Was I wrong here?

[SpringBokVol]

After I had first gotten my TM R5 TP Driver I let my brother-in-law use it. He is a guy that likes to play golf, but isn't a golfer.

Long story short, a week later I pull it out on the driving range and notice a DENT on the top of the crown by the toe. Man was I hot. I loved the look of my club and now it was ruined. And I didn't do it. It is one thing if you damage your own club, but this was out of my hands.

And worst of all I thought it would effect how club worked. Anyway, it took me like 5 rounds of golf to get over it and it doesn't seem like it has had any effect on the performance, but to this day it still bothers me.

And he never even told me about it. It was a complete surprise to me. And when I asked him about it he said he didn't remember. Oh, yeah right. You remember something like that. I don't even know how you can miss hit it that badly. $@(&!

But it makes a good story when I pull it out on the tee box now. :)

Sorry, had to vent and this seemed like the right place.

[Iowa Hawkeye]

You're wrong here. Yes, they scratched your club, but you shouldn't have been such a jerkoff about it. Your club was used, you do not deserve a brand new club. What you should have done was asked to pull your shaft and swap heads with the used club while it was being refinished, IMO. The head you want that is comperable to what you brought in, the shaft you want, you win. But you had to push it, so now you look like an idiot.

Reminds me of what I saw at Golf Galaxy yesterday. I was waiting on an iron to be taped and a guy walked in with an '07 burner. It had a huge dent across most of the sole. He said that he hit his drive and there was a rock that somehow dented his driver. You could clearly see that he had slammed it down on top of a ball in disgust. He was yelling at the guy behind the counter about how he wanted a new club and since there are no '07s he had to have a brand new one. People are just jerks sometimes. Just because you bought something doesn't entitle you to have someone keep it brand new for you. It's called age, use, and depreciation.

[Donnie_Brasco]

I get it now. You are a me first, I am always right, bow down to me elitist...

me first?

hardly.. how about doing the appropriate thing first.. sending my club off for 2 weeks while not being able to replace a pretty common club, "rapture v2 stiff flex" is hardly my fault.. as i stated, if he had my club in stock used, i would have accepted, but he didn't..

[Donnie_Brasco]

You're wrong here. Yes, they scratched your club, but you shouldn't have been such a jerkoff about it. Your club was used, you do not deserve a brand new club. What you should have done was asked to pull your shaft and swap heads with the used club while it was being refinished, IMO. The head you want that is comperable to what you brought in, the shaft you want, you win. But you had to push it, so now you look like an idiot.

How are these stories even close to being the comparable?

Guy damages own clubs, gets angry demands new club.. Store damages my club doesnt have a club to replace it, i demand a new one.. hardly the same story.. My club was barely 2 weeks old, immaculate.. again people speaking when they havent read the entire thread..

[David in FL]

If I take my CLS to Mercedes for repair or service, they dont give me a c230 as a replacement, they give me a CLS or SUV, something comparable. This particular shop didn't have my club in a used/demo. But he had a brand new one. The Demo that he offered to loan me, was stickered for 349.00, the new club was 399.00.

If they have a loaner CLS, you'll get it. If they don't, you'll either get the c230, or an offer to come back another time. What they won't do is throw you the keys to a new S550 and say "knock yourself out for a couple of days"........which is the equivalent of what you wanted to happen in this situation. FWIW, I'm a retail executive and I know what it's like to live and die by customer service and customer perceptions in today's extremely competitive environment. It's extremely important to me. Having said that, If one of my managers, district managers, or regional VP's had brought that situation to me and asked my opinion, I'd have told them that it sounds as if they had done their best to accomodate and make right by the customer. Then I'd shake my head and say, "unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, there's just no pleasing some people". Sorry, but if you didn't want to hear opinions, you shouldn't have asked the question in the first place!

[J-Rob]

How are these stories even close to being the comparable?

I completely agree. They caused the damage and therefore it is their job to fix it. Other posters act as if the shop was doing you some sort of favor by offering you a used replacement that wasn't the same as yours. However that is not the case, they were doing what they were obligated to do which is fix their mistake. You did nothing wrong in this situation.

[Donnie_Brasco]

David your analogy doesn't hold water here..

We are not talking 25k, the difference was 50 bucks.. but hey I could have taken the loaner, he would have sent my club off, dealt with all the hassle that goes along with it, i.e. disgruntled customer ect.. And for what, to save him 50 bucks?

be reasonable...

When we went looking for loaners the club he pulled out was 349, the new club was 399, so you still think i am being unreasonable?

[Sowbug2000]

What's with all the harshness here???

Maybe both were a little wrong here....

I pretty much agree with Donnie B, I would be super pissed having dropped that kind of dough in this economic environment....although in LA, maybe not that much dough.....and being brushed off by the club repair dude.

However, I probably would've taken some kind of loaner and got over it....maybe make them through in some balls.

But as somewhat of an OCD person myself, I would've really been pissed that the "mucked up" my new driver.

I did this myself to my old (new at the time) TM Bubble driver, with the gold head, put a scuff on it like on the 3rd hole....I was soooo pissed!!!

Anyway, seems like a lot are really chastizing DB.....he may have been a little in the wrong, but without being there, seeing the club and both guys reactions.....I would say move on and shop somewhere else.

[dodson914]

Best thing to do in my opinion would have been to voice your frustation that you had specifically asked for it to be done a certain way that would have prevented it from happening. Then extend a little grace towards them and take the club that was offered to you as a loaner. It's only two weeks. I seriously doubt you are making a living playing golf. Two weeks really isn't a huge deal. Also, the $50 difference in the club becomes larger when you think about that they can no longer sell the club as new.

[shades9323]

I completely agree. They caused the damage and therefore it is their job to fix it. Other posters act as if the shop was doing you some sort of favor by offering you a used replacement that wasn't the same as yours. However that is not the case, they were doing what they were obligated to do which is fix their mistake. You did nothing wrong in this situation.

You didn't read the original post did you? They did offer to fix their mistakes. They were going to send his club to Ping for refinishing, while letting him use a loaner club. It wasn't as if they were replacing his driver with a used driver. In 2 weeks, he would have his precious driver back in his hands.

[Sowbug2000]

David your analogy doesn't hold water here..

Donnie, if I'm reading this post correctly.....you were peaved because the loaner costs $50 less??? I do have exception with that! WHO CARES???? Next week the value of a "new" club will drop if the "newer" model comes out..... The real question is - was the club "reasonably" comparable? It's possible that you will not be satisfied for any other opinion on the club swap....and maybe the guy pissed you off too much to move on (I've been there...), but just talking about the club.....was it comparable....if they didn't have the exact one - get something in the same ballpark and move on - you should be able to get over it. It is only 2 weeks.

[shades9323]

When we went looking for loaners the club he pulled out was 349, the new club was 399, so you still think i am being unreasonable?

Yes, the $349 club probably cost them $150. The $399 club probably cost them $350. You can't just look at the price they sell it for.

[Smarf]

Spending $1200 doesn't entitle you to anything.

Would your shop have still started to do something that scratched it in the first place and then continue scratching it after the customer asked you to stop or do it differently?

Here's an analogy: You bring your Lexus in to my shop to get it worked on and I decided to fix your tires alignment by beating on it with a 50 lb sledgehammer. You ask me to stop and I keep doing it and when you come to pick it up I say it's going to be two weeks to fix the scratches, but you can drive this Yugo instead. Yes it's an exaggeration but the point is it has nothing to do with how much money he spent there, or if he's entitled to anything being a regular customer. It has to do with saying "Stop $(*$%'ing up my club" and they didn't listen.

[shades9323]

Would your shop have still started to do something that scratched it in the first place and then continue scratching it after the customer asked you to stop or do it differently?

Say what? Bad example dude.

And I wouldn't be taking my clubs to golfgalaxy to get work done. He is the one that said he was "entitled".

[jlh1508]

can we change this thread title? Obviously the OP wasn't actually asking if people thought He was wrong.



To the original OP-

You are completely correct in what you did. Clearly sending the club to be refinished and offering you a USED loaner club was not adequate for such a huge mistake as scratching a golf club. The only acceptable choice would be that of a NEW club. Did they not realize the used club might ruin your game for the next 2 weeks and could cause you to miss the cut and lose millions of dollars. Not only did you deserve a new club, the man deserves to go to prison for trying to rip you off.


By the way nice way to work your bmw into the conversation, clearly you are not a conceited, pompous ass who thinks they are more important then everyone else and finds all of their meaning in life in their possessions.

[Sowbug2000]

I think he has a mercedes....my wife has a beemer, although it is a measly 3 series.

No offense to all other 3-series owners! :)

This thread - and my post - is getting waaaay off topic here!

[Donnie_Brasco]

can we change this thread title? Obviously the OP wasn't actually asking if people thought He was wrong.

Shows how much of this you actually read.. It was a CLS..not a BMW..

regardless, it had nothing to do with the cost of the clubs, my point was this.. the loaner was a regular flex club rapture v2, it was a used club with scratches and what not on it.. The new club was my exact club ticketed for 399.. H ewill have no trouble selling my club wit a bb stiff shaft for 350 .. they had 1 used rapture v2 club. when we went looking he even stated that they dont keep used v2 long becassue they are great clubs.. like i have stated, unless you were physically there, you can not assume how you would have reacted.. he will sell my club for over 300, i would almost guarantee, probably the 349 that the other used 1 had on it.. the new club was my exact club and it 399.. thas what i had the problem with.. i think its funny how some of you guys come off, I wish it would have been your club.. when you 1st asked them not to package it that way becasue its gonna scratch the finish.. then they go ahead and do it and your 400$ club has a 1 inch scratch down to the white part of the head.. sure.. You say thhis stuff now, but it wasn't your club, and you werent there..

[jigray3]

Some folks are particular about their possessions., I count myself among them. Because my expectations can disagree with someone else's, I take care to lay out EXACTLY what I expect. That closes the gap between what I want and what I get. If I fail to do that, and quality or service is lacking, I blame myself more than I blame the other guy. If I spell it out, and they fail to live up to my expectations, they were warned, and have no leg to stand on since they accepted the work under those terms. Sometimes stating my expectations will result in a discussion about what is reasonable, and I discover that my expectations are a little high for legitimate reasons, but better to discover now than later. We live in a world where excellence has become the exception. I accept that and head it off at the pass whenever possible.