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  • John Bennett Billiards

    Hi Everyone,

    Waited ages for my first full size table and finally took the plunge with John Bennett Billiards. What a mistake! Here is a short (!) summary of my experience. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

    I ordered a bespoke oak snooker table from John Bennett Billiards in March. Initial omens were good with a picture of the turned legs and friendly service from the husband and wife team of Mike and Sarah Hudson. When the table arrived I noticed the cushion rails (friezes) didn't fit the steel block cushions very well so that when cueing from the rails there were sharp edges under your hand. Also they protruded above the rubbers into the pockets. To my surprise Mr Hudson opted to saw the corners (somewhat roughly and unevenly) off the friezes to make them fit better. Frankly they looked terrible and R Hudson agreed to make new ones. During the installation I was concerned at how much packing was going under some of the legs and Mike said this was due to an uneven floor. On closer inspection I realised that it was not the floor that was the problem (it is out of true by 3mm over the entire area) but that the legs were of different lengths. (Fortunately my table sits on thick carpet and even thicker foam underlay but the stumpy legs are still propped up in mid air....on a solid floor there'd be 18mm of packing visible). To compound the problem the joints cut to hold the long bearers for the slates were also at different heights. In addition to these rather crucial errors the overall finish was poor. Mitre joints did not fit together well, there were machining marks in places and the surfaces were rough.
    Before Mike returned with the new friezes I mentioned in an email that I wanted to discuss the legs with him when he came.
    His immediate comment when he arrived was that he'd agreed with his wife that I could keep the £750 outstanding payment and he'd fit the friezes and go. I explained that it wasn't a question of money, that this was a piece of furniture in my house and it has to look right. He insisted that the problem was the floor and even tried to prove it with his engineer's spirit level (with an accuracy of 1:10000 it, not surprisingly, showed the floor was not perfectly level!).
    By this stage it was clear that he didn't understand why the legs were faulty and more importantly had no intention of doing anything about them. He surprised me by saying that he reckoned he'd have a good case in court! So clearly not in any mood to compromise. He then fitted the friezes, this time leaving me with professional size pockets rather than the club size we'd discussed and he'd agreed. He couldn't even fit the pocket rails correctly and the balls kept hanging up in the bags rather than falling into the rails. Neither did he fit the hooks for the half butt and long rest but just stormed off saying "see you in court" accusing me, falsely, of having complained to a another snooker table manufacturer about my previous table.
    Within half an hour I had an email from his wife saying that unless I paid the £750 within 7 days they'd take me to court even though I'd still not indicated that I wasn't going to pay.
    I have tried to be accommodating and reasonable throughout and even went to the trouble of investigating a solution with a local carpenter, who thinks he can rectify the problem. I offered to pay all bar £200 to enable me to pay the carpenter for his work but I'll have to live with the unsightly stumpy leg until the table needs to be reclothed as I can't justify any more expenditure. My latest email about the small pockets has gone unanswered and I think that Mr and Mrs Hudson are no longer interested in rectifying their mistakes now that they have their money.
    As an aside I wouldn't even trust him to re-cover a table as he missed a little lump that is an occasional reminder of his shoddy workmanship!

  • #2
    any photos of the botch job??

    makes my issue with Parris seem like chump change
    #jeSuisMasterBlasterBarryWhite2v1977Luclex(andHisF ictiousTwin)BigSplash!

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    • #3
      I think I would be looking for a full refund and him to remove the table.

      By all means see him in court. I can't see that you have anything to lose.
      王可

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      • #4
        Hi Bolton-Cueman,

        I'm a techno-biff but will try and post some photos of Mr Hudson's artwork shortly!

        Thanks Philip-in-China,

        I certainly wish I'd never got involved with John Bennett Billiards. When I have the table reclothed I'll sort out all the niggles myself....having been to court twice - and won on both occasions, I can tell you that even if you win you don't necessarily get the outcome you deserve!

        Comment


        • #5
          I definitely wouldn't have given him the rest of his money, I would have called his bluff and told him I will look forward to the court case, to me that's all that letter was ,a bluff.
          Like Phillip said I would tell him to come and get his table as its not fit for purpose and you want a refund, how did you pay, hopefully by credit card as you may well be insured , if you haven't taken pictures take as many as you can now showing the faults, legs, cushions, pockets etc, show the pocket measurements, everything you can think of and if you do get it resolved get in touch with Geoff large on here he will sort you out with something of quality.
          This is how you play darts ,MVG two nines in the same match!
          https://youtu.be/yqTGtwOpHu8

          Comment


          • #6
            Hi Bolton-Cueman,

            I'm trying to attach some photos but it seems I'm not allowed to post attachments! Any ideas?

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally Posted by DavidStewart View Post
              Hi Bolton-Cueman,

              I'm trying to attach some photos but it seems I'm not allowed to post attachments! Any ideas?
              i think you may need to have made 10 posts to do that

              I'm guessing as you've said you're not uber technical you wouldnt have a Photobucket account or any other online storage?
              #jeSuisMasterBlasterBarryWhite2v1977Luclex(andHisF ictiousTwin)BigSplash!

              Comment


              • #8
                Ah, thank you Mr Cueman! I guess I'll just have to submit another half dozen posts then! And you're right, I don't have my own corner of t'internet for storing stuff.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally Posted by philip in china View Post
                  I think I would be looking for a full refund and him to remove the table.

                  By all means see him in court. I can't see that you have anything to lose.
                  Surprised if they go to court as the publicity not good, especially if they loose.

                  The fact that their name is on this forum will come up on the internet against their name in search engines!
                  Snooker Crazy - Cues and Equipment Sales Website
                  Snooker Crazy - Facebook Page
                  Snooker Crazy - You Tube Channel

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I use tinypic.com for posting photos. It works fine and you don't need to have an account. Believe me, if I can make it work, anybody can!
                    王可

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                    • #11
                      It is a shame that an old name in the game has come to this, I assume that the name has passed onto these people or they bought the rights of the name.

                      Write everything down in chronological order, attached all correspondence, phone calls, and orders/receipts, etc., while it is all fresh.

                      hope you have a satisfactory outcome and end up with a beautiful table you can play many hours of cue sports on
                      and yes, photos
                      Up the TSF! :snooker:

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally Posted by DeanH View Post
                        It is a shame that an old name in the game has come to this, I assume that the name has passed onto these people or they bought the rights of the name.

                        Write everything down in chronological order, attached all correspondence, phone calls, and orders/receipts, etc., while it is all fresh.

                        hope you have a satisfactory outcome and end up with a beautiful table you can play many hours of cue sports on
                        and yes, photos
                        John Bennett must be rolling in his grave.
                        My favourite players: Walter Lindrum (AUS), Neil Robertson (AUS), Eddie Charlton (AUS), Robby Foldvari (AUS), Vinnie Calabrese (AUS), Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry, Alex Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Dominic Dale and Barry Hawkins.
                        I dream of a 147 (but would be happy with a 100)

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally Posted by mythman69 View Post
                          John Bennett must be rolling in his grave.
                          hmm, the old tables had a good reputation, would be good if Geoff came on with some experiences
                          Up the TSF! :snooker:

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Gents,

                            Thank you for all your words of encouragement. The slates and cushions are from an old Aristocrat so from that point of view the table plays well. Of course I'm disappointed that the finishing is so poor but the main thing to pass on to everyone in the snooker world is how aggressive and unreasonable these poeple are if you cross them. Also just to give you some idea of how Mr Hudson treats his clients, I asked him to take his shoes off when walking on my brand new carpet....it was a wet day when he came. He did so grudgingly but when he thought I wasn't watching he kept them on!
                            I then had a nice muddy mark to clean up.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally Posted by DavidStewart View Post
                              Hi Bolton-Cueman,

                              I'm a techno-biff but will try and post some photos of Mr Hudson's artwork shortly!

                              Thanks Philip-in-China,

                              I certainly wish I'd never got involved with John Bennett Billiards. When I have the table reclothed I'll sort out all the niggles myself....having been to court twice - and won on both occasions, I can tell you that even if you win you don't necessarily get the outcome you deserve!
                              David,

                              Just get World Snooker to do the recover. I use them all time for my Star. The same fitters that set up the tables on the Pro tour will sort your table out, they are nice guys too.
                              JP Majestic
                              3/4
                              57"
                              17oz
                              9.5mm Elk

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