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Author Topic: Manufacturer's responsibility  (Read 3043 times)

JOE FALCO

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Manufacturer's responsibility
« on: February 05, 2010, 12:56:05 AM »
On a recent posting of CRACKED BOWLING BALLS there were a number of bowlers reporting incidents! It started me thinking and the question that came to mind was HOW LONG IS A MANUFACTURER RESPONSIBLE FOR A CRACKED BALL ONCE IT IS PURCHASED BY A BOWLER?

Now I can see an ABUSED ball not be covered such as RE-DRILLED, EXCESSIVE HOLES, SUBMERGED IN WATER, DROPPED FROM A BUILDING, BALL COVER ENHANCED, etc. However where the ball was just used for bowling .. how long should the maker stand behind his product?

I'd say (without knowing statistics) that the average bowler has 2 bowling balls. One for oil and one for dry. Let's guess that the average bowler bowls 52 weeks per year. Probable bowls one league and practices .. stretching it will be 52 weeks per year and 3 games each visit. Thats 156 games with 2 balls .. one used 70% and the other 30%. that would put one ball with 110 games and the other at 46 games per year. With those figures 1 year seems CRAZY in fact 2 years is still not enough. Three years is at least an acceptable amount of time. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT CRACKING BOWLING BALLS!

Makers come out with new CORES and new COVERS every time they show a NEW BALL! Prices seem to be going HIGHER and HIGHER! Why do we as bowlers accept the thought being put to us about ONE YEAR WARRANTEE? Balls are cracking with NO EXPLANATION other then something THE BOWLER DID!

In no way am I suggesting that this is a problem for the PRO SHOP .. this is a MANUFACTURER PROBLEM that should be the responsibility of THEM!

Does this sound logical?
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BW

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #16 on: February 05, 2010, 12:30:36 PM »
Joe,

You're actually the better example, since you have a much larger sample size than the average one ball per year bowler. Most of them never have a ball crack because they buy a new ball and get rid of the old one. Hence, they aren't keeping the ball more than a year or two anyway.
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leftyinsnellville

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #17 on: February 05, 2010, 12:57:00 PM »
quote:
Why do we accept the ONE YEAR WARRANTEE?


Because that's what they offer and you either take it or leave it.  I promise you, ball manufacturers will not extend their warranty unless they have to...and there is no way to organize all bowlers to boycott ball purchases until the manufacturers change their warranties.

BTW - a warranty actually limits the protections you receive...that's why they're called "limited" warranties.  Most products purchased come with automatic warranties that are based in the common law (warranty of merchantability, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, etc.).  When manufacturers issue the limited warranty, they are actually limiting the protections you get under the common law.  So they aren't guaranteeing their products by giving you a warranty, they are protecting themselves against the protections you get automatically when you purchase their product.

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JOE FALCO

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #18 on: February 05, 2010, 01:14:23 PM »
I can see I'm worse then I thought! What do you see as an AVERAGE BOWLER .. does this person buy ONE ball per year or ONE ball every TWO years?

In my mind I was thinking one ball every two years! Is that ridiculous or is it right?
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BW

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #19 on: February 05, 2010, 01:31:35 PM »
Joe,

I think the number they buy in a year is somewhat irrelevant. My point was that you keep balls longer than most. The average bowler doesn't collect them like you. They keep their most recent 3-4 purchases and sell, trade, or give way the older ones.
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JOE FALCO

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #20 on: February 05, 2010, 01:50:54 PM »
quote:
Joe,

I think the number they buy in a year is somewhat irrelevant. My point was that you keep balls longer than most. The average bowler doesn't collect them like you. They keep their most recent 3-4 purchases and sell, trade, or give way the older ones.


Yes .. I keep balls longer then most .. for my subject "the number they buy in a year is relevant"! If the AVERAGE BOWLER buys every year and hold the last bought for another year .. a manufacturer should GUARANTEE UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS the ball should NOT CRACK (that's all I'm talking too) in at least a 2 year period!
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Doug Sterner

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #21 on: February 05, 2010, 01:57:24 PM »
My experience here is that if the pro shop does their job correctly then the chance of having a bowling ball crack is minimal. When I talk about cracking I am talking about creating a major crack in the ball, not just a hairline around the fingers or thumb.

Since I started bowling in 1990 I have had exactly 189 bowling balls. Most were new but many were used. I have NEVER....yes I said NEVER had a ball crack on me.

Brands I have thrown include: Lane 1, Track, Storm, RotoGrip, Hammer, Columbia, Ebonite, AMF, 900 Global, Dynothane, Visionary, MoRich and Brunswick.

I have always kept my equipment clean, have not ever baked the balls (either at home or in a pro shop Rejuvenator) and have kept them in a heated area.

I have had customers bring balls in that cracked. What I have found with these balls is that each and every ball had a thumb slug in them. I feel that when slugs are installed in a hole and needs to be hammered in, you are in trouble and MAY create problems.

That's just my 2 cents but I think it's one of the main causes.
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Doug Sterner
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Doug Sterner
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JOE FALCO

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #22 on: February 05, 2010, 02:07:14 PM »
Doug .. Thanks ..just one question on what you said ..on the average how long did you keep the 189 balls?
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kidlost2000

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #23 on: February 05, 2010, 03:11:46 PM »
To me ball death refers to a lack of hook or a loss of some what normal reaction from said ball. A ball cracking out is fairly common and to argue it ends rather shortly and in no way is the same as a loss in performance ie "ball death".




quote:
kidlost, mentioning ball death around here will get you an argument very quick, expecially if it was an Ebonite ball. You''ll be okay if it was Storm though.
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Edited on 2/5/2010 12:03 PM

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…… you can't  add a physics term to a bowling term and expect it to mean something.

DON DRAPER

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #24 on: February 05, 2010, 05:01:07 PM »
i've used nothing but brunswick bowling balls since 1995 and have never had one crack. this includes having them run thru the rejuvenator about 6 times a year. also my bowling equipment is never left in an area where the temperature and humidity are not controlled.
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JOE FALCO

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Re: Manufacturer's responsibility
« Reply #25 on: February 05, 2010, 05:38:49 PM »
From the little experience I've had with CRACKED BOWLING BALLS I see nothing that leads me to think it results from the bowler (there are some that believe DRILLING is a cause). I'm sure there are isolated instances where the ball is ABUSED but for the most part it results from a PRODUCTION problem.

The problem that I see is there's no way to put a LIFE SPAN on a ball .. balls were made to BOWL WITH .. when one CRACKS within a PERIOD that ball should be considered DEFECTIVE and replaced. Bowlers (from what I read) have accepted that period to be one year. IMO with manufacturers asking more and more for their products they should be willing to extend that period to a minimum of 2 years. If in fact there are VERY FEW balls cracking that should have NO EFFECT on the makers bottom line!

I see that this is another one of these case where we the bowlers are at the mercy of the manufacturers so I think I'll close the topic before someone starts throwing rocks.

Thanks for all those that gave their thoughts I appreciate it.
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J O E - F A L C O

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