So, my girlfriend and I went out of town this weekend to do an early holiday with her family.  Part of that was going bowling with her sons so we took our balls.  The day before we left I let her have her present, a new 11 pound Razyr.  

Fast forward to the bowling Saturday.  First frame she throws a strike, second frame I don't remember what she hit but the ball came back with a nice deep gouge out of it.  I immediately took her and the ball to the front desk to ask what their policy was on damage from their machines.  I explained to the counter guy that the ball was brand new and he agreed from the condition it was in that it had to be a new ball.  The guy there said he could repair the ball but I had my doubts with as deep as the gouge in the ball was but since we were quite a way from home we decided to let him have a go at it and we would pick it up before we left the next morning.  

I made the mistake of not going in to get the ball myself, my girlfriend went to get it while I was packing things up in the hotel room.  By the time we left the ball was packed in the back of the car so I didn't get to look at the ball until we got home.  After seeing the ball it's a very good thing that I didn't go to pick the ball up because I think the guy there would have been force fed a ball.  It looks like he put it on a spinner and held 360 grit sandpaper on it until the gouge was gone.  I'm not even entirely sure the ball is round anymore.  The Hammer logo is still on the ball but the USBC number and Razyr logo are pretty well gone.  There's no way she could use the ball in a tournament now if she wanted to since the number is gone from the ball.  I am plain out pissed that this guy would pull something like this.  He didn't even make an effort to put the ball back to it's original polished 4000 abralon finish.  

So, as the subject says, what would you do in a situation like this?  It would cost me as much in fuel to go back down there and raise hell with the guy as it would to just replace the ball with a new one.  But I am considering just that on principle.  I thought the original damage was more than enough to warrant him replacing the ball.  It was just the bad.  But now with the hack job this guy did on the ball I am pretty convinced that a new ball is in order.  If for no other reason than the fact that he made the ball inelegible for competition use by sanding off the numbers and logo on it (I am assuming that those are required for tournament use, correct me if I'm wrong).  

I think -- but am not sure -- that if the serial number is gone for whatever reason (sanded off, or if you have to drill through it), you have to etch the number into the ball somewhere else. What I can't remember is whether that's a USBC rule, a PBA rule or my imagination.

Jess

The serial number is not the issue. It sounds like a huge flat spot is on the surface. I'd at least call the idiot at the shop and raise some HELL, because at this point to make the ball round again you'll need to sand down the whole surface, and you'll probably lose the entire label. It's a cosmetic thing, but he should have plugged it, but was probably too lazy. Sorry you had to deal with such an amateur.


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Lane Carter, Strike Zone Pro Shops - Salt Lake City, Utah
Brunswick Amateur Staff
www.brunswickbowling.com

Well the gouge is gone, what else did you expect?

I never would have dropped it off to get fixed in the first place, because things happen.

Ultimately you now made the problem worse by leaving it with an obviously incompetent ball fixer upper person.

Just call him and ask him what he did and why he didn't do what you thought he should have done.  Tell him the ball is ruined and you want a new one.  If he says no, then go buy a new one.

Be polite, politeness goes a long way.  Remember it is just a bowling ball we're talking about here, not something important.
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Ahhh Disco Biscuits!

I agree with the plugging idea.  It was even brought up, I have no idea why he didn't just do that.  

I was kinda grumpy last night when I posted the original post, just drove all night then saw the ball.  So I plan on calling the guy and seeing if he's willing to make right on the deal.  At this point I don't care if he just has a ball shipped to me here and I have to pay to get it drilled up on my own.  

The good thing is that the ball isn't out of round.  We went and threw a couple games this afternoon since tonight is leagues and I wanted to be sure the ball was usable.  She's happy with it for the most part so I'm just going to polish it up for her for now.