They kicked out the shop that my driller had for 20+ years.  Even worse, it was a very high-volume pro shop as well.  But Bowlmor/AMF gave her an insane increase of $20k/month in rent and she basically told them to go do something to themselves.

Since that point, she moved her shop to an independent bowling center only a few miles away that still does high-volume.  Word of mouth reputation helps and she kept almost all customers with the move.

There were plenty of choice words.  Even worse for Bowlmor/AMF, this is a 60 lane house that has been featured over the years in several PBA tournaments shown on TV.  On top of that, they were trying to keep machinery and inventory that she purchased without funds used by Bowlmor/AMF.  Needless to say, she cleaned house with the shop at the end of that month and relocated to a smaller 36 lane place only about 2-3 miles away that sees its share of tournaments locally and isn't having those problems anymore.

The people that replaced her shop are a complete joke.  They're now using a junior coach who I actually heard say "Umm...this will work really well."  When questioned on cover, and the technical stuff, the coach had absolutely no clue and was just trying to sell a ball.  Sad thing is that I actually talked to the person when the guy left the counter and went over everything and steered them to the person that drills my stuff at the new shop. 

Big difference from someone who would take you on the lanes, see your game, give you 2 or 3 recommendations based on what was seen, specific layout information, and then watch to see if any adjustments needed to be made with a weight hole or surface.  And they wonder why there was a huge exodus of customers that went to the smaller 36 lane place.  Word of mouth and a good reputation go a long way.

Quote from: tommyboy74 on October 31, 2014, 03:26:02 PM

There were plenty of choice words.  Even worse for Bowlmor/AMF, this is a 60 lane house that has been featured over the years in several PBA tournaments shown on TV.  On top of that, they were trying to keep machinery and inventory that she purchased without funds used by Bowlmor/AMF.  Needless to say, she cleaned house with the shop at the end of that month and relocated to a smaller 36 lane place only about 2-3 miles away that sees its share of tournaments locally and isn't having those problems anymore.

The people that replaced her shop are a complete joke.  They're now using a junior coach who I actually heard say "Umm...this will work really well."  When questioned on cover, and the technical stuff, the coach had absolutely no clue and was just trying to sell a ball.  Sad thing is that I actually talked to the person when the guy left the counter and went over everything and steered them to the person that drills my stuff at the new shop. 

Big difference from someone who would take you on the lanes, see your game, give you 2 or 3 recommendations based on what was seen, specific layout information, and then watch to see if any adjustments needed to be made with a weight hole or surface.  And they wonder why there was a huge exodus of customers that went to the smaller 36 lane place.  Word of mouth and a good reputation go a long way.

This wouldn't happen to be in the Buffalo, NY area, would it?

BL.

Quote from: tommyboy74 on October 31, 2014, 02:17:49 PM

They kicked out the shop that my driller had for 20+ years.  Even worse, it was a very high-volume pro shop as well.  But Bowlmor/AMF gave her an insane increase of $20k/month in rent and she basically told them to go do something to themselves.

Since that point, she moved her shop to an independent bowling center only a few miles away that still does high-volume.  Word of mouth reputation helps and she kept almost all customers with the move.

$20k in rent? I would've given who ever told me that a bag of dildos and some choice words.

That would be AMF Airport, which replaced the prior independent shop with National Bowling Store.  That place does have a good staff, including Ryan Ciminelli.  AMF Thruway is where Sue had her shop which moved to Broadway Sports Center.