Ok, so i sold a guy a ball in August. Standard easy fingertip drill, grips, no slug. A few weeks ago the guy comes back in and asks for a thumb insert. I ring him up, he pays, im ready to drill, and then he speaks the fateful words. "yeah, i threw the ball, the lane blacked out, and when my ball got back it was all cut up and the insert in the thumb was gone." So, rather perplexed, i examine the thumbhole. The inside white filler of the ball was darkened and dirty from skin oil, the hole was oval and the top was beveled, and there was absolutely no sign that there had ever been anything glued in there. No residue, no anything. So i asked him just what kind of insert he had in there. "well an orange rubber one just like is in the fingers." Hmm. Right away i knew that wasnt the case of course, but what really got me was trying to figure out just exactly what he had in there. I have been drilling for 5 years in a professionally run, upstanding shop, and i have never installed a rubber or soft insert into a thumbhole, let alone one that was oval, beveled, and apparently unglued. Another thing that confused me was that the guy flopped cash on the table right away. Normally if people come in and say something fell out of their ball, they try to say it was improperly installed and get it for free. So im thinking obviously this guy had something in there, but orange and rubber? His thumb size is 15/16 with a .060 oval width. Obviously they dont make rubber grips that large. It read no insert for the thumb on his drill sheet in the computer, and our sales records also show he wasnt charged for an insert in the thumb. So besides the fact that neither myself or the shop manager would ever put rubber in a thumbhole, i had several different forms of proof that we didnt put it in there. I proceeded to keep talking with him to see just what exactly was in there. "well you ought to know, thats the way it came when i bought it, i just want it back like it was." So after talking to him for an hour, i called the shop manager and talked to him for 20 minutes. No idea. After that i called and talked to the shop owner for 20 minutes. No idea. This guy still swore up and down that we put an ORANGE rubber insert into a thumbhole that that is ovaled, beveled, dirty, and mysteriously fits well, and that all he wants is for us to make it like it was. I have also never seen anyone be actually able to throw a ball after an insert has fallen out. After speaking to him a few minutes the next week, it was obvious he was convinced we were shafting him, so he left rather disgruntled. He still throw the ball every week, and doesnt throw it half bad either.

So, can anybody else figure this one out? Or at least comment? I feel like i should have been able to convince him there was nothing in there. Nothing we installed anyway. But its rather insulting im sure to be made to feel like you were imagining things, so i tried as hard as possible to avoid it seeming like that was what i was implying, i tried to stay with "whatever was in there" as my term of description. Oh, and i have pictures i will gladly send to anyone wishing to see them, the guy very freely allowed me to take pictures of his thumbhole.
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That''s just like, your opinion, man.

My guess is the customer is simply confused. Strange things happen when balls get stuck in the back. People often overexamine the ball to find out what's wrong with it after being stuck.

Maybe a friend was looking at the lane damage and asked why he didn't have a thumb insert. And then the insert was "lost in the back".

It doesn't really matter. If he wants an orange thumb then I'd install a slug and give him an orange thumb.

Keep in mind that anything could have been in there.  PVC pipe could have been in there even if the hole is ovaled.  Seen it before.  He could have put a large orange finger grip in there, despite the hole being ovaled.  

Erin

funny thing is ive had someone try to convince me the same thing, he had a finger grip in his thumb hole and it fell out in the back