To Put it Lightly

ForumGhost516

ForumGhost516

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a question, how do you ask your pool room proprieter to better his equipment and have him take you seriously. I play in a room that used to be a well liked well looked after establishment. New owners have taken over and have not been taking care of the tables, customers, house cues, and really not much of anything except the new beer license they just got. Now normally i would stay quiet but tonight in a tournament i went for two three rail kicks and on both of them they hit the second rail and the ball died.

Pockets are no longer in the right position they should be in. The liner is beginning to come loose and mess up peoples shots.

After shooting for about half an hour i can lift my hand from the table and it will be black from chalk and dirt and simply not being clean. its getting disgustng the amount of dust on the lights even. I told my pool room owner who i have a decent relationship with i was going to valley forge and asked him jokingly if he wanted chalk off or table cleaner his response was "ha i dont use any of that shit".

The biggest problem I face is that this man is a knowledgeable man when it comes to pool and tables however i fear that the decline of the industry and thereby his business is causing the lull in customer service and maintenence.

Any thoughts or opinions on how to get this fixed would be greatly appreciated.
 
I have gone through new ownership where I play also. Although the new owners are trying alot more than the previous one did, they are still learning the business. I think the first thing you should do is to mention to the owner that the table time generated from the tables is 90% profit for the business. Let them know in a constructive way how the tables should look and play. Recovering them once a year is pretty standard. Also, you have to understand the new owners financial status too. Its tough to take over a business and do everything all at once. Most of the time you do it in increments. Most really good business owners are willing to listen to their regular patrons. Hope this helps.

Southpaw
 
It's a touchy subject....kinda like telling a woman her butt looks big in those jeans....once you say it, DUCK!:D

a way that might work is have a short conversation with some players you don't know, then after they leave go to the owner and hint around that they said they liked the room but the equipment was a little dirty for them. YOu kinda put it on someone else :D

just make sure it's not the guys best friend you talk to....:o
 
ForumGhost516 said:
I told my pool room owner who i have a decent relationship with i was going to valley forge and asked him jokingly if he wanted chalk off or table cleaner his response was "ha i dont use any of that shit".
Click to expand...

After that response, you are doomed.
 
ForumGhost516 said:
I have a question, how do you ask your pool room proprieter to better his equipment and have him take you seriously. I play in a room that used to be a well liked well looked after establishment. New owners have taken over and have not been taking care of the tables, customers, house cues, and really not much of anything except the new beer license they just got. Now normally i would stay quiet but tonight in a tournament i went for two three rail kicks and on both of them they hit the second rail and the ball died.

Pockets are no longer in the right position they should be in. The liner is beginning to come loose and mess up peoples shots.

After shooting for about half an hour i can lift my hand from the table and it will be black from chalk and dirt and simply not being clean. its getting disgustng the amount of dust on the lights even. I told my pool room owner who i have a decent relationship with i was going to valley forge and asked him jokingly if he wanted chalk off or table cleaner his response was "ha i dont use any of that shit".

The biggest problem I face is that this man is a knowledgeable man when it comes to pool and tables however i fear that the decline of the industry and thereby his business is causing the lull in customer service and maintenence.

Any thoughts or opinions on how to get this fixed would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Converse with the owner straight up and tell him your concerns.

If the owner cares about having good regular paying customers like you he will do what needs to be done.

Also you say the biggest problem you face is the owner is knowledgeable about pool and tables......so what. So he knows exactly what the conditions are like in the room and what they should be and evidently he doesn't care or mind what the customers think.

Don't be afraid to voice your opinions or concerns about the conditions in the room...it's your MONEY and your JOY of the game...
 
Or you could lead by example...

...and bring in a dirt devil and some quick clean and clean the table you're playing on yourself.

If he doesn't get that hint then you are, indeed, doomed.

MM
 
Some owners just don't care.

We were told we'd get Diamonds and got Olhausen home models. The pockets on one table ripped in two weeks and the casting behind the pocket is already chipping the balls. The billiards table has a 12" piece of cloth pulled out of the end rail and its been 3 months. Four of the lights flicker on tables which drives me nuts.

Beer prices doubled.

Good luck.
 
The letter would be good. I know once you complain about the tables you are a marked man. All you can do is wait for the guys that looks after the tables. Maybe the will recommend to the owner more work is required for you. If that doesn't help. Start looking for a new room.

It sucks when you are paying 10$ hour for table time and you tell the owner about the poor conditions... and their reply is, the walk-ins don't know the difference.
 
Truth is...that unless they make these changes it will just be a matter of time before you and people like you find a different place to shoot. If they don't want to take you serious about making improvements then maybe it's time to take your business somewhere else. If they want to keep you there they will listen and make the changes. Sometimes input like yours is incredibly necessary for change to take place.
 
TX Poolnut said:
Write an anonymous (spelling!) but very respectful letter.
Click to expand...

Yes - AND - get OTHER regulars there to do the same.

One letter will be ignored. Many letters, not so much.
 
There is a room I enjoy going to around here that is guilty of the same thing. There are only 13 tables and some of them haven't been reclothed in nearly a decade. Every table has annoying nuances that make it nearly impossible to enjoy playing there. The only reason I visit is because I like the people. When I was there last week, I made a simple comment to one of the employees. I said, "It's only a matter of time before someone with money walks in here and sees all the business you guys are doing. They're going look over the tables and KNOW they can steal each and every regular. So here's the deal. Do you want to decide on when you're going to get new tables or do you want your competition to decide?" I hope it hits home because frankly, I like the place.
 
Maybe this guy is really busy with the new place and needs help? Perhaps you could offer to help him with some cleaning in there to get things up to snuff in exchange for some free pool time? This will only work of course if you have time to do something like this.....say if you are a student or something like that.
 
TX Poolnut said:
Write an anonomous but very respectful letter.
Click to expand...


goodpost.gif
 
HIRUN526 said:
Converse with the owner straight up and tell him your concerns.

If the owner cares about having good regular paying customers like you he will do what needs to be done.

Also you say the biggest problem you face is the owner is knowledgeable about pool and tables......so what. So he knows exactly what the conditions are like in the room and what they should be and evidently he doesn't care or mind what the customers think.

Don't be afraid to voice your opinions or concerns about the conditions in the room...it's your MONEY and your JOY of the game...
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly.

The key, IMHO, is to let the management know that the tables are in bad condition. Also let them know you play in other halls, and from time to time let them know how good those other places are. If their rates are better, if their tables are better, if their balls are better, and so on. If the owner doesn't get the hints, decrease the time you spend there and, if my experience with this is any indication, when you come back they might just ask you where you've been, where you're playing pool, and so on. If they want to get you back, they'll ask those questions. That's the time to tell them where you're playing, and how good the tables are there, or whatever is especially good there, and how his tables are hard to play on because they're : 1. Dirty, 2. Have bad rails, 3. Have rolls on them, etc....

Tell him you really would like to play in his room more often, but that playing on his tables as they are is hurting your game... And tell him also that you have some friends you'd like to bring along with you, and that if he had at least one really good table that you'd get them to come.

Be constructive, not critical.

Flex
 
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