I Almost Bought a Purple Meucci Pool Cue Without Checking: A Purchasing Story

Last spring, I sat at my desk staring at an invoice I didn't know how to explain. It included a purple Meucci pool cue, a case, two pairs of Meucci pool gloves, a Sole F63 treadmill, and a bounce house rental. Total: around $4,000. That is not a normal office-supply order, but I have been doing this long enough to know that 'normal' is relative.

I am the office administrator for a 400-person company with three locations. I manage about $140,000 a year in purchasing across dozens of vendors, and I report to both operations and finance. In March 2024, the ops team asked me to turn an unused second-floor room into a break room: pool table, a small fitness corner, and a better audio setup for people who use Android phones. Oh, and HR wanted a family day with a bounce house in June. That was the project.

I wrote a one-page business case for ops and finance, with rough pricing and a short vendor list. It wasn't a formal procurement process, but it kept me organized. Or so I thought.

I was excited. I was also too confident. I had been purchasing for about five years at that point, and I thought I had vendor management figured out. This project taught me otherwise.

I also learned that in a company this size, the person who approves the invoice is not always the person who has to use the product. That mismatch causes a lot of bad purchases. I wanted to avoid that with the break room project.

The Purple Meucci Pool Cue That Wasn't Simple

The pool table was actually the easy part. The cue sticks were not.

I knew Meucci because of an old cue my uncle owned—it had that classic, handmade look and played beautifully. So when a co-worker asked if we could get a premium cue for the room, I searched 'meucci' and found a listing for a purple Meucci pool cue at roughly 30% below the prices I saw elsewhere. The photos looked right. The shaft was described as a carbon Pro shaft. The seller had a real-sounding name and a storefront.

Everything I had read about buying cues said the same thing: compare prices, buy from a reputable dealer. I assumed 'reputable' meant a decent-looking website. That assumption cost me.

I added two pairs of Meucci pool gloves to the same order. I did not ask whether our staff preferred one size or another. I did not check the return policy. I figured gloves were gloves. (They are not.)

Six days later, the box arrived. The purple cue looked wrong. The color was close, but the butt sleeve was a slightly different shade, and the shaft did not have the Meucci logo I had seen in the official photos. I called the seller. They insisted it was 'the same cue' and offered a partial refund. I wanted a full return. That is when they mentioned the restocking fee and return shipping.

I still kick myself for not verifying before ordering. I saved maybe $75 on the cue and $20 on the gloves. I spent $45 on restocking, $28 on return shipping, and a lot of my afternoon. In the end, I was not sure whether the cue was counterfeit or just 'gray market'—but according to the Meucci warranty page, it had to come from an authorized dealer. I bought from someone who was not one.

The most frustrating part? None of this was in the listing. The listing showed a product. The reviews were fine. There was no warning saying 'warranty not valid if purchased here.' You only find that out after you need it.

The lesson felt obvious in hindsight: check before you buy, not after.

The Bounce House Test

A few weeks later, I was back on the internet searching 'bounce house rental near me' for the family day event. I found a company with shiny photos, a 20% spring discount, and a website that looked better than half the vendors I deal with. Before the pool cue mess, I would have booked it on the spot.

Instead, I did the awkward thing: I asked for their liability insurance certificate and two references from recent corporate events. I also asked how early they arrived for setup. The owner took a full day to reply, which made me nervous. When he did reply, the certificate was expired and the reference numbers went to voicemail inboxes that were full.

I did not book that company. We went with a more expensive local outfit that sent photos of their actual equipment and a current certificate. The bounce house itself looked a little worn at the seam, but it had been inspected, they set it up on time, and nobody got hurt. That is a win in my book.

Was the extra check annoying? Yes. Did it cost a day of waiting? Also yes. But after the pool cue, I was in no mood to guess.

The Sole F63 Treadmill Reviews Were Only Half the Story

The fitness corner was trickier. Our small wellness budget could not cover a lot, but a treadmill was the one thing several employees asked for. I did what any practical buyer would do: I searched 'sole f63 treadmill reviews.' The reviews were mostly positive—good motor, solid warranty, foldable design. According to the Sole Fitness product page, it is not a small machine, but I already knew that from the dimensions.

What I almost missed was the delivery process. One review mentioned that the F63 ships in a heavy box and that 'inside delivery' and 'liftgate' are separate add-on fees. Another said the box did not fit through a standard doorway without taking the treadmill out of the crate. I probably skimmed right past both.

Then I remembered the pool cue. I called the vendor before ordering. They asked the questions I had not thought to ask: Which floor? Is there a freight elevator? Door width? Do you have someone to help unload? The answer to the freight elevator question was no—our second-floor break room is accessible by a passenger elevator and a stairwell.

I should add that the F63 is frequently used in home gyms, not office break rooms. The setup might be fine in a garage or a basement, but in a commercial building, you need to think about access. We ended up finding a smaller, lighter treadmill from a different manufacturer. The Sole F63 was the better machine on paper, but the wrong machine for our building. I still think about that when I read the word 'fit' in a review.

The Earbuds Experiment

Finally, the audio request. Someone on the culture committee asked me to research 'what are the best earbuds for android' and pick one model for everyone who wanted a pair. I started reading roundups, and honestly, I was drowning. The best for one person was too expensive for another; the budget option had complaints about the microphone; and the 'workout' pair had hooks that people either loved or hated.

Instead of picking from a list, I sent a short survey to the eight employees who had requested them. Four said battery life mattered most. Two complained about background noise on calls. One said, and I quote, 'they just have to stay in my ears when I walk to the printer.' That told me more than any review.

The survey took me one afternoon. The roundups took me two weeks. We bought a mid-range pair that we knew could be returned for a full refund if they did not fit. I did not try to find the perfect product. I found a practical one and a vendor that did not make returns painful. Should mention: the vendor list had a physical address and a phone number. That has become one of my requirements.

What I Do Differently Now

The final invoice—for the authorized dealer version of the purple Meucci pool cue, the right Meucci pool gloves, the smaller treadmill, and the second bounce house company—went through without a problem. I still approved it one line at a time.

That experience gave me a checklist that has saved me more than it cost to learn. For any order over $500 now, I:

• Check the manufacturer's dealer or warranty list before buying from a third-party seller.
• Ask for a serial number or a photo of the actual item if the price is unusually low.
• Confirm the return policy and restocking fees in writing.
• Ask about delivery, freight, and access before paying for oversized items.
• Ask the people who will actually use the product—reviews and my own assumptions are not a substitute.
• Wait 24 hours before clicking 'place order' on anything above my usual budget.

I used to think that extra hour of checking was a waste of time. Now I think of it as the cheapest insurance I can buy. Five minutes of verification beats five days of correction. In a few cases, it beat a $200 return shipping label.

If you are in charge of buying anything for an office, or if you have ever stared at a too-good-to-be-true listing for a purple Meucci pool cue, do yourself a favor: check first. The product reviews will still be there tomorrow. The restocking fee will not.