Sterling Gameing Acquires insidepool.com
- Thread starter newtopool
- Start date
It seems that some forums are muddying the waters about the Sterling Games deal to take over Insidepool.com
Maybe if this info get out to several locations fast enough...the Inside Pool Forum CAN NOT delete the post and keep everyone from reading the exact words.
Here's Scott's post in Quotes from the CCB of 4/13/05 saying Sterling has "NOTHING" to do with IP.
Followed by the Press Release of 4/16/05 announcing that Sterling Games bought IP and has been working on the deal for over 6 months.
These are not my accusations...they are Scott's own words that while you may not see the discrepancies I believe I do and I believe most people will too.
Draw your own conclusions and let the rest of us do the same.
QUOTE
Setting things Straight
My name is Scott Taylor. I am the President of Sterling Gaming, Inc. We are a manufacturing distributor of billiards supplies. We currently supply, in addition to "traditional" brick and mortar establishments, many online stores. Generally, a customer of ours (such as InsidePOOL.com) will promote our products, take an order from a customer, then send that order to us for fulfillment. Most items ordered this way from most of our customers ship out the same day, then we bill our customers (the reseller) weekly. Each day we ship hundreds of orders to hundreds of players on behalf of dozens of online suppliers.
We are the exclusive dealer of Fury Cues in North America. Fury is a partnership between three distributors and a manufacturer. Our company, as part of the arrangement with the other three companies, is responsible for the marketing and promotion of the brand.
Neither Sterling Gaming, Inc. nor Fury Cues have ANYTHING to do with InsidePOOL or InsidePOOL.com, except for being an advertiser in the magazine, and being a supplier for the website. We have NEVER had any equity position in InsidePOOL, despite rumors that were floating around a few years ago, and ones that have recently surfaced.
It is true that in InsidePOOL's early days, JR Calvert moved to Charlotte where we could help consult him on certain aspects of business in general (I personally helped him set up his subscriber database, while my wife Heidi - of "Slippy Powder" fame - helped him with his accounting.) JR introduced us to a lot of his previous dealers from when he was a distributor for Falcom, and helped us out in other similar ways. After spending several months together, helping each other to grow, JR moved back to Pennsylvania, and we were both better off for having had the experience together. Note that this "I scratch your back" thing simply WAS NOT financially related! JR has made for himself the best billiards magazine in the industry in my opinion, but he did that without any financial backing from us. He deserves all the credit for that.
Now, currently, I do believe from what I see that InsidePOOL may be having, at a minimum, some growing pains. It should be made quite clear that JR himself is again fully responsible for the situation he is in.
I believe that there will continue to be speculation on these boards about the future of InsidePOOL, but those of you who have been around since its inception in (I think) January of 2001 know that there has ALWAYS been such talk. Time and time again, the magazine ships each month. Most of you will agree that it is a great magazine, and worth the wait. JR is a good friend of mine, yet I do not always agree with some of the decisions he makes. However, I have grown to know that you can never count him out! There once was a time, back around June of 2002, when I'd have placed a bet against the magazine surviving through the rest of the year. That was a bet I would have lost, and I'm not so foolish to ever place a similar bet. When you have the best product on the market, it is hard to fail.
Regarding Fury Cues, I would like to thank Kay and Jennie and whomever else for saying the nice things you have about our cues. Despite our marketing efforts, though, it still seems that some people are a little confused about the cues themselves. Yes, our DL line of Fury cues retails for $115. Yes, this is a decal cue. NO, this is not your "typical" decal cue. Take a good look at a friend of yours' Fury DL. You will note that the shaft wood is some of the nicest maple you'll see on any cue under about $500. This includes your Vikings, your Falcons, your McDermotts, and so on. The materials, craftsmanship, construction, and hit of the cue are all quality. Sure, the DL's are made with decals. Guess what? That helps to reduce the price of a cue, ensuring that a player can spend their money on a quality hit over quality doo-dads. We do offer high-end cues with some of the finest inlays you've ever seen, designed by Kaz Miki of Mezz Cues (high-end Japanese cue maker -- and don't forget that a huge number of American-made custom cues go to the Japanese market!) To any that would question a Fury, all I have got to say is pick one up and hit with it, without prejudice.
To further set the record straight, when players like Rodney Morris, Keith McCready, José Parica, Francisco Bustamante, Ramil Gallego, Shane Sinnott (former sales manager and 8-year employee of Predator Products), Kelly Fisher, and so on tell me that our cues feel great in their hands, I'm going to take that at face value. There have been so many others, amateurs and pros alike, that have made me feel so good about the products we create.
Now, about the whole "name change" thing. When these cues were first designed and created, the name was "Rage". After they were introduced in Japan at a show, a shrewd competitor of ours decided to throw a monkey wrench in the works by registering the trademark here in the United States. Well, for those of you unfamiliar with intellectual property law, in order to federally register a trademark, that mark must have been used in interstate trade for one year. This is not something that must be proved to the US PTO, so our competitor was able to "sneak it through". Unfortunately, there is a "presumptive" aspect of IP law, which means that it is presumed that someone having a trademark has it legitimately, making it more difficult to fight. Although I feel we could have waged a legal war to retake the name "Rage", it would have meant spending a lot of time and money that could be used to promote a different name altogether. Since only a handful of these original Rage cues had been sold, it was no big deal to change the name. The most reluctant person to make the change was Gregory Koblenz of Dynamic Billiard in Germany, since he had already heavily advertised the Rage name. Anyway, we convinced him to go along with the name Fury, which I actually personally preferred! I do not know what things you are mentioning as far as "foreign websites" go, but I'd like to see what you are referring to so I can aid in setting the record straight there, too.
I'm sure I missed some things, so please poke me again and I'll respond. I do not regularly check these boards, but send an email to me at "scott at sterling dash gaming dot com" and I'll respond either by email or on the board itself.
Thanks to all of you that have been supporters of our company and our many brands. We appreciate you very much.
By the way, might I suggest ordering from CueSight Billiards Supplies ? I can personally guarantee that you won't have problems there, or that any problems would be quickly and professionally resolved to your fullest satisfaction.
END QUOTE
QUOTE
Posted by: editor on Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 10:31 PM GMT
For Immediate Release
Sterling Gaming, Inc., Acquires InsidePOOL.com from Spheragon Publishing
Matthews, NC - April 16, 2005
Sterling Gaming, Inc., has concluded the acquisition of the most-trafficked website in the billiards industry, InsidePOOL.com. The agreement transfers all rights and interest in the United States and in all foreign countries in the InsidePOOL.com domain from Spheragon Publishing to Sterling Gaming, Inc. Founded by the inventor of the laser-sighted pool cue, Sterling intends to gain exposure for their products as a result of the acquisition.
Sterling Gaming, Inc. was founded in 1999 by Scott Taylor, a then-newcomer to the billiards industry. Sterling is a wholesale distributor of high-quality billiards products and currently supplies a large number of traditional billiard supply retailers, billiard parlors, and o*nline retailers. “InsidePOOL.com is the best-known and most-visited billiards site o*n the net,” said Scott. "This purchase will allow us to reach more players with our products, thereby increasing the demand for our brands to our dealers.”
JR Calvert, owner of Spheragon Publishing and the publisher of InsidePOOL Magazine, created InsidePOOL.com in 2001. “After putting my heart into our magazine and then continuing with the creation of its o*nline component, it¹s a wonderful feeling to know that I can leverage this sale to take the magazine to the next level,” said JR. "With the proceeds of the sale, we will be able to drastically expand our circulation, which has been a large goal of ours since the beginning. The millions of pool players in the United States simply weren't being served by the pre-existing magazines."
Sterling and Spheragon had been discussing the advantages of the proposed transfer of the o*nline asset for over six months. “It was hard to make the decision to grow the magazine at the expense of the site; however, after reflecting o*n the opportunity, it was definitely the best route to take to keep with my original mission,” JR replied when asked about his motives.
Fellow industry members not related to either party have been very supportive of the purchase. Employees of both companies as well as customers and suppliers are happy that Sterling is the new owner of InsidePOOL.com. Matt Carter, general manager for Sterling Gaming, has been very involved with the Internet marketing arm of the company. He said, "I'm incredibly excited to be involved in a process that will allow us to continue to be an innovator in this industry. Never before has a distributor worked with a publisher to bring forth a combination of content and product that stand to grow the overall exposure of the game of pool."
The new official website for InsidePOOL Magazine will reside at www.insidepoolmag.com and will be launched in late April 2005.
About Sterling Gaming, Inc.
Although a relatively new company, Sterling Gaming, Inc., has grown to become o*ne of the largest distributors in the world of billiards supplies. Sterling is the North American distributor of Fury Cues, voted the favorite pool cue of players o*n a recent Internet poll. Sterling increases the public awareness of their products by sponsoring professional players, professional tournaments, and amateur tours. They are the supplier of over 1,500 poolrooms and billiard supply stores and more than 50 o*nline retailers.
About Spheragon Publishing
InsidePOOL Magazine is recognized as the billiards magazine preferred by pool players. Since their first issue in December 2001, it has gained a large fan base resulting from their excellent coverage of professional and amateur events, instructional columns by top-ranked players Allison Fisher and Johnny Archer, and a groundbreaking format.
For more information, contact Scott Taylor with Sterling Gaming, Inc., at (877) 283-7444 or JR Calvert with Spheragon Publishing at (724) 543-3700.
END QUOTE
Maybe if this info get out to several locations fast enough...the Inside Pool Forum CAN NOT delete the post and keep everyone from reading the exact words.
Here's Scott's post in Quotes from the CCB of 4/13/05 saying Sterling has "NOTHING" to do with IP.
Followed by the Press Release of 4/16/05 announcing that Sterling Games bought IP and has been working on the deal for over 6 months.
These are not my accusations...they are Scott's own words that while you may not see the discrepancies I believe I do and I believe most people will too.
Draw your own conclusions and let the rest of us do the same.
QUOTE
Setting things Straight
My name is Scott Taylor. I am the President of Sterling Gaming, Inc. We are a manufacturing distributor of billiards supplies. We currently supply, in addition to "traditional" brick and mortar establishments, many online stores. Generally, a customer of ours (such as InsidePOOL.com) will promote our products, take an order from a customer, then send that order to us for fulfillment. Most items ordered this way from most of our customers ship out the same day, then we bill our customers (the reseller) weekly. Each day we ship hundreds of orders to hundreds of players on behalf of dozens of online suppliers.
We are the exclusive dealer of Fury Cues in North America. Fury is a partnership between three distributors and a manufacturer. Our company, as part of the arrangement with the other three companies, is responsible for the marketing and promotion of the brand.
Neither Sterling Gaming, Inc. nor Fury Cues have ANYTHING to do with InsidePOOL or InsidePOOL.com, except for being an advertiser in the magazine, and being a supplier for the website. We have NEVER had any equity position in InsidePOOL, despite rumors that were floating around a few years ago, and ones that have recently surfaced.
It is true that in InsidePOOL's early days, JR Calvert moved to Charlotte where we could help consult him on certain aspects of business in general (I personally helped him set up his subscriber database, while my wife Heidi - of "Slippy Powder" fame - helped him with his accounting.) JR introduced us to a lot of his previous dealers from when he was a distributor for Falcom, and helped us out in other similar ways. After spending several months together, helping each other to grow, JR moved back to Pennsylvania, and we were both better off for having had the experience together. Note that this "I scratch your back" thing simply WAS NOT financially related! JR has made for himself the best billiards magazine in the industry in my opinion, but he did that without any financial backing from us. He deserves all the credit for that.
Now, currently, I do believe from what I see that InsidePOOL may be having, at a minimum, some growing pains. It should be made quite clear that JR himself is again fully responsible for the situation he is in.
I believe that there will continue to be speculation on these boards about the future of InsidePOOL, but those of you who have been around since its inception in (I think) January of 2001 know that there has ALWAYS been such talk. Time and time again, the magazine ships each month. Most of you will agree that it is a great magazine, and worth the wait. JR is a good friend of mine, yet I do not always agree with some of the decisions he makes. However, I have grown to know that you can never count him out! There once was a time, back around June of 2002, when I'd have placed a bet against the magazine surviving through the rest of the year. That was a bet I would have lost, and I'm not so foolish to ever place a similar bet. When you have the best product on the market, it is hard to fail.
Regarding Fury Cues, I would like to thank Kay and Jennie and whomever else for saying the nice things you have about our cues. Despite our marketing efforts, though, it still seems that some people are a little confused about the cues themselves. Yes, our DL line of Fury cues retails for $115. Yes, this is a decal cue. NO, this is not your "typical" decal cue. Take a good look at a friend of yours' Fury DL. You will note that the shaft wood is some of the nicest maple you'll see on any cue under about $500. This includes your Vikings, your Falcons, your McDermotts, and so on. The materials, craftsmanship, construction, and hit of the cue are all quality. Sure, the DL's are made with decals. Guess what? That helps to reduce the price of a cue, ensuring that a player can spend their money on a quality hit over quality doo-dads. We do offer high-end cues with some of the finest inlays you've ever seen, designed by Kaz Miki of Mezz Cues (high-end Japanese cue maker -- and don't forget that a huge number of American-made custom cues go to the Japanese market!) To any that would question a Fury, all I have got to say is pick one up and hit with it, without prejudice.
To further set the record straight, when players like Rodney Morris, Keith McCready, José Parica, Francisco Bustamante, Ramil Gallego, Shane Sinnott (former sales manager and 8-year employee of Predator Products), Kelly Fisher, and so on tell me that our cues feel great in their hands, I'm going to take that at face value. There have been so many others, amateurs and pros alike, that have made me feel so good about the products we create.
Now, about the whole "name change" thing. When these cues were first designed and created, the name was "Rage". After they were introduced in Japan at a show, a shrewd competitor of ours decided to throw a monkey wrench in the works by registering the trademark here in the United States. Well, for those of you unfamiliar with intellectual property law, in order to federally register a trademark, that mark must have been used in interstate trade for one year. This is not something that must be proved to the US PTO, so our competitor was able to "sneak it through". Unfortunately, there is a "presumptive" aspect of IP law, which means that it is presumed that someone having a trademark has it legitimately, making it more difficult to fight. Although I feel we could have waged a legal war to retake the name "Rage", it would have meant spending a lot of time and money that could be used to promote a different name altogether. Since only a handful of these original Rage cues had been sold, it was no big deal to change the name. The most reluctant person to make the change was Gregory Koblenz of Dynamic Billiard in Germany, since he had already heavily advertised the Rage name. Anyway, we convinced him to go along with the name Fury, which I actually personally preferred! I do not know what things you are mentioning as far as "foreign websites" go, but I'd like to see what you are referring to so I can aid in setting the record straight there, too.
I'm sure I missed some things, so please poke me again and I'll respond. I do not regularly check these boards, but send an email to me at "scott at sterling dash gaming dot com" and I'll respond either by email or on the board itself.
Thanks to all of you that have been supporters of our company and our many brands. We appreciate you very much.
By the way, might I suggest ordering from CueSight Billiards Supplies ? I can personally guarantee that you won't have problems there, or that any problems would be quickly and professionally resolved to your fullest satisfaction.
END QUOTE
QUOTE
Posted by: editor on Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 10:31 PM GMT
For Immediate Release
Sterling Gaming, Inc., Acquires InsidePOOL.com from Spheragon Publishing
Matthews, NC - April 16, 2005
Sterling Gaming, Inc., has concluded the acquisition of the most-trafficked website in the billiards industry, InsidePOOL.com. The agreement transfers all rights and interest in the United States and in all foreign countries in the InsidePOOL.com domain from Spheragon Publishing to Sterling Gaming, Inc. Founded by the inventor of the laser-sighted pool cue, Sterling intends to gain exposure for their products as a result of the acquisition.
Sterling Gaming, Inc. was founded in 1999 by Scott Taylor, a then-newcomer to the billiards industry. Sterling is a wholesale distributor of high-quality billiards products and currently supplies a large number of traditional billiard supply retailers, billiard parlors, and o*nline retailers. “InsidePOOL.com is the best-known and most-visited billiards site o*n the net,” said Scott. "This purchase will allow us to reach more players with our products, thereby increasing the demand for our brands to our dealers.”
JR Calvert, owner of Spheragon Publishing and the publisher of InsidePOOL Magazine, created InsidePOOL.com in 2001. “After putting my heart into our magazine and then continuing with the creation of its o*nline component, it¹s a wonderful feeling to know that I can leverage this sale to take the magazine to the next level,” said JR. "With the proceeds of the sale, we will be able to drastically expand our circulation, which has been a large goal of ours since the beginning. The millions of pool players in the United States simply weren't being served by the pre-existing magazines."
Sterling and Spheragon had been discussing the advantages of the proposed transfer of the o*nline asset for over six months. “It was hard to make the decision to grow the magazine at the expense of the site; however, after reflecting o*n the opportunity, it was definitely the best route to take to keep with my original mission,” JR replied when asked about his motives.
Fellow industry members not related to either party have been very supportive of the purchase. Employees of both companies as well as customers and suppliers are happy that Sterling is the new owner of InsidePOOL.com. Matt Carter, general manager for Sterling Gaming, has been very involved with the Internet marketing arm of the company. He said, "I'm incredibly excited to be involved in a process that will allow us to continue to be an innovator in this industry. Never before has a distributor worked with a publisher to bring forth a combination of content and product that stand to grow the overall exposure of the game of pool."
The new official website for InsidePOOL Magazine will reside at www.insidepoolmag.com and will be launched in late April 2005.
About Sterling Gaming, Inc.
Although a relatively new company, Sterling Gaming, Inc., has grown to become o*ne of the largest distributors in the world of billiards supplies. Sterling is the North American distributor of Fury Cues, voted the favorite pool cue of players o*n a recent Internet poll. Sterling increases the public awareness of their products by sponsoring professional players, professional tournaments, and amateur tours. They are the supplier of over 1,500 poolrooms and billiard supply stores and more than 50 o*nline retailers.
About Spheragon Publishing
InsidePOOL Magazine is recognized as the billiards magazine preferred by pool players. Since their first issue in December 2001, it has gained a large fan base resulting from their excellent coverage of professional and amateur events, instructional columns by top-ranked players Allison Fisher and Johnny Archer, and a groundbreaking format.
For more information, contact Scott Taylor with Sterling Gaming, Inc., at (877) 283-7444 or JR Calvert with Spheragon Publishing at (724) 543-3700.
END QUOTE
onepocketchump said:
John, I don't want to be argumentative but the email on the 14th said "Neither Sterling Gaming, Inc. nor Fury Cues have ANYTHING to do with InsidePOOL or InsidePOOL.com, except for being an advertiser in the magazine, and being a supplier for the website. We have NEVER had any equity position in InsidePOOL, despite rumors that were floating around a few years ago, and ones that have recently surfaced."
The statement about not holding an equity position (Which I make no dispute over) is clearly seperate from the statement that says they do not have anything to do with the IP business, with the emphasis on the word "ANYTHING". In my opinion negotiating for 6 months to take over a major part of a business classifies as having "SOMETHING" to do with that business beyond simply being an advertiser and supplier. I appreciate if the deal had fallen through Sterling would most likely never have informed the public about it, but if Sterling knew there was a good chance of the deal being completed it seems like a poor decision to make such a categorical statement. It has given the appearance of a level of deception of the public in the light of the press release of the 17th. I'm sure this was not intended, but this explains why Sterling is now receiving some negative reactions.
Thank you for confirming that the magazine production will be seperate from the portion of the business that Sterling have taken over. However I and others here placed their magazine subscription orders directly on InsidePool.com website that Sterling has now taken over and states it is attempting to fulfill all orders from. It also appears to still be possible to place an IP magazine subscription order on the InsidePool.com website.
I would appreciate some clear indication of how these magazine subscription orders will be handled and by whom, especially for customers who may want a refund at this point on magazine subscriptions. Yes, I have also emailed Scott Taylor directly, but as Sterling are chosing to post here where they have many current and potential customers I felt they would want to establish what will happen next in public.
O
onepocketchump
Guest
BigRigTom said:
Dear sir,
At what point can you possibly hold Sterling Gaming responsible for ANYTHING done by Inside Pool? Only at the point where Sterling Gaming takes ownership. Until that point there was NOTHING that Sterling Gaming could do other than process whatever orders that they were paid for.
As a self-described honest businessman, what part of Sterling's public statement to service Inside Pool's customers is unclear to you?
I personally think that your statement above in in error and not in keeping with what has been publicly stated.
Stering Gaming enjoys a sterling reputation because of two things, 1. the customer is ALWAYS taken care of and 2. our bills are ALWAYS paid on time.
If Scott Taylor says every customer will be taken care of then you can bet your life that they will be.
Sincerely,
John Barton
Sterling Gaming
O
onepocketchump
Guest
AuntyDan said:
The issue was whether Sterling was underwriting Inside Pool and that is what Scott spoke to. If you want to nitpick then you could make a case that the word "anything" encompasses any and all communications both personal and business. However, I think that most people understood the answer clearly as it was intended. Furthermore, from a purely business standpoint it would have been foolish to reveal any aquisition negotiations before the deal was done. There was no obligation neither moral or ethical to reveal such information.
As I stated in the earlier post all magazine issues are going to be handled by Inside Pool the magazine. The phone number, once again, is 724-543-2635 for the magazine.
The next few weeks will tell you if Sterling will live up to it's promises. We have all spent the entire day reassuring customers who are happy just to get to talk to someone. It is the customers that are important and that is who we have made the commitment to.
John Barton
Sterling Gaming
onepocketchump said:
Kinda Biased aren't you John?
When was the last time anyone would BET their LIFE on anyone or anything in the pool industry?
We all must wait WEEKS for results.
Hopefully, the results will be what everyone expects.
onepocketchump said:
Dear John Barton,
I know we just spoke on the phone about several issuse but I feel compelled to respond to your post.....
At what point does Sterling Games choose to take responsibility for the actions of InsidePool.com?
Scott of Sterling Games unilaterally chose to post that disclaimer on April 13th on the CCB only 3 days before the press release to of April 16th announcing the buy out of InsidePool.com as a result of over 6 months of talks.
What whas Scott thinking on 4/13 that couldn't wait until 4/16.
If necessary to say anything on 4/13, why couldn't he just state that Sterling was not financially backing Insidepool and let it go at that. The post of 4/13 was misleading at best and certainly did nothing to advance your present stance that you will now take care of ALL of the InsidePool.com customers who are currently wondering what is going on with the orders they have placed and paid for.
You very well may be able to straighten all this out and I wish you all the best fortune doing just that. Take care of all those customers and make things right for them and we will all be cheering you on.
In the long run it is not me you need to convince that your intentions are honorable but the very customers you are promising to serve and they will be your ultimate judges as well.
O
onepocketchump
Guest
Tom In Cincy said:
That's how much I believe in Scott Taylor. It's why I chose to work for him rather than start another company.
You know as well as I do that messes take time to clean up. There is no way on earth that we can wade through months of orders in a few days.
Time will tell,
John
O
onepocketchump
Guest
BigRigTom said:
I can't ever speak for what Scott was or is thinking. The way I read the email - and I had NO INPUT on it at all - was simply that Scott was providing the proper distance and background of the relationship while maintaining the competitive edge of not revealing any talks of aquisition.
And in the press release and subsequent committment to Inside Pool's customers Scott clearly indicated that as the new owner we will step up to the plate and take care of those customers.
You can infer what you want to from the posts made by Scott. I can assure you though that the "deal" was far from done when Scott made the first post. Scott Taylor, Matt Carter and JR Calvert have worked tirelessly during the past four days to work out an agreement that allows the consumers to be taken care of.
And ultimately, that's ALL this is about. Making sure that the consumer get's satisfaction and service. Those two things are assured when dealing with Sterling Gaming.
John Barton
I can attest to the customer being taken care of from being a customer and the rooms that book my events are very pleased with the customer relationship and the satisfaction they get by ordering through Sterling. They all say that they are well taken care of by the staff and their orders got to them quicker than they expected. Let Sterling show you what they can do instead of being small minded and nick picking everythng to death
Kay
Kay
Shorty said:
Shorty,
I usually get several mags from IP to give to the players. I will see what I can get sent your way through my TD till you can get your subscription straight. I think I have a few extra back issues and if I do I will set them aside for you. Hope to see you at our next tournament. We've also booked some more stops for Anastasia so we will be seeing a lot of you.
Kay
proficient
Registered
website stats
I also agree that Alexa stats are not accurate. I clicked on a comparison vs. proficientbilliards and it shows a screenshot from our website from 2 years ago. When we do spyware checks on our machines alexa comes up as one and is removed. If you wonder if you have spyware on your computer here is a good program Spybot 1.3 http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
In our experience web hits and popularity come from good web placement, it is how things are found on the web. The stats for IP as shown by Alexa seem very high for such low web placement. The real stats for the site would come from its control panel.
Ranking software is used here to show a comparison of AZbilliards, InsidePOOL, and ProficientBilliards (shown as a control) using the keyword "billiards". Shown are 8 search engines, but the big ones to look at are Google, MSN, and Yahoo. The depth of the search was the top 100 page ranks (roughly 10 pages deep). If a website can pull those kind of numbers having only a #12 page rank on Lycos then proficient needs to talk to their webmaster, because they truly are a master.
Page Ranks / Search Depth 100 - keyword "billiards"
AzHousePro said:
I also agree that Alexa stats are not accurate. I clicked on a comparison vs. proficientbilliards and it shows a screenshot from our website from 2 years ago. When we do spyware checks on our machines alexa comes up as one and is removed. If you wonder if you have spyware on your computer here is a good program Spybot 1.3 http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
In our experience web hits and popularity come from good web placement, it is how things are found on the web. The stats for IP as shown by Alexa seem very high for such low web placement. The real stats for the site would come from its control panel.
Ranking software is used here to show a comparison of AZbilliards, InsidePOOL, and ProficientBilliards (shown as a control) using the keyword "billiards". Shown are 8 search engines, but the big ones to look at are Google, MSN, and Yahoo. The depth of the search was the top 100 page ranks (roughly 10 pages deep). If a website can pull those kind of numbers having only a #12 page rank on Lycos then proficient needs to talk to their webmaster, because they truly are a master.
Page Ranks / Search Depth 100 - keyword "billiards"
Last edited:
The Railbird
Registered
More news comes to light on this whole ordeal...
(Pasted from Billiards Digest forums)
Insidepool.com Update
-------------- ------
We here at Sterling Gaming have been hard at work every day since I last
emailed you on April 18 to find every Insidepool.com customer who paid for
merchandise that was never received. In fact, most of us have been working
14 to 16 hour days to bring to an end the "customer disservice nightmare"
most of you have experienced.
The deeper we got into this, the worse we found the situation to be. Some
orders going back to December had been paid for, but were never shipped to
the customer. For the most part, no orders were sent to customers that
placed them after the beginning of February. Time after time, customers
that called in were simply lied to, with the "stock" responses being:
1. "That shipped out on xxxx via the USPS"
2. "Oh, you STILL haven't gotten it? We will put a tracer on it, and
send your order out again. If you receive a second shipment, simply
refuse it."
3. "Our computer systems were unable to read the UPS tracking
information, so we can't give you a tracking number."
4. "Our computers were down last week, but we'll look into it and get back
to you."
5. (My personal favorite...) "What? Didn't you hear about the big fire
at UPS? It has been all over the news!"
It became very clear to us that the ownership of insidepool.com was
definitely having serious cash flow problems, and was using its customer's
money, YOUR money, to keep themselves afloat.
Now, I'm not sure if it is clear to you, but we are NOT the company that you
paid for the products that were never sent. We, Sterling Gaming, Inc., used
to be the primary supplier to insidepool.com. The old owners of
insidepool.com not only were taking orders (and payment!) and not shipping
out product, but they also owed us over $100,000 for items we sent out on
their behalf. We've stepped in and taken over the site in an attempt to make
things right as best we can.
Since we were only one of four suppliers to the company, we are unable to
supply all of the items they had offered for sale. Unfortunately, your
order contains one or more of those items. At this point, other than
helping you to get your money back, there is little we can do.
I'd like to ask you to call your credit card company (their number is on the
back of your card) and dispute the charge, informing them that you never
received the items you ordered. They should credit you instantly. If you
are unfamiliar with this process, it is very simple, and your credit card
company will help you through it. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. It
is doubtful, but should they require any documentation that the products
were never shipped, we can provide that to you. This will probably not be
necessary, but please feel free to contact us should they ask for something
like this. For clarification, we cannot credit you, since we were not the
people you paid in the first place. However, we're committed to helping you
get your money back, so please let us know how we can help.
Once you get your money back, and if you wish to purchase some billiards
supplies from a reputable company, we would strongly recommend
www.cuesight.com. This is a site that we own and operate. It has been one
of the most popular billiards sites since 1999. We have a five-star,
top-service rating with Yahoo. If you'd like the name of a reputable
company with which we have no ownership ties, we'd recommend
www.billiardwarehouse.com or www.platinumbilliards.com.
I'm so sorry that you had suffered such a bad experience with the former
owners of insidepool.com. I'm glad, though, that we are now in a position
to help you.
At this stage in the game, we are canceling your order out of the old
insidepool.com system, since there is no way we can fill it.
If there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to call us, toll-free,
at 1-877-283-7444. We'd prefer to speak with you on the phone
directly instead of using email. We'll be able to serve you better
that way!
Best regards,
S. Scott Taylor, President
Sterling Gaming, Inc.
(Pasted from Billiards Digest forums)
Insidepool.com Update
-------------- ------
We here at Sterling Gaming have been hard at work every day since I last
emailed you on April 18 to find every Insidepool.com customer who paid for
merchandise that was never received. In fact, most of us have been working
14 to 16 hour days to bring to an end the "customer disservice nightmare"
most of you have experienced.
The deeper we got into this, the worse we found the situation to be. Some
orders going back to December had been paid for, but were never shipped to
the customer. For the most part, no orders were sent to customers that
placed them after the beginning of February. Time after time, customers
that called in were simply lied to, with the "stock" responses being:
1. "That shipped out on xxxx via the USPS"
2. "Oh, you STILL haven't gotten it? We will put a tracer on it, and
send your order out again. If you receive a second shipment, simply
refuse it."
3. "Our computer systems were unable to read the UPS tracking
information, so we can't give you a tracking number."
4. "Our computers were down last week, but we'll look into it and get back
to you."
5. (My personal favorite...) "What? Didn't you hear about the big fire
at UPS? It has been all over the news!"
It became very clear to us that the ownership of insidepool.com was
definitely having serious cash flow problems, and was using its customer's
money, YOUR money, to keep themselves afloat.
Now, I'm not sure if it is clear to you, but we are NOT the company that you
paid for the products that were never sent. We, Sterling Gaming, Inc., used
to be the primary supplier to insidepool.com. The old owners of
insidepool.com not only were taking orders (and payment!) and not shipping
out product, but they also owed us over $100,000 for items we sent out on
their behalf. We've stepped in and taken over the site in an attempt to make
things right as best we can.
Since we were only one of four suppliers to the company, we are unable to
supply all of the items they had offered for sale. Unfortunately, your
order contains one or more of those items. At this point, other than
helping you to get your money back, there is little we can do.
I'd like to ask you to call your credit card company (their number is on the
back of your card) and dispute the charge, informing them that you never
received the items you ordered. They should credit you instantly. If you
are unfamiliar with this process, it is very simple, and your credit card
company will help you through it. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. It
is doubtful, but should they require any documentation that the products
were never shipped, we can provide that to you. This will probably not be
necessary, but please feel free to contact us should they ask for something
like this. For clarification, we cannot credit you, since we were not the
people you paid in the first place. However, we're committed to helping you
get your money back, so please let us know how we can help.
Once you get your money back, and if you wish to purchase some billiards
supplies from a reputable company, we would strongly recommend
www.cuesight.com. This is a site that we own and operate. It has been one
of the most popular billiards sites since 1999. We have a five-star,
top-service rating with Yahoo. If you'd like the name of a reputable
company with which we have no ownership ties, we'd recommend
www.billiardwarehouse.com or www.platinumbilliards.com.
I'm so sorry that you had suffered such a bad experience with the former
owners of insidepool.com. I'm glad, though, that we are now in a position
to help you.
At this stage in the game, we are canceling your order out of the old
insidepool.com system, since there is no way we can fill it.
If there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to call us, toll-free,
at 1-877-283-7444. We'd prefer to speak with you on the phone
directly instead of using email. We'll be able to serve you better
that way!
Best regards,
S. Scott Taylor, President
Sterling Gaming, Inc.
