Andy Travis messed up my cue

[thai_son22]

Also should have added this. Those lines in the ebony are deep scratches which weren't on the cue when I sent them off but Andy claims they were there.

[Bilston Cues]

Every cuemaker/ repairer has a bad day some like Parris and Jonny Crook never have a good one but when a cock up happens and it gets sent out faulty and the customer proves such then a refund/ an offer to put it right cost free should be standard. Acknowledging and apologising should be not the least but the very first thing.

in the 4 or is it 5 years I have been trading I have sent only 1 cue out with a fault it was a minor one that snuck by both my cuemaker and myself on a cue sold to another cuemaker. Took me all of 5 seconds when he showed me the fault to offer him a full refund which he declined as being a cuemaker himself he knew how to easily fix it.

Thai_Son22 has been around cues a long time and knows how to put this right himself but that ain't the point is it?

[Bilston Cues]

[Bilston Cues]

Never mind mate, compare your problem with the one a snooker Profriend of mine in London had when Parris sent him this pile of crap that he ordered and paid full whack for.

[itsnoteasy]

Never mind mate, compare your problem with the one a snooker Profriend of mine in London had when Parris sent him this pile of crap that he ordered and paid full whack for.

That's that bad it must be deliberate.

[Bilston Cues]

Parris did admit it should never have left the workshop.
I reckon it should never have left the tree.

[MrRottweiler]

Apologies for my last post which appeared a bit blunt and wasn't meant to be. I can only dream of owning a cue worth close to four figures but I still appreciate when things go wrong there is an after sales service to be expected and when this falls short it can be very frustrating. The only course of action to put it right if negotiations fail is smalls claims where both parties are given an opportunity. Complaints on social media doesn't help and can only serve to damage a business. That was my issue.

[thai_son22]

Apologies for my last post which appeared a bit blunt and wasn't meant to be. I can only dream of owning a cue worth close to four figures but I still appreciate when things go wrong there is an after sales service to be expected and when this falls short it can be very frustrating. The only course of action to put it right if negotiations fail is smalls claims where both parties are given an opportunity. Complaints on social media doesn't help and can only serve to damage a business. That was my issue.

No worries. It is forgiven. I have received a lot of flack for the posts (which I'm ok with, I am thick skinned). I have defended many people in the past on this forum and on other platforms when these things have happened to them but now it has happened to me, everybody is staying quiet - people I have previously had good relationships with, want nothing to do with me; presumably because they want to maintain their relationship with Andy and it's disappointing that so claimed "neutral" parties are behaving in this way.

I buy your point about a small claims court - but it was never about money as I said. Andy can sue me if he wants. All I wanted as I've always said is I wanted an explanation for what had happened. It is very easy to be all well and dandy when things are going well, but he has shown his true colours when things have gone bad. Admittedly, after my post, I have reached out to him and offered to call him and resolve it which he declined - I don't blame him as I know the posts I made angered him. I'm angry too but still offered to do that and pull everything down.

The last thing I haven't uploaded is all my chat logs with Andy which I have saved and screen-shotted. If I post these, you will see how polite and courteous I have been with him the whole time in spite of the damage he caused just for him to deny any liability and shift blame on me before making the posts.

[MrRottweiler]

Uploading chat logs doesn't sound like the way to resolve this. Social media is not the channel to complain about a retail experience and the only appropriate channel to do that is by going to court which why people are not getting involved. It's because this whole issue is so complicated that they know better to stay away. You either have a complaint that needs to go to court or you don't.

[DeanH]

I hate reading posts like this; where two "TSF-friends" have a falling out. I read that Thai_son did try all he could to find a solution before coming public to raise awareness of the situation to the wider TSF community. All I can wish for is the best for both "TSF-friends".

[Aus_Arx]

Uploading chat logs doesn't sound like the way to resolve this. Social media is not the channel to complain about a retail experience and the only appropriate channel to do that is by going to court which why people are not getting involved. It's because this whole issue is so complicated that they know better to stay away. You either have a complaint that needs to go to court or you don't.

I hear what you are saying but I feel it is a bit extreme to say someone can't say anything outside of court. Does this mean people can't leave a bad review on Google?

[Cue crafty]

Lessons to be learned here for sure! I think firstly as Thai_son was not seeking reimbursement for damages there is no point in small claims court appeal. Secondly if you seek to obtain work done on an expensive cue the question of insurance and liability should probably be discussed up front and covered off. Andy Travis is fairly well known so should have some form of professional indemnity as a provider of services.

However if he does have this I struggle to understand why he would avoid engaging properly over damage. If he was truly unaware of any damage, he could avoid such damage to his reputation by taking time stamped video of the cue in good condition just before packaging and posting time stamped delivery. Any damage occurring thereafter he could use that video for both his customer and personal appeal to the courier service for damage incurred.

[Starsky]

Lessons to be learned here for sure! I think firstly as Thai_son was not seeking reimbursement for damages there is no point in small claims court appeal. Secondly if you seek to obtain work done on an expensive cue the question of insurance and liability should probably be discussed up front and covered off. Andy Travis is fairly well known so should have some form of professional indemnity as a provider of services.

However if he does have this I struggle to understand why he would avoid engaging properly over damage. If he was truly unaware of any damage, he could avoid such damage to his reputation by taking time stamped video of the cue in good condition just before packaging and posting time stamped delivery. Any damage occurring thereafter he could use that video for both his customer and personal appeal to the courier service for damage incurred.

There lies the issue, you basically have the customer saying there was no damage before they sent it and the business saying the damage was already there . If there is no photographic evidence of a before and after then it’s just one word against the other .
My opinion is if I was the cue maker and the cue came in already damaged I would take a photo before any work was carried out and contact the customer to avoid this sort of issue.

I hope it’s gets resolved one way or the other .

[Achamian]

Do people really pay thousands of pounds for a cue there days?

Quite a few years ago, in an exhibition, I got to play one shot with the monstrosity that Stephen Hendry won seven world titles with. It was as bent as an archer's bow.

Let's be quite honest. If your cue is reasonably sound, it's 99.999+% about the person. Not the cue they're using.

I don't want to put anybody off buying an expensive cue, if they really want one.

It's just my way of looking at things.

[thai_son22]

I generally haven't had any issues with cue makers and repairers and many things are done in good faith.

Things like paying PayPal as friends to avoid fees etc. I wouldn't do this with just anyone but I have never had any issues doing this with reputable people and i treated Andy no different whatsoever and he proved to be reliable in this.

The question about the price of the item etc. If this had been a cheaper cue, I would've also questionned it. I was accused of using Andy because he was cheap but I purely asked for his services based on recommendations on the forum. Everyone sings his praise and I am sure for good reason.

I could've had this item send to trevor but i will be open and say i dont exactly trust him when it comes to lead times. I never heard a bad word about Andys work when it came to alterations so didn't think twice to send my cue off to him.

I can accept the point about having proof of who damaged what etc. But things are done in good faith - when Andy made me an solid wood extension, I thanked him for his work and said it was fantastic and everything I wanted. But this time round when I approached him with a problem, he decided to deny everything and talk about different points of the cue.

I complained about the dents in the butt, but he started criticising me about how i left dents in the shaft. I never complained about the shaft. I could've slandered him untruthfully and say he messed up the shaft but I didn't do that.

It doesn't cost him anything to say he made a mistake and none of this would come to light. I wouldn't even cared if he said he was abit heavy handed with it and apologised for it. But he hasn't even the decency to do that. But it cost me £100 for the work, £20 for the joint and £10 to post the cue to him.

The next time I change someone's car tyres and mess it up, I should tell them they messed up their exhaust to deflect the point