Most ridiculous PSO I have ever seen

[Phonetek]

I went up to my local lanes to get some info from the owner regarding subbing on leagues and other info. Super super nice guy, he would have talked for hours. I told him I was teaching my son and I would be coming in with him soon after he gets his ball drilled. He went in the back and came out and handed me 6 coupons for free games and shoe rental for him. He didn't have to do that and I told him that. He is all about the youth and getting them into the game. Great guy. I figured before I left I'd stop in the pro shop and meet the pso, get some prices and chit chat a bit about some of this more technical stuff that is a part of the modern game.

I go in and say my name, offer a handshake and it was like I was bothering the guy he just looked at my hand. I started asking him some questions and he was really short and arrogant about it. I asked what he would charge to drill my kids ball I was getting from bowlingballs.com. after I got it. $90!? NOT including inserts. Seriously to drill 3 holes no inserts? He said "if you bought it here it would be free." I was looking at his prices and they were well over double the amount for a ball than online. A regular black Hammer remake for $319 (online $126) are you kidding me? A Hammer Gauntlet or Black Widow Gold each for 409? (online $169 & $139) Then I asked what he'd charge to fix my ball that the bridge is cracked on plus new inserts. He rolled his eyes and said. $95 labor + $35 for two new inserts. I was going to ask more but I didn't want bother "Your Highness" any further. What would he charge to watch me or my son throw a couple balls? 80 bucks a minute? Those prices are ridiculous and way out of line. I know it's not 1996 anymore but this CANNOT be the norm. If it is I will quit right now. I will bowl at the lanes but there is no way that dude is getting any business from me with his attitude or his prices. He can go sit on a standing bowling pin.

My PSO I have been going to for years will be getting my business once again. I was trying to save myself over an hour of driving but it's worth it. He would never charge me that kind of prices nor would he treat people like that. I know every bowling alley has "That guy" but I never expected it to be a PSO. If I was a different person I'd include names but I won't do that. Rest assured I'll be putting a review on Yelp about it though.

Ok, rant over

[boatman37]

Emailed my PSO the other day. Free drilling if I buy from him and $40 plus $10 for inserts if I buy somewhere else. I'm guessing he knows what he is doing. His average is 223 so must be doing something right.

[bowl1820]

Yes thats bit over priced and then some.

[Phonetek]

Yes thats bit over priced and then some.

Well if you agree then I know I'm not just a cheapskate or stuck in the 90's.

[djp1080]

Wow! I think you've said that you're in the Chicagoland area as am I. Sounds like you must be in the high priced seats. Several of the houses in the Western suburbs don't charge anything like that. It's likely that drilling might be $50 - $60. Finger inserts for $10 or so. Try Stardust in Addison.

[Phonetek]

Wow! I think you've said that you're in the Chicagoland area as am I. Sounds like you must be in the high priced seats. Several of the houses in the Western suburbs don't charge anything like that. It's likely that drilling might be $50 - $60. Finger inserts for $10 or so. Try Stardust in Addison.

High priced seats indeed. I'm going to go to Jim's Pro Shop in Mokena. He's been doing my stuff since I was a kid when he was in Glenwood Bowl. He'd rarely charge me at all to turn on the drill, usually only for inserts. Back then I was in there all the time. It's been a long time though. Even if he charged the same as what this guy was babbling about I'd pay Jim, he's a great guy. Even if that jerk I dealt with earlier was the top expert in the country I wouldn't pay him that much. Jim maybe knows less I couldn't say but service with a smile deserves more money and I'd gladly pay it. Nobody likes going to the pro shop feeling like they just got bent over.

[JasonNJ]

The dude is a jerk. Has he been a PSO long? I can't imagine him being around that long with prices like that. Finding a good pro shop guy is hard. Because my local PSO is meh, I live in NJ and drive 90 minutes to Connecticut because I know they'll drill my stuff properly.

[TCJ]

Back where I used to bowl, I was charged $30 to plug, redrill, and fit a ball with new inserts. Someone I know went to the same place and was charged $60 to drill a brand new ball that was purchased elsewhere. I'm guessing that many places will charge more if the ball is not purchased there, but I find it to be a flimsy reason. Charge what the work is worth, not someone to ease the ego because the original purchase was made elsewhere. Oh, and that shop charged me about $160 for buying a new urethane (Tank) and having it drilled. This was an hour south of Chicago, so it's far enough away to not get quite the inflated prices of a big city.

[Phonetek]

The dude is a jerk. Has he been a PSO long? I can't imagine him being around that long with prices like that. Finding a good pro shop guy is hard. Because my local PSO is meh, I live in NJ and drive 90 minutes to Connecticut because I know they'll drill my stuff properly.

I'm not sure how long he's been there. That would have been a staple question I would have asked had he been personable but I wasn't hanging out any longer.



Back where I used to bowl, I was charged $30 to plug, redrill, and fit a ball with new inserts. Someone I know went to the same place and was charged $60 to drill a brand new ball that was purchased elsewhere. I'm guessing that many places will charge more if the ball is not purchased there, but I find it to be a flimsy reason. Charge what the work is worth, not someone to ease the ego because the original purchase was made elsewhere. Oh, and that shop charged me about $160 for buying a new urethane (Tank) and having it drilled. This was an hour south of Chicago, so it's far enough away to not get quite the inflated prices of a big city.

See now $30 is more than fair, plus inserts I'd say that's cheap. $60 just because you didn't buy the ball from them, that's like a spanking fee? "BAD BOWLER, Didn't buy the ball from me! Sixty bucks!" Does it hurt the drill bits feelings or something? That's $20 a hole, sounds like Rush Street. $60 is still a bit much in my opinion, but a bargain compared to the guy I went to.

[J Anderson]

Back where I used to bowl, I was charged $30 to plug, redrill, and fit a ball with new inserts. Someone I know went to the same place and was charged $60 to drill a brand new ball that was purchased elsewhere. I'm guessing that many places will charge more if the ball is not purchased there, but I find it to be a flimsy reason. Charge what the work is worth, not someone to ease the ego because the original purchase was made elsewhere. Oh, and that shop charged me about $160 for buying a new urethane (Tank) and having it drilled. This was an hour south of Chicago, so it's far enough away to not get quite the inflated prices of a big city.

In defense of charging more for drilling a ball bought somewhere else: Every business has fixed and variable expenses. When a pro shop sells a ball, the price is marked up over what the shop paid to get the ball from the distributor, and the charge for drilling the ball is more that what the person drilling it is paid for the time it takes to drill it. These mark-ups allow the pro shop operator to still make a net profit after the rent, utilities, taxes, insurance, etc. have been paid. When some one comes in to just get a ball drilled, there is now only labor to be marked up to pay for all the business' costs. The mark-up on a labor only job must be higher to stay in business.

The $30 plug and re-drill sounds like a real bargain. Probably a case of the shop heavily discounting the service to maintain good customer relations. The $90 price quoted by the original poster sounds excessive even here in CT.

[JasonNJ]

$50-60 is about average cost for drilling with inserts, $90 is just outrageous.

[vdubtx]

That is a PSO that is not going to be in business for very long. Those prices are absolutely ridiculous and out of line. He is what gives bowling a bad name.

$35 for a set of inserts? They can be bought on line for $1.50 each. I certainly wouldn't give him a cent of my business.

If you have a PSO you like within driving distance, stick with him. If nothing else, start with the guy you like and when your fit on the ball is good, use Bowlingball.com's drilling services for any future purchases. They can fit from a drill sheet your PSO can provide, or you can send in the ball that fits well and they can copy the specs from it. Your specs would then be on file with them for any future purchases.

[bowl1820]

What it looks like he's doing is tacking on a labor change (of $90-$100) over what would be the regular cost anywhere else.

Like this $95 labor + $35 for two new inserts.

I could see $35 for a plugging the fingers, drill and 2 new inserts to fix the the bridge.

For those prices if there was no one closer, I buy a KMT personal ball jig (its about $400) and drill them myself.

[jaypeesmith]

That is crazy. There is a shop that I recently started going to and they charge about $80, but this includes grips and a thumb slug. If you buy the ball from them, drilling, grips and slugs are included. For comparison's sake, I think the most they would charge for the balls you listed is $235 plus tax.

With the prices you've quoted, it's almost as if he doesn't want the business.

[Phonetek]

The guy reminded me of a dentist I visited once to have a tooth yanked. It literally took 10 minutes $350. I was in awe and I complained, $350 for ten minutes? She could do 6 in an hour that's 2100 bucks an hour LOL I told her that was crazy, she said "If this is what you spend per year then it's only $30 a month, how is that expensive?" I gave her a few more colorful slurred comments and left never to return. The moral is, just because you CAN charge what you want doesn't mean you always should.
Even charging more because it was bought somewhere else may pay some business expenses, charging less you have a better chance of repeat business which pays MORE business expenses. Bottom line is, the guy is local to me. I need my ball fixed and resurfaced plus another ball needs to have the thumb plugged and redrilled. Then my son is getting his ball and in a month I'm probably getting 2 maybe 3 new balls. That's just for starters, my wife wants a ball and maybe my daughter too. That's the business he WOULD have gotten had he not been a moron and was reasonable. His way I'd be in for hundreds just in labor. No way I can afford that. If it weren't for the prices online I wouldn't be buying anything, at most maybe 1 ball for my son and none for me, wife or daughter if it were only from a PSO. So in essence he is getting more business because I didn't buy it from him.
IMO Kids balls should be free or done free or cheap regardless where it came from. Youth bowling is hurting as it is, charging full price adds insult to injury. Again, repeat business....if a kid is happy with his ball he will go to that guy for years. Besides what does PSO tell a kid if he got a ball for Christmas? "Santa didn't buy it here so empty your pockets so you can use it" That's pretty cold

[Phonetek]

An update. I went out to visit my mom this morning. I was chatting about bowling with her and she told me one of the PSO's I used to go to years ago is still around and she still talks to him. She just had a ball redrilled by him recently because she had a bowling outing for work. Didn't know mom was even bowling anymore. So, I figured on the way back I'd stop in. Well this was night and day from my other experience. First of all, he will drill my son's ball for free regardless of where I get it from, $5 for inserts. $20 to fix my cracked reactive with ball and replace the finger inserts. He does charge adults for drilling balls not bought from him $40 only if they have never been drilled before. Plug and redrill is the same price bought from him or not. For me new balls are "Don't ask don't tell where I bought it" and he'll do them $20 each inserts and thumb plug included. He gave me permission to tell about it but not mention his name since he doesn't do this for everyone.
Anyway, I looked at those same balls quoted in my original post and they were still of course higher than online but nowhere near the same markup. I didn't write down the prices though sorry. Suffice it to say I didn't start to hyperventilate when I seen the prices. On top of that, since I am teaching my son he wants me to bring him in tomorrow for a fitting. He's gonna hook him up with a demo ball like you guys were talking about with the changeable inserts that is his to use anytime until I can get the money to get his permanent ball. They are gonna keep it behind the counter for him. I don't know which particular ball model other than it's urethane and made by Hammer.
He walked me out to the owner of the lanes, we talked for a bit. When I bring my son in for a fitting tomorrow the owner wants to meet my son. He said he's giving him 3 free hours a week to bowl shoes included every week until fall leagues start. It's quite a drive to get there from our current house but we will be there every week no matter what. He also wants me to sub for two different teams one on Friday men's and one Wed mixed both fees already prepaid for the rest of the season starting next week. Okay so THIS is what I'm talking about. These are obviously two guys who care about not only the sport of bowling but the youth and taking care of customers. Although I was looking for something more local, I'd be an idiot to not utilize their graciousness despite the long drive. The PSO knows how I am and knows he will be getting a lot of business from me in the future. I guess I won't be going to Jim's after all and especially not that moron I mentioned in the original post. I told him about the other guy I went to the other day and he said he's heard a lot about that guys behavior and prices. That guy hasn't been a PSO for long and won't be for much longer. The bowling alley isn't going to renew his lease because of the problems he has caused. He constantly offends people and rips them off. Good riddance to someone who gives bowling a bad name like that. At least this proves there are still some excellent PSO's out there

[vdubtx]

Good to hear. When you find a good one stick with him. :cool: