Negative iTrader - Did I Deserve It?

[Iowa Cues]

Those might officially be the most ugly cues I've ever seen. Maybe you should use a bigger cutter in your CNC to make your inlays a little more rounded. LOL

I agree, those Perry cues were not my favorite either but I sold over 100 of them locally to those who didn't want to spend more than 200 bucks.

Sure, knock my first inlay cues ever made. No, I'm not better than any of you, but at least I clearly understand the difference between a radial pin properly installed and one that isn't. I don't know if the pin is the original pin installed in the cue being debated here and in fact was probably installed after the fact. I'm left to believe this because the 12 Dominiaks I personally owned had radials that were correctly installed unlike the cue in question. None of the Dominiak shafts I own would fit the cue.

For all of those who don't understand, here's the link to learn how to install a radial pin.

The pin should have been set so NO shoulder is visible approximately 2.2 inches deep as per the drawing. Is this a big issue? No, I would simply pull the pin and insert a new one deeper solving the problem. The modified shaft would still work as well besides allowing for other brand shafts to fit like a Jacoby, OB, Tiger or others fit for radial pins.

Jamie, if you want to give your cue away, I would recommend changing the pin so you don't create an issue for the unsuspecting young player when he/she wants to upgrade to another brand shaft or even buy a new shaft from Dominiak as NONE of the standard shafts are bored to allow for the pin shoulder sticking out by 1/4".

Oh, and the warped shaft? I would stress it back to being straight again. Pie laminated shafts can be successfully straightened unlike other shafts. If you're not sure how to do it, call Bill. He will tell you how to straighten his shafts.

Not much I can say about the finish. All of my Dominiaks have had issues with the finish "blistering" after minor impacts. Never chip, just blister and fail. In my experience, clear coats which crack do so because of movement. If the joint didn't move, the crack wouldn't radially form.

 

[Travis Niklich]

I agree, those Perry cues were not my favorite either but I sold over 100 of them locally to those who didn't want to spend more than 200 bucks.

Sure, knock my first inlay cues ever made. No, I'm not better than any of you, but at least I clearly understand the difference between a radial pin properly installed and one that isn't. I don't know if the pin is the original pin installed in the cue being debated here and in fact was probably installed after the fact. I'm left to believe this because the 12 Dominiaks I personally owned had radials that were correctly installed unlike the cue in question. None of the Dominiak shafts I own would fit the cue.

For all of those who don't understand, here's the link to learn how to install a radial pin.

The pin should have been set so NO shoulder is visible approximately 2.2 inches deep as per the drawing. Is this a big issue? No, I would simply pull the pin and insert a new one deeper solving the problem. The modified shaft would still work as well besides allowing for other brand shafts to fit like a Jacoby, OB, Tiger or others fit for radial pins.

Jamie, if you want to give your cue away, I would recommend changing the pin so you don't create an issue for the unsuspecting young player when he/she wants to upgrade to another brand shaft or even buy a new shaft from Dominiak as NONE of the standard shafts are bored to allow for the pin shoulder sticking out by 1/4".

Oh, and the warped shaft? I would stress it back to being straight again. Pie laminated shafts can be successfully straightened unlike other shafts. If you're not sure how to do it, call Bill. He will tell you how to straighten his shafts.

Not much I can say about the finish. All of my Dominiaks have had issues with the finish "blistering" after minor impacts. Never chip, just blister and fail. In my experience, clear coats which crack do so because of movement. If the joint didn't move, the crack wouldn't radially form.

All of the earlier Dominiak cues had the radial joint pin installed that way and a few other cue maker did it that way when the Radial joint screw was first introduced. They way they where installed made the non-threaded portion act as a dowel pin or pilot.

I have to think in the time it took you to look up your password and post in this thread a couple of times a well tooled cue shop could have put the cue between centers and checked it for straightness with a dial indicator. It could then and only then be determined if the cue butt or shaft ran true to the center axis. At the same time the concentricity of the joint pin and the tapped hole could be checked. I have yet to see an older cue that can't be somewhat helped to roll true be a simple joint reface while it might not cure a warped cue it can definitely cut down on the amount of movement that can be seen when rolled on a table. If the butt of the cue has a compound taper can also play a large part in how it look when rolled verses putting it between accurate centers.

And lastly we are talking about a small diameter piece of wood that is probably over ten years old so I would say some amount of movement would be expected and acceptable to any reasonable buyer. As far as your assesment that the A joint has failed because it shows a small amount of finish "lift" well that's just BS.

 

[TWOFORPOOL]

I am confused....you said here that you hooked up with Dominiak and Bill wanted to make the cue "right" for you...you should have sent it to him. I have known and done business with Bill Dominiak for many years. I believe that he would have built you a new shaft (for free) if he thought it was needed to make the cue right.

A person can't roll a cue on a table top...it will never roll straight. What you showed looked like a facing issue to me more than anything else.
Jaime, when you receive the cue back, please take some video of the butt on the lathe for us to see, as well as how it rolls on the table...not just the tip, but the butt and joint, along with a whole cue shot.

Sad....glad you guys worked it all out.
Joe

After seeing the video I also think its a facing issue. The seller is in business to sell cues. I am very surprised he didn't check the facing before he sold the cue. Its a very easy fix.

Whenever I consider buying a cue I roll the shaft(s) and butt by themselves. If they roll straight I put them together and roll the cue. If the tip comes off the table then either the shaft/butt needs to be refaced or it has bent pin. As someone who is in the business selling cues he should do this to every cue he buys/sells. It might cost 10.00 to fix a facing issue and can prevent a lot of headaches.

 

[Rahllin]

I don't post a lot on this forum but I couldn't stop myself from commenting on this thread after reading through all the posts.

I see fault on both parties here, once an agreement was settled on, there was a lack of communication on both ends.

We as a community should embrace the new members on this site while also protecting ourselves as I have seen enough threads about members being ripped off.

There is no doubt there is a "Good ol' boy" system that happens on this site and it makes it hard for newer members to get a fair shake on these types of situations.

I think we need to remember that most newer members are going to be the younger guys joining our community and probably haven't developed the experience that us older guys have.

While the $500 purchase to Jamie may seem like a small transaction it might be a huge purchase to the buyer.

In the end I just hope you guys can start the communication back up and get this settled where both parties are happy with the result.

Jim

I agree with Jim here completely. I couldn't have said it better myself. I don't have a dog in this fight.

I can see where Jamie is coming from because throughout my years on the internet, through eBay and various forums, I have prided myself on perfect feedback, and I would be very upset if I ever received any kind of negative feedback on any of the venues I am a member. I can also see that Jamie has a lot of backers here that vouch for him, so one little negative feedback will not even begin to slow down his business on this site.

I also feel for Brian here because no matter what kind of guy he is, as a new member he was teamed up on very early, and now his reputation is completely destroyed. Only having 4 iTrader feedback ratings at 75%, he has basically been blacklisted off the bat because of some miscommunications and a deal that went south early on as a member here.

I believe that both sides were at fault here all due to lack of communication. If I was on either side of this deal, I would have probably been blowing up the other sides PM box, e-mail, or phone, until everything was settled. I would have made every thought, concern, or issue known to the other party as quickly as possible. I also think that negative feedback was thrown out too quickly, and, hopefully, now that a huge deal was made out this particular (more than likely rather common, but in this case high profile) transaction feedback can be fixed for BOTH parties if it is properly resolved.

I am glad to see that the situation has turned in the right direction and from here will hopefully be handled properly by each party with no more bad talking and slander thrown around. I hate to bump this thread because in my opinion it has been blown way out of proportion and has completely changed direction from the original post, but as several others, this is just another outsider's two cents.