Craftsman cues no longer made to order!

[Syrus]

Quote Originally Posted by Syrus View Post
"Obviously, you have to pay taxes in every country. what is most important, is the balance between (money you make) and the tax you have to pay. And that's different. For someone who lives and works in Thailand, buying a cue for 500 pounds,, is the same as buying a cue for 900 pounds for someone who lives and works in UK. Perhaps even more difficult.
Economically, it does'nt really matter. Craftsman is the one who ultimately makes the profit. If you can import the same quality cues and you make profits, why take the trouble and going to make these cues , yourself??"

Depends if it's all about the profit or not.... customer service, maintaining traditional craftsmanship and pride in quality may come in to it...but then again yes think you hit the nail on the head...profit is by far the main driver for Craftsman cues.....don't rate them experienced poor service can't understand why anyone rates them other than there are very few cue outlets anywhere to choose from Greenbaize appears to be the Mecca these days for anyone wanting to actually try out quality cues before buying.QUOTE=ADR147;753421]importing cues to our level of perfection is not as easy as people think !

[/QUOTE]
Of course, it is all about the profit. !! Why does craftsman or any other cue maker,make cues? To make his living. That's his bussines. I understand the frustration of some people. I'm not happy about it either. Craftsman was a legend. But this is bussines. There is also in recent years, many competition Between cue makers. You can not compare the craftsman now, with craftsman of 20 years ago.

[sprogbasket]

Yes...in general terms that is the point I am making. Old fashioned traditional values have slipped away...all about a quick buck for as little effort as possible...not just Cuemakers...Naomi Campbell -wooden clothes horse "Wouldn't get out of bed for anything less than £10,000"....talentless X factor contestants all think the world owes them something..and their tone deaf parents agree with them !...the list goes on.

Your Victor Meldrew Jnr

[denja]

Yes...in general terms that is the point I am making. Old fashioned traditional values have slipped away...all about a quick buck for as little effort as possible...not just Cuemakers...Naomi Campbell -wooden clothes horse "Wouldn't get out of bed for anything less than £10,000"....talentless X factor contestants all think the world owes them something..and their tone deaf parents agree with them !...the list goes on.

Your Victor Meldrew Jnr

The Textile industry,Motor Cycles, Cars, Steel, Ship Building, even the good old English Cricket Bat, we gave it all away we were world leaders in many of these things now the Snooker Cue joins the list .

[sydneygeorge]

people also think they know what they need but are often wrong.

The Customer is Always fRight but seldom Correct.

[perpetualboredom]

Depends if it's all about the profit or not.... customer service, maintaining traditional craftsmanship and pride in quality may come in to it...but then again yes think you hit the nail on the head...profit is by far the main driver for Craftsman cues.....don't rate them experienced poor service can't understand why anyone rates them other than there are very few cue outlets anywhere to choose from Greenbaize appears to be the Mecca these days for anyone wanting to actually try out quality cues before buying.

Seriously? What drivel. Profit (for a small family run business we'll also call it "paying the mortgage") is what any company operates for. In the last few years every tom dick and harry has been popping up offering custom made cues, many of which do not charge VAT (other tax affairs may be somewhat questionable too in terms of income declarations etc) so are massively cheaper even before you add in the costs of running a relatively large showroom. The only problem with Craftsman has always been they sell their services too cheaply. Dave's not getting any younger either, and I'd imagine after 30 years dealing with people who have more money than ability/knowledge I'd be ready to call it quits too.

I was in the only the other week, and the owner of a fairly expensive cue came in and asked Simon to make it a 10mm tip (from about 8.5mm). When Simon said (no pun) that the only way do that was to shorten the cue, the owner looked blankly and said he only wanted it thicker, not shorter. My lord...! No doubt that chap is also moaning about the unhelpful terrible service he got too..

[sprogbasket]

You don't know me and I hope you are not inferring that I am in any way similar to the person you refer to in your quote.

I have been playing snooker for decades and play to a very reasonable a standard - I have received very poor service from Craftsman and have a right to express my opinion.

In any event you seem to also imply that only knowledgeable , experienced players have a right to courteous and informed service....never mind you completely missed the main point I was making in relation to decline in traditional values and pride in "Craftsmanship".

Whilst I still believe one has to make a profit I also think that if you take personal pride in making a product and do so to a high standard with quality and service then business will look after itself..

Seriously? What drivel. Profit (for a small family run business we'll also call it "paying the mortgage") is what any company operates for. In the last few years every tom dick and harry has been popping up offering custom made cues, many of which do not charge VAT (other tax affairs may be somewhat questionable too in terms of income declarations etc) so are massively cheaper even before you add in the costs of running a relatively large showroom. The only problem with Craftsman has always been they sell their services too cheaply. Dave's not getting any younger either, and I'd imagine after 30 years dealing with people who have more money than ability/knowledge I'd be ready to call it quits too.

I was in the only the other week, and the owner of a fairly expensive cue came in and asked Simon to make it a 10mm tip (from about 8.5mm). When Simon said (no pun) that the only way do that was to shorten the cue, the owner looked blankly and said he only wanted it thicker, not shorter. My lord...! No doubt that chap is also moaning about the unhelpful terrible service he got too..

[Swal87]

I'm sure craftsman still make cues for custom. I was in couple of weeks ago and he said he could do one in 4-6 weeks. Got my last few from there as I'm local to the shop.

However the quality if cues you can buy from his shop has gone down in my opinion. He's not make as many due to cheap painted spliced queues on eBay. That play half decent for a pub player.

But quality really matters in the end no matter what sport.

Holding my first Argos cue, next to a jason owen or john parris is worlds apart.

Doesn't make you a good player, using an expensive well balanced cue but does give you that extra control.

[golferson123]

but for a fluke of demographics craftsman cues should have been a market leader.they can source the same timbers and certainly have the same if not more nous than the more fashionable cue makers.I dealt with craftsman when h/o became all the trend and their cues where def as good if not better but the extended waiting periods and £600 a pop did the trick and London flourished and the north fell behind. its good to see TW and MW attain the same but sad to see an originator like craftsman cop some flack

[cueman]

I think the quality of Craftsman has gone dramatically downhill for some reason.

The website hardly has much choice of cues right now, they have started selling some garish chalk holders for a ridiculous amount of money and they have stopped the made to measure option through the website, not sure if they are still taking orders at the shop itself but it seems like they don't want to bother with it.

I spoke with stu at greenbaize recently and he told me that they aren't taking custom orders for maximus cues either, despite being an agent. Sounds to me like they have money issues and are cutting back on costs and investment in the stock they can carry. Something is definitely not right.

[ADR147]

Seriously? What drivel. Profit (for a small family run business we'll also call it "paying the mortgage") is what any company operates for. In the last few years every tom dick and harry has been popping up offering custom made cues, many of which do not charge VAT (other tax affairs may be somewhat questionable too in terms of income declarations etc) so are massively cheaper even before you add in the costs of running a relatively large showroom. The only problem with Craftsman has always been they sell their services too cheaply. Dave's not getting any younger either, and I'd imagine after 30 years dealing with people who have more money than ability/knowledge I'd be ready to call it quits too.

I was in the only the other week, and the owner of a fairly expensive cue came in and asked Simon to make it a 10mm tip (from about 8.5mm). When Simon said (no pun) that the only way do that was to shorten the cue, the owner looked blankly and said he only wanted it thicker, not shorter. My lord...! No doubt that chap is also moaning about the unhelpful terrible service he got too..

lol i think i might have had a phone call from that customer!

[ADR147]

Well i personally rate craftsman cues very highly indeed. i used one myself for about 5 years and have always found their service to be second to none. but each to their own!

[jb134]

Profit (for a small family run business we'll also call it "paying the mortgage") is what any company operates for. In the last few years every tom dick and harry has been popping up offering custom made cues, many of which do not charge VAT (other tax affairs may be somewhat questionable too in terms of income declarations etc) so are massively cheaper even before you add in the costs of running a relatively large showroom. The only problem with Craftsman has always been they sell their services too cheaply. Dave's not getting any younger either, and I'd imagine after 30 years dealing with people who have more money than ability/knowledge I'd be ready to call it quits too.

I was in the only the other week, and the owner of a fairly expensive cue came in and asked Simon to make it a 10mm tip (from about 8.5mm). When Simon said (no pun) that the only way do that was to shorten the cue, the owner looked blankly and said he only wanted it thicker, not shorter. My lord...! No doubt that chap is also moaning about the unhelpful terrible service he got too..

I couldn't agree more with this post.

[Brianwalter]

A real shame as craftsman cues were very well priced for there cues