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I decided to try and wait a few days and let the owner get whatever burr he had up his ass out of the way.
I went in on Mon and Tue to pick up individual cue jobs. He never said a word.
I had a good customer drop off work for one guy,and he waited for his cue to be done before the tournament. I went up there to drop off the stuff he left earlier during the tournament and picked up 4 more from a couple of locals. I went back a couple hours later and dropped that stuff off,and picked up 2 more shafts to clean. I go back with those 2,and one of the guys from earlier says his tip isn't right. I go back home to replace it.
I go back for the 4th time,make sure he's satisfied,and get paid.
He still hasn't said a word. As I'm walking out,one of my customers asked me why I didn't play in the tournament tonight. I motion towards the owner and say "ask him".
He tells the guy that asked that all I do is come for the tournament,and never spend anything.
I said that's fine,just make sure you do the same with the 30 guys that sit in here all day and never spend any,that way things are fair.
He starts in on me directly. I start to speak and once again he's gonna try to cut me off.
I got loud and said "look man you're NOT gonna talk down to me like that...I tried to tell you the reason I didn't buy anything last week was my sugar was off,and I don't like water. If you have a problem with that,F**K YOU AND THIS F**KIN GYP JOINT..." and walked out.
That's ok,I made more between 5 and 10pm on my repairs than he probably has in the last MONTH on table time.
I made sure all MY customers were happy,he probably didn't.
Believe me,if I could open a new room here,I would. Tommy D.
I decided to try and wait a few days and let the owner get whatever burr he had up his ass out of the way.
I went in on Mon and Tue to pick up individual cue jobs. He never said a word.
About an hour ago,I went to the pool room to deliver a shaft I worked on for a new customer. I showed it to him,made sure he was pleased,got paid and left in just a few min.
I'm walking back to my vehicle,and the owner follows me outside.
He tells me he'd appreciate it if I didn't come back for the weekly tournament because I don't spend any money,or at least not enough to suit him,claiming I haven't spent a nickel for a month. He's also half-ass agitated as he delivers the message :speechless:.
I've played there 5 times in the last month. 4 of those times I was there for a tournament,and bought what I needed,no more than 2 canned drinks in a couple hours. The one other time I played for 45 min while waiting for a cue work customer,and paid before I left.
This is why I don't spend a lot in this place.
I'm not the type to just randomly buy people a beer. Anyone that asks me for a beer typically gets denied on personal principle,unless we're tight. There were 3 people there that fell into this category. None of them drink beer,and none of them would ask because they pay for their own.
They don't serve food,and typically any workplace vending machine has a much better selection of candy,chips,etc. I don't eat stuff like that much at all,and when I do I'd like to have something other than product that has visible dust on it.
They don't have my preferred beverage,I don't like water,and I've been trying to reduce my soft drink intake because my sugar has been out of whack lately. I've never even tried to carry in a drink from outside,out of respect.
I've only won this tournament once recently,and 3 times since Jan. His complaint was never brought up when I was winning it more often than not.
I was so stunned by this I just silently stood there until he walked away muttering to himself,like he had something to say but not the stones to say it.
What do you think? Tommy D.
I think I would be pissed but inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was irritated by something else and at that moment he saw you coming and going pretty quick and made you the target.
That said there is NO REASON to lay into a customer for the amount of money he spends. I owned a pool room and any time people were in my place spending money or not was good for me. If I had a guy who came in and only drank coffee I'd be happy about it.
As a customer though I do try to buy something to drink or otherwise patronize the place when I come in.
I think you should stop by and have a chat and see if he doesn't come around. I bet you he says he is sorry and was irritated about something else.
Does the poolroom offer repair work? If the poolroom doesn't have a lathe onsite, the owner may have the number or two of someone who can do repair work. If the owner doesn't do repair work, are you on his recommendation list?
I brought cue for a guy to look at and buy at the local poolroom. The owner was a little more tactful than this guy and pulled me aside and said he too sold cues and he would never bring cues in to sell it a room without giving the owner a jelly roll or at least ask permission.
I thought about it, and he was right. I never thought of it (honestly), and I understood his point.
Do business in the parking lot, across the street or whatever. But if you are doing business inside his business, ask permission first or give him a tip.
JMO
Ken Strain
I'm confused.....if you planned on handling it in private, when another player asked you why you weren't playing.....why did you point and say "ask him?"
That totally eliminates most any possibility of handling things in private. You blame him for stopping the privacy, when in fact, you were the one who made it public that day.
You could have easily said something like "I'm just tired today," or "I have some things to do later" to the other player and you would still have had the opportunity to talk with the owner in private.
I'm not in any way saying he acted right either, but saying he kept things from going the way you wanted is like blaming a caged tiger for mauling you after you poked it with a stick.
I think in some ways, you called him out on purpose in front of people, just so you'd have a reason to get loud with him.
Man up, take some of the responsibility, and give the owner a call to smooth things out.