People wonder why pool isn't making money and rooms are shutting down.

[Ken_4fun]

I have written about Highpockets in Memphis.

The tables are old Gold Crowns in very good condition. Several Valley tables for the leagues, also in very good condition.

Tracy the owner or one of the owners, talks to EVERYONE that comes in and KNOWS their name. Great Owner Manager period.

The food is excellent, (especially the grilled chicken), but all of the food is great.

Leagues about every night, and some nights he has a waiting list to get a table.

IMO, the guy not doing well are doing it wrong. Or is Tracy just doing it right?

Ken

 

[ironman]

Are you sure you didn't accidentally call a drug dealer instead? Who doesn't "talk about prices" on the phone?

I would get in touch with the actual owner and tell him that you called at "this day and time and the guy who answered was surly, wouldn't tell me about your specials, and I decided not to come by here anymore."

Agreed the owner should know about these things, In our rom the mager seems more interested in how many he cna run off than retain. Business reflects i9t too.

 

[Quesports]

Know your customer

When I started playing pool in 1966 the owner a great guy named Artie Denikas new every single one of his customers by first name and most by their last name! In todays era I have gone to pool halls as a regular for several years and they don't know me from Adam. Why, because they don't care who you are. Most of the time the employees are more interested in screwing around with their smart phones than they are in working at anything related to their jobs. It's sad that folks have become so introverted by technology that they don't care about the people standing right in front of them..

 

[lorider]

I have written about Highpockets in Memphis.

The tables are old Gold Crowns in very good condition. Several Valley tables for the leagues, also in very good condition.

Tracy the owner or one of the owners, talks to EVERYONE that comes in and KNOWS their name. Great Owner Manager period.

The food is excellent, (especially the grilled chicken), but all of the food is great.

Leagues about every night, and some nights he has a waiting list to get a table.

IMO, the guy not doing well are doing it wrong. Or is Tracy just doing it right?

Ken

you are right about high pockets ken.

i started playing bcapl at high pockets over 8 years ago and liked it back then when it was just kennard running it.

i got out of pool for a couple of years and started going back to high pockets and still thought it was the best place in town. then tracy comes along and gets heavily involved and my opinion goes up a couple of notches more.

as you said ken tracy takes very good care of his equipment and his customers.

here is just things off the top of my head where tracy stands head and shoulders above most pool hall owners.

has sponsered players at tournaments such as white diamonds and up in cape giraudo ms.

not only supported mark cantrell when he was touing with archer and varner but when he found out one of their venues down in miss was canceled a week llater he brought them back for another show at high pockets.

as for customer service i cant tell you how many times i have walked in the door and my drink was sitting on the counter by the time i walked up there if they saw me walking in. heck there have been times when i went to the tables 1st and tracy himself is carrying mine and my g/f's drinks to us before we had even ordered.

he makes sure there is something for every body ..be it a banger or serious players or even match ups between known players.

he has every league in town playing there besides putting on his own in house money leagues both bar tables and gold crowns. holds weekly tournys also again both bar tables and gold crowns.

when a pool hall in town closed where i was playing in a traveling money league i asked if i could bring my team to high pockets for our home base. he asked what night and i told him. not only did he say sure bring your team over he paid our yearly dues... the team pays weekly fees.

he also provides free table time for 1 1/2 hours before league and and then free time after league until closing.

he has 1 table that is strictly for 1 pocket matches and some times 2 depending on the crowd. and yea sometimes there is a waiting list for a open table anywhere in the building.

he is quick to say hi to every one and shake your hand or give a pat on the back.

in my opinion you can;t ask for a better room owner than tracy.

 

[jmurphy]

So he had you pegged for someone who was shopping around to all the halls to find the cheapest hall to play at that day.

Maybe he didn't figure you to be a potential regular customer and told you of his policy.

He doesn't discuss prices on the phone. If you want to know, walk thru the door and ask.

Who designated him to be your personal entertainment committee that day anyway.

Go look in the mirror. You're one of the main reasons why halls are closing weekly.

This is TOTAL BS...............
I thought we lived in a free market where it's prudent to shop and spend your hard earned money wisely. It's called competition in the market place, that is how capitalism works.
Anyone who work is a service job should treat EVERYONE with respect regardless of the way he/she feels/perceives about the potential customer.

 

[HawaiianEye]

He doesn't discuss prices on the phone. If you want to know, walk thru the door and ask.

Who designated him to be your personal entertainment committee that day anyway.

Go look in the mirror. You're one of the main reasons why halls are closing weekly.

This is BULL SHIT at the HIGHEST level.

He was "designated personnel entertainment committee" when they posted the phone number in the book or on any of their advertisements or website.

Something SIMILAR happened to me when inquiring about car insurance when I first moved to Hawaii. I had GEICO for YEARS and YEARS and NEVER filed a claim. I even had OVERSEAS GEICO before I came to Hawaii. I came to Hawaii from Turkey. GEICO had been sending me good driver discounts EVERY year.

The minute I got to Hawaii, I called the local GEICO on the phone to inquire about their rates now that I was back in the USA. I was going to transfer my GEICO international insurance to domestic GEICO (USA). The guy on the phone says, "we don't give rates over the phone, you have to come in". I explained my situation and he said I would have to come in to their office in Waikiki just to hear the rates...this had NOTHING to do with paperwork yet...just tell me how much it was going to cost.

I told him I didn't even know where Waikiki was at the time and "him and GEICO could kiss my ass and I would NEVER buy GEICO or recommend it to anyone"...and I HAVEN'T...even to this day. They still send me crap in the mail all the time...and sometimes call on the phone...20 years later...I still tell them the same thing...F#$K YOU!

That is what I think of customer service like this pool hall employee did. If it is the pool hall's policy to do this, I would tell the owner of the pool hall the SAME THING.

 

[maha]

not all but for the most part, people that open pool rooms arent the best business people.
many do it as a side business. most times the owner isnt around or not working in his own establishment.

i play and travel in at least 20 rooms a year. and few are very clean and the tables are almost always filthy. house cues which i dont use are mostly in bad condition. those that play with them must suffer.

workers are generally friendly but not really interested in the players as they tend to personal business like their telephone or tv.

the rooms that are clean with good or better equipment seem to have more players and the ones with good food are busy. the ones with junk food and bar food dont do as well.

way too often i have to ask for better chalk as they give cubes that are worn to the bottom. carpets are terrible in general.

40 or 50 years ago the same kind of places had better food, were clean with the owner in attendance. and encouraged people to hang around
as more people make for a more social atmosphere and brings in more people.

 

[Rain-Man]

In my experiences...pool players are some of the cheapest spenders/tightwads I have ever seen in my life.


That said...it never ceases to amaze me that pool players on this forum are always complaining about/reporting on another pool hall closing down...when in fact, many of them piss and moan about the cost of a drink, table time, food, etc.


If you want a place to play pool in your neighborhood, then patronize the room that you have...rent a table (don't ask to play for free unless the proprietor offers), buy a drink for whatever price they ask (specials are up to the owner), and grab a bite to eat if you get hungry.


These people do not set up a business for the purpose of furnishing you a place to play free pool and get cheap booze. They have bills to pay...and if you're not spending money there...they ain't gettin' the bills paid...soon to be open no longer.


Get it???


One of my regular pool halls let me come in several hours before league started and have a table for free. I always bought at least 2 drinks (and they never ran drink specials), ate there often, tipped the waitresses well, and on the way out, put 6 or 7 dollars in the bar tip jar for being nice enough for letting me play free pool. This place has been around awhile and appears to be doing a very good amount of business. Obviously, I'm not the only pool player that supports this place (we Texans can certainly consume a fair share of booze ).


Bottom line is: You don't spend no money...you don't have no pool hall.


Maniac

HERE HERE!! Excellent post! :thumbup:

 

[lorider]

This is BULL SHIT at the HIGHEST level.

He was "designated personnel entertainment committee" when they posted the phone number in the book or on any of their advertisements or website.

Something SIMILAR happened to me when inquiring about car insurance when I first moved to Hawaii. I had GEICO for YEARS and YEARS and NEVER filed a claim. I even had OVERSEAS GEICO before I came to Hawaii. I came to Hawaii from Turkey. GEICO had been sending me good driver discounts EVERY year.

The minute I got to Hawaii, I called the local GEICO on the phone to inquire about their rates now that I was back in the USA. I was going to transfer my GEICO international insurance to domestic GEICO (USA). The guy on the phone says, "we don't give rates over the phone, you have to come in". I explained my situation and he said I would have to come in to their office in Waikiki just to hear the rates...this had NOTHING to do with paperwork yet...just tell me how much it was going to cost.

I told him I didn't even know where Waikiki was at the time and "him and GEICO could kiss my ass and I would NEVER buy GEICO or recommend it to anyone"...and I HAVEN'T...even to this day. They still send me crap in the mail all the time...and sometimes call on the phone...20 years later...I still tell them the same thing...F#$K YOU!

That is what I think of customer service like this pool hall employee did. If it is the pool hall's policy to do this, I would tell the owner of the pool hall the SAME THING.

your story reminds me of the time i had a problem a cellular provider. years ago i used to manage a sattelite office for a utility contractor. we provided all our foremen and other key presonnel with cell phones.

we had a problem with 8 or 9 of the phones and i had my secretary call their office and try to resolve the problem. she told me the clerk was rude and hung up on her. i told her to get them on the phone for me . when i got on the phone the lady was also rude and said she did not have time to listen to my problem at the moment and call back later.

i promptly had my secretary call another cell provider and set up an account with them.

the next 2 months my home office sent me bills from the previous cell provider and i would not authorize payment.

well after the 3rd month i get a visit from the store manager asking why i was not authorizing payments to his company. i explained the situation to him and he apologized for his clerks behavior. he said he would terminate her because he did not condone such actions. i told him it did not matter to me how he ran his office.

he asked what could he do to get my biz back and i said nothing because i was happy with the service we were currently getting.

well his tone changed and he said i had signed a contract and was obligated to pay the remaining balance under said contract whether i voided the contract or not.

i told him i did not void the contract but it was his company that voided it. he asked ...how so ? i said you failed to provide the service i signed for and so your company voided the contract as far as i am concerned so i am under no obligation to pay you one single penny and this meeting is over.

never heard another word from them lol.

 

[Pete]

BTW, thats a joke Pete. It stemmed from a goofy thread many moons ago.

Someone called someone else a D Bag and a few of us started a fictitious D Bag Club in honor of that thread and added that to our Sig Lines.

It don't mean nothin.

I saw it, and it cracked me up. So I wanted to give you props for it.

I do see your point, and truthfully I would/will still end up going to the room. I was only tossing this out there.

I think pool room owners need to market their rooms and remember they are in the service industry like restaurants. Anywhere from fast food to upscale dining.

 

[Pete]

Pete, the room that you called, what city was it in?

I don't want to say. This thread was meant to be more of a hypothetical thread than bashing any room. Rooms need business and l said this wasn't a "Yelp" thread...

 

[SCCues]

In my experiences...pool players are some of the cheapest spenders/tightwads I have ever seen in my life.

Maniac

I don't agree with this statement, but I do agree that if the customers don't spend some money the room won't be open long. Pool rooms have a lot of overhead and it makes sense to buy some food or drinks, pay for your time playing, and enjoy having a nice place to play in.

I wish there was a nice room where I live that I could support. All we have here are bar box bars and no 9' Diamond tables to be found.

 

[APA BRIAN]

Called a room to ask about the daily specials. The guy (not the owner but just the guy who answered the phone) say's I don't know you, and I don't like talking about the prices on the phone. And frankly, he had that phone (agressive) tone.

Too bad...

I've been bringing this attitude up for years on this forum. And saying exactly the same thing. Idiots like this guy on the phone are the problem. Not enough people get it...as you can see. I am a believer that business's fail because they should. So let pool halls go out of business one by one. Let it once again become a game for those who can have tables in their homes. Maybe when we can only completely get rid of the ex-con vibe of the local pool hall when there aren't anymore.
People like this need to run.. Pawn shops or Check cashing places...somewhere where their piss poor attitude isn't screwing up our gentleman's game like it has been for the past 50 years.
Go on yelp, go on forums, be vocal about your treatment. Too many second chances. Too much tolerance. Someone needs to be made an example of.

 

[Gsitz89]

In my experiences...pool players are some of the cheapest spenders/tightwads I have ever seen in my life.


That said...it never ceases to amaze me that pool players on this forum are always complaining about/reporting on another pool hall closing down...when in fact, many of them piss and moan about the cost of a drink, table time, food, etc.


If you want a place to play pool in your neighborhood, then patronize the room that you have...rent a table (don't ask to play for free unless the proprietor offers), buy a drink for whatever price they ask (specials are up to the owner), and grab a bite to eat if you get hungry.


These people do not set up a business for the purpose of furnishing you a place to play free pool and get cheap booze. They have bills to pay...and if you're not spending money there...they ain't gettin' the bills paid...soon to be open no longer.


Get it???


One of my regular pool halls let me come in several hours before league started and have a table for free. I always bought at least 2 drinks (and they never ran drink specials), ate there often, tipped the waitresses well, and on the way out, put 6 or 7 dollars in the bar tip jar for being nice enough for letting me play free pool. This place has been around awhile and appears to be doing a very good amount of business. Obviously, I'm not the only pool player that supports this place (we Texans can certainly consume a fair share of booze ).


Bottom line is: You don't spend no money...you don't have no pool hall.


Maniac

This is why if I had a pool hall I would make it more of a bar to attract the party crowd. Most pool players do not have two dollars to their name and expect free table time.

 

[cuesblues]

I've been bringing this attitude up for years on this forum. And saying exactly the same thing. Idiots like this guy on the phone are the problem. Not enough people get it...as you can see. I am a believer that business's fail because they should. So let pool halls go out of business one by one. Let it once again become a game for those who can have tables in their homes. Maybe when we can only completely get rid of the ex-con vibe of the local pool hall when there aren't anymore.
People like this need to run.. Pawn shops or Check cashing places...somewhere where their piss poor attitude isn't screwing up our gentleman's game like it has been for the past 50 years.
Go on yelp, go on forums, be vocal about your treatment. Too many second chances. Too much tolerance. Someone needs to be made an example of.

I disagree.
Let not put pool halls out of business because of some idiots.
I've been in pool halls since the 60's and there's not much that a pool hall owner can do or say that would piss me off.
In turn, there's nothing I can do to piss them off, so everybody loves everybody.
What's interesting is the rooms that I refuse to go to always go under, and the rooms where I let issues go always stay in business.
In 49-years of going in to pool halls, I can only remember one guy at the front being so rude that I wouldn't go back, and that was really a kids place, so who cares, and they are out of business as well.
We don't need online reviews to figure out the good places to play pool.
BTW, where I play APA, if someone complained, and Stanley found out, I doubt you ever get another drink.
If you went there to play, the first time you would think Stanley's a total asshole, but everybody loves the guy, and we tip the crap out of him.

 

[APA BRIAN]

I disagree.
Let not put pool halls out of business because of some idiots.
I've been in pool halls since the 60's and there's not much that a pool hall owner can do or say that would piss me off.
In turn, there's nothing I can do to piss them off, so everybody loves everybody.
What's interesting is the rooms that I refuse to go to always go under, and the rooms where I let issues go always stay in business.
In 49-years of going in to pool halls, I can only remember one guy at the front being so rude that I wouldn't go back, and that was really a kids place, so who cares, and they are out of business as well.
We don't need online reviews to figure out the good places to play pool.
BTW, where I play APA, if someone complained, and Stanley found out, I doubt you ever get another drink.
If you went there to play, the first time you would think Stanley's a total asshole, but everybody loves the guy, and we tip the crap out of him.

Ok, you make some good points. We essentially agree, I think I just might be more militant I'm just tired of having to hear these stories and then it matches up with my experiences and I lose it. But its all good.

 

[cuesblues]

Ok, you make some good points. We essentially agree, I think I just might be more militant I'm just tired of having to hear these stories and then it matches up with my experiences and I lose it. But its all good.

We're all different
When Bobby Brown threw a guy out of his pool hall for "talking shit on Facebook" my daughter & I thought it was hilarious.
Bobby said "get the **** out before I whoop your ass".
We have an inside joke now about talking shit on Facebook.

 

[cueandcushion]

Called a room to ask about the daily specials. The guy (not the owner but just the guy who answered the phone) say's I don't know you, and I don't like talking about the prices on the phone. And frankly, he had that phone (agressive) tone.

Too bad...

Strange. Price of pool is usually the number one reason people check out a room. I do get really weird price requests from total strangers over the phone though, so maybe the employee was having a bad day..lol.

 

[macguy]

And this, my friends, is the bottom line answer to why pool rooms are closing in the US. Summarized perfectly.

Pool rooms close because the nut is too high and the clientele is not there. As far as specials go their purpose is to bring in customers. It cost a lot of money to get a new customer through the door and offering a special is a cheap way to get a new customer or keep an old one. I should add, specials should not be forever they should only last like a month otherwise they are not special. You need to be creative and keep coming up with different ideas to keep it interesting. Just look at Subway or Race Trac gas stations, they are two really large business and are always running a different special of the month. As big as they are they know yo have to keep them coming back.

You also want faces in the place. No one want to go in an empty room. You would be surprised how many friends that guy who seems not to spend much has who may just come there because he is there. EVERY customer unless they are busting the place up has value.

It is obvious if someone calls to ask a question about your business they have not been there. Here you have a chance to bring in a new customer and instead you blow him off. That really makes no sense.
You can easily spend thousands in advertising trying to pick up just a few new and customers who may become regulars.

A pool room is quite a bit different then running say a tire store. Many of your customers may spend more time in your room then with their own families. It is not a business for everybody and many of the complaints you hear from owners tell you they should be in a different business. Often they are not happy because they have gotten in over their heads, their nut is to high, to many hours, the income is not what they expected and they are looking for someone to blame.

Of course it must be their customers fault. The fact is, the customer does not need them and can just not come back as many often don't. A pool room is not providing anything of need, for most it is just a distraction or something to do for the night. 9 out of 10 of your customers could probably care less if they ever come back or go somewhere else. It don't take much to chase them away and they can be tough to replace.

Lots of reasons why a pool room closes but the first clue is usually the owner/owners. Be it their bad business plan or them personally not knowing what they are doing. In the end, that customer is doing you a favor just coming in, it is up to you to bring them back again and again.

 

[measureman]

I've been hanging out in pool rooms for 53 years(longer then you Ted)and I agree as a group pool players are cheapskates.
I go to Felt in Englewood Co.Nice place that even cleans the balls and tables on a regular basis.
The people that work there on Saturday are friendly and will even bring your your food and coffee refills to the table. They even come around and ask if you need something!
So every Saturday I show up around 9 or 10 AM and have breakfast and play until 3 PM or so.
My total cost is about $20-25 with a tip.Where else can you eat and have fun for that small a cost?
And it shows in the business they do.Usually on Saturday there are 7 or 8 9 foot tables in use and 6 or 7 bar tables.And I see a lot of food being served.