Has anyone else been scammed...???

[questforscratch]

I bought some brand new clubs on Ebay a while ago. They were the Callaway X-16's irons with a driver and 2 woods. They also came with a bag and umbrella. Looking back on it I guess I should have know better since they don't sell all this stuff together anywhere with the real clubs.

They actually looked great when I got them. The way I found out that they were fake was because the very next day I got a Callaway Golf Magazine in the mail. I opened up the front page and the headline read "How to tell if your clubs are fake" or something to that affect. The article said to check if the 8 iron had a serial number on it. If it doesn't, the irons could be fake. Of course my set didn't have it. Then it said to check if a magnet sticks to the driver. Magnets don't stick to titanium. So I checked and the magnet didn't stick so I had some hope. I called Callaway and asked them about it. He said magnets don't stick to aluminum either! He knew right away after I described the "set" that I received that the whole thing was fake. He's seen it a dozen times before.

So I emailed the guy that sold me the clubs right away and let him know that I knew they were fake. He emailed me back with an apology and said that his wife bought them from China and thought she was getting a great deal and really didn't know they were fake blah blah blah. Luckily he sent the payment back to me within 5 minutes. I sent the set back to him the next day. I'm sure they were back on Ebay after he got them back!

Lesson learned the hard way. Looking back on it I see that I was so naive! I just wanted to post this in case someone else was thinking about buying clubs online. Buyer beware!

[Tomboys]

Something similar happened to my bud. He went to China 4 years ago and came back with the (then) newly introduced Titleist 983K. He was pretty sure it was a knock-off (he paid something silly like $25 USD for it, so you don't have to be an Einstein to figure that one out).

Since I had one, we compared it. It was close, but the differences were noticeable. Paint color, sole plate design and lettering fonts were all just a little off. And, there was no serial number. So, he put it on ebay. Sure enough, it sold and he never heard back from the buyer.

DT

[drck1000]

I recently purchased an FT-i on eBay. It was at going rate and from a seller who had positive feedback from selling the same club. I had the information from the Callaway website on how to spot a counterfeit club. At first glance, it looked legit. It even had the serial number on the hosel. The first sign of a fake that I noticed was that the "NEUTRAL" below the dots looked different, much wider than other models that I've seen. Then I did the side-by-side test with my friend's FT-i and noticed numerous differences. The Speeder shaft label was facing up (toward you at address) and Speeder symbols were all white as opposed to white and black. Other small differences and quality of things like the cleanness of the engraving and stitching on the head cover.

When I hit it, it performed ok but sounded REALLY loud. I contacted the seller and of course he claimed ignorance and that he uses the exact same driver that he purchased from a golf store going out of business, etc. Her refunded me fully including the shipping. Ended up getting one from a local shop.

I emailed Callaway about this and their legal department emailed be back in a matter of minutes. I informed them about the counterfeit and they contacted the eBay seller. Now that I know what to look for, I can spot counterfeits on eBay from pics.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. In my case, it ended up ok with a refund. But am much more wary now.

[questforscratch]

Yes, I also received my money back so not much lost. I think they send a refund so you don't leave a negative feedback so they can just keep on scamming. I wonder if their legal department caught the guy.

[follyforhire]

Goodness that sucks, and I'm glad you got your money back. Do you think it was an accident, a one-time thing, or is this guy a serial scammer?

If the latter, care to post his ebay ID?

[questforscratch]

I'm sure it wasn't an accident. I wish I saved his ID but it was a long time ago. Since then I have only bought my clubs from a local store.

[andre112]

I bought 3 cleveland CG11 wedges from a seller from China (duh?)
Since there were so many people selling the same things for a much higher price, I just bid with a slightest hope that they might be the real deal.

After I received them, first thing i spotted was the color of the dots. They are much brighter than what I've seen in stores. And then, the poor quality of paint job on the club head and grip. They even made the mistake of painting the cavity black on satin chrome wedges. (Cleveland only does this on black pearl wedges.) Last thing is the tiny sticker says true temper made in usa. They are just different. They hit ok to me though. *shrug*

I didn't leave any feedback cuz I don't know what to say. At $98 for 3 wedges. I'll just keep them for now.

[alf174]

Something similar happened to my bud. He went to China 4 years ago and came back with the (then) newly introduced Titleist 983K. He was pretty sure it was a knock-off (he paid something silly like $25 USD for it, so you don't have to be an Einstein to figure that one out).

Did he advertise them as Titleist 983Ks? Or as knock-offs?

[fusioncal]

I bought 3 cleveland CG11 wedges from a seller from China (duh?)

Holy cow, everything in your bag are knock-offs except the V-Steel. How did it happen?

[Linkster]

The old rule of, If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Continue to support ebay and see all your local rent paying retailers dry up. Everyone wants the best game out of the cheapest junk.

[andre112]

Holy cow, everything in your bag are knock-offs except the V-Steel. How did it happen?

uh...I just started playing this year and my dad bought a knock-off set from China. He just gave it to me to start with. The only clubs I bought are the CG11s and V-steel. Unfortunately CG11 are knock-offs, too.

[Tomboys]

Did he advertise them as Titleist 983Ks? Or as knock-offs?

No, I don't think he listed it as a knock-off. He's a recreational golfer in the sense that he goes to the course and doesn't even keep score. He goes for the serenity. When we talk about golf, he talks about the beautiful fairways and the pristine greens. If I ask him if a course was tough, he just shrugs and says that with his game, pee-wee golf is tough.

So, while I'm not making excuses for what he did, I don't think he knows that knock-offs may have performance and quality issues. So, at the time, he just "dumped" it on ebay because it looked different than my club (a real one). Lastly, it was a single club that he intended to use himself, so it wasn't like he went there and bought a bunch to scam ebayers. Again, there's no excuse for what he did, but it's been almost 4 years now. So, c'est la vie. DT

[fusioncal]

uh...I just started playing this year and my dad bought a knock-off set from China. He just gave it to me to start with. The only clubs I bought are the CG11s and V-steel. Unfortunately CG11 are knock-offs, too.

Wow.

How do they perform, anyway? Just beware, there are some sellers who knows that they're fakes and still selling them on eBay. Some even have hundreds of positive feedbacks. Scary, huh?