About admin

My name is Paul Hart and I have been working in the billiards industry since 1988. I started at Olhausen in the factory installing pearl sites, featherstrips and boxing the rails. After working in the shop for a few months I then started in the service dept. Over the years I've worked for Connelly and a local Olhausen dealer as well in AZ. Back in San Diego and a couple more years at Olhausen it is time for me to create my own company. so in 2001 American Billiard Service was started!!

You get what you pay for…….

It seems you just can’t get away from bad service? We get rid of (Or so I thought) one bad tech in SD only to have another move in from Texas. When you hire a service like billiard repair or billiard moving, your winning choice should entail when and how much but these should not be the deciding factors. Yes there are cheaper services than us…KEY word “CHEAPER”. Yes there are services that can come out today…only because they are chasing the jobs and probably weren’t working anyhow. What you really should be asking is: “Am I going to need to call you for anything after you are done?”….our answer….only if you need to schedule another service! In other words, we don’t have callbacks, ie. problems with our set ups or materials. In the last 12 years since starting ABS I can only recall one callback! And it was not like the table was loose or unlevel… I simple forgot to staple a pocket. But if for any reason there is a problem, we will come out and rectify it ASAP no charge! I have not worked 25 years in  San Diego and remained here by having problems. So beware of companies from other counties and that have just moved to San Diego for a “Fresh start”. This usually means they have destroyed many tables and their reputation in there original town. So beware the guy on the phone who tells you all the things you want to hear, promises they often can’t deliver on. We do not tell you “what you want to hear”, we give you honest straight answers. Here is what are customers have to say about it. www.Ikarma.com/user/A_B_S an independent review site. Unlike YELP (ABS has 20+ positive reviews on yelp. All but 1 are filtered? To keep it real?) this site (Ikarma) does not remove ANY reviews.

Honesty in todays economy.

It’s really all you have left. If you aren’t honest with all you do you will not survive (the market)! Or maybe you will through BS, but is it right? You may think it is as long as you make money I guess? It seems talk is really cheap these days. With the internet anyone can say or promote things that just aren’t true or they don’t back. And yet if it is on your computer it must be!? We all know the term “Walk the Talk” right. Well my challenge is for all my competitors who claim knowledge and “warranty” of the pool tables they service to BACK THAT !! Plain and simple. You say you will come back as many times to fix any mistakes,  yet you won’t make one trip out to remove a staple under the cloth??? That is not a warranty!

The BCA show was desolate this year. I assume that either most vendors have gone under or simply can’t afford the costs (why we only drive to the Vegas show every other year, my only vaca time). But again, Honesty is the key to being successful in the business. I talked with a handful of people there from service companies like us to retailers and suppliers and the one thing I was looking for was honesty. Tell me the economy has you down and show me you want business by adjusting prices to help us out in dropping ours. It is tuff right now for all, we have dropped our prices to special “summer” prices. I hear through the “grapevine” other seem to raise theirs to compensate for lost work? This is not honesty……………

Bloggers on this site……Feedback is wanted!

Hi Paul here. If you were wondering what the site is for……..Well it was a test at first. I had an extra domain name and pointed it to my main site American Billiard Service and decided to make it a blog instead. Now after a year or so I see I have 30 + subscribers. And quite a few spammers I have booted! He-he!!

Speaking of being BOOTED. You may be sent an email asking why you signed up, if no answer is returned………Bye Bye!

So I was wondering why did you all sign up for?

What would you like to see here?

Why don’t the people with power to post do so? (Anyone signed up before Jan 2009)

Does anyone without the power to post want to?

And where are all these weird email addresses from???

Give me feedback PLEASE!!!                            ABS8@sbcglobal.net

Bumpers the rebound relationship.

I spoke on bumpers before when Family Billiards closed and we saw some of our competitions work. As I stated before, This is not an easy process and should NOT be done in the field (On the job). Here are a few reasons why. Rushed leads to mistakes, rails and players don’t tolerate these. Poor glue doesn’t work !!

These pictures are from FBC as I was taking the tables down.

Bad facing.

Loose rail.

Boasting about bad work?

End of an Era…….Family Billiards closes it’s doors for the last time.

                It is official. Family Billiards of Oceanside is CLOSED! As of 4/29 it is no more. Buddy and his family are all ok,  as is Matt and the rest of the staff. The problem is the mall owner getting greedy in tough times. Shame to see years of hard work to build a reputable business gone in an instant, due to one persons greed. So Buddy can now retire I suppose………

The tables have been disassembled and move to a warehouse in San Marcos for sale. If you are interested in buying a piece of the history here, contact Gary at 760-497-5531. The tables ALL need new cloth and most need new bumpers also. But otherwise it is a great deal for a classic pool hall table, the 9′ Brunswick Gold Crown III.

Touching on the bumper issue for a moment. I’d like to explain how this is not a proccess to be done on-site by ANY tech ! First you strip the rails as normal, but then you must remove old rubber. Which in some cases is so solid you need special tools to remove, not to mention the powdery dust it turns into and gets all over. Then you must prep the rail face for new rubber, best done on sander of some style. Again dust issue. Next is glue….need I say more. The smell and it should dry at least an hour or more before cutting !!! I like to dry it for 24 hours. Then cutting pocket angles, more sanding, glueing and cutting. This is NOT A JOB TO BE RUSHED THROUGH. Some of the tables had the rubber done by another local company…..not good. They were almost ALL coming off the rails. The facings were all cut wrong, it was simply a horrible job! I should have some photos to follow soon…………

You never know?!

               We had a recent customer with a 9′ table that needed to be moved out. What happened? Well they needed more light in the corner of the room next door, nothing major just a small Can light. What does this have to do with the 9′ pool table in the room adjacent you may ask? It seems the electrician while climbing into attic space over the area he was working, inadvertently stepped on the fire safety sprinkler system. He stated within minutes the ceiling above the room he was working in collapsed from the water and flooded half the house! This was no small house either. When the client arrived the electrician was in tears on the driveway. Not only from pain of falling through the ceiling, but the agony of knowing the massive damage one simple slip of the foot did to these innocent  peoples lives.

               Luckily for the client they used a licensed and insured electrician. All the damage caused by the electricians simply slip of his foot is being paid for by his insurance company. But this does not take into account the horrible act itself and the time needed to repair and recover, MONTHS!

               Now we definitely won’t be crawling through your attic with a pool table. LOL !! My point is that one small slip into a wall or car with a 220 pound or 1pc (440+)  piece of slate does quite a bit of damage. Trust me I know. Yes I have run into something – ONCE! That is why we are trained professionals who carry insurance. Yes we are good, but we are not stupid!

               So if you are considering a service of your pool table, especially a move. Why take the chance to save a few dollars and hope for the best?? ALWAYS use a licensed and insured company to move your pool table. Few things go wrong with moving pool tables (when performed by true pro’s), but when they do………It can go really wrong – really quickly. Make sure you’re and your pool table are covered! American Billiard Service of San Diego.

 

Buying a used pool table?

Many people call and ask what to look for when buying a used pool table. There are many factors you should consider when buying a used table. The first thing to consider and most common question is: What size pool table can I fit in my house? <——Click on the link to view a simple chart explaining room size and cue length’s. Aside from that the main things you want to look for is overall condition. Are there any major gouge’s in the wood or rails? Are the pockets in good condition?Are there holes or stains in the cloth? If you would like a more detailed insight into what to look for when buying a used pool table. <——Click the link!

Hello ! Welcome to SD Pool Table Service!!

This is a beta site for pool and billiard enthusiasts to get together and talk about the game of pool or pool table technical questions. Whatever you would like to discuss about the billiards industry can be talked about here. Please don’t go to far off subject. Posts containing offensive, vulgar or threatening material will be removed immediately!!

If you are a registered user of this site as of the first of the New year 2009, you now are able to add content. Please adhere to the above mentioned. If anyone knows how to set up an RSS to a Pool mag let me know……..Enjoy and Happy New Year !!

If you are in need of  Pool Table Service in San Diego  <—-click it!!

View Paul Hart's profile on LinkedIn

iKarma Profile

Find me on FaceBook!