My mistake...I was under the impression that most, or all of them were still out in Vegas..."patiently waiting"! 
:grin:
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
:grin:Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
WPBL Brings up Allegations of Fraud
- Thread starter seven_7days
- Start date
how about this question ..room full of guys that played the road(yeah hustled..guys who are supposed to see the moves or recognize the move...every couple of years they get it in the keaster.why is that can someone tell me why a group of guys who are triple smart at 90% of the things they approach find a way to get screwed?
Name / address of the contractor or it didn't happen 
Let's see what the interwebs has to say about this company.
Let's see what the interwebs has to say about this company.
Cause they're not triple smart. They're triple smart at pool, but most are triple-retarded when it comes to business. Not that it's they're fault nor are they expected to be triple-smart in business. It's just that they didn't practice business smarts as much as drawing their rock.
My mistake...I was under the impression that most, or all of them were still out in Vegas..."patiently waiting"!
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Oh I'm sure a lot of them are still there waiting.....pretty sure Rodney is at least. I know a few of them at least were able to go home though.
The simple explanation is the contracter was a pool player.:groucho:
And if they weren't doing nothing, they would be playing a few games for that. Not saying that playing pool is nothing but when you have a job that you love, its about the same thing. I figure the players would rather be playing and competing for that income over sitting around and not playing.
I'm sure they are getting anxious to get playing as well. Not fun when your life gets put on hold. Even tho a grand a week is a pretty handsome wage, its not much if you have too much time on your hands specially if you're hanging out in the City of Lost Wages.
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If what they say is true then this will be delayed at least 6 months or more. WPBL has a little of the blame. When you are contracting out a project of this size (million+) you should have the business sense of hiring a project manager that will oversee all aspects of construction. This would have been spotted right away when the contractor showed up without an inspection card. All jobs big or small must have an inspection card on site and visible. This would have been a red flag. For it to have gotten this far in construction without a city inspection is bad management on the WPBL side. That being said, The fake contractor should have his nuts cut off. It is ballsy to say the least that they took the fraud this far. Unfourtaunatly the city could make them tear down all progress and start over!!! The city has to asume that if they were defrauding that their work is probably not up to code, so anything that the inspectors cannot see they will have to tear apart and show it is done to code. This is a huge mess and I would not wish it on my own enemy. I hope that the WPBL can get through it but, I just don't see it happening.Bonus Ball Gets Kicked In The Balls Article (from the Prez of the WPBL):
Over the past few months the World Professional Billiard League has experienced several setbacks arising from construction delays and the acquisition of city permits. Both the WPBL staff and its players have tried their best to remain patient and understanding, regardless of obvious frustrations and unease.
With only two weeks away from completion of the TV arena, we sensed something was awry and hired an investigator. Unfortunately the results were not pleasant. As it turns out, the construction crew had their business license revoked shortly after being contracted, yet opted not to disclose this information. Their license was revoked due to fraud. Without that license they were working at the WPBL studio illegally, and unable to secure the necessary permits. The past three months of delays were intentional on their part, in attempt to stall until they could somehow secure a permit. All money paid to the construction crew for permits was pocketed, and talk of successfully acquired permits was entirely false.
Due to fraud and numerous illegal activities, the construction crew has now been fired, and will face pending legal action from the WPBL, as well as the state of Nevada. The proper permits are now being acquired through a qualified city official, and a new contractor is being sought to finish construction. More information should be known to us later this week, such as the status of the venue permits, and the duration of any additional delays.
We realize this is an inconvenience to all WPBL players and fans. Lies were told, fraud was committed, and tens of thousands of dollars were paid for permits that were not acquired. As such, the WPBL staff bears this burden with significant weight, both in terms of finances, embarrassment, and disappointment.
The WPBL players continue to remain patient, understanding, and show their support during this time. We ask that our fans please try to follow suit. This venture has seen its share of setbacks, but we will persevere and continue to push forward. We are confident that upon launch, the WPBL will exceed all expectations and will be a positive step forward for the billiards industry as a whole.
Thank you,
Larry Chiborak
President and CEO,
World Professional Billiard League
-------------------------------------------------
KK9 <-- thinking we can tack on another couple months of delay
I agree with Chris on this one. You MUST do your due diligence when hiring a contractor (or a sub-contractor). We have done many jobs, large and small, in the real estate business and I've learned NEVER to take anything a prospective contractor tells me on his word alone. I verify EVERYTHING, and I never pay in advance for jobs. That is the quickest way to get burned. I tell them I will pay on completion, with a minimal upfront payment to cover the cost of materials. If they are not okay with that, then they can pack up and go.
On a recent job, we put new roofs on eight small houses in a courtyard. It was a near six figure job and I agreed to pay 50% after four houses were complete and the balance when the other four were done. My contractor agreed to these terms and we had no problems, and the job was done on time (all eight roofs within three weeks). An honorable contractor will never try to exploit you, and if you feel uncomfortable with someone you can find someone else to do the job. That's my philosophy and it's worked pretty well for the last 20 years.
All that said, I feel for Larry and the WPBL. He is learning his lesson the hard way, just like I did once upon a time. Not fun! And usually you never get anything back after it's all over. I went looking for a guy once who beat me out of ten grand on a re-pipe job. Not only did he close his office, he moved to a different city. It's been nearly 20 years ago, but I would still be triple hot if I ever saw him.
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I hadn't thought of it like that but you make a valid point.
The cost of the job is barely even 6 figures, let alone millions+. If your read the press release, you'll see that Larry did in fact verify that the contractor had his license when they were initially contracted. The issue did not arise until several months in when the license was revoked. Sure, Larry could probably have caught on quicker, but he's not the one to blame.
As for the delay, we should know this week as Larry as down at city hall right now, but given that the arena is two weeks short of completion and the permits don't take more than a week or two to acquire, we don't foresee anywhere near 6 months.
Fingers crossed.
Jerry Forsyth
Well-known member
Spidey,
Just read your post and it gave me an idea. I'd really like to interview this contractor and see if he has any idea of the potential damage he has done.
AZBilliards will pay $50 for the first person who gives us the correct contact info (name, address, phone number) for this contractor. And we will call him right up. Should be interesting.
Prize goes to the person who emails (Jerry@azbilliards.com), PMs or posts the info here first. I will go with the clock in my computer that logs these things.
It's ON!
Best,
Jerry
Just read your post and it gave me an idea. I'd really like to interview this contractor and see if he has any idea of the potential damage he has done.
AZBilliards will pay $50 for the first person who gives us the correct contact info (name, address, phone number) for this contractor. And we will call him right up. Should be interesting.
Prize goes to the person who emails (Jerry@azbilliards.com), PMs or posts the info here first. I will go with the clock in my computer that logs these things.
It's ON!
Best,
Jerry
Name / address of the contractor or it didn't happen
Let's see what the interwebs has to say about this company.
The cost of the job is barely even 6 figures, let alone millions+. If your read the press release, you'll see that Larry did in fact verify that the contractor had his license when they were initially contracted. The issue did not arise until several months in when the license was revoked. Sure, Larry could probably have caught on quicker, but he's not the one to blame.
As for the delay, we should know this week as Larry as down at city hall right now, but given that the arena is two weeks short of completion and the permits don't take more than a week or two to acquire, we don't foresee anywhere near 6 months.
Fingers crossed.
I wish y'all lots of luck. Hope it's ready soon, I'm still looking forward to watching. :smile:
edit-delete...figured it out
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Ok
I am not trying to bash Larry or the wpbl. In fact it does not just take a week to get permits if in fact they where never pulled in the first place. If there was not a inspection card it would mean that the plans are not even stamped for approval by the city. If that is true then he has to go through city approval before he gets permits. This is how things work if what you guys have said is accurate. If you did have an inspection card and the contractor had his license removed then the inspection card would still be fine you would just need a new licensed contractor to finish.
The cost of the job is barely even 6 figures, let alone millions+. If your read the press release, you'll see that Larry did in fact verify that the contractor had his license when they were initially contracted. The issue did not arise until several months in when the license was revoked. Sure, Larry could probably have caught on quicker, but he's not the one to blame.
As for the delay, we should know this week as Larry as down at city hall right now, but given that the arena is two weeks short of completion and the permits don't take more than a week or two to acquire, we don't foresee anywhere near 6 months.
Fingers crossed.
I am not trying to bash Larry or the wpbl. In fact it does not just take a week to get permits if in fact they where never pulled in the first place. If there was not a inspection card it would mean that the plans are not even stamped for approval by the city. If that is true then he has to go through city approval before he gets permits. This is how things work if what you guys have said is accurate. If you did have an inspection card and the contractor had his license removed then the inspection card would still be fine you would just need a new licensed contractor to finish.
The cost of the job is barely even 6 figures, let alone millions+. If your read the press release, you'll see that Larry did in fact verify that the contractor had his license when they were initially contracted. The issue did not arise until several months in when the license was revoked. Sure, Larry could probably have caught on quicker, but he's not the one to blame.
As for the delay, we should know this week as Larry as down at city hall right now, but given that the arena is two weeks short of completion and the permits don't take more than a week or two to acquire, we don't foresee anywhere near 6 months.
Fingers crossed.
Nathan, you say the total cost of the job was barely six figures and yet it went on for several months. That sounds strange right there. Was there no completion date agreed on?
A good crew might have knocked out a job like this in a month or so. They build entire houses in a period of several months. Just saying, something sounds fishy there.
The construction crew had their license revoked, and repeatedly used the city as an excuse to stall. This of of course, was a hoax. This caused numerous delays, which is why things have dragged on twice as long as intended. Construction should have been an 8-10 week job, plus an additional 3 weeks to install all the a/v equipment.
As for the cost, the actual construction is one thing, but if you want to factor in the permits, 100+ theater seats, bathrooms, kitchen equipment for the concession area, a/v equipment, etc, then yes, the cost inflates many times over.
I did however get positive news today. The city and new contractor has been helpful, and both have offered to expedite the process.
good news
Nathan, That is good news. I hope you understand that I am not Bashing you guys. I am justing explaining the process that goes along with construction for the people out there that do not know.
We all hope things are resolved and this is a success. Good luck in the future.
Nathan, That is good news. I hope you understand that I am not Bashing you guys. I am justing explaining the process that goes along with construction for the people out there that do not know.
We all hope things are resolved and this is a success. Good luck in the future.
The Jehova's Witnesses can build a Kingdom Hall in 24 hrs.
So next time, hire the JWs.