Ok...so I've thought long and hard about posting something. The more I
talked to my friends about it, the more I feel it's really necessary. I
went thru a very scary and stressful situation, and i wouldn't wish
this on my worst enemy. Let me start from the beginning.
Back in Dec 2010 I decided that I wanted to open my own pole dance
studio. I began looking at potential spaces all over LA County and the
Inland Empire. I was looking for a space that had about a 12 ft
ceiling. Finally at the end of May I found a beautiful space.
Its an older/vintage looking building, and each of
the units have a really unique ceiling. It basically has 16x16 inch
square molding all over it. Its sooo pretty! The ceiling measured at
exactly 12'2. It is stated in my lease that I am not allowed to damage
the ceiling, so pressure mounted poles were my only option. I called
Platinum stages, and told them my situation. They were very honest and
said that their pressure mounted poles at that height are not
recommended for a studio, so I called X-Pole to make sure their poles
would work, and even sent them a picture. The ceiling and floor is
cement. They told me it would work with certain extensions. I was
thrilled! I ordered 6 poles from them a few weeks later.
I spent alot of time fixing up the place, and getting it ready.
Painting, getting mirrors and flooring installed, etc etc. My grand
opening date was scheduled for July 2. Everything was ready to go as of
June 22. All I needed to do was put up the poles. On friday June 24th,
my friend John, my friend Beth, and myself put up the first pole. It
was a chrome 50mm. We have all put x-poles up and down many times
before, so it should have been a breeze. However, we noticed that
something just didnt seem right. The pole had a reallly reallly big
amount of flex to it, and just didnt seem stable. I did a few fireman
spins on it, and noticed that the edges were flaring out! I called
X-pole immediately to ask what was wrong, and they said that I didn't
install it right. HMMM I smelled BULLSHIT! We had done this so many
times before. We started examining the poles, and compared it to my
older model. Basically the brand new x-poles are being made thinner, so
once you tighten the x-joint, it begins to flare out at the edges, so
if you were to slide down, you would get caught and possibly get cut. I
was really worried about this, because I would never want anyone to get
hurt at my studio. X-pole told me to call them back on monday morning.
Ok, so now we are at monday morning. I called and spoke to Heydi. I
explained to her what happened, and she kept telling me it was "USER
ERROR." She then asked me if I watched the installation videos. I told
her yes, and that I also read the directions, to which she replied "Oh
you can't go by the directions!" WHY THE HELL DO THEY COME IN THE BOX
THEN?? Weird!! I told her that I needed someone to come and put them
up for me since apparently the 3 of us were total idiots. (I asked her
the day I bought them that if I had any problems, would I be able to
have someone do it for me, and she said YES.) She told me she would
send their technician, and that he would only put up 1 or 2 since it
would be a liability for them. Their official technician came the next
morning. He installed the first pole for us, again a 50mm chrome, and
the same thing happened. It began flaring out at the edges where the
X-joint is. I GUESS IT WASN'T USER ERROR AFTER ALL!!!!! I started
getting super stressed and worried. If one of these poles were to break
during class with a student on it, OMG, that would be a disaster. I
then had him put up 45mm Titanium gold pole. It was up and he said "it
was perfect, and that it wasn't going anywhere." I did one fireman
spin, and it fell over while i was on it, and broke thru my side wall,
almost going thru my brand new mirrors. Thank god my friend John was
there and was able to catch it. I was so scared!! I never had a pole
fall on me before. I started crying and panicking because obviously
these poles were not going to work for my studio. They are made in
China and there is no quality control, so who knows what you are really
getting when you open the box (which also states there is lead in them,
yikes.)
I was an emotional wreck at that moment, because I saw my studio going
down the drain. Like I mentioned above, it was agreed upon in my lease
that I would cause NO DAMAGE to the ceiling. I was crying my eyes out,
because I didn't know what I was going to do, and because I was also
still shaken up from the pole falling with me on it. My lease was
already signed, and I had already spent close to 10K on everything for
the studio, and most of it couldn't be returned, like the flooring and
mirrors for example.
I brought back the poles to X-pole, and they were very apologetic, but
still stood behind their product 100%. I kept saying that they are
being made cheaper, and that its not the same quality as the older
model pole that I had from over a year ago. They kept insisting that
they arent cheaper. I came to the conclusion that their manufacturer is
probably charging them the same, but making them shittier poles,
because again, there is no quality control check in China! They can get
away with anything!!!
I called Platinum stages and asked them what they would suggest for
12'2 ceiling. They told me their permanent poles, that are bolted to
the floor and ceiling. They said that would be the best for a studio,
where there is going to be alot of wear and tear on the poles. I
arranged for an appointment with the owner of the building where my
studio is. I begged and pleaded with her to let me get permanent poles.
I told her how I put everything I had into the studio, and that if she
didn't let me do this, everything would go down the drain. She finally
agreed to it. I thank god that she was sympathetic to my story!
I had to delay the opening of my studio to get the platinum stages
poles made, and then professionally installed. I was still traumatized
by the X-pole falling over, that I wanted to make sure nothing went
wrong. When I ordered my poles from platinum stages, I asked about the
skinnier pole. They told me they dont recommend it for my ceiling
height, because there would be too much flex. KUDOS FOR HONESTY! I wish
more pole companies would be like that, instead of just trying to make
a quick buck. Seriously, WTF is wrong with them? People can get hurt!!
Pole fitness is very serious. I am really pissed about being lied to. I
am lucky that I live in california, where X-pole is located. What if
someone else was in my position, and lived in Ohio for example...they
wouldnt be able to just drive back their damaged poles! They would have
to ship them back, which is more $$ wasted, and would have to delay
their opening much longer than i did!!
I highly recommend to any studio owner or anyone wanting a pole for
their home, to go with Platinum stages. Tell them exactly what you
need, and they will be honest with you about it. I personally love
their brass pole, because I tend to sweat alot, so there is a better
grip to it for me. I also really love the easy spin mode, where you
just pull out the pin. You can be in the middle of a performance and
instantly be in spin mode! How awesome! Oh, and since they are made in
america, you dont have to worry about getting lead poisoning either.
