Warning To Cue Dealers! Meucci Scammed My Business

[shpshtr]

I Have Been left no other oprtion but to post in this forum , I have tried everything but small claims court!!!
Warning to all whom purchase cues from Meucci Originals in Sledge Mississippi. I have been in the Billiards Industry for 11 years, I own a pool room and a well established retail pro shop for cues and supplies. I carry cues from all major suppliers and I am in perfect standing with ALL, so I decided to buy Meucci cues and bring them into my stock to sell. I ordered $1660.00 worth of cues at wholesale prices. The cues were sent COD and I paid for them by Cashier Check. Every single cue that was sent about 7 of them were flawed , warped, 2nd quality, whatever you want to call it, they were substandard and I would never sell this type of product to my customers. The cues came in 2 shipments in 2 boxes at about a week apart. I sent all cues at my expense back to Meucci, and Meucci has made no attempt to rectify my problem. I have tried calling for 2 months , emailing, faxing you name it, the company never answered their phones or anything. At 1 point I got a hold of someone in the wharehouse cue making shop I guess, and some lady put me on hold for ever trying to play games with me.
Meucci I want my Money Back!!! I am a small business and will not tolerate your company taking this amount of money without even attemting to rectify the situation. They have not even contacted me 1 time since the beginning of this 2 months ago. I have contacted the Attorney General In Mississippi and have sent certified letter to Meucci and it was signed for, and still no attempt to help me. Meucci I do not want your cues anymore and I want my money back, I wont give up so do the right thing and give me my hard earned money back!! Do not think that you can Steal from myself and my kids mouths and think I am going to let it happen. This has been long enough, Do you actually think you have the right to keep my money when I have no Product??? Do you think that I have to accept inferior products with no recourse??? Meucci I built my business on treating my customers right and selling quality products and stand by my customers 100%, Well I am your customer and I should expect the same. Do me a favor and cut a check. If anyone can help resolve this problem I would be more than happy to talk. Its Unfortunate when you try to support a persons Business and they could care less about it.

 

[puckdaddy]

Ive heard this before

The Billiard Pro shop here in Memphis (very large dealer) stopped carrying their cues for pretty much the same reason. You might contact them to see how they rectified there situation. billiardpro.com

 

[PoolSleuth]

A guy I know wait almost 8 months for a Simple Warranty Repair. Meucci's customer Service SUCKS....IMO

 

[Fuji-whopper]

Frank's Center in MO had little tags made when they sold Meuccis in the last couple of years, it basically said "buyer beware" and to take up any warranty work with Meucci directly. It's sad since they have been a fore runner in the Billiard industry for so long. I heard Bob is going to start making custom cues again, but then again I am sure many rumors are always flying around.

 

[It's George Old Owner]

have heard lotsa similar incidents regarding Meucci..they can't seem to care on their business anymore..i wonder y when huge $ could be earnt..
sad to hear ur case but i believe sooner or later things will work out for u..just don't give up..

 

[Flex]

I Have Been left no other oprtion but to post in this forum , I have tried everything but small claims court!!!
Warning to all whom purchase cues from Meucci Originals in Sledge Mississippi. I have been in the Billiards Industry for 11 years, I own a pool room and a well established retail pro shop for cues and supplies. I carry cues from all major suppliers and I am in perfect standing with ALL, so I decided to buy Meucci cues and bring them into my stock to sell. I ordered $1660.00 worth of cues at wholesale prices. The cues were sent COD and I paid for them by Cashier Check. Every single cue that was sent about 7 of them were flawed , warped, 2nd quality, whatever you want to call it, they were substandard and I would never sell this type of product to my customers. The cues came in 2 shipments in 2 boxes at about a week apart. I sent all cues at my expense back to Meucci, and Meucci has made no attempt to rectify my problem. I have tried calling for 2 months , emailing, faxing you name it, the company never answered their phones or anything. At 1 point I got a hold of someone in the wharehouse cue making shop I guess, and some lady put me on hold for ever trying to play games with me.
Meucci I want my Money Back!!! I am a small business and will not tolerate your company taking this amount of money without even attemting to rectify the situation. They have not even contacted me 1 time since the beginning of this 2 months ago. I have contacted the Attorney General In Mississippi and have sent certified letter to Meucci and it was signed for, and still no attempt to help me. Meucci I do not want your cues anymore and I want my money back, I wont give up so do the right thing and give me my hard earned money back!! Do not think that you can Steal from myself and my kids mouths and think I am going to let it happen. This has been long enough, Do you actually think you have the right to keep my money when I have no Product??? Do you think that I have to accept inferior products with no recourse??? Meucci I built my business on treating my customers right and selling quality products and stand by my customers 100%, Well I am your customer and I should expect the same. Do me a favor and cut a check. If anyone can help resolve this problem I would be more than happy to talk. Its Unfortunate when you try to support a persons Business and they could care less about it.

In case anyone's interested, 8 months ago FL wrote this about Meucci and their problems.

http://www.poolchat.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1611&forum=1#8129

He stopped carrying them, and advised that then was the time to sell them off...

Quality issues may be the least of their concerns.

Flex

 

[suckershot]

In what can be considered a related note, look at the following link regarding Meucci customer service to an individual consumer:

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/billiards.htm#nightmare

I was actually considering purchasing one of their cues until I read this...that and at my local poolhall, the poolroom manager talked me out of it. He took one out and said "feel this shaft"...well, it was very rough on the surface. I thought that, at the price I would be paying for the one I wanted, I would've expected a better feeling shaft than that.

 

[ChrisOnline]

hmm.. i have to agree.. every cue i have recently got from them has been sub standard also.. i wont ever buy a cue from them again...

one time, a friend and customer of mine had one 97-23 i believe the model was and it had a flawed wrap and cracked the finish.. so i sent it back.. no word of lie they had it for 3 months.. after the first month i called them.. they said they were repairing it and all it needed was the finish and they were sending it back.. well.. another month went by and i called them again.. they said they ran out of white irish linen.. how does a company that big and use so much white linen simply run out?!?! anyways.. the third month came and still no cue.. well.. low and behold.. valley forge came around.. so the first day i was there i cornered bob meucci himself and told them how pissed off i was and how it should never take that long.. he agreed got right on the phone and believe it or not.. the call was made on wednesday and the cue was delivered by friday. they sent a brand new cue.. i guess it was easier to lie about fixing it and what i would like to know is why they didnt so that right from the beginning...

also.. one thing i did notice.. any of the meucci's with that white plastic weither it be points or butt sleeve or whatever they were the worste.. that would always be flawed..

and the best thing was.. on their website they made such a big deal about how they wouldnt warrantey cues bought new off ebay because they were either flawed seconds or stolen cues.. i feel that they kept all their flawed seconds just so they send them to their best customers...

anyways.. over the last few months.. my opinion is.. MEUCCI is going to FOLD and go out of buisness and the only thing that bob will have left is himself and his customs.. no big production factory or anything.. just himself..

chris

 

[Tommy-D]

> Puckdaddy mentioned the Billiard Pro Shop in Memphis. I have a very long relationship with Bill Randolph,the owner,dating back to 1989. Bill was the shop manager for Bob Meucci from the late 70's to about 88-89,when he opened the original shop on Mendenhall Ave. He told me and a friend about a year ago when we asked why so few Meucci's were laying around,when there used to be literally 2000 in the building,that he was almost to the point of having an arrest warrant issued for Bob,because he was getting so few cues that were already paid for. He was supposed to be getting close to 100 a week,and was getting maybe 25-30,and eventually as few as 3,which as Bill put it,was just enough to keep him out of 201 Poplar Ave,which is the main building for Memphis PD and the city jail. The quality went down so bad that he said even the inexperienced buyers and players,that only know that Meucci was supposed to be the best,were turning them down and buying Vipers. Considering how bad their quality was at times before all this,that's a hell of a drop. Locally,I know a guy that sent back a nice old plain cue from the 70's to have it restored to original,to put up,and finally got it back 2 years later only because they went to the factory and picked it up,without the work being started. I also know of people sending shafts in for new ferrules,and waiting 6 months. With all of this stuff,I hope they get things straightened out,because they really have done a LOT for the game in general,but I'd also like to see Bob reamed for treating customers like this. Even as bad as he treats customers,his treatment of employees has been a LOT worse for a long time. If he owed you 300 in payroll,he would come give you a check for 100 bucks,and tell you to pick 3 cues out of a bin,and to sell them to make your money,but you owed him anything you got over 50% of retail. An astute employee at the time got me an OL-5 with a white joint collar instead of the nickel and an open wrap that was made for Jim Rempe and subsequently refused,I paid 300 for that one with 4 really nice shafts.
The same guy told me that Bob had explained to him that the real reason he started spraying the wraps was entirely different that the version he spouts on his website. According to his logic,the reason he started spraying the wrap was that people started pressing and polishing the wraps,and he decided that the wrap had become more aesthetically pleasing to be totally clean all the time. This is a load of crap. The guy that sold me the cue told me that the real deal was that most of the time,the wrap groove was cut too deep to begin with,so he covered the mistake with clearcoat,and that Bob had decided back in the 70's that instead of rewrapping a cue with 3.00 worth of linen for 25.00,he would take the same 3.00 worth of linen and put it on a new cue that sold for at least 125.00 at the time. He's a crook,pure and simple. Tommy D.

 

[cueandcushion]

Sad to see the end of a tradition

We also discontinued selling all Muecci cues. Without a firm and dependable warranty policy in effect most people do not want to spend over $100 for a cue. Kind of sad to see the demise of an American company. We used to sell about 5 or 6 Muecci's a week. We closed out our inventory and now wont even take them in trade for most cues. Only the high end collectables. The American cue industry in general is in trouble I think.

 

[RiverCity]

Apparently, he is spending most of his time at the ranch.
Wonder if his horses have a warranty?
http://www.meucciranch.com/
Chuck

 

[ridewiththewind]

Apparently, he is spending most of his time at the ranch.
Wonder if his horses have a warranty?
http://www.meucciranch.com/
Chuck

Well, that should pretty much explain his business ethics and practices....once a horse-trader always a horse-trader.

Lisa

 

[NineBallNut]

wow. This is an ongoing problem with meucci. I have sent in two cues that are brand new on my wall due to the butts being warped. They said they would take care of us. Well both cues come back and guess what. BOTH NEW CUES STILL WARPED!

I sent a clients cue back for being warped and flaws in the workmanship seven times now and they can't send me back a cue that either is not warped or has major flaws in the inlays. It's sorry to see that they just don't care about their quality of product anymore.

 

[Cory in DC]

I've been hearing these stories for a while now. Around 1994 I ordered a Meucci with an unlaminated wrap -- it showed up in about 4-6 weeks and looked and played fine.

About 2 years later, while breaking with it, it snapped just below the joint. So I called them and asked what they would or could do. They told me to send it in and they'd repair or replace it. Within a week, they had the broken cue and asked whether I wanted to wait for the same model or take a more expensive model that they had in stock. I opted for the latter and had my free replacement shortly thereafter.

So, at least around 94-96, Meucci seemed to be pretty solid on the service front (though the forearm of the cue snapping was a bad sign). But there are so many stories like these that it's clear things have changed for the worse.

I suspect that the proliferation of cue makers really hurt their high-end business while the growth of Joss and the entry of Lucasi really hurt their low end business, leaving Meucci in a tight spot. That's no excuse, but it might be an explanation.

Cory

 

[thepavlos]

Not related to their customer service but when I went to Valley Forge 2004 and put my dead straight Tascarella sneaky pete made in 1981 on their delection measuring robot..... it deflected more than a broomstick????? Which lead me to my current feeling on deflection... who cares as long as you are used to what you play with.

 

[Craig Fales]

As I recall they always had quality issues...first with ferrules and now it seems everything else is crap with them and also that they just don't seem to give a rat's arse....I never liked Meucci's and definately never will now....
________

 

[shpshtr]

Wow, sounds like sales have been hurting for some time, and no Meucci I dont want a horse instead of my money, If Meucci Company had any class they would get involved in this thread and try to stand by their cues and company. At least other buyers can see this info and find out what type of problems they are in for when purchasing this brand!

 

[shpshtr]

After a couple of months I actually talke to mark at meucci today They answered their phone!!! He had no clue about my situation but stated he would talk to MR. Meucci and let him know I want my money back. I am pretty sure this wont go far, but I plan on calling every day anyways. If anyone needs to get a hold of them they are answering their Phone Today, otherwise might take you a couple weeks.

 

[RiverCity]

Cory mentioned a time around 94-96. This was when they had a large following because a lot of notable names were playing their cues Varner, Rempe, Reyes, and the list goes on and on with the sponsorships. And the Camel PBT was in full swing selling Meuccis also.
Check out their website now, Loree Jon is the only player left on the pro players list, King James seems to have left Bobs side after alot of years.
Meucci has put out some great playing cues over the years, but now for whatever reason...... they just dont seem to care.
Sad to say, but if they dont care, why should anyone else. Let them go down the drain.
Chuck

 

[shooter777]

Meucci cues are a joke and now it seems the company itself is no better.