Carlsbad Golf Center

Review: I originally paid for a fitting and ended up getting a set of Ping i20s, purple dot (1.5* flat), cut 0.5". Well, I thought everything was fine but throughout the next year I was fighting hits on the toe. I originally thought it was my swing so I practiced even harder, going to the range 2-3 times a week and also playing 1-2 times a week. Just recently, however, I went to a demo day and the Ping fitter put me on a lie board and taped up the sole and face. I mentioned that I've been hitting it off the toe so he set me up 1.5" upright with a standard length shaft. Well let's just say that I just realized in this case it's the clubs and not me. I was striping it, contacting the ball right in the center of the face and sole. After watching me hit a few he mentioned that with my swing I should be upright and not flat. Plus I should be playing standard length and in fact shortening the shaft will make the lie angle even more flat, exacerbating the situation.Pissed, I took the clubs back to the golf shop and asked them to send them back to Ping for a lie adjustment (which is free). Plus I wanted them to extend the club a half an inch to make them standard length. The assistant told me it would be about $6.50 per club for the extension. I thought this was a little too much since they were the ones who messed up and gave me incorrect specs so I asked if I at least could get a discount. He told me I could probably get one and to call back the next day. Well, I did. I ended up talking to [redacted], who was handling my order. He said that while he couldn't do the extensions for free he could give me their wholesale price.Cut to a week later and they call me to tell me my clubs are ready. I pick them up and instead of the less than $60 I expected to be charged I was told I would have to pay over $100! I asked why and the assistant told me because it's $10.50 a club. I told him that [redacted] informed me it would be discounted and to ask him. He went back to talk to [redacted] (who never came out to talk to me despite me asking if he was there) and came back, telling me that I'm already getting a discount of about $6.50 a club. Are you kidding me?! $16.50 per club for a simple extension?? Well not according to their website, which states that they charge only $7 a club. So not only did they NOT give me a discount for a modification to fix a mistake that THEY made, they ripped me off and charged me MORE than their posted rates! Basically, I paid more than anyplace else would to fix an error that they caused. What gets me the most is that I'm not only out a hundred bucks, but an extra thousand and change for all the range sessions during the last year to try to fix a flaw that turned out to not be due to my swing, but simply my choice in fitting centers. DO NOT GET FITTED HERE! VERY DISHONEST and UNPROFESSIONAL.Desired Settlement: I originally was told I would be charged $6.50 per club for the extension. I talked with [redacted] and he told me I could get a discount so I expected to pay less than $58.50 ($6.50/club x 9 clubs = $58.50 - Discount). Instead, I was charged over $10 a club, which came out to over $100 after taxes. On their website and it states that they charge only $7 a club for extensions.So my desired settlement is at least a partial refund of the difference between their posted rates and the rate I was charged.

Business

Response:

[redacted]-

Here is our response to the complaint filed by Mr. [redacted]:

This response is in to complaint ID # 9[redacted], regarding the customer’s dissatisfaction with the service he received at our facility. First off, we must say that it is the goal to attain our customer’s confidence and good will for every purchase they make at our facility. We pride ourselves on handling the customer professionally the first time, and if, for some reason that doesn’t occur, we always strive to make it right.

In this case, the customer came to us for a custom fitting session for a set of golf clubs (set of irons). We have a stated 30 day satisfaction guarantee for all clubs that we custom fit for our customers, and will do everything within our power to make sure they get golf clubs that help them improve their golf games, and enjoyment. There is no record of this customer coming back to us within this 30 day period to express his dissatisfaction with his clubs – if he had, we would have addressed his needs under our policy. According to his complaint, this customer came to us well over a year after having been fit at our facility (well past the 30 day guarantee period).

Regarding the charge for the extension of his clubs to the new measured specifications, the General Manager of our facility has reached out to the customer and has given him a full refund for the shaft extensions, plus the cost of a large bucket of range balls, totaling $112.06. The customer’s desired settlement was the difference between the posted rates and the rate he was charged, so he should be satisfied with the full refund. To our knowledge, his golf clubs are now adjusted to the specifications that he had been re-measured for.

In the opinion of our General Manager, after speaking with the customer on October 9 (it took awhile for the customer to return the initial phone call) the customer sounded happy with the resolution, and will be scheduling a future visit to our facility to go through another custom fitting for a new driver.

At our facility, we act in a professional and honest manner with every customer that walks into our store and practices at our range. It is disappointing to us that customer felt that his experience did not meet these standards.

Please let me know if there is anything else you need to close this complaint.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Vice President

Carlsbad Golf Center