BallReviews
Equipment Boards => 900 Global => Topic started by: Bowlaholic on August 06, 2015, 12:35:47 PM
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Went to my ball rack in my climate controlled room this a.m. to retrieve my Black Eagle & Black Eagle Pearl for a little practice. Both were completely cracked around the ball. This is the third Black Eagle that has cracked this way for me and the first Eagle Pearl for a total of FOUR!. I bought the first Black Eagle three years ago while visiting in San Antonio. Liked the ball so much I bought two more when I got home and then the Pearl just before it was discontinued.
Needless to say I am so done with 900 Global balls. Four balls in three years is to much and to expensive for my wallet. I don't care if Storm has bought an interest in 900G or completely owns them. It won't convince me to ever buy 900G/AMF again. NOTE: I busted the Black Eagle apart..... the thickness of the coverstock varied from 1/4" to 1/2". Great quality control! Sorry for the rant, but two balls on the same day was a little to much. I'm going to go lay down now and hope this was all a dream.
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I've gone through multiple 900 Global and AMF equipment that have cracked. More than I want to say. That's why even though there customer service is great, I will never throw there stuff again.
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From the subject title, I thought this was going to be a nudist camp joke.
Sorry to see it is nothing funny. Losing balls due to cracking can be a painful experience especially if it was a favorite. I've had several crack on me, some in the bowling center locker (climate controlled), some sitting around at home and one in the bag. Haven't had one crack in several years since I started storing balls in the plastic bags.
Did you try contacting 900 Global and see if they will provide some type of warranty? The last ball I had that cracked, I contacted the manufacturer and because the ball was over five years old, they offered me a replacement for 50%.
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Most cases its from bowler neglect but it reads to not be the case.
My last amf ball was a Hawk. Had 6 games at most and the same thing happened. Climate controlled room, sitting on the floor, huge crack all the way around. Ball was maybe 4 months old. Bought on closeout
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I have not noticed 900 Global stuff being any more prone to cracking than other brands.
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I've owned 3 balls from Global and all three have cracked. Their new line up gets good reviews, but I just can't bring myself to purchase another. The first was replaced (~30 games), but they wouldn't replace the replacement (~15 games) since it was no longer available but did offer me a discount on something still available. I chose not to take them up on the offer. If I drilled my own stuff I probably would have, but didn't feel like risking another $60 for drilling. When the third cracked (just out of warranty, didn't contact them for the above reason) I just gave on them personally. Their customer service seems solid and plenty of other people haven't had problems, but just can't justify trying them again anytime soon.
Kidlost - what "bowler neglect" would lead to cracking? I've heard of too much glue on the inserts, dull bits or drilling too fast/hot, but am not aware of bowler neglect causing cracking. Balls that are never cleaned or de-oiled might lose a lot of performance, but I've never heard of neglect causing cracking.
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All of the stuff I've had from 900 Global and AMF have cracked except my Break Out (awesome ball) and a pink/black hook. The other 10 or so I was not lucky with. Even the replacements. They have great customer service. Their's are the only ones that I've had crack on me. For what it's worth.
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I've only had 2 crack out of many, and it was totally for good reasons. I don't use grips, and haven't had a problem.
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I've owned 3 balls from Global and all three have cracked. Their new line up gets good reviews, but I just can't bring myself to purchase another. The first was replaced (~30 games), but they wouldn't replace the replacement (~15 games) since it was no longer available but did offer me a discount on something still available. I chose not to take them up on the offer. If I drilled my own stuff I probably would have, but didn't feel like risking another $60 for drilling. When the third cracked (just out of warranty, didn't contact them for the above reason) I just gave on them personally. Their customer service seems solid and plenty of other people haven't had problems, but just can't justify trying them again anytime soon.
Kidlost - what "bowler neglect" would lead to cracking? I've heard of too much glue on the inserts, dull bits or drilling too fast/hot, but am not aware of bowler neglect causing cracking. Balls that are never cleaned or de-oiled might lose a lot of performance, but I've never heard of neglect causing cracking.
People typically leave them in extreme conditions that tend to cause expanding and contrasting.
Insert glue is a good possibility along with not beveling holes. Typically it's weather.
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My stuff stays in the pro shop, and I lost 2 global balls to cracking earlier this year. I had a nib black eagle that I drilled, but 6 games on it. Cracked from the ring finger to the balance hole. The other was a Respect. The bridge cracked to the pin. All of my Storm and Motiv stuff has been fine.
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I haven't purchased any of the newer (couple years) 900Global balls, but of the 8 that I did, all of them cracked except for 2 Hooks (blue/blue and orange/blue). All of the heavier balls cracked clear around the ball, fingers to thumb. That's about a $1000 worth of equipment being thrown in the trash. BUT, I don't have a controlled climate environment either. All my balls are kept a cabinet in my enclosed garage that can get pretty hot due to tropical climates. I also had a couple of Roto balls crack as well.
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MY UpRoar just cracked and the very next day my Tag too :( I loved those 2
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MY UpRoar just cracked and the very next day my Tag too :( I loved those 2
Yeap only 3 4 games my tag cracked on the lane. Threw that garbage away.
Hearing people balls crack sitting at home makes me scared. I never had a ball crack before except the motiv tag. Hearing 900 global balls cracking left n right from these comments making me not want to pull the button on a 900 global black ops now.
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Funny you should mention pulling the trigger on the Black Ops. I was going to do the same thing because it is basically a newer version of the Black Eagle. After today I do not want anything to do with 900G/AMF. I cannot afford to keep throwing good money down the drain.
I also was surprised to hear someone mention a Motiv ball (Tag) cracking. This is the first time I have heard this. I have two Sigma Tours, Sigma Sting, Venom Strike, Venom Toxin, Raptor Talon sitting in the same climate controlled room and they are all good to go.
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After these post, I'll hold off on owning my first 900.
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I am really enjoying this post.But,I have a question.WHEN MY NUTS CRACKED I caught hell for days.Only because I asked if it could be replaced.I would love to have a Black Ops and Breakdown.But after that bashing I took Think I,ll pass too.By the way where is Thomas he always seems to have an explanation.Or did he get canned after the merger.
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MY UpRoar just cracked and the very next day my Tag too :( I loved those 2
Yeap only 3 4 games my tag cracked on the lane. Threw that garbage away.
Hearing people balls crack sitting at home makes me scared. I never had a ball crack before except the motiv tag. Hearing 900 global balls cracking left n right from these comments making me not want to pull the button on a 900 global black ops now.
Did you get ur Tag right away when it came out? because I got mine just a couple of days after it was released, maybe the batch?
On the other hand, so many 900 global balls cracked, rethinking on getting the boo-yah! i dont care how it rolls, should be good enough for spare lol
1. urethane 2. hell of a good name!
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MY UpRoar just cracked and the very next day my Tag too :( I loved those 2
Yeap only 3 4 games my tag cracked on the lane. Threw that garbage away.
Hearing people balls crack sitting at home makes me scared. I never had a ball crack before except the motiv tag. Hearing 900 global balls cracking left n right from these comments making me not want to pull the button on a 900 global black ops now.
Did you get ur Tag right away when it came out? because I got mine just a couple of days after it was released, maybe the batch?
On the other hand, so many 900 global balls cracked, rethinking on getting the boo-yah! i dont care how it rolls, should be good enough for spare lol
1. urethane 2. hell of a good name!
Yea got it the couple days after it came out.
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^^^^^^
Did you contact 900 to get it replaced?
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^^^^^^
Did you contact 900 to get it replaced?
No mine was a motiv tag.
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I use every brand of bowling ball and go through a lot of equipment. I don't recall ever having a ball from 900 Global crack, but apparently I am fortunate. I live in Virginia, and I leave my current (active) stuff in the car all the time, except for the coldest of winter. I recently had a Storm IQ Tour Solid crack on me. Got back from Nationals, and went to bowl. Opened my bag and at it was cracked all the way around. Could have happened on the airplane, I am not sure of that. Before that was a Radical REAX, that was plugged, and it appears to me that the plug was the root cause. I am currently using the Chemical X with very good success, and would hate to have it crack on me.
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I have had many global/amf balls with no casualties. Incinerate, incinerate pearl , mamba hybrid, darkness, OMG pearl, protocol, network, respect, moxie, the look and dirty look, sure thing. I live in Chicago so we have extreme weather, hot summers and cold winters. I have all my stuff in the basement on my ball rack. All I do is rotate all my stuff a quarter turn every month and have never had a problem. I also don't use grips or slugs so not sure if that also helps.
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Every bowling ball company I have ever thrown has had a ball crack on me. Unfortunately it does happen. But when looking at bowling balls that crack, it is only about 2-5% of all balls made. The problem is the 2-5% are the most vocal. Bowling balls never ever fully cure. So leaving them in even a climate controlled room, can eventually cause a ball to crack. Think of a bowling ball as concrete. Why does concrete crack? It is because it is never fully cured and is constantly expanding and contracting. As long as customer service is good, I will keep drilling those company's balls. Also think about cars. Every time you see a certain one broken down on the road, do you automatically not buy that company's car?
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The OP had 3 balls crack on him. I'm thinking if you bought 3 cars from a certain manufacturer and they well all lemons, you wouldn't buy from that car company again, regardless of the warranty or customer service.
Too bad there isn't a lemon law for bowling balls, where companies had to list the number of defective products, per products produced. Then we could really tell if certain manufacturers have legitimate problems with their product.
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Here is a post of mine from 2010.
{For starters, all of my balls are kept in the house. I have a rack that holds 30 balls. That said, a couple of weeks ago I noticed that 4 of my balls cracked. BPP, S75, BP, and Seismic Aftermath. This is my 2nd BPP to crack and I also had the original bounty to crack. I have just about every manufactures ball on the rack and none of the others cracked. The part that hurts is that all of these balls had less than 15 games on them. I talked to Dale and sent pictures. He said to tell my pro shop to bevel the edges of the finger holes like they were not going to install grips this relieves the pressure in the area around the hole and greatly reduces bridge and fissure cracking. My pro shop guy was kind of insulted because he said he had quite a few Global balls crack also. Something is wrong here, I purchase multiple balls a year and this is the only company that I have cracking problems with. Dale sent me 1 new ball but I am still out of $600.00. If anyone else has this problem please chime in.
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I could post pictures of all of my non cracked 900 global balls. There are numerous reasons for cracked bowling ball. Sitting for too long, holes not properly beveled, drilling too close to the pin, grips, or glue. I do apologize for the problems you have had. Hopefully one day you will want to drill another 900 global ball. If I can be of any assistance, please let me know.
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Curt,
As a 900G staff member I would be expect you to defend your company, That's why your a staffer and that's fine. You mention numerous things that can cause cracking which I have knowledge of and agree are possible causes. However, the majority (95%+) of my balls (900G/AMF, Storm/Roto Grip, Motiv, Radical, Brunswick, Ebonite, Track, and Columbia) regardless of manufacturer are drilled by the same person, who bevels the holes, glues the grip the same way each time, etc. And the only balls that have cracked all the way around have been the 900G sitting on the same rack in the same climate controlled room. (To be completely honest, my wife's old Scout did crack, but it was left in our hot garage).
You did not comment on the varied thickness of the Black Eagle cover stock of 1/4" to 1/2" that I discovered when I busted the Eagle apart. I busted my wife's Scout apart today and the cover stock is uniform in thickness around the complete ball.
The Black Eagle's are 2012 balls and I have read many forum posts back and since, that addressed the quality from the San Antonio plant.
All I know is I lost three Black Eagles and one Black Eagle Pearl which was a 2013 ball to "full" cracking and none of the others from all the manufactures mentioned have cracked. I'm not looking for a replacement or a pro-rated discount, as the balls are completely out of warranty. I just wanted to express my experience to my fellow bowlers on this forum and let them decide for themselves regarding use of 900G/AMF equipment.
At $200+ a ball, I cannot take any more chances with 900G/AMF, with the hope I will not experience the same result again. I'll have to take my chances elsewhere.
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+1 for Bowlaholic's post... With the current price of balls, I really appreciate that he's warning the rest of us. We'll all make our decisions based on feedback re: quality... That is as it should be and is standard practice in today's world. I'd much rather have what I feel is honest feedback from a non-staffer rather than buy a ball with low QA, have it crack, and then have someone pop up with "oh yeah, I knew that... me too". We all live or die on our reputations. Quality is an important consideration in products at this price point.
Much appreciated Bowl!
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Thank you Lefty50 for you comments.
Please understand I'm not on here to bash 900G/AMF as some have stated they have had good experience with their product. Perhaps I'm an unlucky person, but based on the majority of the posted comments it appears others have had similar results.
Hopefully, the new balls from 900G/AMF are better quality than past years and are a good buy. Going forward I sincerely hope so.
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I actually had a thread about this a long time ago. I bought into what Eric told me about how they have tested equipment with thicker shells vs thinner shells and there wasn't an issue. Even though I've had luck with their customer service I would say having drilled the first ones then getting replacements if the cracked cost me drilling twice for each one. I finally gave up on their product. TJ was very helpful as well when I've had issues with cracking. It's always the same song and dance when people start up about taking care of their equipment. I was going to the same driller for over twenty years and he's drilled up 100's of my equipment and the only ones that have cracked have been 900 Global / AMF. All were taken care of and in a controlled environment along with rotating them out to use as well as moving them 1/4 around on the ball racks I have at home. I will take the blame for going back and buying their equipment and paying multiple times to drill after replacement. But I had enough. Everyone has a right to their own views and opinions which makes this country great and evil at the same time. I do agree that people should be aware of issues with equipment. It just seems that the people who decide to let other know on a bowling website always get flamed by others. It's the nature of the beast.
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ive had over 50 balls and only 2 have cracked, my frantic and my black eagle pearl. i mostly throw motiv and amf and have had no issues with those balls so far.
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Fellow Forum Contributors:
In a previous post I stated only my four 900G Black Eagles & my wife's old Scout have cracked. When I read jumba98's post I remembered that I did have a Storm Tropical Heat Orange/Purple Pearl also crack this past year.
I apologize for this omit. I want to keep the record correct.
Bowlaholic
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In the last 3 years I have had all theses bowling balls crack on me. Storm marvel pearl (x2), storm iq tour, radical yeti untamed, radical yeti unleashed, Brunswick strike king, radical reaxx version 2 pearl and currently my ebionite code of honor is in the process of cracking and I have no idea why. I keep my equipment next to my dads and he has only ever had one ball crack on him (lt48 .
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had two lx16 track balls drilled & both have cracked between finger holes. anyone else have this problem?
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I believe the OP means about cracking is not the bridge but MAJOR cracking as in starting from the outside of the finger holes or thumb hole and traveling around the ball.
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I realize that . I was asking a specific question .
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I have had both happen. Majority started cracking between the bridge of the fingers but I have had two that have cracked no where near a hole. My iq cracked about 3-4 inches right of my finger, not near a pin or weight hole. My code of honor is by the fingers but is actually cracking around the lettering on the ball
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ive been a ball whore for most my bowlimg carrer havenowned hundreds of boqling balls from all maufactureres. THEY ALL CRACK! Not one any more than another. It is all a matter of luck and sometimes factories have bad batches. just in last year i have had a hammer crack after 3 games opened up my closet had two brunswick one radical and one storm not survive the summer rest in bottom of my closet in bowling bags climate controlled. it happens. most companies will replace if that happens no prob unless it old or obvious bad drilling issue. i have owned a ton of 900 hundred global and amf since they lanched and have had not much of anything crack from them.
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I have too many balls!
I can't keep them in the house! Garages across most of the United States are pretty hot.
I have had a bunch of balls crack over the last couple of years. Disagreeing with many above the majority have been 900 Global or AMF. But not exclusively.
The rarest for me are Brunswick Ebonite and Storm in that order!
An article/post out here one time said that cores made in San Antonio were poured in a facility that was quite humid sort of curing for a long time. The theory was they continued curing even after shipping leading to a lot of forces in a multi material ball that lead to cracking. You can find it if you want.
I have a good friend that has a pro shop that is temperature controlled and has a bunch of balls that are often on a large wall rack in a small not so air flow oriented drilling room. I believe he gets about 3 cracks out of 50 or 60 balls a month!
Others say the key is turning balls ocassionally to prevent cracking!
Regardless, this year I have had a banner year in very few cracks!
Here are the two steps I have taken that have changed things.
1. I now run an oscillating fan at a medium high setting that sweeps most of my balls, that I try to make sure are available to receive a bit of air flow. Boxes on top are no no...Cloth bags are OK however.
2. My wife likes to park her very high heat running car in the garage. (Guys you get it!, it's not just for our bowling balls!). I noted many of my cracks were near her right front wheel well. Solution( I took an old box(I think for a large screen TV). and I have it ready to go over her wheel well and prevent the heat from hitting the fan relieved pile of balls!
Voila! This summer one day we had two thin shelled Columbias(a blur included plugged also) crack one day when she put the cardboard down askew! Please don't read this honey! The heat cracked seeping under the cardboard barrier cracked them within two hours! Otherwise not a cracked ball since I implemented the two steps above!
That is it! So far. This summer. Based on where I live this is very good. In the winter I get permission I get permission to bring in my AMFs and Columbias on unusually cold days!
Maybe these ideas will work for you!
Regards,
Luckylefty
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Curt,
As a 900G staff member I would be expect you to defend your company, That's why your a staffer and that's fine. You mention numerous things that can cause cracking which I have knowledge of and agree are possible causes. However, the majority (95%+) of my balls (900G/AMF, Storm/Roto Grip, Motiv, Radical, Brunswick, Ebonite, Track, and Columbia) regardless of manufacturer are drilled by the same person, who bevels the holes, glues the grip the same way each time, etc. And the only balls that have cracked all the way around have been the 900G sitting on the same rack in the same climate controlled room. (To be completely honest, my wife's old Scout did crack, but it was left in our hot garage).
You did not comment on the varied thickness of the Black Eagle cover stock of 1/4" to 1/2" that I discovered when I busted the Eagle apart. I busted my wife's Scout apart today and the cover stock is uniform in thickness around the complete ball.
The Black Eagle's are 2012 balls and I have read many forum posts back and since, that addressed the quality from the San Antonio plant.
All I know is I lost three Black Eagles and one Black Eagle Pearl which was a 2013 ball to "full" cracking and none of the others from all the manufactures mentioned have cracked. I'm not looking for a replacement or a pro-rated discount, as the balls are completely out of warranty. I just wanted to express my experience to my fellow bowlers on this forum and let them decide for themselves regarding use of 900G/AMF equipment.
At $200+ a ball, I cannot take any more chances with 900G/AMF, with the hope I will not experience the same result again. I'll have to take my chances elsewhere.
I never knock what people are saying, but we are talking about bowling balls from 2012. Yes their may have been an issue back then, I can't comment on it as I was not with the company then. But I can say any ball that has been made starting last year, I have not had a problem with at all. I know how expensive bowling balls are. I may get them as I am a staffer, but of course it wasn't always that way. I believe our quality control on our stuff is very good. I haven't heard any problems with our new stuff. I do apologize for having a bad experience with the Black Eagle. If there is anything you have questions about, please let me know. Once again I do apologize to everyone for their problems with the Eagle line cracking.
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thanks for your comment.
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Curt,
Thank You for your sincere reply. Much Appreciated.
Regards,
Bowlaholic
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Ironic timing as I just looked on my ball rack and saw my red and yellow Hook! cracked completely around it, from finger hole to finger hole. I feel the frustration, as this was a great medium/dry lane ball for me. I don't know that I've had more 900 Global balls crack than any other company, but I agree, try as hard as we might, this just happens, I had just thrown this ball twice within the last month also, so it's not like it had been sitting for a long time with no use.
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I agree that, unfortunately, any ball from any company can crack. Every ball that has cracked on me has been on a shelf at room temperature, or in my bag at room temperature.
There are currently 5 balls on the pro shop floor that are cracked (coincidentally from the same manufacturer). My experience is that most companies are willing to work with you within the warranty period with little, if any, hassle.
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I notice everyone thinks balls cracking is ok.Well they don't riemburse you for the drilling cost.So your 200$ ball becomes 260$.I have had a few balls crack myself.They replaced them.Lucky for me I have my own drill.But for the ones that don't it sucks.I think they ought to include a voucher to get repayed for drilling.Ball companies design the balls to not last long.Thats how they survive. Coming out with new balls every 3 months.If balls lasted like plastic balls they would be out of business.Some day people will wakeup and smell the coffee.Ball technology has topped out.look at how many just keep using same cores and just change colors.Its like one big ponzi scheme.Looks like the only ones making money are ball companies two centers in my town are barely surviving and are for sale.
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I've had multiple AMF/900G balls over the past 5 years. I've not (knocking on wood) seen the full circumference crack. Had a Green Mamba bridge crack after sitting thisbspring in my basement. Had a black eagle bridge crack after a few frames. Have had the thumb on my Polar Ice crack 3X now...starting to become more plug than plastic...lol.
My worst one was a Lane #1 Typhoon. Tapping in the thumb slug and the thumb pos. quadrant completely flaked off!
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I notice everyone thinks balls cracking is ok.Well they don't riemburse you for the drilling cost.So your 200$ ball becomes 260$.I have had a few balls crack myself.They replaced them.Lucky for me I have my own drill.But for the ones that don't it sucks.I think they ought to include a voucher to get repayed for drilling.Ball companies design the balls to not last long.Thats how they survive. Coming out with new balls every 3 months.If balls lasted like plastic balls they would be out of business.Some day people will wakeup and smell the coffee.Ball technology has topped out.look at how many just keep using same cores and just change colors.Its like one big ponzi scheme.Looks like the only ones making money are ball companies two centers in my town are barely surviving and are for sale.
This is why in my opinion it is always better to go through the pro shop to order balls. Mccorvey's bowling world has a 2 year warranty on any ball purchased and drilled through their shops. If the ball cracks within the warranty period, it is replaced for free. I think if you buy the ball from any pro shop, the driller should drill for free if the ball cracks within warranty.
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Curt,
As a former pro shop owner, I disagree with a portion of your statement or maybe you can clarify your statement. I do not agree that the pro shop should throw in grips and a slug for free when drilling a replacement ball for one that cracked. Why should a shop lose money because of what is probably a manufacturing flaw that the shop had nothing to do with?
I have no issue with the shop drilling a replacement ball for free. I did that as well. But I did charge cost for the grips and/or slug on a replacement ball.
Thoughts?
3835
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Wowzers!
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The markup on grips and slugs is out of this world. I would take the "hit" to keep a customer happy and coming back.
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Doom,
That's why I said cost and not retail price. Not trying to make money, just cover costs.
3835
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That's fair.
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But then customers know our costs. And I believe I was reemed over coals for talking costs up here last season. So which is it? Tell the customer cost and let them know the mark up, or not?