# Ping Irons-Liked the iron, disliked the durability



## Tom 48 (Jan 15, 2021)

*Liked the iron, disliked the durability*
I purchased a complete set of Ping G30s (5-9, PW, GW, SW, LW + 3,4 Hybrid, Driver, 3W, 5W) 5 years ago. I am writing this review here because I was unable to find another suitable place on this site to comment in regard to Ping's reputation to stand behind its products.
I was fitted for a TPF419 stiff shaft. I was entirely satisfied with the complete set until 2 years ago. After hitting a shot off the fairway the clubhead of my 8 iron completely separated from the shaft and flew into the rough. I retrieved the head and my local golf shop sent the club and shaft to Ping and they completely refurbished the club, no charge.
This summer, I hit a 9 iron that didn't feel right and I noticed that it too was about to break off at the hosel. Same thing with the 8 iron (yes again). My local golf shop again sent these back to Ping. This time I was charged a considerable, yet fair price for a new shafts.
Since receiving the 8 and 9, I have noticed cracks in the shaft of my LW and 6 iron in the same place. I have not had any problems with my hybrids or woods which have a different shaft.
I contacted Ping and the rep indicated that there was nothing he could do since the clubs were out of warranty. Sorry, but I don't accept this. I am convinced that 5 different instances represents a defect. Meanwhile I am in a quandary regarding what I should do to insure I have a reliable iron set.
.



✘ No, 
I do not recommend this product.


----------



## DCB (Jan 15, 2021)

Interesting first post.  A model that was brought to market in 2014 and you bought five years ago and you are slating the durability of the club/shaft ? Sorry but I think you are being unrealistic in expecting Ping to make good at this late stage. There are many different factors that could affect the shaft at that point.

Anyway, well see how this develops.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 15, 2021)

DCB said:



			Interesting first post.  A model that was brought to market in 2014 and you bought five years ago and you are slating the durability of the club/shaft ? Sorry but I think you are being unrealistic in expecting Ping to make good at this late stage. There are many different factors that could affect the shaft at that point.

Anyway, well see how this develops.[/QUOTE
Come on, really? I’ve been playing golf for 50 years and have never had a shaft problem. Five problems don’t make any sense. I’ve heard nothing but good about pings Customer service. How can they deny that this is a problem?
		
Click to expand...


----------



## SammmeBee (Jan 15, 2021)

Buy a new set of irons - preferably made in this century?!


----------



## Dibby (Jan 15, 2021)

The problem is that it is six of one and half a dozen of the other. You will say no other club ever did this the product must be faulty, Ping will say no other user has this problem you must be using the club. The true fact of the matter is it could be either or anywhere in between. The fact is the clubs are out of warranty however, and if it was a manufacturing defect, why do you believe it has it taken 5 years to emerge?


----------



## Bunkermagnet (Jan 15, 2021)

I play with i20's, and before that i5's. I have had no problems with the heads or the shafts.
After 5 years of use, I think it's wrong to blame Ping for whats happened. Do you blame your car manufacturer for the alloy wheels on your car starting to break out under the laquer after 5 years too?


----------



## Blue in Munich (Jan 15, 2021)

Tom 48 said:



			Since receiving the 8 and 9, I have noticed cracks in the shaft of my LW and 6 iron in the same place. I have not had any problems with my hybrids or woods which have a different shaft.
I contacted Ping and the rep indicated that there was nothing he could do since the clubs were out of warranty. Sorry, but I don't accept this. *I am convinced that 5 different instances represents a defect. *Meanwhile I am in a quandary regarding what I should do to insure I have a reliable iron set.
.



✘ No,
I do not recommend this product.


Click to expand...

Take them to the small claims court then.


----------



## Jensen (Jan 15, 2021)

It’s probably because the shafts have rusted, it’s happened to my Cleveland CG16. Although they are older, it doesn’t take much for rust to set in on  the shafts these days as they are light and thin.
As above, if you like them just get them reshafted. That’s what I may well do with my Cleveland’s


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 15, 2021)

SammmeBee said:



			Buy a new set of irons - preferably made in this century?!
		
Click to expand...

I must be old-school, I expected my shafts to last longer than 2 years. That’s when the first failure occurred.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 15, 2021)

Dibby said:



			The problem is that it is six of one and half a dozen of the other. You will say no other club ever did this the product must be faulty, Ping will say no other user has this problem you must be using the club. The true fact of the matter is it could be either or anywhere in between. The fact is the clubs are out of warranty however, and if it was a manufacturing defect, why do you believe it has it taken 5 years to emerge?
		
Click to expand...

Five instances is a high number. Wondering if other users have had a problem with five shafts. First failure occurred before the warranty expired. The warranty was three years.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 15, 2021)

Jensen said:



			It’s probably because the shafts have rusted, it’s happened to my Cleveland CG16. Although they are older, it doesn’t take much for rust to set in on  the shafts these days as they are light and thin.
As above, if you like them just get them reshafted. That’s what I may well do with my Cleveland’s
		
Click to expand...

Just for your info, the shafts Are graphite.


----------



## HomerJSimpson (Jan 15, 2021)

You bought a set of clubs released in 2014 five years ago. There could be any number of reasons why the shafts failed so I think it's wrong to simply suggest a fault in the manufacturing process irrespective of the shafts being graphite


----------



## Crow (Jan 15, 2021)

Five shaft failures, sounds dodgy to me.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 15, 2021)

Traminator said:



			Do you mean TFC 419?

If so, it's a basic, cheap stock shaft.
What I would do after 5 years if you like the irons is to get them re-shafted.   Shouldn't cost much more than 250, voila... "new" irons.
		
Click to expand...

You are correct it is a TFC 419 shaft The clubs weren’t cheap to buy, so I guess I expected a quality shaft. By the way, ping charged me $193 to have the two shafts (8 and 9 Irons) re-shafted.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 15, 2021)

HomerJSimpson said:



			You bought a set of clubs released in 2014 five years ago. There could be any number of reasons why the shafts failed so I think it's wrong to simply suggest a fault in the manufacturing process irrespective of the shafts being graphite
		
Click to expand...

First of all, I would like to thank all who have commented regarding this post. I am surprised, I thought it would simply die or fade away.

Yes, I may be being unreasonable. I would be interested in knowing  if there are many other people who have had five shaft failures with their irons during the first five years of purchase


----------



## Crow (Jan 15, 2021)

Tom 48 said:



			First of all, I would like to thank all who have commented regarding this post. I am surprised, I thought it would simply die or fade away.

Yes, I may be being unreasonable. I would be interested in knowing  if there are many other people who have had five shaft failures with their irons during the first five years of purchase
		
Click to expand...

Most of my clubs are at least 40 years old, only ever had one shaft failure during play and that was on a Gibson "Stella" mashie, hickory shaft snapped clean in two.


----------



## IainP (Jan 15, 2021)

Traminator said:



			Did they replace it?
		
Click to expand...

Crow just replaced it with another from his extensive golf club storage facility 😁


----------



## Crow (Jan 16, 2021)

Traminator said:



			Did they replace it?
		
Click to expand...

I kicked up stink and tried to shame them on Facebook but couldn't find their page.


----------



## Dibby (Jan 16, 2021)

Tom 48 said:



			Five instances is a high number. Wondering if other users have had a problem with five shafts. First failure occurred before the warranty expired. The warranty was three years.
		
Click to expand...

It's all relative, 5 failures out of the 13 in your bag is high, 5 out of the hundreds of thousands or even millions that Ping sold is not. So step one would be to see if the issue is just affecting you or many other Ping G30 owners, probably best to do this before criticising Ping too much, it could be the quality of the materials, or how the clubhead and shaft have been glued, but it could also be something to do with how you have stored, used, cleaned etc.. the clubs

The one in warranty was replaced no questions asked, it seems, which to me seems more than fair given we still don't know the root cause for the failure.


----------



## chrisd (Jan 16, 2021)

I remember being at a range many years ago when a guy a few bays along smashed about 4 shafts. He had graphite ones and was coming down very steep and fast, I assumed that he would stop after the second one shattered - but he didnt !


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 16, 2021)

Dibby said:



			It's all relative, 5 failures out of the 13 in your bag is high, 5 out of the hundreds of thousands or even millions that Ping sold is not. So step one would be to see if the issue is just affecting you or many other Ping G30 owners, probably best to do this before criticising Ping too much, it could be the quality of the materials, or how the clubhead and shaft have been glued, but it could also be something to do with how you have stored, used, cleaned etc.. the clubs

The one in warranty was replaced no questions asked, it seems, which to me seems more than fair given we still don't know the root cause for the failure.
		
Click to expand...

In response to both Dibby and chrisd I'd like to think that I'm a pretty average guy. I try o hit down on the ball but the divots are not violent or huge. My average club head speed with my driver is 104 mph and that isn't going to scare any of the big hitters down here in Sarasota FL during the winter of up in Buffalo, NY in the summer. My clubs pretty much live in my SUV, they are not stored in a humidity controlled locker room. Club heads are cleaned with a wet rag, either by the cart guy at the end of the round or by me. I agree with Dibby that it would be helpful if I could more responses from G30 owners. Any suggestions how I could do this? I couldn't find a suitable site on the Ping web site to ask this question.


----------



## Dibby (Jan 16, 2021)

You keep your clubs in your car in Florida? Not saying that's the cause of this failure, but that can't be good for them with the heat and humidity of that climate.

Unrelated, if your average clubhead speed is 104 and you're over 60 (based on the playing for 50 years) that puts you in the 99th percentile, rather than average guy territory.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 16, 2021)

Dibby said:



			You keep your clubs in your car in Florida? Not saying that's the cause of this failure, but that can't be good for them with the heat and humidity of that climate.

Unrelated, if your average clubhead speed is 104 and you're over 60 (based on the playing for 50 years) that puts you in the 99th percentile, rather than average guy territory.
		
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind statistic Dibby. Hard to believe since so many people give me a run for my money down here.

Not that hot and humid down here in the winter.Summers of course are a different story. Actually, probably hotter and more humid in Buffalo during the summer than down here in the winter.

By the way, did you have any suggestions on how I could get with other G 30 owners?


----------



## Crow (Jan 16, 2021)

Tom 48 said:



			In response to both Dibby and chrisd I'd like to think that I'm a pretty average guy. I try o hit down on the ball but the divots are not violent or huge. My average club head speed with my driver is 104 mph and that isn't going to scare any of the big hitters down here in Sarasota FL during the winter of up in Buffalo, NY in the summer. My clubs pretty much live in my SUV, they are not stored in a humidity controlled locker room. Club heads are cleaned with a wet rag, either by the cart guy at the end of the round or by me. I agree with Dibby that it would be helpful if I could more responses from G30 owners.* Any suggestions how I could do this? *I couldn't find a suitable site on the Ping web site to ask this question.
		
Click to expand...

If it's gear your talking about then that's not this forum's strongpoint, post your queries on WRX and you should get loads of replies.


----------



## Robster59 (Jan 16, 2021)

If you buy anything second hand you don't always know the provenance of those items during their lifetime. You may treat them well but well knows how they were cared for by the previous owner(s)?  I do feel for you but this is a chance you take buying anything used.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 16, 2021)

Crow said:



			If it's gear your talking about then that's not this forum's strongpoint, post your queries on WRX and you should get loads of replies.
		
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip Crow


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 16, 2021)

Robster59 said:



			If you buy anything second hand you don't always know the provenance of those items during their lifetime. You may treat them well but well knows how they were cared for by the previous owner(s)?  I do feel for you but this is a chance you take buying anything used.
		
Click to expand...

Not sure where you got the idea that these were second hand Robster, but I bought them new


----------



## SwingsitlikeHogan (Jan 16, 2021)

I think OP is doing the right thing asking here.  Consumer rights lawyer I listen to on his LBC radio prog (Dean Dunham) advises looking online for others with same issue.  If it the same issue seems to have occurred quite frequently then the claimant has a case regardless the product being out of warranty - if there is a common fault and many cases then consumer law provides the buyer with rights.  I’m not sure whether the rights are with the seller or manufacturer when product is out of warranty.   I doubt the same rights apply for second hand purchases.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/special-shows/consumer-hour/


----------



## Dibby (Jan 16, 2021)

SwingsitlikeHogan said:



			I think OP is doing the right thing asking here.  Consumer rights lawyer I listen to on his LBC radio prog (Dean Dunham) advises looking online for others with same issue.  If it the same issue seems to have occurred quite frequently then the claimant has a case regardless the product being out of warranty - if there is a common fault and many cases then consumer law provides the buyer with rights.  I’m not sure whether the rights are with the seller or manufacturer when product is out of warranty.   I doubt the same rights apply for second hand purchases.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/special-shows/consumer-hour/

Click to expand...

In the UK yes, even outside of warranty there is an expectation of goods lasting a reasonable length of time, obviously reasonable being subjective, based on cost and expected usage of the item. Unfortunately the OP is in the US, so different consumer rights apply, to which I have no knowledge but if forced to guess, would suspect they are less favourable to the consumer than here in the UK.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 16, 2021)

Dibby said:



			In the UK yes, even outside of warranty there is an expectation of goods lasting a reasonable length of time, obviously reasonable being subjective, based on cost and expected usage of the item. Unfortunately the OP is in the US, so different consumer rights apply, to which I have no knowledge but if forced to guess, would suspect they are less favourable to the consumer than here in the UK.
		
Click to expand...

I am not the litigious type. But I think I do have one more response to ping in Me. I would like to gather some additional information so I can make the response reasonable.Trust me, I am not expecting that I will be satisfied with pings response.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 16, 2021)

Traminator said:



			My feeling is you're more likely to get a positive result by writing a really nice letter to someone senior, saying how disappointed you are with a company with such a great name for quality and customer service.

Instead of a demand, maybe a request along the lines of "is there anything you can do to help, and to keep my good faith in the Ping brand?"

They might come back with an offer of a discount on new set or something 🤷‍♂️
		
Click to expand...

Nice post Tramonator. I will definitely take your advice.


----------



## Lord Tyrion (Jan 17, 2021)

I think the OP is expecting far too much from ping. You have had a product for 5 years. That's a long time. They have no control over how you use them, store them, look after them. 2 years is reasonable, 3 stretching it but 5 is well beyond what they are responsible for. 

Traminator is right, write a nice letter and see where that gets you. If the answer is nowhere then I'd be getting the clubs reshafted and move on, not necessarily from ping directly as the charge quoted sounds excessive.


----------



## Tom 48 (Jan 21, 2021)

An update. I received an email yesterday from Ping: 

_"Mr. ...........,_

_I am writing in regards to a review you left for your G30 irons. Management has approved reshafting the irons that have not been reshafted so that all of the irons will have new shafts. This would be done at no charge to you. There is one stipulation that we ask of you. We would like for you to have the lie angle(the dot) checked by a PING fitter in your area. If the lie angle is incorrect, it can put undue strain on the shaft which can cause graphite shafts to break. Once you have this checked and confirmed, I will set up a repair order to have your entire set returned to PING. We will reshaft the ones that need to be reshafted and adjust/check the lie angle to be sure it is correct."_

I appreciate Ping's concern and will be following through on the process. I believe I was fitted correctly but no harm in a double check.


----------



## Bdill93 (Jan 21, 2021)

Tom 48 said:



			An update. I received an email yesterday from Ping:

_"Mr. ...........,_

_I am writing in regards to a review you left for your G30 irons. Management has approved reshafting the irons that have not been reshafted so that all of the irons will have new shafts. This would be done at no charge to you. There is one stipulation that we ask of you. We would like for you to have the lie angle(the dot) checked by a PING fitter in your area. If the lie angle is incorrect, it can put undue strain on the shaft which can cause graphite shafts to break. Once you have this checked and confirmed, I will set up a repair order to have your entire set returned to PING. We will reshaft the ones that need to be reshafted and adjust/check the lie angle to be sure it is correct."_

I appreciate Ping's concern and will be following through on the process. I believe I was fitted correctly but no harm in a double check.
		
Click to expand...

Amazing response from Ping in my opinion! Cant ask for more can you!?


----------



## SwingsitlikeHogan (Jan 21, 2021)

Bdill93 said:



			Amazing response from Ping in my opinion! Cant ask for more can you!?
		
Click to expand...

No company likes upset customers- and when the customer approaches them in a ' I'm disappointed can you help please' rather than a
in a demanding way - well - it's nice to be nice 

And so with my eyes set on a new set of Pings later this year - I can progress with confidence in my purchase given the customer service Ping have provided to you - albeit with a little bit of prodding from you.


----------



## HomerJSimpson (Jan 21, 2021)

Great response. Ping do have a decent reputation for this and this reiterates this. I assume the OP will need to get some sort of proof from a Ping fitter after lockdown but that shouldn't be a hardship (and may be an eye-opener) to get a set of re-shafted clubs


----------



## SwingsitlikeHogan (Jan 21, 2021)

Traminator said:



*He's not in lockdown*, he's in the US.
		
Click to expand...

...yet...


----------



## HomerJSimpson (Jan 21, 2021)

Traminator said:



			He's not in lockdown, he's in the US.
		
Click to expand...

Even better. Get fitted and get the new kit and out to play. If only!!


----------

