Poor quality control, worse customer service. I was gifted a cherry paddle and it has a pitch pocket right at the paddle throat where you place your hand. This is not a place to have a defect unless you'd like chafing against your hand. The company owner (Brian) said he would fill, sand and refinish the defect as long as I drove (or delivered) the paddle to their factory over an hour away! That is completely unacceptable for any paddle let alone a $100 paddle