made, and the Customer Service was First Rate ... The old style latches used to break quite easily and Instroke always repaired them immediately at NO CHARGE ..

Just a small correction to keep everything accurate. Instroke cases were never German-Made. The first ones were made in my little workshop in Germany, by me, an American and my German buddies. The ideas, design and construction of the cases were then and are now 100% from me.

When we moved to mass production the cases were made in the Czech Republic in a factory with over 100 years of leather goods production. This factory was at the time making some of the highest class and most expensive brands on the market. Again the entire construction of the cases to the smallest detail, the good and the bad, was entirely from my design.

The latches were a good case in point. It was the wrong solution for the closure. So I spent too much time fixing them and trying various ways to fix them.

The new diamond latches on the Instroke cases from Taiwan are the best solution for a latch closure in that style. Instroke Germany, now a separate company, still uses the old style latch. And the cases are still not made in Germany, they are made in the Czech Republic.

I want everyone to know that the cases were and are good because they were designed by me and had absolutely nothing to do with the country they were made in. Wherever I went and wherever I go I am always able to improve something.

Right now I am in China and we are building better pool cues through my input. I am about to begin making cases again. In my own shop I will make only one-of-a-kinds for direct order and prototypes for production to be sold through Sterling Gaming.

I will follow the same philosophy that I had when I started Instroke in 1991. Custom means that the order form is a blank sheet of paper.

The customer can describe their dream case to me and allow me to interpret it and make it reality. I did this with around 200 cases in the first two years of Instroke and every person who received their case was over the moon with the result. I will personally speak to and know each person who buys one of my new customs. And the production cases that Sterling will sell will benefit from all that I know about cue case making.

I know that this has turned into an ad of sorts but I prefer clarity when it comes to the history of Instroke. I know some of you have been waiting a while for me to get back into casemaking so here it is.

John Barton - Founder of Instroke - JB Cases coming soon - order now.

 

[Str8PoolPlayer]

Thanks for the clarification as to "german-made" ... I always equate those words with MBZ, Porsche, BMW, etc. "Quality"... I will be contacting you in the future to build a case for my extra long cues ... I really liked the styling of New York Cases, but waited too long to special order one ... I picked up a used NYC 3x6 in Python and it had only one small pocket and no carry handle, just a strap ... I eventually sold it for those reasons ...

 

[Str8PoolPlayer]

Scans of the "defective" Dale Perry Cue ...

If only Mr. Perry had stepped-up in the first place, you wouldn't be hearing this from me time and again ... He absolutely refused to even look at the Cue to determine the problem with the finish ... He flat stated, and I quote : "You must have damaged the cue yourself. I normally charge $150 to re-finish, but I will only charge you $100 since you just bought the cue from me" ... The Cue had never hit a ball and never out of the hard case until I showed it to friend and we both noticed the horrible finish bubbles all over the cue ... Eventually, I sold the cue at a considerable loss to a player who didn't mind the finish imperfections ... It is now TOO LATE for Mr. Perry to provide the Customer Service that was called for in the first place ...

I found the scans (in the Recycle Bin) of the defective areas on the Dale Perry Cue in question and will gladly share them with seriously interested parties ...