Schmelke Game Room Store — Local services in Town of Oak Grove

I bought a new Schmelke cue a while back. The Schmelke representative told me they had the cue stick I wanted in stock online, and would ship immediately. It had one joint option which was what I wanted. Seemed like nice people, and despite some of the bad internet reviews about bad service and quality issues, I thought I would give them a shot.

I ordered the item, then all the problems started.

Before I go on, if you have bought one of their cues, or plan to buy one, make sure you check the cue out in detail, including verifying straightness, correct joint, condition, etc. DONT ASSUME A NEW CUE IS STRAIGHT and OK, regardless of the manufacturer or price.

Crooked cues always hurt your pool game and are worth way less than straight cues. Cues should be very straight, and even very cheap cues should be basically straight with very little wobbling. Problem is shaft could be crooked, butt could be crooked, collars could be misaligned, the joint could be off center/crooked. Or a combo of these problems. My Schmelke cue had all 4 issues. What a mess. The new cue was so bad it was unusable and worthless.

1. Communications needs a lot of work at Schmelke. Seems like you have to monitor and follow up with these guys a lot.

2. I did not hear anything for a couple of days after the order was placed, and I received no shipping confirmation, so I called them. They said they were making my cue. What??!! They told me it was in stock and would ship out quickly, and then they did not even contact me to let me know it was out of stock or to see if I still wanted the order. I went ahead with the order. What a pain.

3. Took a while to make it and ship it to me. Looked pretty good and then I noticed they put a wrong joint in it. Not what I ordered. Called them and they told me they decided to use an older spec joint because they wanted to make use of the remaining supply. What?! So it doesn't matter what I actually ordered and they did it without checking with me? Unbelievable.

4. Then I noticed the shaft had a warp in it and some cut / burn marks in the butt forearm. Also, the butt ended up having a major warp in it. My Schmelke cue was worse than $45 -$65 cheap cues made in China. Even more so if you go up in price slightly and get a Cheap Lucky or Valhalla made in China. These blow my Schmelke cue out of the water quality wise, and they are slightly cheaper than basic Schmelke cues. Even many old bar cues are way better than my new Schmelke cue.

5. Low wood quality? Per Schmelke, they apparently don't do a lot of long term wood aging, and buy kiln dried maple wood for a lot of their cues, They do the exotic wood too.

Schmelke is no longer the company of old. It appears the old veterans are fewer, gone or less involved, and the younger generation has taken over managing the business.

Schmelke failed to provide a quality product and service. The cue was so messed up it was unusable. A waste of several hours of my time and a lot of aggravation for me to deal with. Nice people but they didn't seem to understand how to properly manage a manufacturing or online company. Also, they definitely don't seem to understand the concept of formal quality controls. The problems with my cue should have never happened and should have been caught before shipping it to a customer.

Again, if you order / own Schmelke cues, or other brands too, you should check them for quality and straightness. Rolling cues on a flat pool table is not a good test as it puts pressure and friction on the tip section and makes crooked pool cues look straighter than they are.

Check the full pool cue by placing the butt end on the pool table, then put the upper part of the butt (forearm) on a pool table bumper (as far below the cue joint as possible), then roll it back and forth at different speeds watching the tip section of the shaft for wobbles. Can then also check the butt alone or the shaft alone for wobbles if you want. Using pool cue straightness check rollers are even better. They are very cheap and handy. Lots of people sell these...

So I ordered a sneaky Pete cue for my dad. We changed the joint and tip diameter and he likes a light cue and loves the weight of his new cue. It's straight as an arrow and I've shot just as many games with it now than he has. Waited to do the review until we had atleast 50+ racks in. It's a great cue and arrived quickly. It's got good action with the Le pro tip and both of us couldn't be happier with the purchase. I have a slightly more expensive cue and while I'm going to stick with mine for league I am planning to order one for myself after the holidays. Also got to try their carbon jump cue and for the price I was amazed on the response I got from it as I tried my friends. Great company and I see myself continuing to be a customer...

About 1990, we use to vacation on Long Lake and had to turn near the Schmelke factory/showroom. On our way out once, stopped in and bought a cue and my girlfriend at the time treated the case.

This cue is still straight and true today 27 years later! As good if not better than the other higher priced cues, surely.

Only issue after 27 years (occasional use) ... is there are a few bumps on the front tapered half, I think it was from when it spent time in an outdoor storage garage that heated up. The clear coat seems to have 'dented' from how it was sitting. If I had stored it up/down instead of laying it down, would...