Not sure exactly which houses he is talking about, but I bowl in one of them on the Sunday league, and he isn't stretching the story at all. I understand playing the shot given you, but this house doesn't always give you one.
Yes, they bought a decent machine, but it can/has malfunction(ed) at times, and nobody there knows what to do about it. It is a smallish rural area, and the nearest tech is 80-100 miles away.
I don't expect the shot to be exactly the same, but when you have to throw your weakest ball one week and have trouble keeping it on the correct side of the headpin, then come back the next week only to find that the strongest ball you have will not find a breakpoint ANYWHERE is a bit extreme, don't you think? One week you have a big o.b., the next week the outside ten boards are FLYING and you couldn't throw it in the gutter if you tried to.
One week, they will oil an hour before league, the next week they will still be running them right up until the practice session starts.
I don't think he is asking for a carbon copy shot from week to week, but a little consistency isn't too much to ask, is it?