The ‘Ultimate Pool Table,’ Hey?

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - A business claims in court that it paid $73,000 for "the ultimate pool table," which has a glass top that the vendor failed to mention "could not withstand ordinary use with a standard set of pool balls."

Desert Beach, a Texas LLC, sued Nottage Design and Craig Nottage, of Australia, and Triangle Billiards and Barstools and Joe Fiscella, of California, in Orange County Superior Court.

"Defendants sold plaintiff a custom designed glass top pool table-which Nottage

Design unabashedly referred to as 'the ultimate pool table'-for the premium price of $73,000, with absolutely no mention whatsoever of the critical fact that the glass table top could not withstand ordinary use with a standard set of pool balls," the complaint states.

But rather than fix the table or admit that it was defective, Nottage tried "to cover its track once the jig was up," and changed its website to warn customers to use only their custom-made balls on the glass playing surface, Desert Beach claims.

Nottage uses a "Vitrik" coating on its glass-top tables, which supposedly allows "standard size pool balls to roll silently at or near an identical rate to traditional felt covered slate pool tables," according to the complaint.

"In reality, the 'Vitrik' playing surface is a highly delicate surface that easily scuffs and scratches (essentially destroying the table surface) with the use of any standard pool ball, which plaintiff unfortunately learned the hard way when a set of standard pool balls destroyed its table," the complaint states. (Parentheses in complaint.)

During negotiations, Nottage never mentioned the need to use custom finished balls, Desert Beach says.

It claims that the only warning it received came in the form of a "thin sealed envelope," buried among a stack of other shipping papers.

"Hiding such a material warning in an inconspicuous bullet point on a sheet of paper in a thin sealed envelope placed among a stack of shipping papers after the purchase was made is completely absurd - a fact which Nottage Design has implicitly acknowledged through its recent actions to cover its tracks by posting new warnings on its website about using other balls," the complaint states.

Desert Beach claims Nottage has refused to repair the table, and that its founder Craig Nottage told it that he is testing various polishes, and admitted in an email that Vitrik "'is a difficult material to polish.'"

"(W)hich, of course, contrasts with and blatantly contradicts the pre-purchase statements on his website that scratching 'does not occur,' but if it does it is 'superficial' and can easily be polished out with Nottage Design's recommended polish," the complaint states.

Desert Beach seeks treble damages for breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, conspiracy, breach of warranty, deceptive trade and false advertising.

It is represented by Zachary Bulthuis with Huntington Legal Solutions, of Huntington Beach.

Nottage Design did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment through its website.

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