Official statement from Bebot Bautista Custom Cue

M

mErViN

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I, Manolito " Bebot " Bautista, a cuemaker from the Philippines, ICA member, is officially cutting our ties with Les " the general" Lacson, as our business representative starting this day, June 03, 2011.

A lot of unremitted sales which has amassed to significant and sizeable amount and entering into transactions without our knowledge and authorizations.

At first i ignore all those issues that my son, mervin, have told me even before with regards to Les on how he is handling us here with certain issue, because in my belief and in my mind, Les wouldnt do such thing as i know him as a very trusted person, and i believe he would share the same thought as i have in mind,.. several months have pass and mervin have keep on telling that the issue with Les never stop, as he was still continue to recieve pm's/email with regards to their cue order to Les, but everytime i checked on our list with that certain people who keep on askin their cue to my son,. it wasnt on our list nor even recieve a single centavo to it,..

for now, we are currently finishing some cuesticks with downpayment given by Les, delays on the cuesticks is not planned or intentionally did, it was a heavy workload on our part that cause this delays aside from all recent typhoon that hamper our work so bad several months back and some personal matter to attend to,.. and also for just wanting to produce some extra good cues to sell on our own needs,. all cuesticks we made is mostly done thru hand with the help of my two sons, bong and mervin, and the only advance equipment we had is a drill press, a small good spray gun, compressor and a vernier caliper,.. im issuing these statement to set things straight, im no perfect person, a senior citizen with few good years left, and feel sorry for what this problem had caused to feel upset with the way les is handling his responsibilities with you guys,..

- a case example was from Mr. Jens Boffin aka resurrecta, he ordered a kingwood break cue, a jump cue, and ebony with 3high 3low points recut with amboyna and ebony with red veneer points, after their agreement he pays in advance all this 3 sets of cue amounting to U$1,800 ( i never knew this transactions at all then, until my son mervin found out that Mr. Boffin paid it in advance to les) and this is what really happened to this ordered cue, maybe after a few months after they settle this agreement ( les and mr. Boffin ) Les, offered to me a small laptop in exchange for the Kingwood break cue and a jump cue, so i agree with principles with les without the knowledge that this was paid in cash by mr. boffin, several months had pass, mr. boffin sent a pm to my son asking for his cue in-progress, so my son got to checked it from me from time to time on each pm they were exchanging, my son found out that there is also a playing cue that was part of the deal he made to Les at that time, so we were shocked to know about it considering the amount involved, but infairness to mr. boffin, i know he was very upset too, with the way Les is handling his responsibilities, he was kind enough to understand our situation after he learned that only a small laptop we've recieved from Les in connections with the payment he sent to Les, and even offered my son mervin to pay for another shipping cost because he dont want to deal with Les anymore, but my son turned it downed his offer because he believe that what he already paid to Les is surely enough to cover all the expenses in order to ship the cues sometime this month of june, and eventhough we havent recieve any amount for the playing cue until now, i only want to fix this problem and finished this deal and move on,..

But it is tiring and very stressfull to know that there were also others are still keep on sending pm's/email to my son mervin, whose situation is, they also paid in advance to Les, unfortunately, those said orders never come to my knowledge, and we dont even recieve any single centavo on it,.. my son told me there are still about 4-5 members that are asking for their cue in-progress,.. but what we can do now, we were tryin to fix this problem but les never coordinate with us but instead doin the same thing, ignoring us most of the time,.. he's putting my name, my reputation on a bad light here? he's making a transaction without our knowledge, thats why were also upset, my two sons were really dissappointed with the way Les is handling us here, how can we fix this problem if the one whose responsible is with those deals is the one that is staying away from the issue. we have no other choice but to cut our ties with les,..

Sorry for this Les, as much as i wanted not to do this, but we really had to do what is supposed to be done, its been a long journey, my name is at stake here, i dont want my 24yrs of hardwork be put into waste, you knew from the very beginning that this is our only source of income to deal with, i dont want to suffer more from all your mess, your bad dealings with these people,.. whose passion is also somewhat the same with us,..

and if anyone knew that Les tries to sell one of our cues, please let us know, we are still in the process of recovering cues that are still in his possession,..

rest assured that we will work to find a favorable solution that were not met and feel free to contact directly my son mervin, regarding in any concerns, future inquiries or orders,..

his email: mervin_bautista@yahoo.com or pm him here with this username: mErViN and his contact # +639174721916

thanks and godbless everyone,. best regards !!!

bebot
 
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Truely sorry to hear about the situation. From what I read and understood building cues is your only form of income, I bet it hurts. I have seen your cues and have to say the craftmanship is magnificent.

I am really sorry to hear about the bad news and hope that everything gets resolved for you and your family.

Paul
 
Originally, the cue was planned to be done by November last year. That was the deadline given to me by Les. So as December was about to pass, I informed about the cues to Les. And like others here, I got promises about updates and information that they had been slowed down because of the climate. At that point, I contacted Mervin, who wasn't aware who the cues were for and Mr. Bautista hadn't even been informed that there was also a playing cue which was ordered and paid for first. So in about January Mr. Bautista and sons did their foremost effort to catch up on their "backorders". And since then, I have seen updates about my cue on a regular base.
I didn't have the intention to put Les in a bad daylight, because it's not my responsability. As a client, I await delivery of my cues. And despite the delay, I acknowledge that Mr. Bautista and sons aren't directly responsable for it and I still hold high their cue building skills.
 
I, Manolito " Bebot " Bautista, a cuemaker from the Philippines, ICA member, is officially cutting our ties with Les " the general" Lacson, as our business representative starting this day, June 03, 2011.

A lot of unremitted sales which has amassed to significant and sizeable amount and entering into transactions without our knowledge and authorizations.

At first i ignore all those issues that my son, mervin, have told me even before with regards to Les on how he is handling us here with certain issue, because in my belief and in my mind, Les wouldnt do such thing as i know him as a very trusted person, and i believe he would share the same thought as i have in mind,.. several months have pass and mervin have keep on telling that the issue with Les never stop, as he was still continue to recieve pm's/email with regards to their cue order to Les, but everytime i checked on our list with that certain people who keep on askin their cue to my son,. it wasnt on our list nor even recieve a single centavo to it,..

for now, we are currently finishing some cuesticks with downpayment given by Les, delays on the cuesticks is not planned or intentionally did, it was a heavy workload on our part that cause this delays aside from all recent typhoon that hamper our work so bad several months back and some personal matter to attend to,.. and also for just wanting to produce some extra good cues to sell on our own needs,. all cuesticks we made is mostly done thru hand with the help of my two sons, bong and mervin, and the only advance equipment we had is a drill press, a small good spray gun, compressor and a vernier caliper,.. im issuing these statement to set things straight, im no perfect person, a senior citizen with few good years left, and feel sorry for what this problem had caused to feel upset with the way les is handling his responsibilities with you guys,..

- a case example was from Mr. Jens Boffin aka resurrecta, he ordered a kingwood break cue, a jump cue, and ebony with 3high 3low points recut with amboyna and ebony with red veneer points, after their agreement he pays in advance all this 3 sets of cue amounting to U$1,800 ( i never knew this transactions at all then, until my son mervin found out that Mr. Boffin paid it in advance to les) and this is what really happened to this ordered cue, maybe after a few months after they settle this agreement ( les and mr. Boffin ) Les, offered to me a small laptop in exchange for the Kingwood break cue and a jump cue, so i agree with principles with les without the knowledge that this was paid in cash by mr. boffin, several months had pass, mr. boffin sent a pm to my son asking for his cue in-progress, so my son got to checked it from me from time to time on each pm they were exchanging, my son found out that there is also a playing cue that was part of the deal he made to Les at that time, so we were shocked to know about it considering the amount involved, but infairness to mr. boffin, i know he was very upset too, with the way Les is handling his responsibilities, he was kind enough to understand our situation after he learned that only a small laptop we've recieved from Les in connections with the payment he sent to Les, and even offered my son mervin to pay for another shipping cost because he dont want to deal with Les anymore, but my son turned it downed his offer because he believe that what he already paid to Les is surely enough to cover all the expenses in order to ship the cues sometime this month of june, and eventhough we havent recieve any amount for the playing cue until now, i only want to fix this problem and finished this deal and move on,..

But it is tiring and very stressfull to know that there were also others are still keep on sending pm's/email to my son mervin, whose situation is, they also paid in advance to Les, unfortunately, those said orders never come to my knowledge, and we dont even recieve any single centavo on it,.. my son told me there are still about 4-5 members that are asking for their cue in-progress,.. but what we can do now, we were tryin to fix this problem but les never coordinate with us but instead doin the same thing, ignoring us most of the time,.. he's putting my name, my reputation on a bad light here? he's making a transaction without our knowledge, thats why were also upset, my two sons were really dissappointed with the way Les is handling us here, how can we fix this problem if the one whose responsible is with those deals is the one that is staying away from the issue. we have no other choice but to cut our ties with les,..
Click to expand...


1. Les always said to me that he don't get paid from you and he got no fee at all for selling your cue. is that true sir? he said, he is only a friends of you and admire your work and try to help you sell your product with no intention of getting profit at all.. that's what he said to me..

Sorry for this Les, as much as i wanted not to do this, but we really had to do what is supposed to be done, its been a long journey, my name is at stake here, i dont want my 24yrs of hardwork be put into waste, you knew from the very beginning that this is our only source of income to deal with, i dont want to suffer more from all your mess, your bad dealings with these people,.. whose passion is also somewhat the same with us,..

and if anyone knew that Les tries to sell one of our cues, please let us know, we are still in the process of recovering cues that are still in his possession,..

rest assured that we will work to find a favorable solution that were not met and feel free to contact directly my son mervin, regarding in any concerns, future inquiries or orders,..

his email: mervin_bautista@yahoo.com or pm him here with this username: mErViN and his contact # +639174721916

thanks and godbless everyone,. best regards !!!
Click to expand...

I think... you don't have to say sorry to les.... The problem to solved now is with your customer... The one who already give your the money and wait for your work via les..
If everything you said above is true about les..then les is a thief.. he took the customer money and never order the customer cue to you.
Now the question is who is gonna responsible for everything les done in the past. I think you can not responsible with every les bad action, simply because you also not in a good financial situation. But, it is not a fair situation for your customer not having a cue that he already paid for. SO what will you do?
 
I've heard from first hand that Mr. Bautista and sons are going to finish their current backorders of people who ordered through Les. The sad part is indeed that the cuemaker didn't receive the funds he was entitled to. This is a case of a bad representation by Les. So, Mr. Bautista who has been working hard on these cues wants to satisfy the customers and also very importantly, preserve the good reputation he and his family have as cue builders. I can only recommend you to do dealings with Mervin Bautista. I have found he is a reliable person.
So all unsatisfied customers are being dealt with. It's just a matter that people know to place new orders directly at Mervin.
Cues that are for sale by Mervin on this board, are genuine sales. The snake cue is a cue that has many man hours of work in it. These are hard working people and I hope they can start earning money again with what they do best, build cues.
 
mErViN said:
I, Manolito " Bebot " Bautista, a cuemaker from the Philippines, ICA member, is officially cutting our ties with Les " the general" Lacson, as our business representative starting this day, June 03, 2011.

A lot of unremitted sales which has amassed to significant and sizeable amount and entering into transactions without our knowledge and authorizations.

At first i ignore all those issues that my son, mervin, have told me even before with regards to Les on how he is handling us here with certain issue, because in my belief and in my mind, Les wouldnt do such thing as i know him as a very trusted person, and i believe he would share the same thought as i have in mind,.. several months have pass and mervin have keep on telling that the issue with Les never stop, as he was still continue to recieve pm's/email with regards to their cue order to Les, but everytime i checked on our list with that certain people who keep on askin their cue to my son,. it wasnt on our list nor even recieve a single centavo to it,..

for now, we are currently finishing some cuesticks with downpayment given by Les, delays on the cuesticks is not planned or intentionally did, it was a heavy workload on our part that cause this delays aside from all recent typhoon that hamper our work so bad several months back and some personal matter to attend to,.. and also for just wanting to produce some extra good cues to sell on our own needs,. all cuesticks we made is mostly done thru hand with the help of my two sons, bong and mervin, and the only advance equipment we had is a drill press, a small good spray gun, compressor and a vernier caliper,.. im issuing these statement to set things straight, im no perfect person, a senior citizen with few good years left, and feel sorry for what this problem had caused to feel upset with the way les is handling his responsibilities with you guys,..

- a case example was from Mr. Jens Boffin aka resurrecta, he ordered a kingwood break cue, a jump cue, and ebony with 3high 3low points recut with amboyna and ebony with red veneer points, after their agreement he pays in advance all this 3 sets of cue amounting to U$1,800 ( i never knew this transactions at all then, until my son mervin found out that Mr. Boffin paid it in advance to les) and this is what really happened to this ordered cue, maybe after a few months after they settle this agreement ( les and mr. Boffin ) Les, offered to me a small laptop in exchange for the Kingwood break cue and a jump cue, so i agree with principles with les without the knowledge that this was paid in cash by mr. boffin, several months had pass, mr. boffin sent a pm to my son asking for his cue in-progress, so my son got to checked it from me from time to time on each pm they were exchanging, my son found out that there is also a playing cue that was part of the deal he made to Les at that time, so we were shocked to know about it considering the amount involved, but infairness to mr. boffin, i know he was very upset too, with the way Les is handling his responsibilities, he was kind enough to understand our situation after he learned that only a small laptop we've recieved from Les in connections with the payment he sent to Les, and even offered my son mervin to pay for another shipping cost because he dont want to deal with Les anymore, but my son turned it downed his offer because he believe that what he already paid to Les is surely enough to cover all the expenses in order to ship the cues sometime this month of june, and eventhough we havent recieve any amount for the playing cue until now, i only want to fix this problem and finished this deal and move on,..

But it is tiring and very stressfull to know that there were also others are still keep on sending pm's/email to my son mervin, whose situation is, they also paid in advance to Les, unfortunately, those said orders never come to my knowledge, and we dont even recieve any single centavo on it,.. my son told me there are still about 4-5 members that are asking for their cue in-progress,.. but what we can do now, we were tryin to fix this problem but les never coordinate with us but instead doin the same thing, ignoring us most of the time,.. he's putting my name, my reputation on a bad light here? he's making a transaction without our knowledge, thats why were also upset, my two sons were really dissappointed with the way Les is handling us here, how can we fix this problem if the one whose responsible is with those deals is the one that is staying away from the issue. we have no other choice but to cut our ties with les,..

Sorry for this Les, as much as i wanted not to do this, but we really had to do what is supposed to be done, its been a long journey, my name is at stake here, i dont want my 24yrs of hardwork be put into waste, you knew from the very beginning that this is our only source of income to deal with, i dont want to suffer more from all your mess, your bad dealings with these people,.. whose passion is also somewhat the same with us,..

and if anyone knew that Les tries to sell one of our cues, please let us know, we are still in the process of recovering cues that are still in his possession,..

rest assured that we will work to find a favorable solution that were not met and feel free to contact directly my son mervin, regarding in any concerns, future inquiries or orders,..

his email: mervin_bautista@yahoo.com or pm him here with this username: mErViN and his contact # +639174721916

thanks and godbless everyone,. best regards !!!

bebot
Click to expand...

Wow! Sorry that you have been misrepresented so poorly by someone who you clearly trusted. Excellent job of posting the issues openly here! I think your cues look fantastic and your words here bring confidence that things will be made right.
 
This situation is really terrible:(, more and more these kind of problems are occurring on this forum, I don't understand how people can do these things and sleep at night. However, I must applaud you for making this post and I hope that everything works out for all concerned. I also appreciate you attitude and ethics concerning your comments that you will take care of the people involved. I have been to the Philippines and I understand how hard you must work to make a living doing what you do and the trouble and sacrifice it will cost you personally to make this right.

Very Respectfully

Craig W. Rittel
 
when i heard about the news regarding this matter i feel so sorry for this family that they have been mislead by les.

now this family is facing a dilemma to deliver cues both here in the philippines and abroad. please bare with this family but definitely they will deliver , just give them time to organize everything. its a loss of raw materials for cue building and reputation, i do hope azb members will understand and give them a chance to get back on there feet and save there business.

i Mr. Winston Guascoh " daigoro " has been a loyal customer of them since 2008. i have acquired maybe 15 cues from them and never doubt there friendship and professionalism as i have seen how they shed sweat and time building a cue for each and everyone.

i always try my best to see them just to check how are they coping up with this problem.

I hope azb members would trust and understand what they are going through, please bare with them and i know they will deliver no matter what.

god bless bebot ,bong and mervin
keep up the good work as always
 
I can appreciate Bebot coming on AZ and making a statement regarding what has been going on. I don't wish to be the bad guy here but this must be said.

Bebot,
Les was listed on your website as the person of contact who handles all international custom cue orders, therefore Bebot you are still responsible to make good on any & all custom cue orders that Les took.
If Les stole the money and did not pass on the cue orders that is a problem between you, Les and the Authorities. This is how business works Sir, you are responsible for the actions of those who work for you.
If you wish to maintain your good name you must build the cues that customers have paid for or of course you can refund their money. As I stated before if Les stole money that is a problem between you & Les not the Customer & Les.

The question is will Bebot build the cues and make the customes whole who put their orders in with Les?
Here is a PM sent by me and answered by Mervin:

Sent by me:

Mervin,
Let me ask you this, if Les does not give me a refund will Bebot make my cue?
In my opinion Les represents Bebot Custom Cues as Bebot's website still shows Les as the person to contact and pay for any international custom cue orders. Even if Les does not give me a refund I feel your father is still responsible to either build my cue or give me a full refund. If Les has stolen money it is not my problem it is Bebot's problem to handle.


Mervin's answer


yes we can still work with your cue, if les will settle first the issue,.. like the payment he recieved with you,.. and thats the only time we will start doing your cue,..


Sent by me:

Mervin,
Bebot is responsible to make good on any dealings Les made with me because Les is listed on your website as the person to contact and pay for any custom cue orders.
Mervin what is your email address? I will forward you all emails between myself and Les even showing you the the mock up photos Les made for what my cue will look like. It is not my fault Les stole my money and did not pass on my cue order to Bebot. If Bebot is an honorable man he will do the right thing and make good on cue orders that Les screwed up. Les is Bebot's employee therefor Bebot is the person to be held responsible.

Mervin's reply:

that is, if les forwarded your order with us,. but it never happened,. les screwed you same goes with us,.. if les settle this issue, then that would only the time we will be liable to that, you can asked that to les,.. and for what i believe, he's no longer connected with us as of now, as we are tryin to prepare our statement to be posted to the main forum,.. yes of course my dad is a honorable man with dignity,. but les mess it up with you,.. the only thing it will work with your order is, if les settle this things first,...


Does any of this sound like Mervin or Bebot intend to build the cue orders Les took but they claim not to have gotten the money from Les?
 

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Bebot,
you should change "contact us" section on your web page, there is still Les as a contact in there..
Marek

Edit: Jmurphy was faster....
 
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jmurphy said:
Does any of this sound like Mervin or Bebot intend to build the cue orders Les took but they claim not to have gotten the money from Les?
Click to expand...

Well to me it seems like they want to give up te responsibility which is not right thing to do in my opinion. I can fully understand their point of view but it is just not the proper way it should be handled. Employer is always responsible for the actions of his/her employee, in this case it is even more obvious as Les was (and still is!) listed as a contact in charge of all international custom cue orders on Bebots web page! Bebots responsibility is even more pronounced in light of the fact that he knew (he wrote that himself) several months back that there was something wrong with Les.. :confused:
 
guys,.. thank you for the heads up

just to make things clear,.. as my dad stated, "rest assured that we will work to find a favorable solution were not met",.. as we were still in the process of settling things straight to the general as of now,.. we never wished to hide nor run in this issue,.. this is our only source of income, we had been requesting for les to shutdown that website for so many times now,.. i dont know whats on his mind,.. why he let this things happened,.. we were very kind to him, my dad give his full trust on him with this, then this is only what we've got from him,.. he screwed up,.. he really do,.. it was very upsetting,. we were also a victim here,..
 
Best wishes Mervin!!!!

--Jeff

mErViN said:
guys,.. thank you for the heads up

just to make things clear,.. as my dad stated, "rest assured that we will work to find a favorable solution were not met",.. as we were still in the process of settling things straight to the general as of now,.. we never wished to hide nor run in this issue,.. this is our only source of income, we had been requesting for les to shutdown that website for so many times now,.. i dont know whats on his mind,.. why he let this things happened,.. we were very kind to him, my dad give his full trust on him with this, then this is only what we've got from him,.. he screwed up,.. he really do,.. it was very upsetting,. we were also a victim here,..
Click to expand...
 
James, may I ask if you requested a refund from Les yet? If Les would pay you back, I'm sure you can easily place your order again at the kind Bautista clan. If Les refuses... I don't have much doubt that Mr. Bautista will still ressolve it by building you a cue again. If Les refunds or passes the money onto Mr. Bautista, all parties involved would be pleased.
The website is indeed a troubled spot. I'm aware Mervin asked Les to take it down, but instead, he has even been putting up other cues for sale in their name. That site is no longer reliable and Mervin informed me that in the long run they will prepare a new website.
The reason for this statement here is that no new people will place an order that the Bautista clan isn't aware of.
I think they're honorable people and I'm sure that considering the payment you made, they will solve this situation no matter what.

The problem here, is drawing the line. I mean, suppose that site stays online for imagine 5 years... Then for 5 year Mr. Bautista wouldn't gain a single dime from cues he has to build because Les took the money and didn't place the order... That ain't right.
On the other hand, with no disrespect to the Bautista income, I do believe that cues paid prior to this statement... Well they should be built... Since people weren't aware of the situation.
Unfortunately not everyone on the web who visits the website, will always get to read this here...

It's a sorry event of things to take place.
Myself I have been waiting over a year now, more than double the duration promised. But I don't hold a grudge, since I know Mr. Bautista wasn't aware the bad representation.
I just hope things will be solved and you guys can really start earning some real money again on valid sales.
 
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Tsk tsk tsk...

Man up, Les. Best to air your side and try to clear your name.


nbc
 
That's a shame, my wife is from the Philippines and I know how hard it is over there. I hope everything works out for you.
 
resurrecta said:
James, may I ask if you requested a refund from Les yet? If Les would pay you back, I'm sure you can easily place your order again at the kind Bautista clan. If Les refuses... I don't have much doubt that Mr. Bautista will still ressolve it by building you a cue again. If Les refunds or passes the money onto Mr. Bautista, all parties involved would be pleased.
The website is indeed a troubled spot. I'm aware Mervin asked Les to take it down, but instead, he has even been putting up other cues for sale in their name. That site is no longer reliable and Mervin informed me that in the long run they will prepare a new website.
The reason for this statement here is that no new people will place an order that the Bautista clan isn't aware of.
I think they're honorable people and I'm sure that considering the payment you made, they will solve this situation no matter what.

The problem here, is drawing the line. I mean, suppose that site stays online for imagine 5 years... Then for 5 year Mr. Bautista wouldn't gain a single dime from cues he has to build because Les took the money and didn't place the order... That ain't right.
On the other hand, with no disrespect to the Bautista income, I do believe that cues paid prior to this statement... Well they should be built... Since people weren't aware of the situation.
Unfortunately not everyone on the web who visits the website, will always get to read this here...

It's a sorry event of things to take place.
Myself I have been waiting over a year now, more than double the duration promised. But I don't hold a grudge, since I know Mr. Bautista wasn't aware the bad representation.
I just hope things will be solved and you guys can really start earning some real money again on valid sales.
Click to expand...

It is a tough situation and a learning experience. Bebot or his sons should have administrative powers over their own website. The website list payment methods as "Western Union & Paypal" it should also list the paypal account to send money to. This would be Bebot's account not Les's therefore Bebot would get paid directly and Les could of handled all communications with out the money going through Les's hands.

Either way I am not hearing what I want to hear from Mervin or Bebot.
Please allow me to make a statement of what I want to hear from Bebot.

Bebot should say this:

"I am very sorry for any problems my customers have had lately. We have experienced some internal problems with one of our employees named Les (the General) he has taken advantage of our trust and Les no longer represents Bebot Custom Cues. Rest assured that this problem will be handled between us & Les and will not affect any of the custom cue orders that Les took and did not pass on to us. Bebot custom Cues will take full responsibility for this matter and make every customer whole by making good on all custom cue orders Les got paid for. I want to thank everyone for their understanding on this matter. Please contact Mervin with the proof of payment you made to Les and the details of the cue you ordered and we will do our very best to get these cues out in a timely fashion.

Thank you,
Bebot "


That is what I want to read from Bebot :thumbup:
 
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