Greetings,
I have been, foolishly, keeping a low profile, thinking that, somehow, things would eventually work out for me, and that: I would actually get the cue that I had paid Tony Zinzola in full for; he would return the cue (that I purchased from JonTravisTaylor in this thread) which I sent to him for some rework; and that some day, Tony would make a cue to my own specifications by virtue of the money I have on deposit with him.
'Foolishly', is the key word in that opening paragraph. Not to mention, as has recently been pointed out to me, my silence on this matter doesn't serve the larger community, of which I am a part. So, with that in mind, here is my story.
Some of you may remember that last spring I went on a Tony-Zinzola-deposit buying spree. I ended up purchasing 3 deposits from people who didn't want to wait any longer for their cues from TZ. I wasn't worried, I was in no hurry, and was willing to wait while TZ got his cue building 'problems' worked out. In total, I laid out $1950 for those deposits. One of those was for a cue that was, supposedly, nearly complete. The other two deposits were for cues that had not been started.
The reason that I wanted to buy the deposits was that, as TZ had said previously, he wasn't taking any new orders. I already had purchased one of his cues (from Double-Dave - cue #55), and I liked it a lot, so I wanted to have TZ produce a cue of my own design; but, since he wasn't taking new orders, the only way to have that happen would be to buy someone else's deposit.
I kept in contact with TZ during these purchases, and got his approval for the reassignment of the deposits. In fact, as I mentioned above, the reason I purchased one of the deposits (from Worminator - $1200) was because he said that the cue was nearly complete... Here is a picture TZ sent me of the butt sleeve of the nearly-complete cue #169 (Worminator) (note that, for whatever his reason, TZ asked me not to post this... however, I am now going to post it):
Keep in mind that, up until this point, I had not actually sent TZ any money at all, I had simply transacted business with his, former, and soon-to-be-former, clients.
So, work 'proceeded' on the Worminator cue. Eventually, however, I got word that he wasn't going to be able to finish the cue as soon as he thought. His CNC controller had died... I volunteered to spring for a new controller ($300), have it shipped directly to him, and we would deduct its cost from my total. He agreed, and I made it happen. Again, work 'proceeded'.
During the period of time when I was looking for deposits to purchase, in mid- to late April, I purchased the cue I mentioned above (#156) from JonTravisTaylor. Here is a picture of the forearm of that cue:
I felt that #156 was a good candidate for a bumperless butt, so, while TZ was working on completing the Worminator cue (which he said he had assigned number #169), I asked him if he would take on the rework of #156, as well. He agreed, and we agreed on a design and a price ($150 for conversion, and $250 for joint protectors for #156 and #169). I sent him that cue (and its shafts) on May 2, 2013.
Eventually, TZ contacted me and said that everything was finished, and that final payment was requested, and he would send out the cues. He asked me to send it to his wife's paypal account.
On June 3, 2013, I sent him the following e-mail for a confirmation of the totals:
Tony,
This is all correct. Please use your own judgement when making choices for the
conversion of the butt on #156. The examples from your other cues were sent
to insure that we were talking about the same thing, not necessarily as a hard
and fast specification.
Cue #169 $1300
2 sets JPs (#156 & #169) + $250
Cue #156 butt conversion + $150
Gecko - $300
Total - $1400
I'll chip in the shipping for the Gecko to go toward expedited shipping for all of this.
Please remember to include the 3rd JP from cue #55, and the JPs from
Gambler 2.0.
Invoice me when they're ready to go, and I'll paypal. Do you want this to be as a
'Gift', or the regular paypal for merchandise?
Thanks.
- s.west
On June 4, 2013, I sent him the following e-mail for a confirmation of what he was going to ship:
That Paypal transfer occurred on June 4th, 2013.
And now, the excuses begin... I thought he had excuses before, but I hadn't seen anything yet. I won't bore you with all of the reasons why the cues couldn't be sent. It's pretty pathetic (both from his point of view as the excuse maker, and from my point of view as the 'gullible stooge').
These excuses went well in to August, and then the last communication I had from him was August 27, 2013:
Well, of course, that never happened. And that was the last I heard from him, even though I continued to e-mail him, regularly, trying to get some sort of response.
Suffice it to say, it is March 6, 2014, and I don't have anything to show for over $5300 that I am currently out ($1700 to Tony, $1950 in repurchased deposits, and the $1700 I paid for cue #156).
(Post script: I have had the foregoing all ready to post for the past couple of weeks. There was some activity on this that happened on 2/11/204. That was the day that I responded via PM to blucollar's request for anyone to post their Tony Zinzola story. This new situation, however, in no way alters what I have said above, and so I will let that stand. If blucollar and/or wawacue would like to chime in here and include additional information, that would be great. I will leave that to them... I will, however, publicly thank them: Thank you, blucollar and wawacue!)
I have been, foolishly, keeping a low profile, thinking that, somehow, things would eventually work out for me, and that: I would actually get the cue that I had paid Tony Zinzola in full for; he would return the cue (that I purchased from JonTravisTaylor in this thread) which I sent to him for some rework; and that some day, Tony would make a cue to my own specifications by virtue of the money I have on deposit with him.
'Foolishly', is the key word in that opening paragraph. Not to mention, as has recently been pointed out to me, my silence on this matter doesn't serve the larger community, of which I am a part. So, with that in mind, here is my story.
Some of you may remember that last spring I went on a Tony-Zinzola-deposit buying spree. I ended up purchasing 3 deposits from people who didn't want to wait any longer for their cues from TZ. I wasn't worried, I was in no hurry, and was willing to wait while TZ got his cue building 'problems' worked out. In total, I laid out $1950 for those deposits. One of those was for a cue that was, supposedly, nearly complete. The other two deposits were for cues that had not been started.
The reason that I wanted to buy the deposits was that, as TZ had said previously, he wasn't taking any new orders. I already had purchased one of his cues (from Double-Dave - cue #55), and I liked it a lot, so I wanted to have TZ produce a cue of my own design; but, since he wasn't taking new orders, the only way to have that happen would be to buy someone else's deposit.
I kept in contact with TZ during these purchases, and got his approval for the reassignment of the deposits. In fact, as I mentioned above, the reason I purchased one of the deposits (from Worminator - $1200) was because he said that the cue was nearly complete... Here is a picture TZ sent me of the butt sleeve of the nearly-complete cue #169 (Worminator) (note that, for whatever his reason, TZ asked me not to post this... however, I am now going to post it):
Keep in mind that, up until this point, I had not actually sent TZ any money at all, I had simply transacted business with his, former, and soon-to-be-former, clients.
So, work 'proceeded' on the Worminator cue. Eventually, however, I got word that he wasn't going to be able to finish the cue as soon as he thought. His CNC controller had died... I volunteered to spring for a new controller ($300), have it shipped directly to him, and we would deduct its cost from my total. He agreed, and I made it happen. Again, work 'proceeded'.
During the period of time when I was looking for deposits to purchase, in mid- to late April, I purchased the cue I mentioned above (#156) from JonTravisTaylor. Here is a picture of the forearm of that cue:
I felt that #156 was a good candidate for a bumperless butt, so, while TZ was working on completing the Worminator cue (which he said he had assigned number #169), I asked him if he would take on the rework of #156, as well. He agreed, and we agreed on a design and a price ($150 for conversion, and $250 for joint protectors for #156 and #169). I sent him that cue (and its shafts) on May 2, 2013.
Eventually, TZ contacted me and said that everything was finished, and that final payment was requested, and he would send out the cues. He asked me to send it to his wife's paypal account.
On June 3, 2013, I sent him the following e-mail for a confirmation of the totals:
Tony,
This is all correct. Please use your own judgement when making choices for the
conversion of the butt on #156. The examples from your other cues were sent
to insure that we were talking about the same thing, not necessarily as a hard
and fast specification.
Cue #169 $1300
2 sets JPs (#156 & #169) + $250
Cue #156 butt conversion + $150
Gecko - $300
Total - $1400
I'll chip in the shipping for the Gecko to go toward expedited shipping for all of this.
Please remember to include the 3rd JP from cue #55, and the JPs from
Gambler 2.0.
Invoice me when they're ready to go, and I'll paypal. Do you want this to be as a
'Gift', or the regular paypal for merchandise?
Thanks.
- s.west
Tony,
I am about to make payment.
To confirm, in this shipment, you will send:
Cue #169 completed, w/JPs
Cue #158 converted, w/JPs
3rd JP for cue #55
JPs for Gambler 2.0
Also, I mentioned it, but failed to emphasize, since cue #158 has been
re-issued, and is brand new (again ;-), I was hoping you would clean up
the shafts and make them like new, as well.
Thanks, a lot.
- s.west
To which he replied:I am about to make payment.
To confirm, in this shipment, you will send:
Cue #169 completed, w/JPs
Cue #158 converted, w/JPs
3rd JP for cue #55
JPs for Gambler 2.0
Also, I mentioned it, but failed to emphasize, since cue #158 has been
re-issued, and is brand new (again ;-), I was hoping you would clean up
the shafts and make them like new, as well.
Thanks, a lot.
- s.west
Yes. All of the above. I will clean up the shafts.
Thanks
So, as I itemized above, I paid him $1400 directly (along with the $300, indirect, for the CNC controller). Like an idiot I 'gifted' the money, still believing that I was dealing with someone who was simply having personal and professional problems which would all, eventually, be worked out, and not... well, something else.Thanks
That Paypal transfer occurred on June 4th, 2013.
And now, the excuses begin... I thought he had excuses before, but I hadn't seen anything yet. I won't bore you with all of the reasons why the cues couldn't be sent. It's pretty pathetic (both from his point of view as the excuse maker, and from my point of view as the 'gullible stooge').
These excuses went well in to August, and then the last communication I had from him was August 27, 2013:
I've got a friend helping me get the things sitting here shipped out.
He will come by in a day or two and I will give him your cue or cues to send.
He will come by in a day or two and I will give him your cue or cues to send.
Well, of course, that never happened. And that was the last I heard from him, even though I continued to e-mail him, regularly, trying to get some sort of response.
Suffice it to say, it is March 6, 2014, and I don't have anything to show for over $5300 that I am currently out ($1700 to Tony, $1950 in repurchased deposits, and the $1700 I paid for cue #156).
(Post script: I have had the foregoing all ready to post for the past couple of weeks. There was some activity on this that happened on 2/11/204. That was the day that I responded via PM to blucollar's request for anyone to post their Tony Zinzola story. This new situation, however, in no way alters what I have said above, and so I will let that stand. If blucollar and/or wawacue would like to chime in here and include additional information, that would be great. I will leave that to them... I will, however, publicly thank them: Thank you, blucollar and wawacue!)
