I had an unfortunate experience in a well known pro shop in my area yesterday.
Let me tell you all about. Then, I would like to get some feedback on what others think.
I brought a ball into the shop to be drilled. After patiently waiting to meet with the most experienced driller in the shop, I greet him, shake his hand and then give him the ball. He takes the ball and then proceeds to walk back to the drilling area. (Keep in mind that I had brought in a ball a few weeks before and had it drilled with no issues.)
As he is walking to the drill, he states that he might have to charge me $10 more than what he charged me for drilling the first ball. When he gets to the drill, he immediately puts the ball on a Determinator. After about 20 seconds or so, I hear him say... "I hope you didn't pay a lot for this ball..."
At that moment, I knew there was going to be a problem. So I gave him a look as if I didn't hear him. He then repeated what he said.
He then goes on to try to say that my brand new Virtual Gravity is not spinning properly and that he can not find the true mass bias area on the ball. (We all know that Storm and every other company marks the mass bias on their asymmetrical balls before they leave the factory.)
So I say, "Oh really? How often does something like this occur?" He does not reply. He then proceeds to pull out one of his VG's that he had in stock and puts that on the machine. Of course, you all know that his ball spun properly.
When he spun my ball again, I noticed how loudly it was spinning because it was "wobbling"! When he spun his, it was quiet. LOL!
Now, before each spin on the machine, he clicks a switch in the back of the machine/table. Can you guess what that switch might have done?!
He goes on to try explain how many Ebonite and RotoGrip balls had the same issue. He then tries to explain how the ball was spinning properly on one axis, but not the other. (Duh! It can't it's wobbling all over the place!) He then says that he might have trouble drilling my ball, but starts to look for another one of his VG's after I told him that my ball was a 14lb ball.
While he is looking for another ball, I pick up my ball and proceed to tell him that "I will ship that ball back" and that he should not worry about drilling my ball. He appeared a little shocked that I didn't want to get anything drilled. From that point on, everything was just as uncomfortable as I have ever felt in a pro shop. I knew he was lying. I didn't want to challenge him on it because his boss, the owner of the shop, was nearby dealing with a supply distributor. It would have looked bad if I called him out on an outright lie right in front of his boss. So, I just walked.
As I am trying to leave, he asked me if I bought the ball from the internet. LOL! I said... "Oh, absolutely!" He asked how much I paid for it and I told him that, too. LOL!
When the owner saw me pick up my ball and put it back in my bag, I felt like everybody was looking at me like I was the bad guy.
Classic! LOL!
I he only knew that I was going to buy two new balls from him. LOL! The Energy and the Fast have not hit the street yet! LOL! Oh well...
The bottom line is this... Why are pro shop owners getting upset with customers who bring in balls to get them drilled? THEY MAKE MONEY EITHER WAY!! They get paid if you buy from them or just get a ball drilled from them!
Saving money is not a crime. Yet, there is no excuse for the act lying to a customer. I understand the point of supporting your local pro shop. However, how do they expect someone to patronize their business when they blatantly try to mislead them.
And no, there is nothing wrong with my ball. LOL!
Any thoughts?...
Peace!
