Should you be lucky enough to see a box opened before Sept. 20. That ball will be black. Media balls and Staffer balls are being opened all over. We are not allowed to have Red or Gold. Want a Red or Gold, pre order and take your chances.
I know of at least one staffer that got a red one in the US.
If I received any others when I got mine(Red or Gold), I would have returned it back to the company. This ball rolls really great... I never threw the original Missions, but this ball is definitely something special for sure... Love the marketing ideas and think it will be cool when bowlers start finding the rare balls in the upcoming weeks.
You really alleviated my last minor grievance with the consequence of how this was marketed: Honesty and integrity of the pro shop.
Case in point: Say that a bowler orders the ball; gets the right weight, pin placement, etc. PSO opens the box, and finds out that it is red or Gold. PSO then goes back to his stocks and tries to find the next closest Mission Unknown with the same weight and pin placement.. PSO opens it up and finds it to be black. PSO drills the black ball and gives it to the customer.
Or better yet: the PSO has to order the ball as it's on a 3 - 4 day wait. Ball gets in while the customer isn't there. PSO opens it, finds it to be Red or gold, and then gets in another ball with the same weight/pin placement, finds it to be black, drills the Black, gives it to the customer when the customer comes in to pick it up.
This places a lot of honesty and integrity in the hands of the PSO. If they aren't honest about what they are doing, that really says a lot about the pro shop, the integrity and character of the PSO, and how the PSO would screw over the customer.
Seeing how you would return it says a lot about the integrity and character you have. Thank you.I wish (and perhaps you can get the word out through EBI to all of the pro shops carrying the Mission Unknown) that the PSO would treat this like the Apple Store (work with me on this). When customers come in and purchase something from the Apple store, most employees there would let the customer open the box on their own, should they want their product set up and running right then and there in the store.
Taking this to the PSO, if someone purchases the Mission Unknown, if the ball is in stock,
the PSO should let the customer open the box. If the ball has to be ordered in and there is a waiting period for it, when the ball gets into the pro shop, the PSO should contact the customer to let them know that the ball is in, and keep it boxed up until the customer gets to the pro shop, then the PSO should let the customer open the box.
That way, the customer has the best experience, the integrity and honesty of the PSO isn't called under scrutiny, and it's a win-win for everyone.
Finally, for the one you opened and returned, what would EBI do? Would they put it in a new box, seal it up, and ship it back to you? If not, that would suck as you would essentially lose the rare gem from the pallet of balls you ordered.
BL.
