Rip-off Report on Glen, The Real King Cobra

[Poolshootindon]

Bull Sh*t

I really doubt that this was your best course of action, but hey sometimes we all need to vent when we go on tilt. I've been there too. All I can say is some people choose a
lifestyle that follows the way they want to live. You can't change them unless they want to change. Glen is no exception, nor am I or anyone else.

Glen is good at what he does on the table, but his lifestyle choice Commands patience
from his clients. You can't make him change and venting on line probably won't help.
I hope you can come to a mutually satisfactory solution to get some closure.

td

You got to be kidding.

How would you like it if you took you car to a dealer to have a service done and they say " you will get it back when were ready to give it back".

Doubt you would go back. And if they didn't reply to calls I am sure you would take legal action.

Simply amazing the mind set of some of the people in the pool industry.

Don

 

[flyvirginiaguy]

Glen is always behind, because he wont leave a job until its right or leaves and gets distracted and comes back very late,

What about if your next waitress/waiter does the same? What if they are at another table getting things right while you sit for an hour and a half? What if they get distracted for an hour or two? One should never accept the job if you can't come through regardless the reason.

 

[Icon of Sin]

It's one thing to be behind schedule, to have your work so in demand that you have a waiting list and people who are willing to put up with poor customer service for a great finished product (think Soup Nazi). It is quite another to leave somone without a table for months on end without a solid end in sight. Being busy and backed up does not give anyone the right to do this. I'd be sitting staring at my broken table thinking that Glenn is doing a multitable pool room somewhere and my rails are sitting in the back of a truck because my job wasn't important enough for him to prioritize.

I'd be livid.

I agree. OP has a right to be mad here. Glenn obviously does phenomenal work, but 2 months is a long time, plus the lack of contact.

Sure everyone knows how cuemaker time works, but when you are waiting on an overdue cue, you more then likely have another cue to play with in the mean time. In this case the OP cannot use his table at all.

This thread needs to be solidified here somehow for future customers of Glenn. A lot of people in this thread seem fine with his methods and see this as the norm for him, frankly I would go apeshit if someone took my money and my rails and were unresponsive after two months, I would probably start looking to buy replacement rails.

Im in no way saying that Glenn doesn't do good work or that it isn't worth the overdue time, I just think it needs to be common knowledge that things like this happen when working with him. I'm sure it will sway a lot of customers like the OP to possibly go somewhere else, or at the very least prevent threads of venting due to lateness.

 

[ArizonaPete]

I'm a big fan of The Real King Cobra and enjoy reading his posts. From the pictures he posts, his work looks perfection (and satisfied customers posts confirm that). I've read this whole thread hoping to see a response from Glen. Months overdue with no response to messages and phone calls is totally unacceptable. "That's just Glen" is bull. If you accept a job, take a man's money, promise him a date - then keep it. I worked for IBM for 25 years in Research and Development. One of the most important things I've learned was that if you commit to something, you get it done. It's a shame you had to make this post but if calling and leaving messages resulted in no communication from Glen, you had no alternative. I'm very disappointed in Glen's actions in getting your rails done. His esteem has dropped several notches in my book. Glen, please make it your top priority to finish this man's rails and ship them back to him.

 

[Poolshootindon]

Appologize???

TO ALL, exspecially Glenn,

I would like to appologize to eveyone for starting this rant. After the weeks started to turn into months, I started to get bent out of shape. and when my last couple of calls to Glenn wern't answered it pushed me over the edge. Through all this I have taken Glenn's character into consideration and have been more than patient. Each time I spoke with Glenn he gave me a new ship date and each time I waited a couple weeks beyond that date before contacting him again. I have always been kind and understand when speaking with Glenn, and have never done anything to push or hound him. In fact since Feb I think I have only spoken with him 3 or 4 times. I understand things get in the way, but I am kind of a no nonsence person, if you have problems just tell me, we can always work through it, but don't tell me it will be done then, and then , and then and never come through. This is what bends me out of shape.

I hope everyone understands, and I appologize for everything I said, to all and to Glenn.

Thank You

Tony

Tony.. Only person who needs to applolgize is Glenn.

You have every right to be upset.

I hope things work out for you in this transaction.

Don

 

[tank69]

"that's just Glenn", "he's only 2 months behind?"...So you mean to tell me if a cuemaker or auto mechanic told you that, it would be ok? It's ok to rally around someone and support them, but let's face it, a 30 second phone call with an update on why he's running late would have never prompted a post. It amazes me how fast some of you are to side with someone who is clearly in the wrong. Whether it's right or wrong, pick up the damn phone and let the client know "I'm busy and it's taking longer than expected, I will get to you as soon as I can".

 

[Casual Observer]

I'm having another guitar built by Martin. I've already paid for it (it's a $4,000 guitar) and am now in a prolonged sit and wait mode.
The ETA keeps changing due to the intricacies of building a fine instrument (securing necessary tonal woods, climate/humidity considerations, craftsman's speed). While I'm anxious for it to be finished and shipped from the factory, I fully understand the delays.
The difference, though, is that I know why the delays are happening and I can, if desired, call any time for an updated ETA (I don't call simply because I understand what's going on).
I understand the o.p.'s frustration in this situation. He only has one pool table and can't use it. I have LOTS of guitars.

 

[Icon of Sin]

"that's just Glenn", "he's only 2 months behind?"...So you mean to tell me if a cuemaker or auto mechanic told you that, it would be ok? It's ok to rally around someone and support them, but let's face it, a 30 second phone call with an update on why he's running late would have never prompted a post. It amazes me how fast some of you are to side with someone who is clearly in the wrong. Whether it's right or wrong, pick up the damn phone and let the client know "I'm busy and it's taking longer than expected, I will get to you as soon as I can".

Cuemaker, Yes. (within reason of course)

Automechanic, No.

Table Mechanic, No.

Someone earlier said that him creating this thread probably wasnt his best course of action. I think the OP did the correct thing by creating this thread as his next course of action because as of right now someone else has his money and his property with no signs of returning either.

 

[SignManiac]

I am going on 40 years now running my business and the two most important reasons I have the reputation I do is one, the quality of my work and two, my reputation for being 100% reliable when committing to completion dates.

Time management is critical part of any company and just as important as doing a good job. I always make sure I allow enough time to get my work done, even allowing for the unknown. The big thing is just saying no if I have to. I know I can't take on every project, nor would I want to. Another huge thing is communication. Every time the phone rings, there's the chance that a problem has occurred. I never blow off a phone call no matter what. If there's a problem attached to that call, I want to deal with it right now. Nothing worse than procrastinating or letting a hundred little problems pile up, and then you have an even bigger mess to deal with.

People often ask what I do for a living and when I started out it was simply a sign painter. Then it was a designer. Now I would have to say I'm a problem solver. With many employees, I'm constantly solving other peoples problems to keep things running smooth. I'm always running around putting fires out. Employees, clients, friends, family, everyone pulling at you from every direction can get overwhelming at times. But your word should be your word. Integrity is one of the most important parts of my business.

No excuses period. The buck stops with me and I shoot for 100% customer satisfaction no matter what. It takes years to build a quality reputation and minutes to destroy it with a few pissed off customers.

One of the common problems I see with many business owners is not charging enough. If your work is under priced, you will be the busiest guy in town. Everyone wants you and you soon spread yourself too thin and quality will suffer and then your business suffers.

Raise your prices lose a few customers, have more time to give your good paying customers quality on time work. That's always worked for me. I don't care if not everyone can afford what I offer. There will always be that guy who will do the work for less. He's the one I send my customers to that I don't want to work for. Keeps my competition spinning their wheels on low paying work. That means their quality will suffer and come back to bite them in the butt.

Damn, I'm going off on one of my verbal tirades again. Sorry... Back on topic. The guy needs to call you and apologize and make this right.

 

[Straightpool_99]

Communication is the key. The OP has only one pool table. Its not like cues, where if you order one you most likely allready have one to use in the mean time. It probably would be ok if the guy said "Look, I'm a craftsman, this might take anything up to a year and I won't give any communication as to what kind of time it will take". That way the OP could have considered his options. Maybe he would have been better off just buying a new table, rather than be without one for a long time. Now he has a table he can't even sell. Imagine if you had your kitchen remade by a master cabinet maker and he quit the job halfway through, leaving you without a usable kitchen. Then he makes a lame excuse and does not communicate any further. (This happened to someone I know, and the cabinet maker got sued). Eventually this particular craftsman may come through on his promise (unlike the kitchen guy) but the op could not (despite assurances by others, not involved) know that for sure. Even if he knew, that kind of delay without communication is unacceptable.

It's strange to watch these posts where people immidiately jump to the defence of the cuemaker/table mechanic. It seems that in the pool world, when peoples products are in demand they can pretty much do anything and people will still defend them (remember Bill Stroud anyone?). I'm not comparing this guy to Bill Stroud as such, just pointing out that people here defend behaviour that would never fly in any other setting.

 

[Bambu]

I think Glen should do what car dealers do. Build himself or carry a set of universal, loaner rails. Bolt em on, swap em back out when the job is done. That way, nobody gets pissed.... and glen can take all the time he wants.

The loaner rails would pay for themselves because customers wouldn't mind paying more if they didn't lose use of their table.

 

[flyvirginiaguy]

people here defend behavior that would never fly in any other setting.

True, so true. But it depends on who you are too, of course... Some I have seen drilled into the dirt for petty things.

 

[realkingcobra]

angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

After weeks of phone conversations with Glenn (The Real King Cobra) he and I came to an agreement for him to rebuild and calibrate my Gandy Rails. Back in the first week of February 2013, Glenn was in my area and was able to pick the rails up at my home along with the payment for the work. We made a deal that he would have them completed and returned by mid March 2013. Well now it’s late May 2013 and after many phone conversations, and Glen telling me he would have the rails done and returned to me time and time again, I have given up all hope to ever seeing Glenn, my money or my rails again.

I have been extremely patient during the procrastinating Glenn has done. Glenn has left me with a Table that’s useless. Now I have been forced to take action, I normally wouldn’t even think of doing this kind of thing, (Venting on a forum), but Glenn has took my money, took my rails and has done nothing short of screw me, and has never returned either of them. People need to know what he is capable of doing!

I just don’t understand how a person everyone speaks so highly of, can do this. But I guess you live and learn. I have since tried to sell the table for parts, trying to recover some of my money, but so far no takers. I guess an old Big G Gandy isn’t worth much but it was my table, and now it’s been stolen from me and the remainder I have left isn’t worth anything.
Glen has totally ripped me off and screwed me and I just felt like venting, sorry to waste your time..
:angry:

OK Tony, my last text message to you was in response to your text message to me on the 9th, that I'd try and finish up your rails by the weekend. That didn't' happen because of the work I was doing on billiard rails at the Diamond factory, plus having to get slates steel plate joined so they could also go out on delivery. I'm on the road in areas where I have no phone reception, such as MN and SD, so calling me is pretty much pointless, I won't get the messages until I get to a service area, my computer is on Verizon where as my phone is T-mobile. I understand your IRS issues, and the pressure you're under, which is why I agreed to rebuild your rails for $250 instead of my normal $1,500 for the whole job, but that's OK, as I have no problem returning your rails untouched, and your $250. I don't need to RIP anyone off in order to make a living, as I have more work waiting on me than I could ever do, as it is on this delivery run to WI, MN, SD, and Indiana I already have 7 Diamond's to rebuild at anywhere from $650 to $1,500 per table...so, no problem Tony. I'll send you your money back tomorrow, and your rails once I get back to the factory, I have the pocket castings in my truck with me so they don't get lost at the factory, if it wasn't for that I'd have Diamond box up and ship your rails back to you right now as well, so that'll have to wait until I get back, which will be when I get back.

Glen

 

[Poolshootindon]

More excuses then Carter has pills!!!!!!!!

OK Tony, my last text message to you was in response to your text message to me on the 9th, that I'd try and finish up your rails by the weekend. That didn't' happen because of the work I was doing on billiard rails at the Diamond factory, plus having to get slates steel plate joined so they could also go out on delivery. I'm on the road in areas where I have no phone reception, such as MN and SD, so calling me is pretty much pointless, I won't get the messages until I get to a service area, my computer is on Verizon where as my phone is T-mobile. I understand your IRS issues, and the pressure you're under, which is why I agreed to rebuild your rails for $250 instead of my normal $1,500 for the whole job, but that's OK, as I have no problem returning your rails untouched, and your $250. I don't need to RIP anyone off in order to make a living, as I have more work waiting on me than I could ever do, as it is on this delivery run to WI, MN, SD, and Indiana I already have 7 Diamond's to rebuild at anywhere from $650 to $1,500 per table...so, no problem Tony. I'll send you your money back tomorrow, and your rails once I get back to the factory, I have the pocket castings in my truck with me so they don't get lost at the factory, if it wasn't for that I'd have Diamond box up and ship your rails back to you right now as well, so that'll have to wait until I get back, which will be when I get back.

Glen

Glen... You keep doing business like this and you may not have much business when word gets around.

You made the deal for $250.

Seems you made a bad deal and now you want to back out.

Show us that your a man of your word and repair his rails and maybe you will get back on the good side of some of us AZer's.

Don

 

[DelaWho???]

OK Tony, my last text message to you was in response to your text message to me on the 9th, that I'd try and finish up your rails by the weekend. That didn't' happen because of the work I was doing on billiard rails at the Diamond factory, plus having to get slates steel plate joined so they could also go out on delivery. I'm on the road in areas where I have no phone reception, such as MN and SD, so calling me is pretty much pointless, I won't get the messages until I get to a service area, my computer is on Verizon where as my phone is T-mobile. I understand your IRS issues, and the pressure you're under, which is why I agreed to rebuild your rails for $250 instead of my normal $1,500 for the whole job, but that's OK, as I have no problem returning your rails untouched, and your $250. I don't need to RIP anyone off in order to make a living, as I have more work waiting on me than I could ever do, as it is on this delivery run to WI, MN, SD, and Indiana I already have 7 Diamond's to rebuild at anywhere from $650 to $1,500 per table...so, no problem Tony. I'll send you your money back tomorrow, and your rails once I get back to the factory, I have the pocket castings in my truck with me so they don't get lost at the factory, if it wasn't for that I'd have Diamond box up and ship your rails back to you right now as well, so that'll have to wait until I get back, which will be when I get back.

Glen

Which came first, Tony's job or the Diamond job?

If I were to have my rails done and paid the full $1500 up front and then a "rush" pool room job comes in, what happens with my job?

 

[revhigh]

Glen... You keep doing business like this and you may not have much business when word gets around.

You made the deal for $250.

Seems you made a bad deal and now you want to back out.

Show us that your a man of your word and repair his rails and maybe you will get back on the good side of some of us AZer's.

Don

Yeah .... I pretty much agree. Although it IS interesting that the OP never mentioned the 'deal' he got. That fact alone should make you know that you're not gonna be at the top of the heap in terms of priority.

Having said that .... How hard would it have been to communicate via phone, text, or PM ? They DO have these things called 'landlines' .... I bet Diamond even has one or two in their factory ....

The whole idea that someone is completely out of communication with the world is simply not believable. For 2 months ? SERIOUSLY ?

Fix the rails as agreed .... On a promised date .... Admit that you were in the wrong in this instance .... And move on. It's the right thing to do ..... Especially since YOU are in the wrong in this case. Do you REALLY think it's fair that you held the OP's table hostage for 2-3 months .... And then make him start OVER ?

Who in their right mind would pay $1500 to have their rails done anyway ? THAT is UNDERcharging ? LOL. I paid my mechanic $200 total to re cover my rails, install my slate, level my table, and install the bed cloth and it's perfect. I'm sure RKC does great work, but at a certain point .... Isn't perfect good enough ? We're talking about pool tables ... Not diamond cutting ... Or electronics design.


REV

 

[kvinbrwr]

Glen... You keep doing business like this and you may not have much business when word gets around.

You made the deal for $250.

Seems you made a bad deal and now you want to back out.

Show us that your a man of your word and repair his rails and maybe you will get back on the good side of some of us AZer's.

Don

Don

Glenn will always have all the business (and more as this case shows) he can handle.

Although this does provide a great opportunity for the AZ judgement crowd.

The guys does great work, maybe the best in the business. He's got people screaming for his time. He over promises. Its a pretty common trait of those that are in super high demand that want to please people.

Thanks

Kevin

 

[ugotactionTX]

It didn't take long for the job to be "worth" 1500$. Lucky the OP is getting such a great discount...

 

[DelaWho???]

Yeah .... I pretty much agree. Although it IS interesting that the OP never mentioned the 'deal' he got. That fact alone should make you know that you're not gonna be at the top of the heap in terms of priority.

Having said that .... How hard would it have been to communicate via phone, text, or PM ? They DO have these things called 'landlines' .... I bet Diamond even has one or two in their factory ....

The whole idea that someone is completely out of communication with the world is simply not believable. For 2 months ? SERIOUSLY ?

Fix the rails as agreed .... On a promised date .... Admit that you were in the wrong in this instance .... And move on. It's the right thing to do ..... Especially since YOU are in the wrong in this case. Do you REALLY think it's fair that you held the OP's table hostage for 2-3 months .... And then make him start OVER ?

Who in their right mind would pay $1500 to have their rails done anyway ? THAT is UNDERcharging ? LOL. I paid my mechanic $200 total to re cover my rails, install my slate, level my table, and install the bed cloth and it's perfect. I'm sure RKC does great work, but at a certain point .... Isn't perfect good enough ? We're talking about pool tables ... Not diamond cutting ... Or electronics design.


REV

Not so interesting. A deal should remain betweent the parties. Often there is more thqn 1 price for a job.

There was recently a thread about converting red diamond rails to the more accurate blue version. Having a red I inquired to the cost. I had 1 poster reply to me via PM and tell me that the mechanic (who will remain unnamed) asked him what price he told me $600 or $800? The gent I was corresponding with got the better $600 deal. I decided not to pursue it because I felt I would get charged the higher rate because I am basically a nobody in the pool world with a single home table (no volume discounts for me) and I am happy with the way the table plays now.

I call Diamond directly when I need service on it Brian sets it up and Andy or whoever Brian sends always calls and lets me know when they will be there if they are running late etc. They make you understand that your business is important and that they are a reputable company that stands behind their product. That's why I bought a Diamond in the first place and their treatment of me as a customer over the years validates that decision every time I deal with them.

 

[Island Drive]

Glen did not steal the rails.

He is never on time (like everyone has said).
Just the way he does things - and any checking will tell you this is his style.

I agree he needs to tell you what the deal is.

I am not condoning his behavior - it is just who Glen is.

Mark Griffin

Sounds like a pool player