Divots

[Jamski]

Yow.

Bowled at a gen-u-wine Ebonite house yesterday. I was pretty excited for the chance...it's a bit of a drive for me.

Highlights (or not):

* Scoring went down no fewer than seven times in two hours, and it always seemed to happen on a strike.
* Ball returns jammed three times.
* Said ball returns put two divots (one fairly deep) on my Clash...the only ball I own, by the way.
* Staff was less than attentive...we had to flag them down for each of these episodes. Mind you, the house wasn't all that busy.

I'm pretty disappointed, needless to say. I don't know what if any recompense I might get for the damage to the ball, which is what I am most concerned about, obviously, I probably should've said something then, but I was so disgusted by this point that I just walked out with time left on my two hours (which were paid in advance...that's how they roll at Ebonite Galaxy Lanes, apparently.)

To make matters worse, I attempted to email them from the link on their web site and got...an error message. It probably shouldn't be a surprise, I guess. I've sent another message on to a former PBA pro is is (or was, I don't know for sure) on their staff, maybe he can get it to them. Otherwise I guess I'll have to mail it.

Anyway. Sorry, I just needed to vent.

[Graaille]

I would love to say that your experience is out of the ordinary, but I can't.

In my experience (limited tho it may be) it seems that what I call "associated" houses (AMF, Brunswick, Ebonite, and even Lucky Strike) all appear to be less than willing to maintain equipment and have associates working there that are interested in bowling. More than once I've had to track someone down to fix an issue, and the attitude I got was somewhat similar to the attitude put forth by the average Ambercrombie&Fitch sales associate (i.e. why are you bothering me with your puny problems you person over the age of 30?). I've been at one house where there's a sign posted that says "bowl w/your own equipment at your own risk." Needless to say, I didn't bowl there after looking at the house balls.

[manningm]

Jamski,

I feel your frustration. I had a similar situation occur during league practice prior to league play. I took it to the front desk immediately. I was so upset that I bowled a 245! LOL They offered to fix it and I turned the ball in after league bowling. It was so bad it needed to be plugged.

Mike Manning

[mrbill]

I would love to say that your experience is out of the ordinary, but I can't.

In my experience (limited tho it may be) it seems that what I call "associated" houses (AMF, Brunswick, Ebonite, and even Lucky Strike) all appear to be less than willing to maintain equipment and have associates working there that are interested in bowling. More than once I've had to track someone down to fix an issue, and the attitude I got was somewhat similar to the attitude put forth by the average Ambercrombie&Fitch sales associate (i.e. why are you bothering me with your puny problems you person over the age of 30?). I've been at one house where there's a sign posted that says "bowl w/your own equipment at your own risk." Needless to say, I didn't bowl there after looking at the house balls.

Lol "why are you bothering me with your puny problems you person over the age of 30"
It's like your in another world

[Seamistlark]

Mike,
What house was that? BCB? We had the guard fall quite often there, Lane 21 if I remember right.

[manningm]

Seamistlark,

Yes it did happen at BCB! The laegue I bowl on is the Thursday night "Tampa Bay Men's League". We always bowl from the middle to the upper end of the house. It has only happened once in 5 years for me. Luckily, it was not a "brand new" ball. I think the house is well maintained, but there should be a policy in effect to protect a bowler's equipment from such events. I know that it was an accident and not intentional.

Mike Manning

[kev3inp]

That's pretty funny that Seamistlark picked the house from the description.

We usually have a Florida mini-gathering in late Sept or early Oct. The last 2 years it was at Seminole, but we're not going back there again. Bowl 1820 came out to the last one, too. The year before that it was at Boardwalk in Orlando. I'd like to meet you guys. When the time gets nearer (after the Gathering in NC) we'll start the planning. I have to see if and when our bowling friends from England are coming over. Maybe we can even get our other moderator interested.

[mrbill]

That's pretty funny that Seamistlark picked the house from the description.

We usually have a Florida mini-gathering in late Sept or early Oct. The last 2 years it was at Seminole, but we're not going back there again. Bowl 1820 came out to the last one, too. The year before that it was at Boardwalk in Orlando. I'd like to meet you guys. When the time gets nearer (after the Gathering in NC) we'll start the planning. I have to see if and when our bowling friends from England are coming over. Maybe we can even get our other moderator interested.

Sounds good. I Bowled at boardwalk and I liked it, They had where you could pay $10.00 and bowl for like 8hrs. I was wore out.

[Jamski]

Nice news...I got messages from the general manager of the house, as well as the house pro...both have offered to resurface or replace the ball if need be...I don't think it will, but it's nice that they made the offer. Major big-ups to them.

[JaxBowlingGuy]

That's pretty funny that Seamistlark picked the house from the description.

We usually have a Florida mini-gathering in late Sept or early Oct. The last 2 years it was at Seminole, but we're not going back there again. Bowl 1820 came out to the last one, too. The year before that it was at Boardwalk in Orlando. I'd like to meet you guys. When the time gets nearer (after the Gathering in NC) we'll start the planning. I have to see if and when our bowling friends from England are coming over. Maybe we can even get our other moderator interested.

Im game.. Keep me posted... The orlando area is about 2.5 hrs from here in north FL