(All bold was a post from WheatCues)
And I did exactly as I said I would.....
First off..... The system Moderaters asked Kevin NOT to respond to these threads and posts for obvious reasons !!!!!
I don't believe that. Why would they refuse to allow him the opportunity to apologize and try to rectify the situation with the many unhappy AzBilliards members/customers, some of whom are publicly asking for a refund? It doesn't make sense. Maybe Varney offered them a free cue ahead of other customers if they would say that for him (just joking about the Mods part but wouldn't put it past him to try).
Even if they did tell him that, you would think it would be worth it to him, with his reputation and livelyhood on the line, to post anyway and attempt to repair the damage he created. What might make some sense is if the Mods got an explanation from him beforehand and determined that it was the same old BS and chose to spare us another go around of being lied to, and just haven't banned him yet because they don't want to jeopadize the AzB member's cues and money.
Whatever the case, if the Mods did indeed ask him not to respond then they should probably post and explain since it doesn't seem to make sense to anyone.
And even if the above is true, there is no reason that he can't phone/email/PM his customer's that are upset to try to work out a resolution, even if he chooses not to post in the thread. Ignoring them and refusing to communicate is never the answer.
I and Kevin talked for about 36 min. on the phone..... He assures you guys that EVERYTHING is fine !
This is funny considering no customer's are able to reach him. I guess that if he knows that the person calling has been somewhat supportive and will probably post for him in his absense, then he will answer the phone when you call. To hell with the customer's that are waiting for cues or asking for refunds though. Everything is not fine. He has a lot of customer's that he lied to to get their order and who have waited 6 to 12+ times longer than promised. Some want their cues, and some want refunds. All are being ignored. Nothing here sounds fine to me.
He is hard at work... he has about 200 orders pending.... 30-40 cues in their final pass stage and about 20 orders ahead of CINCYMAN !!!
He told Cincyman and others over one and two years ago that they would have a 60 day turnaround time. If he still has 20 orders ahead of them one and two years later, then he was clearly LYING to them when he took their order. He also told Cincyman three weeks ago that there were only 5-6 cues ahead of him but now it is 20. More lies.
Kevin said he will not expedite CINCYMAN's order ahead of the other 20 becasue it's not fair to them..... He is under an extreme amount of pressure and since this is his only source of income as well as being a family man with a 5 month old child.. he has to play father,husband and cuemaker at the same time....
I wouldn't expect him to move anybody up the list. What I would expect is that he give an immediate and full refund to Cincyman and the others that have requested it. If he was unable to do that then he should have contacted them immediately to explain why, and to work out a payment plan and timeline for their refund. By not doing this he is stealing, plain and simple.
Yes he's overworked and overwhelmed with orders and as most of you know by now..... he's NOT taking anymore orders anytime soon !!!
He is possibly not taking orders from AzBilliards unless you are one of his cronies and he knows you won't tell. Based on his past history, I'd be willing to bet that he continues to take orders locally and from his supporters.
He is the only laborer in his shop so it's a one-man operation and as a custom cuemaker I can relate to how exhausting that can be...thank god I'm NOT a family man or I would never get any work done in a REASONABLE amount of time !!!
Nobody says he has to work miracles. Just be honest about the timeframe instead of lying to get an order when you know you can't deliver as promised.
Kevin asked me to assure you that CINCYMAN'S cue will be done shortly and he will be very impressed and happy with the results...
Why can't Kevin tell Cincyman himself by phone, email or PM? And Cincyman has said in this thread several times that he wants a refund, and you said that Varney is aware of ALL of the posts. So why hasn't Varney contacted Cincyman to discuss the refund? Another example of Varney just trying to do what he wants and when he wants to do it, and to hell with the customer.
He is also giving extra little additions "rings etc." to most of the pending orders at no charge just to show his appreciation for the unavoidable delays !!!
Maybe some freebies isn't going to be good enough compensation for some of his customers. Has he bothered to ask them if this would make them happy? I know some of them just want a refund at this point. I doubt a few rings is going to cut it.
And some of them may want their cue exactly as they ordered it. Maybe they don't want their design changed, or maybe they don't like certain types of ringwork. I know I would be upset if a cuemaker changed my cue without running it by me first, even if the changes were upgrades and were free (unless I had already told him he was free to take liberties with the design). Another example of Varney doing what he wants without giving a damn about what the customer wants.
After talking with him for that length of time, in my very honest opinion is this:
Kevin is very overworked and under alot of family stress and is completely exhausted and I feel by his tone of voice and sincerety that all of you will get your cues with satisfactory craftsmanship in the near future, he did not in any way shape or form indicate that he's trying to screw anyone over... he just bit off a little more than he could chew.. and that can happen to anyone of us cuemakers in this market at any given time !
He is screwing people over by lying about the delivery times. He is screwing people over by refusing to communicate accurate updates or to communicate at all. He is screwing people over by refusing to refund peoples money as requested when he failed to honor his end of the agreement. He is screwing people over by refusing to deal with customers that are upset at HIS failure to honor his contractual obligations, and by refusing to make ANY attempt whatsoever to work something out that is acceptable to THEM.
Once again I'm NOT siding with Kevin or any of you.. I am NEUTRAL in this matter....and I do NOT wish to become a liasion between you at all !!!!
You offered opinions that were more supportive of one particular side. As another poster said, you are claiming to be unbiased, not neutral.
I simply offered my help try to rectify this out of control issue and restore a little normality back into the world of AZ Billiards.......
I sincerely hope this brings a little peace of mind to the subject at hand and will avoid possible unneccessary legal procedures and/or lynching !!!
Legal proceedings are probably exactly what is needed at this point to motivate him to conduct his business in a more ethical manner. This is just one of the many threads in the last couple of years where his bad business practices have been exposed and it never seems to make any difference.
Very Sincerely, Eddie Wheat
Here is a Varney post to make if easy for those that think reputation feedback is warranted:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=103587
If'd he'd allow I'd stay here for days just watching. Hes got a brother-sister pair of purpleheart j/bs with the little ivory rings on the butt and I'm begging for one.
she was preganant when he took my money and 200 others as he said ??
