well since everyone is dancing around the question, I will give my $.02
There are two cue makers that make very nice cues, that both play well (from what I have heard), but I have ZERO interest in ever owning one.
Dan Dishaw
John Barioni
Both of these are due to the piss poor attitude that I have heard from both of them. Barioni was via threads on AZB (arguing with Eric Crisp and Thomas Wayne if I remember correctly), and Dan Dishaw was about a phone conversation that I personally had with him many years ago. He pretty much told me that the cue I wanted would be ugly, and he didn't want to build it, so for it to be worth his time, he was going to charge me an extra $500 to build an ugly cue.
Customer service, and "likeability" are major factors in what makes the cue buying experience enjoyable for me. If you are not someone I would want to sit down and have a beer with, or shoot the breeze... I likely will never own one of your cues. These two gentlemen (while accomplish and competent cuemakers) pretty much pissed on any interest I would ever have in them.