What would you call ......
- Thread starter Deadon
- Start date
What would I call him? Probably call him repeatedly day in and day out at 3 am in the morning until he changed his mind.
I can't say on here
But I would show up on his door step, unless there is some form of good reason.
But I would show up on his door step, unless there is some form of good reason.
Name the deadbeat.
Best if we knew who it was I would think.
It takes some of them nine years to make a cue......and people actually pay more for them.
What would one call him? Late? Slow? Distracted? Busy? Sick? Broke? Dead? Out of business? Moved to Tierra del Fuego? Abducted by aliens?
No idea.........
If we knew who it was it might help put a finger on a term.
Personally, the main reason I have never sent my old JOSS in for a freshening up is out of fear something bad would happen. I sympathize with your frustration. Maybe somebody here knows him and can help? But.....we would need to know who he is.
It takes some of them nine years to make a cue......and people actually pay more for them.
What would one call him? Late? Slow? Distracted? Busy? Sick? Broke? Dead? Out of business? Moved to Tierra del Fuego? Abducted by aliens?
No idea.........
If we knew who it was it might help put a finger on a term.
Personally, the main reason I have never sent my old JOSS in for a freshening up is out of fear something bad would happen. I sympathize with your frustration. Maybe somebody here knows him and can help? But.....we would need to know who he is.
Sounds like a typical cue builder to me. Just par for the course
all these bad stories about cue makers makes me wonder why nobody has put together a simple written contract (and maybe they have, but I just don't know about it because I've never dealt with one) when they do things like this.
Having a contract doesn't mean that this stuff won't happen, but it does provide you some level of protection. You could build in contact clauses, attempt to put some sort of time frame on things, etc.
Personally, I'd use a written contract if I were sending a high end cue off or paying a ton of money for a custom cue. And, I think you would be surprised at how inexpensive getting a contract drafted by an attorney can be. Now if you go to Jones Day or some mega firm that bills at $500 per hour, that's a different story, but a local attorney can fire one off in less than an hour and probably do it for a small flat fee. Not only that, once you get one contract, if you do this type of thing often, it's not that hard to modify it a little bit for reuse in similar situations.
just a thought
Having a contract doesn't mean that this stuff won't happen, but it does provide you some level of protection. You could build in contact clauses, attempt to put some sort of time frame on things, etc.
Personally, I'd use a written contract if I were sending a high end cue off or paying a ton of money for a custom cue. And, I think you would be surprised at how inexpensive getting a contract drafted by an attorney can be. Now if you go to Jones Day or some mega firm that bills at $500 per hour, that's a different story, but a local attorney can fire one off in less than an hour and probably do it for a small flat fee. Not only that, once you get one contract, if you do this type of thing often, it's not that hard to modify it a little bit for reuse in similar situations.
just a thought
First thing I wanted to say is I'm sorry to hear you're having to deal with this crap on only a new shaft and refinish. I also wanted to say there are still a nice bunch of guys doing this work that won't take forever. I'm also curious as to who the maker is and if you don't want to go public there's always the PM option as I also don't want to make the mistake of dealing with this person. I have a great amount of patience but this would make me crazy enough to get a plane ticket to pay a less than happy visit to the shop to get my cue whatever state it may be in.
I wanted to get clarification on your statement. Are you saying the cue maker has had your cue for 3 years for a refinish and to make a matching new shaft? If so, any idea why this took so long in the first place? Was there an approximate completion date set? With that said are you saying that for the last year of those 3 years this person hasn't contacted or responded to you at all? That's just ridiculously bad customer service.
Hope you get contacted and get your cue back soon.
I wanted to get clarification on your statement. Are you saying the cue maker has had your cue for 3 years for a refinish and to make a matching new shaft? If so, any idea why this took so long in the first place? Was there an approximate completion date set? With that said are you saying that for the last year of those 3 years this person hasn't contacted or responded to you at all? That's just ridiculously bad customer service.
Hope you get contacted and get your cue back soon.
Mike...I'd call him overdue for a visit! LOL Hope you get your cue back soon! 
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
I am an attorney and I would consider working with someone (for free) to write a generic contract that could be used by anyone for these high end purchases and agreements.
Of course a contract doesnt mean the work will be done on time, but it does spell out the expectations and the timeline, and the penalties, which is better than nothing.
I expect some cue makers would reject the contract, but that would tell you something about them.
Of course a contract doesnt mean the work will be done on time, but it does spell out the expectations and the timeline, and the penalties, which is better than nothing.
I expect some cue makers would reject the contract, but that would tell you something about them.
What did he say would be the timeline when you first contacted him and sent him your cue for refurbishment?
There are many names I could possibly call him, but I have a name for you also..."VERY PATIENT". You have waited WAY LONGER than I would have, unless there was no "timeline" mentioned in the original deal.
I wouldn't give George Balabushka, himself, that long to finish my cue if it was only a refinish...I would send it to someone else.
Whatever the case may be, the cuemaker is WRONG to not communicate with his customers.
There are many names I could possibly call him, but I have a name for you also..."VERY PATIENT". You have waited WAY LONGER than I would have, unless there was no "timeline" mentioned in the original deal.
I wouldn't give George Balabushka, himself, that long to finish my cue if it was only a refinish...I would send it to someone else.
Whatever the case may be, the cuemaker is WRONG to not communicate with his customers.
This is a great offer. I don't have time just now to write it but I'd be happy to look it over (I'm also an attorney).
Seems more and more of them are becoming this way. Why they take on work that they cannot finish in a timely and reasonable manner is beyond me. Shows a lack of professionalism. At least be upfront about the time to completion, then let the customer decide if they're willing to wait. Not everyone is a collector. Not everyone has 15 cues to shoot with while one is sitting in some shop for 3 years.
It's just not worth the hassle anymore. Especially when custom cues have nothing special about them that makes these cues play better.
A good idea is to send cues for refinishing or repair to well respected and experienced cue repairmen. Not cue makers. Now, there's a lot of gray area there as some cue repairmen who build cues, and cue makers who repair and refinish cues. I would avoid sending a cue for repair or refinish to a cue maker who is in high demand. They are most likely to spend their time building cues for customers, and put repairs and refinish on the back burner.
A player who is a player and doesn't get caught up in the whole custom cue nonsense is best served buying a high quality, well built production cue. Like a Mezz or Schon ...something of that level. And then have an experienced repair man go through it (check for straightness, reface joints, adjust weight etcetera). It's less money and less trouble to have a decent production cue "tuned" and "tweaked" than to deal with most cue makers.
This doesn't apply to those out there who do good work in a timely manner, or who are clear up front about completion date.
It's just not worth the hassle anymore. Especially when custom cues have nothing special about them that makes these cues play better.
A good idea is to send cues for refinishing or repair to well respected and experienced cue repairmen. Not cue makers. Now, there's a lot of gray area there as some cue repairmen who build cues, and cue makers who repair and refinish cues. I would avoid sending a cue for repair or refinish to a cue maker who is in high demand. They are most likely to spend their time building cues for customers, and put repairs and refinish on the back burner.
A player who is a player and doesn't get caught up in the whole custom cue nonsense is best served buying a high quality, well built production cue. Like a Mezz or Schon ...something of that level. And then have an experienced repair man go through it (check for straightness, reface joints, adjust weight etcetera). It's less money and less trouble to have a decent production cue "tuned" and "tweaked" than to deal with most cue makers.
This doesn't apply to those out there who do good work in a timely manner, or who are clear up front about completion date.
My next move. He lives on the right coast and I live on the left. Just hate to make the trip, but it looks like I will have too. I am not the first.
Hey Deadon, please lay out all the facts/timeline, looking forward to hearing what happened and hope all works out for you.