At a house I bowled at this weekend, 2 of my balls suffered damage that cannot be repaired.  Apparently a belt came loose in the front ball return which kept spinning my ball putting very nice grooves in it all around the ball.  After speaking with the person at the desk, I was moved to another pair of lanes.  On this lane, a different ball got stuck in the back and it suffered several gouges in the cover.  Again I talked with the front desk and asked for the managers name and number.  The front desk pointed to a sign that stated, "Not responsible for damaged balls."  

My thinking is the bowling alley should bear some of the responsibility to maintain their equipment so that stuff like this doesn't happen.  

So should I take this further or chalk it up to bad luck and a good reason to order 2 new bowling balls?
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Solid 7 Pin??  299 Game??!! WTF  

You are not at fault for anything.  The center should take full responsibility being it was their equipment that did the damage.  I can't see why a center would do that.  Basically, it sounds like they know they have that problem but instead of fixing it, they just take the easy road and put a sign out saying it isn't their problem for damage caused to bowling equipment.  Sounds like they want to go out of business since they have no pride in it.  Sorry you had to go through all that.
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Steven Vance
Atlanta (Buford), GA
Pro Shop Operator
Advanced Bowling Solutions

If anyone out there is worried about the scores being too high, try duckpin!!

Talk to any laywer, they will tell you that even with a sign that the center has to take full responsibility for damage. I went through something like this a while back with 3 different balls that got chunked, when threatening with a lawsuit they replaced the equipment.
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stanski

I too have to use a military base house. My ball was bad enough they had to drill and plug to fix it. It took a few "nasty looks", and a call to the post SGM, who I knew at the time ( I/m an old retired fart ), I had to leave it, but it was fixed within 4 days, not to bad for, as you say, pro shop only open now and then.

Good Luck and remember, MWR is NOT a monster, even they scare when approached right.
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AZ Guy aka: R & L Bowlers Pro
rlbowlerspro@cox.net
www.rlbowlerspro.com

Sleep is over rated.

for the price we pay for good equipment (pro shop), and drilling (pro shop), and the crazy prices of some open bowling (center), the center should be getting enough profit to absorb the cost of getting a ball resurfaced, or if needed, a replacement at cost from the pro shop distributor.

if i was running a business, with the relative low price of a bowling game, i would want as many return customers as possible. doing things the "at your own risk" way is not the way to get serious bowlers to recommend your house.

if you really want to hit them where it counts most, after your efforts to get a replacement/resurface have failed, call the district manager and tell him why you and your buddies are not bowling at center X anymore, things will turn around fast.
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USBC Sanctioned Bowler
Average: 211

My Arsenal (Complete)

Brunsrich,
 If your trick of talking to the CSM of the post doesn't work I'd try the officer in charge of MWR--usually a full colonel. If that doesn't work,you can always try the Base Commandant's office. A friend of mine had a similar experience,went to the COmmandant,and got a new ball.
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Chris
 Lane#1--nothing else hits like 'em.