I know there will be a comparison to Golf pro shops, but none the less, here goes.
After reading the complaints/problems of Vis A Balls in the Pro Shop Owners/Operators thread, I tried to look at it from a customer's point of view. The average bowler who will be getting the majority of these Vis A Balls through NASCAR/NFL etc... leagues are probably the same ones who look at the professionals and say, "so what. Bob Johnson on Sunday night bowls better than that!" Therefore, It is my opinion that many of these bowlers probably look at the pro shop as an extension of the bowling alley itself, and not as an independent business. They think the center owns and operates it, and sets their prices for the pro shop.
If the center is having this league special, they figure the house is doing this to get their business and offers them a special deal for patronizing their business. They fail to see that while the center might be making money from the league, the pro shop is operated by a different company (so to speak) and may be taking a loss on the deal. All they see is a bait and switch tactic - give them a free ball and then charge them to drill it (after all, to the customer it doesn't cost anything to run a drill bit into a ball - it should be customer service as a part of the free ball deal, right?), they do not realize there are 2 separate businesses trying to make ends meet. Any thoughts on this theory?
--------------------
9~
