What is up with SouthWest Cues?

Roadkill

Roadkill

Retired Pool Hustler
Silver Member
I ordered a cue in 2000 and was told that the wait would be seven years. Finally in March 2010 I received the following email:

Your cue order is ready to go into process. This is a test of your email contact.

If this delivery time is inconvenient or you are unable to pick up your order, please call or write as soon as possible so that other arrangements can be made.

We sincerely appreciate your fast response to this matter and are confident you will be pleased with the final product.

Please call [702] 870-9615
Monday through Friday
9 AM to 5 PM [PACIFIC TIME ZONE]
Fax: 702-870-7234 or email: swcue@aol.com

Sincerely,

Laurie Franklin
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I responded and have since provided the company with the details of the cue and received pricing and dates for assembly that never materialized. When I inquiry I get responses like: "there in one group ahead of yours", "final assembly in a month", "we are pretty backed up so it will be a couple of months for the nosepiece to be ready", etc., etc., etc.

Is anyone else getting the runaround from SW?
 
What is up with them? Well, they have a great product, they have a great marketing plan, and they have a great following, which all leads up to a great backlog, which in turn means great business even during tough economic times. I wish I was that successful. :embarrassed2:

Roger
 
They make a great product, no doubt. But so do allot of other cue makers out there. Honestly I wont suffer the wait. I am totally ok with waiting 1 year or so for construction of a cue but 10 years just to get started...... just isn't gonna happen for me.

Now will other cues hold their value or increase like SW? Maybe some but for me it isn't an investment.

I hope no one takes offense to that, I'm sure I'll get slammed by some die hard SW loving customers. I'm just saying that the only way I'll ever own a SW is by getting a used one! ;)
 
Cdryden said:
They make a great product, no doubt. But so do allot of other cue makers out there. Honestly I wont suffer the wait. I am totally ok with waiting 1 year or so for construction of a cue but 10 years just to get started...... just isn't gonna happen for me.

Now will other cues hold their value or increase like SW? Maybe some but for me it isn't an investment.

I hope no one takes offense to that, I'm sure I'll get slammed by some die hard SW loving customers. I'm just saying that the only way I'll ever own a SW is by getting a used one! ;)
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Quoted for truth...
 
I think when I ordered my SW the wait was over two years. Then, by the time my cue made the production phase, it was up to three years. This was in the mid 80's.

Was it worth the wait? Hell yes! It's the best feeling, best playing cue I've ever touched. The resonance of the hit is like nothing I've ever experienced in any other cue. Period. I have two SW cues, and they each have a slightly different hit: one's crisp; the other is a bit mellow. But both superb.

Unless something has changed, Laurie does not take or require a deposit. So if you are on the waiting list for a cue, you have no investment whatsoever, other than anxious waiting.

All I can say is, there is a reason why people wait 10 years for a SW. I've been playing pool for over 40 years and no other cue I've ever tried hits like a SW.
 
I have owned and played with 6 Southwest cues. They are nice cues, but there are plenty of other choices out there that play and look as good or better for a lot less dollars, and a heck of a lot less wait to get one.
 
Thanks for the responses.

I understand that they make a good product but I think giving dates that never happen over and over is unacceptable even if their cues are holy and made by living gods. ((:bow-down:)) I would much rather they go ahead and tell me that it will be 3 more years, so I can plan accordingly. That would make my wait a nice even 15 years. Whoo Hooo!! LOL
 
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do they limit how many pending orders 1 person can have

i ordered mine in 2001

to make me and the OP to wait if they have made several for someone

who orders one every year to put on ebay is a customer service issue
 
From a cue making point of view, everything they said may have been exactly true. It could be an issue with your forearm not staying stable so they had to start over. Or it could be a machine fault that needs repair before they can build your cue. Those things might be considered "none of your business" by them so they tell you there was a delay or that they are still getting your nose ready. It's not untrue, and not a run-around. It's them politely telling you there was a hick-up of some sort without having to go into details that either they aren't comfortable sharing or think shouldn't matter to you. And maybe they would rather spend their time working on the cue rather than explaining what all went wrong. Doesn't mean you're getting the run-around. Stick with it. They are honest, hard working folks and they really do care about you getting a cue and being happy. Just because they seemingly brush you off doesn't mean that's what they are intending to do. They're just trying to be polite & professional even when things don't go as planned.
 
Roadkill said:
I ordered a cue in 2000 and was told that the wait would be seven years. Finally in March 2010 I received the following email:



I responded and have since provided the company with the details of the cue and received pricing and dates for assembly that never materialized. When I inquiry I get responses like: "there in one group ahead of yours", "final assembly in a month", "we are pretty backed up so it will be a couple of months for the nosepiece to be ready", etc., etc., etc.

Is anyone else getting the runaround from SW?
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Are they honoring the price they quoted in 2000? If not, how much has the price gone up?
 
Mojocues said:
do they limit how many pending orders 1 person can have

i ordered mine in 2001

to make me and the OP to wait if they have made several for someone

who orders one every year to put on ebay is a customer service issue
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If you are lucky, you can get on the list each year...max order per person, per year is 2.

Joe
 
TATE said:
Are they honoring the price they quoted in 2000? If not, how much has the price gone up?
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Chris,
No...Laurie is now pricing at right about retail. I have some coming up soon, and asked. She would not give me an estimate for then. She said that, if it was today that we were pricing, they would be approximately $2400-2800, depending on veneer/ring options.
Joe
 
Bamacues said:
Chris,
No...Laurie is now pricing at right about retail. I have some coming up soon, and asked. She would not give me an estimate for then. She said that, if it was today that we were pricing, they would be approximately $2400-2800, depending on veneer/ring options.
Joe
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Thanks for the information Joe. That should get some of the easy buck flippers off the list at least, unless retail prices on them jump some more. At those prices, dealers should get some discount...
 
TATE said:
At those prices, dealers should get some discount...
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According to Laurie, at this time, there are no SW dealers and no discounts. She said they are over 3000 cues behind in production (avg, 300 cues year x 10 years), so no reason to have any dealer discounts.

The cue flipping is actually the reason that she decided to raise her rates to market price. She said they were barely getting by at the time, and she saw people selling the cues as soon as they got them for double or more what they had paid for them. They needed some of that additional revenue to stay in business.

Joe
 
Bamacues said:
According to Laurie, at this time, there are no SW dealers and no discounts. She said they are over 3000 cues behind in production (avg, 300 cues year x 10 years), so no reason to have any dealer discounts.

The cue flipping is actually the reason that she decided to raise her rates to market price. She said they were barely getting by at the time, and she saw people selling the cues as soon as they got them for double or more what they had paid for them. They needed some of that additional revenue to stay in business.

Joe
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They should be promoting a wellness program for their waitlist customers; high fiber, antioxident rich, daily exercise, no bad habits. That way they can keep them alive longer so by the time their cue is ready, they can pay for it! ;)

In all honesty, their list must have some decent attrition to it - people quit the game, get broke, lose interest, buy another cue, pass away, lose contact. On one of my mailing lists, in 10 years it was probably 90% wrong.

I don't believe at these prices there will be a 10 year wait much longer, not like to old days when they could be flipped for a quick $1200.
 
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TATE said:
They should be promoting a wellness program for their waitlist customers; high fiber, antioxident rich, daily exercise, no bad habits. That way they can keep them alive longer so by the time their cue is ready, they can pay for it!
In all honesty, their list must have some decent attrition to it - people quit the game, get broke, lose interest, buy another cue, pass away, lose contact. On one of my mailing lists, in 10 years it was probably 90% wrong.

I don't believe at these prices there will be a 10 year wait much longer, not like to old days when they could be flipped for a quick $1200.
Click to expand...

They used to call that a pacifier cue, but if making the pacifier's affects production
it becomes a vicious circle of therapy, holistic medicine, and cues that look like a South West
 
cuesblues said:
They used to call that a pacifier cue, but if making the pacifier's affects production
it becomes a vicious circle of therapy, holistic medicine, and cues that look like a South West
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I don't know if he invented it, but I cracked up when I first heard of Jerry Franklin's 'pacifier cue' concept. That is just classic! Did you have to give him the pacifier back when your cue was ready?
 
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