Tried to help

Cdryden

Cdryden

Pool Addict
Silver Member
But I give up.

My local pool hall has went through three owners since it first opened up. The guy that originally opened it knew how to run a pool hall. He was a great owner, unfortunately he also had a bad coke habit and eventually sold after about 10 years.

The next guy did ok. He benefited for the 1st guy getting everyone in line. Us regulars knew what was expected. No sitting on the rails, no drinks or smokes around the table. Respect the equipment and so on. He also had it for about 10 years. Things went okay, but started to turn into more of a bar than pool hall. Figures.

Now we have the new owners, nice people. But they have NO clue about how to run a pool hall or a bar for that matter. They brought in a new crowd that doesn't respect anything. They are afraid to throw out the trouble makers because they think they might loose business but they fail to realize that the good customers just go somewhere else so they don't have to deal with that crap. And they wont correct someone who is getting out of line and tearing up their equipment.

The owner asked me if I would repair some house cues for them. I said sure. I had a box of 50 cheap tip that cost me around $65.00. I only charged him a buck a cue because I knew things were tight for them. I was taking a loss but didn't mind, I looked at it like I was giving back something to a place I spent a lot of time at.

So I finish about 30 cues and bring them in one Saturday. I was walking around the room putting the cues in the racks when I saw a guy walk over and get one and start playing. After a couple of minutes he pulls out a pocket knife and cuts off the rounded part just as the owner walks by. The owner curiously asks what he was doing. The guy says "I don't like my tips curved like that, I want em a little flatter"! I was seeing red. The owner just looked at him, shrugged and said okay. That was it. I couldn't believe it!

Of course the tips didn't last too long with the morons abusing them and after about 2 months he asked how much another batch would cost him. I figured if I doubled the price maybe he would stop his customers from destroying them, wrong. When I told him 2 bucks a cue, (still way cheap) he said he didn't want to spend that much. I said that's fine I understand, times are tuff. So this guy goes out and buys slip on tips from Walmart. He says they are easier to replace. lol

I give up. He is on his own now.
 
That sucks. My local room went through the same kind of transition, went from a shooting room to loungy type place. Some retro lights outside a new bar and a tendency to play bad music. The only thing that makes it bearable is that they are still real pool room owners. They have rules and aren't afraid to toss someone if they do something stupid.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
 
Dear "CDryden,"

At least once a week I thank God that I have a real POOLROOM to go and play pool at. I'm sorry you've lost yours.
 
Cdryden said:
So I finish about 30 cues and bring them in one Saturday. I was walking around the room putting the cues in the racks when I saw a guy walk over and get one and start playing. After a couple of minutes he pulls out a pocket knife and cuts off the rounded part just as the owner walks by. The owner curiously asks what he was doing. The guy says "I don't like my tips curved like that, I want em a little flatter"! I was seeing red. The owner just looked at him, shrugged and said okay. That was it. I couldn't believe it!
Click to expand...

Wow... just... wow...
 
Cdryden said:
But I give up.

My local pool hall has went through three owners since it first opened up. The guy that originally opened it knew how to run a pool hall. He was a great owner, unfortunately he also had a bad coke habit and eventually sold after about 10 years.

The next guy did ok. He benefited for the 1st guy getting everyone in line. Us regulars knew what was expected. No sitting on the rails, no drinks or smokes around the table. Respect the equipment and so on. He also had it for about 10 years. Things went okay, but started to turn into more of a bar than pool hall. Figures.

Now we have the new owners, nice people. But they have NO clue about how to run a pool hall or a bar for that matter. They brought in a new crowd that doesn't respect anything. They are afraid to throw out the trouble makers because they think they might loose business but they fail to realize that the good customers just go somewhere else so they don't have to deal with that crap. And they wont correct someone who is getting out of line and tearing up their equipment.

The owner asked me if I would repair some house cues for them. I said sure. I had a box of 50 cheap tip that cost me around $65.00. I only charged him a buck a cue because I knew things were tight for them. I was taking a loss but didn't mind, I looked at it like I was giving back something to a place I spent a lot of time at.

So I finish about 30 cues and bring them in one Saturday. I was walking around the room putting the cues in the racks when I saw a guy walk over and get one and start playing. After a couple of minutes he pulls out a pocket knife and cuts off the rounded part just as the owner walks by. The owner curiously asks what he was doing. The guy says "I don't like my tips curved like that, I want em a little flatter"! I was seeing red. The owner just looked at him, shrugged and said okay. That was it. I couldn't believe it!

Of course the tips didn't last too long with the morons abusing them and after about 2 months he asked how much another batch would cost him. I figured if I doubled the price maybe he would stop his customers from destroying them, wrong. When I told him 2 bucks a cue, (still way cheap) he said he didn't want to spend that much. I said that's fine I understand, times are tuff. So this guy goes out and buys slip on tips from Walmart. He says they are easier to replace. lol

I give up. He is on his own now.
Click to expand...
Just mind your own business and don't get involved. You will have a happier relationship there I promise you. It is not that we are in any way smarter then they are but the reality is, if you are like me and maybe you are, and have been hanging around pool rooms for 50 years also owning a few, you do in fact know a thing or two.

I just started going to a new room and all you have to do is look around and you can see where he is losing money, things that could be done better, a bar maid that is useless, tables are dirty, he doesn't even own a ball cleaner. They just give then a quick wipe with a dirty towel. What do you do? You can go somewhere else but in my case this new place is 6 minutes from my house and does have good quality tables. I actually like going there and the people are pretty nice but they don't have a clue how to run a pool room. I am not talking from the point of view of a pool player where I think everything should cater to my needs. I am talking from the point of view of running a successful room that balences the needs of everyone AND makes money.

I have to admit, I did ask him if he had a ball cleaner even though I knew he didn't. Hint Hint.
 
macguy said:
Just mind your own business and don't get involved. You will have a happier relationship there I promise you. It is not that we are in any way smarter then they are but the reality is, if you are like me and maybe you are, and have been hanging around pool rooms for 50 years also owning a few, you do in fact know a thing or two.

I just started going to a new room and all you have to do is look around and you can see where he is losing money, things that could be done better, a bar maid that is useless, tables are dirty, he doesn't even own a ball cleaner. They just give then a quick wipe with a dirty towel. What do you do? You can go somewhere else but in my case this new place is 6 minutes from my house and does have good quality tables. I actually like going there and the people are pretty nice but they don't have a clue how to run a pool room. I am not talking from the point of view of a pool player where I think everything should cater to my needs. I am talking from the point of view of running a successful room that balences the needs of everyone AND makes money.

I have to admit, I did ask him if he had a ball cleaner even though I knew he didn't. Hint Hint.
Click to expand...

Complaining about not having a dedicated machine for cleaning the balls is a bit picky I think, especially if the tables are well done. I've been to many places where having a dirty dish towel to clean the balls would be a luxury hehe.

Including our local Jillians chain store. You can do a good job with a rag and some spray cleaner, as long as it's actually done.
 
Things are tough, and getting tougher.
Our only pool room put cheap cloth on the tables, three months ago, and they are already worn out. The building needs a new roof, and the place is looking more like a sports bar.
You did your best. Time to move on. :frown:
 
Chris...While I don't totally agree with macguy, I would print this thread, and give it to the new owners to read...along with a smile, a "I sure love playing here", and a "just thought you'd like to know" comment. :grin:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Cdryden said:
But I give up.

My local pool hall has went through three owners since it first opened up. The guy that originally opened it knew how to run a pool hall. He was a great owner, unfortunately he also had a bad coke habit and eventually sold after about 10 years.

The next guy did ok. He benefited for the 1st guy getting everyone in line. Us regulars knew what was expected. No sitting on the rails, no drinks or smokes around the table. Respect the equipment and so on. He also had it for about 10 years. Things went okay, but started to turn into more of a bar than pool hall. Figures.

Now we have the new owners, nice people. But they have NO clue about how to run a pool hall or a bar for that matter. They brought in a new crowd that doesn't respect anything. They are afraid to throw out the trouble makers because they think they might loose business but they fail to realize that the good customers just go somewhere else so they don't have to deal with that crap. And they wont correct someone who is getting out of line and tearing up their equipment.

The owner asked me if I would repair some house cues for them. I said sure. I had a box of 50 cheap tip that cost me around $65.00. I only charged him a buck a cue because I knew things were tight for them. I was taking a loss but didn't mind, I looked at it like I was giving back something to a place I spent a lot of time at.

So I finish about 30 cues and bring them in one Saturday. I was walking around the room putting the cues in the racks when I saw a guy walk over and get one and start playing. After a couple of minutes he pulls out a pocket knife and cuts off the rounded part just as the owner walks by. The owner curiously asks what he was doing. The guy says "I don't like my tips curved like that, I want em a little flatter"! I was seeing red. The owner just looked at him, shrugged and said okay. That was it. I couldn't believe it!

Of course the tips didn't last too long with the morons abusing them and after about 2 months he asked how much another batch would cost him. I figured if I doubled the price maybe he would stop his customers from destroying them, wrong. When I told him 2 bucks a cue, (still way cheap) he said he didn't want to spend that much. I said that's fine I understand, times are tuff. So this guy goes out and buys slip on tips from Walmart. He says they are easier to replace. lol

I give up. He is on his own now.
Click to expand...
 
It's a weird deal, I've been going there so long that I feel like a I have a vested interest in it. I know I don't, but you start to feel that way about a place that you have spent a lot of years in.

They are nice people, but they just don't have a clue and haven't listened to those that do. The manager that worked for the original owner stayed on to help them out but they wouldn't listen to him either, they've since parted ways. It's a shame really.

Screw it, I'll just open up my own place! Anybody wanna loan me a couple hundred grand to get started! ;)
 
hang-the-9 said:
Complaining about not having a dedicated machine for cleaning the balls is a bit picky I think, especially if the tables are well done. I've been to many places where having a dirty dish towel to clean the balls would be a luxury hehe.

Including our local Jillians chain store. You can do a good job with a rag and some spray cleaner, as long as it's actually done.
Click to expand...
I actually mentioned the dirty balls for a reason. With dirty tables and balls the game can't hardly be played. In the room I am talking about all you have to do is look around the room a watch. When the balls are broken they hardly break. I am not kidding, it sounds like they are hitting concrete. It changes the whole complexion on the game and much of the enjoyment even if the player is not knowledgeable to know the difference.

Me, I can just clean the table myself and clean the balls before I play, or even bring my own balls for that matter. It doesn't really matter to me as a player. In a pool room something like dirty tables and balls are usually a symptom of worse to come. Keeping the place clean requires no knowledge just common sense. Now you get to their choice of chalk and house cues as they look for the cheapest thing they can buy. . Then they don't know how to maintain the cues and in no time they are just junk. Cheap cloth they wait too long to change and so on. It becomes a downward spiral. Things don't always go bad all at once but when you see the symptoms you can be sure what is coming if something does not change.

The worse part is as things begin to go down the owners often go bad themselves. They become resentful of their customers and the business in general when none of this had to happen in the first place.
 
macguy said:
I actually mentioned the dirty balls for a reason. With dirty tables and balls the game can't hardly be played. In the room I am talking about all you have to do is look around the room a watch. When the balls are broken they hardly break. I am not kidding, it sounds like they are hitting concrete. It changes the whole complexion on the game and much of the enjoyment even if the player is not knowledgeable to know the difference.

Me, I can just clean the table myself and clean the balls before I play, or even bring my own balls for that matter. It doesn't really matter to me as a player. In a pool room something like dirty tables and balls are usually a symptom of worse to come. Keeping the place clean requires no knowledge just common sense. Now you get to their choice of chalk and house cues as they look for the cheapest thing they can buy. . Then they don't know how to maintain the cues and in no time they are just junk. Cheap cloth they wait too long to change and so on. It becomes a downward spiral. Things don't always go bad all at once but when you see the symptoms you can be sure what is coming if something does not change.

The worse part is as things begin to go down the owners often go bad themselves. They become resentful of their customers and the business in general when none of this had to happen in the first place.
Click to expand...

And that pretty much describes the events that took place. Add to it bathrooms that haven't been maintained and owners family robbing the place blind and I would have been sure that we live in the same town!
 
My favorite place to play pool has turned into a dart room, irritates me bad. Pool players tend to respect things, dart players not so much.
 
I feel for you. I've known owners who understand the importance of equipment,
and sometimes the money isn't there. But they had no fear of telling people to get off the table
and keep their food, drinks, or smokes away from it.
And you know what? Those people didn't flip out and refuse to come back.

Anyone running a business cannot be afraid of minor confrontation.
Be nice to the customers, but don't be a doormat.

Something that stood out to me in your post, is that you might also
be a little reluctant to confront people about what's bugging you.

You were pissed that the owner allowed a patron to take a knife to the equipment.
You should have said so, but instead you reacted by jacking up the price of your services.
Seems almost passive aggressive?

And when they said "that's too much" you had the chance to say something like...

"That's a steal and I'm doing it because I've been at this pool hall for years and I still love it.
The price went up because you don't seem to value the tips.
So I thought if I charged more you might actually care about whether
or not people destroyed your equipment.

But instead you just said "ok, times are tough, no biggie" and left it.

Just tell'em exactly what you've told AZB. Make the owners understand:
There are serious players and bangers.

Serious players, though there are fewer of them, may come 3 or even 5 times a week,
and may play from like 8 pm til you kick them out the door. And if you treat them right
they will come back for years. And they don't care about specials so much,
you don't need to lure them in with 5 dollar deals.
They will pay full price if you give them tip-top equipment.

Get them to explicitly acknowledge what you said. If they don't or won't get it,
then you can truly say you tried. Right now, I am in doubt that you really made things clear.
 
CreeDo said:
I feel for you. I've known owners who understand the importance of equipment,
and sometimes the money isn't there. But they had no fear of telling people to get off the table
and keep their food, drinks, or smokes away from it.
And you know what? Those people didn't flip out and refuse to come back.

Anyone running a business cannot be afraid of minor confrontation.
Be nice to the customers, but don't be a doormat.

Something that stood out to me in your post, is that you might also
be a little reluctant to confront people about what's bugging you.

You were pissed that the owner allowed a patron to take a knife to the equipment.
You should have said so, but instead you reacted by jacking up the price of your services.
Seems almost passive aggressive?

And when they said "that's too much" you had the chance to say something like...

"That's a steal and I'm doing it because I've been at this pool hall for years and I still love it.
The price went up because you don't seem to value the tips.
So I thought if I charged more you might actually care about whether
or not people destroyed your equipment.

But instead you just said "ok, times are tough, no biggie" and left it.

Just tell'em exactly what you've told AZB. Make the owners understand:
There are serious players and bangers.

Serious players, though there are fewer of them, may come 3 or even 5 times a week,
and may play from like 8 pm til you kick them out the door. And if you treat them right
they will come back for years. And they don't care about specials so much,
you don't need to lure them in with 5 dollar deals.
They will pay full price if you give them tip-top equipment.

Get them to explicitly acknowledge what you said. If they don't or won't get it,
then you can truly say you tried. Right now, I am in doubt that you really made things clear.
Click to expand...

You know what, I think you're right. I kind of did the same thing that the owners have done. I guess I felt it wasn't my place to dictate to him how to do his job. I kind of figured that if he hasn't listened to anyone else why would he listen to me. But it still should have been said.

I think I will try and think of a decent way to tell him he is making some mistakes and offer to help if he wants it. Other than that it's on him.

Thanks, CreeDo. (and others), it's not often that someone changes my mind when I think I am right but every now and then! ;)
 
CreeDo said:
I feel for you. I've known owners who understand the importance of equipment,
and sometimes the money isn't there. But they had no fear of telling people to get off the table
and keep their food, drinks, or smokes away from it.
And you know what? Those people didn't flip out and refuse to come back.

Anyone running a business cannot be afraid of minor confrontation.
Be nice to the customers, but don't be a doormat.

Something that stood out to me in your post, is that you might also
be a little reluctant to confront people about what's bugging you.

You were pissed that the owner allowed a patron to take a knife to the equipment.
You should have said so, but instead you reacted by jacking up the price of your services.
Seems almost passive aggressive?

And when they said "that's too much" you had the chance to say something like...

"That's a steal and I'm doing it because I've been at this pool hall for years and I still love it.
The price went up because you don't seem to value the tips.
So I thought if I charged more you might actually care about whether
or not people destroyed your equipment.

But instead you just said "ok, times are tough, no biggie" and left it.

Just tell'em exactly what you've told AZB. Make the owners understand:
There are serious players and bangers.

Serious players, though there are fewer of them, may come 3 or even 5 times a week,
and may play from like 8 pm til you kick them out the door. And if you treat them right
they will come back for years. And they don't care about specials so much,
you don't need to lure them in with 5 dollar deals.
They will pay full price if you give them tip-top equipment.

Get them to explicitly acknowledge what you said. If they don't or won't get it,
then you can truly say you tried. Right now, I am in doubt that you really made things clear.
Click to expand...

Great post CreeDo!! I really don't understand how pool halls will survive today. Looking at the cost per table and what you can charge per hour it just does not look profitable to me. The closest pool hall to me is about an hour away, pretty nice place. They have probably 40 some 9' and Pro8' GCIIIs, 1 snooker, 2 carom tables and a handful of coin op bar boxes. I love the idea and feeling of all those tables but I cant say atmosphere because of some of the patrons. They also have a bar and grill with pretty good food. They are pretty big into card tournaments, some pool tourn aments, and leagues too. If they were closer I would visit more often. We have never had to wait for table time, it seems to me they are making money on everything else and table time is a bonus.
 
Any smart manager or owner would welcome suggestions and even an offer to help out. If he/she won't get into a conversation on how to make the place better - don't waste the time.

I am a big fan of always carrying your own set of Aramiths in your vehicle.

(Plus, you can some times find an abandoned/disused table in some center that is still in decent shape.)
 
we get positive results

Cdryden said:
It's a weird deal, I've been going there so long that I feel like a I have a vested interest in it. I know I don't, but you start to feel that way about a place that you have spent a lot of years in.

They are nice people, but they just don't have a clue and haven't listened to those that do. The manager that worked for the original owner stayed on to help them out but they wouldn't listen to him either, they've since parted ways. It's a shame really.

Screw it, I'll just open up my own place! Anybody wanna loan me a couple hundred grand to get started! ;)
Click to expand...

I'm involved with a group that can help the owners out for sure, that's our area of expertise. What town/city/state is the pool room in? Maybe we can offer our services and we won't charge anything unless we get positive results, and we may get them a LOT of TV/Internet exposure in the process. If you don't want this info to be public email me at thegameistheteacher@gmail.com ....thanks, CJ Wiley
 
You did what you could

Sounds like he didn't take your thoughtful dedication too seriously. Oh well, I am sure he appreciated you doing it for him, but I don't thin he shares your passion for the game. Perhaps you shouls ask him why he bought the place to begin with ?

Sorry that you seem a bit agitated by it all. :sorry:
 
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