This post is a bit long, but please bear with me as I think it's a fine example of what makes AZBilliards great.
In early June, I bought a MasonH sneaky pete from Danktrees via these forums. He shipped promptly, and we figured that since he's in Canada and I'm in the US, the cue might take a little while to clear customs. A few weeks went by, and the cue never arrived. Disturbingly, the tracking number stopped updating soon after it was shipped. Danktrees stayed in constant contact with me via private message and email, so I felt like I was never waiting alone.
By the time July arrived I had given up the poor cue for dead, and we started the tedious process of requesting an insurance payment from Canada Post. Like the USPS, Canada Post will only discuss insurance matters with the shipper, so I was entirely reliant on Danktrees to move the process forward. As many of you know, there are few more painful processes than trying to get a postal service to pay out an insurance claim. Again, Danktrees was exemplary in his dedication and communication. He followed up with Canada Post on a daily basis when necessary, and always kept me apprised of all developments.
In early August, I received a notification from the USPS that the cue had arrived
but couldn't be delivered because I "moved and left no forwarding address" 
Now, I had moved from one side of town to the other in July, but had a fully operative forwarding address and had been receiving forwarded mail for weeks (which is supposed to include packages). After spending many frustrating hours on the phone with every USPS customer service number I could find, all I had to show for it was several conflicting responses and no good answer. The best information I received was that, by sheer dumb luck, my regular mailman was off duty on the day the cue arrived, and the fill-in mailman didn't bother to check for a forwarded address - just marked the cue as undeliverable. Of course, no one at the USPS could tell me if the cue was returned to the sender, or if it was still sitting in my old local post office somewhere, or even what the condition of the package was after being lost for two months.
Another three weeks went by with no word of the cue. By now it's gone from lost, to found, to lost again. In the interim Danktrees succeeded in collecting the full insurance amount from Canada Post (an impressive feat), and returned a full refund to me of every penny I paid, including all fees.
Now it's nearly three months after the cue was first shipped, and I'm sure it's either vanished or mutilated in some horrible wood-chopper-ish manner. Lo and behold, in late August it shows up at Danktrees's house, still in the same condition! We decide to give the transaction one more go and he ships it to me again, this time using overnight FedEx. Finally the pool gods smile upon us, and the cue arrives overnight and in tip-top shape.
Morals of the story:
Moral 1: It's easy to have a good transaction when things go smoothly. The real test of a person's character occurs when the transaction doesn't go as planned. Danktrees spent three months following up on the status of this cue, including daily calls to Canada Post when trying to get the insurance payment and constant communication with me. And he did all that after I had already paid him in full. That's a great AZB'er -- I would not hesitate to give him my highest recommendation for future transactions.
Moral 2: The postal service sucks. Use FedEx.
Moral 3: MasonH makes a damn fine cue. I'm very impressed with the workmanship, wood selection, and especially the hit.
In early June, I bought a MasonH sneaky pete from Danktrees via these forums. He shipped promptly, and we figured that since he's in Canada and I'm in the US, the cue might take a little while to clear customs. A few weeks went by, and the cue never arrived. Disturbingly, the tracking number stopped updating soon after it was shipped. Danktrees stayed in constant contact with me via private message and email, so I felt like I was never waiting alone.
By the time July arrived I had given up the poor cue for dead, and we started the tedious process of requesting an insurance payment from Canada Post. Like the USPS, Canada Post will only discuss insurance matters with the shipper, so I was entirely reliant on Danktrees to move the process forward. As many of you know, there are few more painful processes than trying to get a postal service to pay out an insurance claim. Again, Danktrees was exemplary in his dedication and communication. He followed up with Canada Post on a daily basis when necessary, and always kept me apprised of all developments.
In early August, I received a notification from the USPS that the cue had arrived
but couldn't be delivered because I "moved and left no forwarding address" Now, I had moved from one side of town to the other in July, but had a fully operative forwarding address and had been receiving forwarded mail for weeks (which is supposed to include packages). After spending many frustrating hours on the phone with every USPS customer service number I could find, all I had to show for it was several conflicting responses and no good answer. The best information I received was that, by sheer dumb luck, my regular mailman was off duty on the day the cue arrived, and the fill-in mailman didn't bother to check for a forwarded address - just marked the cue as undeliverable. Of course, no one at the USPS could tell me if the cue was returned to the sender, or if it was still sitting in my old local post office somewhere, or even what the condition of the package was after being lost for two months.Another three weeks went by with no word of the cue. By now it's gone from lost, to found, to lost again. In the interim Danktrees succeeded in collecting the full insurance amount from Canada Post (an impressive feat), and returned a full refund to me of every penny I paid, including all fees.
Now it's nearly three months after the cue was first shipped, and I'm sure it's either vanished or mutilated in some horrible wood-chopper-ish manner. Lo and behold, in late August it shows up at Danktrees's house, still in the same condition! We decide to give the transaction one more go and he ships it to me again, this time using overnight FedEx. Finally the pool gods smile upon us, and the cue arrives overnight and in tip-top shape.
Morals of the story:
Moral 1: It's easy to have a good transaction when things go smoothly. The real test of a person's character occurs when the transaction doesn't go as planned. Danktrees spent three months following up on the status of this cue, including daily calls to Canada Post when trying to get the insurance payment and constant communication with me. And he did all that after I had already paid him in full. That's a great AZB'er -- I would not hesitate to give him my highest recommendation for future transactions.
Moral 2: The postal service sucks. Use FedEx.
Moral 3: MasonH makes a damn fine cue. I'm very impressed with the workmanship, wood selection, and especially the hit.
No means no Dank!
