I got a message from Jason Hiland explaining a couple of things which may have happened and I am now confident that the 3 is legit. I did take the clubs to a local golf store for grips yesterday and my guy is very familiar with TaylorMade, having used to work for them and plays all TM clubs, and he told me that there is no way the 3 should have passed inspection and that most sellers would have pulled it from their inventory upon seeing it due to the imperfect paint on the sole. Hurricane Golf shipped it to me in the bubble wrap and cellophane bag so no one would have seen it before shipping out. It doesn't affect the playability of the club, so I am happy. I should mention that I am 100% satisfied with the other items from my order also.
After dealing with Jason, I would have no problem buying from Hurricane Golf again. He stands behind his company and the products that they sell and I am confident that had this gone the other way, he would have ensured that I was made whole. I do want to apologize for the title of the post. If I could I would delete it.
6oo - I'll go make a bunch of posts elsewhere if it'll make me seem more "legitimate." Not sure what you mean by that, I have the clubs in my bag, and I hit them last night at the range. They exist and so do I, if that's what you're getting at... And you have 12 posts - clearly a forum veteran.