My rant on Ping and Golf Town Screw Up

[leftylucas]

Yeah, sounds like they need help in the fitting end of things for sure.

[buykrux]

it would have been nice to know WHILE ORDERING my driver the other after market shafts they can install for an upgraded fee, after all, insurance was paying for it haha

[The Saint]

So the day has finaly come. I'm flyng to Ping in Oakville this morning for the free fitting and tour of the facility. It should be interesting. ...Only problem is, I don't have the clubs anymore

[1972Apex]

So the day has finaly come. I'm flyng to Ping in Oakville this morning for the free fitting and tour of the facility. It should be interesting. ...Only problem is, I don't have the clubs anymore

Now THAT is funny!

'ho

[jvincent]

Only problem is, I don't have the clubs anymore

Reid beat me to it. What are you going to say if they ask you how the clubs are working out?

[GarthM]

Reid beat me to it. What are you going to say if they ask you how the clubs are working out?

Tell them the clubs are in the shop....

[leftylucas]

Methinks they may know already if they are monitoring this thread, when you are there look for a room filled with computer monitors logged onto Ottawa Golf and if you see them , run for the nearest exit.

[Indio]

So the day has finaly come. I'm flyng to Ping in Oakville this morning for the free fitting and tour of the facility. It should be interesting. ...Only problem is, I don't have the clubs anymore

I can see it now, bringing along your Taylor Made clubs for fitting by Ping! You probably sell more Ping clubs than they do in the Ottawa area!

[Pinshark]

Great news Chris, I am glad that some one is finally doing something. It was looking pretty bleak for a while. If you get there and every one is dressed the same grey suit and sunglasses, tell them that you are going to the bathroom and then run like heck!! Actually I think they will impress you greatly, they just need to improve their customer service. Please tell him to take care of my precious PING DOC 12.5 putter that was sent to them on Friday!.

What was wrong with your putter ?

[jvincent]

What was wrong with your putter ?

The ball kept missing the hole.

[leftylucas]

What was wrong with your putter ?

Lance, The putter's finish was flaking all aroung including the face. I researched on the net and found it was a common problem and called them. Their CS told me to bring it to GT and have them send it to PING. Less than 2 weeks later I received a brand new DOC with the nice new pewter finish.

[Pinshark]

Lance, The putter's finish was flaking all aroung including the face. I researched on the net and found it was a common problem and called them. Their CS told me to bring it to GT and have them send it to PING. Less than 2 weeks later I received a brand new DOC with the nice new pewter finish.

Same thing happened to my Doc, sounds very common,at least there fixing the problem

[big mac]

Chris you have to have more "balls" than anyone else I know! Hope you had a good time

[The Saint]

My faith has been restored in Ping customer service.

I landed in Toronto around 10:15 and was picked up and driven to the Ping Centre in Oakville. There was no time wasted as I was brought straight into their fitting room. The fitting room consisted of a 4-5 hole, two tier putting green, a 20 yrd range with raised tees. Ryan (my fitting guy) took all my measurements asked inquired on my current and desired ball flight. From the initial interview it was determined that I was standard for length and grip. Next I was on their state-of-the-art launch monitor looking at my ball flight and assessing what flex of shaft I should use. The first 6 balls I used a 7 iron with an AWT stiff shaft. On the launch monitor my ball flight was good and entry was at 52* which was good. My shot pattern was very consistent where the dispersion out of about 6 shots was only 4-5 yrds. He set my up with an R flex shaft to see what the difference would be. Well the ball speed and flight were higher and dispersion was greater.
Next was the lie angle. It was determined that I would best fit with yellow dot (1.5* up) on my 8-pw and green dot ( 2* up) on my 3-7 irons.
He had me hit a few balls with impact tape on the face and I was happy to see the ball was hitting square in the centre.

I had brought my G10 driver and 22* G5 hybrid as well. I was very please to see that my driver was bang on as far as spin rate and launch were concerned. Seeing that I had an R flex shaft in my hybrid Dale re-shafted it for me with an S flex and will ship it off once the epoxy dries.

The clubs I brought to the fitting where my S59's. They took them to the shop where Dale bent them to my specs and re-gripped them.
I wasn't there at the time when he did it unfortunately as I was taken out to lunch by the GM. When I returned all my clubs where ready.
I had a putter fitting as well. I discovered my putter should be around 68* lie and 33.5 in length. I don't know if my centre shaft can be bent or not.

I enjoyed going through the fitting. I was more impressed by the passion and commitment the staff and General Manager had to Ping Customer Service. Dave Wilson (the GM) really showed concern for turning my opinion around on Ping customer service. Mission accomplished.

[jeffc]

great report chris. Good to hear they righted the wrong and as a bonus, you know all your specs for your equipment.

[leftylucas]

I for one think this is great but more importantly I would have wanted the GM to explain why and what was done to ensure that the original problem does not happen ever again.

[Samick]

I tried that a few weeks back but Ping never responded. So I don't know if it got weeded out or fell into a black hole. I think they only want to hear good news.

So I guess 'Power of the People' and the link to the OG site helped after all eh?! 105 replies and 4,798 views is kind of hard to ignore. I realize that alot can be attributed to the same people viewing/posting multiple times...but could Ping really afford that kind of bad publicity? I wouldnt think so.

Glad to hear you had a good experience at the Ping Centre and you have your clubs to your specs in hand. Just out of curiosity, how close are your specs from Ping to what you originally wanted/thought you needed?

[leftylucas]

Same thing happened to my Doc, sounds very common,at least there fixing the problem

There is no doubt, they fixed it pronto and I was very pleased to get a new putter. I am bringing it to Golfworks for a fitting and will likely have it bent like the last one ( less upright). I am bringing 2 putters, the DOC and the SRT Tri-ball. For $15 you cannot go wrong.

[The Saint]

Just out of curiosity, how close are your specs from Ping to what you originally wanted/thought you needed?

I haven't checked yet. Plan on doing that in the next couple of days.

[The Saint]

Below are the specs I did myself compared to what was suggested in the fitting. The fitting consisted of my static measurements and swing characteristics then matched up to their colour chart. Based on the colour code my degrees of lie should look similar to what is in the right column. However I have not put them in the loft/lie machine to confirm. If these are in fact the lies they gave me then they are very close to specs I orginally gave myself.

My Lie Specs Ping's according to colour chart
3- iron 61.00* 61.25*
4- iron 62.00* 62.00*
5- iron 62.50* 62.75*
6- iron 63.00* 63.50*
7- iron 63.50* 63.25*
8- iron 64.00* 64.25*
9- iron 64.50* 65.00*
pw 65.00* 65.25*

[big mac]

Sounds like you had a great expierience Chris

[jwdspace]

I always order everything direct if I can, not just golf clubs. I guess this is why I do it!