I'm just curious of the OP and Bradl reasoning for believing there are no qualified PSO in the Sacramento area? What are you basing this on?
I didn't say that they weren't qualified. There are quite a few here that are qualified. Strike Zone inside Fireside Lanes is a great example of that, as the owner there was a protoge of Gary and Leanne Hulsenberg.
A lot of the issue for me isn't just selection, but the way business is done in the area. Pro shops here have become so small that the first thing you have to do when you buy a new ball is to pay them up front for it, then they order the ball in from the distributor.
Everywhere I have lived except for this area, the PSO has the equipment in stock, so you can walk out the door with it. Why not here, outside of the issue of space?
If you were going to have a BBQ, do you go to the store, look at a picture or two of the burger meat, hot dogs, chicken, steaks, veggies, etc., and when you buy it, they tell you they will order them in so you can get it in a week's time?
No. You walk out of the store with it so you can prep it and get it ready to go down on the grill!
Every PSO I have been to in every place I have lived has been that way. They have the ball in stock, they punch it up, and you're out the door with it. Only when they run out of stock do they have to order it for you. Here, you pay for it, then they order it, maybe get it in in 4 - 5 days, then you have to go back to the pro shop to get it. Flaky model, where the customer has a week's worth of time to deal with buyer's remorse, and can back out of the sale.
Second, I've been burned by a few PSOs here who have got my layouts completely wrong. Pitch wrong. measurements wrong. Span wrong. And when I gave him another shot, plus punched up that same ball (different layout) from the PSO I went to in Las Vegas, he became a total ass, bitched me out for going to "competition", and said that what I did was a thug act.
I got my money back, and never went to him again.
And seeing that there aren't that many PSOs in this town, customer retention is the name of the game, and he lost it. And to make it worse, that got around, and there is no better advertising than word-of-mouth. Needless to say, he closed up shop and moved out of town.
There are some that work hard for it, and some that don't. But the biggest quality that a bowler looks for in a pro shop is trust and honesty. I've known my guys in Vegas for 20 years, and Sue for just under 25. And while I can take chances with local people and maybe get a good or bad experience, I know what I will get from those I trust. Plus again, that business model.. ugh.
BL.
