American golf, poor service!!

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ademac

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I went to American golf store in thatcham a few weeks ago with a mate who was looking to trade in his irons and possibly buy a new set and get custom fitted. I also took some irons to trade in and was interested in finding out as much as possible about custom fitting and maybe getting fitted up myself.

The bloke in the shop offered us a fair price for our clubs, my mate said he would take the amount off the new clubs he would buy, I decided I would keep hold of mine.
My mate then had a brief chat with the guy and the young shop assistant and started hitting a few sets. Then I asked the guy about getting fitted with irons in the future and my mate also said if he was going to spend £350 on clubs then he thought cf was the way forward. To be honest the guy's response was lame and just plain lazy!
Now I'm no expert in the custom fitting field but from seeing threads on here and magazine articles I know that theres a fair bit to it.

His response however to our cf questions was "How tall are you?" I told him I'm 5'10 and my mate said he's 6ft. The bloke then said "well thats fine then you wont need fitting up because sets of irons are aimed at people between 5'9 and 6ft and the only difference made is the length of the clubs!"

I don't know if we looked like a couple of noddy's who have no idea about golf but this bloke was obviously just talking complete bollocks! He dribbled on a bit longer after a few more probing questions but he was just getting on my nerves to be honest!

Anyway, my mate decided to take his clubs back and we just left without spending a penny!
It was only the second time I've been to that particular AG but it's probably the last time too!
Are they all like that?
 
Nope, they are not all like that and it can depend on what shop you go to and who looks after you. I have has some good experiences with AG but for custom fitting I would maybe go to a pro or a fitting center.

Last week I went to AG as it was a rough day and I wanted to waist some time on golf stuff. I was clear that I was not spending any money that day but wanted to hit a set of clubs I had my eye on. The guy spent 45 mins custom fitting me just to give me and idea what it was all about. He was great, I have to give them full marks.
 
Guildford is pretty good also, as long as you get the right members of staff.

This I think is the critical thing, if you get the minimum wage kid, you'll probably get crap service. If you get someone interested or one of the PGA pros they employ, things are better.
 
And in Lincoln :)
Click to expand...

Seconded :)

Think they have a couple of pro's working in the Lincoln branch and they seem to know their onions and give the attention you would hope for when you are possibly going to be spending a not inconsiderable figure on new irons or even the odd fairway wood!
 
Haven't had a bad experience at AG Watford. When I went in there looking for new irons a few years back they asked me what I currently played, handicap etc. When I said that I played Mizuno and would probably stick with them, they recommended that I wait a few weeks and turn up for the Mizuno demo day. So I did, was really impressed with the Mizuno guy, and ended up being custom fitted for, and purchasing, MP 60's.

They've also been more than happy for me to try clubs out every now and again, particularly drivers.

So top marks for AG Watford from me.
 
I dont know what you guys want, if that was me I'd rather the guy was short and sweet, I cant stand all this sales sh123. I got a pro to fit me 2 weeks ago for a new set of pings. The demo club I lifted suited me to a tee. 10 minutes at the most, I hit a few balls, had a few swings, end off. Someone sid they spent 45 minutes, what were u doing? having tee and sticky buns? I would hate to stand that long listening to some git trying to sell me clubs. My mind was made up before I went...............
 
Biggleswade varies a lot;

the more experienced staff are little interested if they can see you're not in buying mode.

the more junior guys give better, if often less well informed, service.
 
I thought our local AG was closing down. Went in there the other week and there were no clubs on display anywhere. Not one.....
Asked the bloke what was going on and he said "Homer is here testing clubs"
;)
 
Most of my local ones are pretty poor unless you get served by the assistant manager or manager in Camberley and the manager of Slough. Other than that, the general store staff are pretty ill informed and not qualified or capable to C/F.

That said the managers in these stores are excellent and take the time to find out about a customers game etc and although they will flog their four stock brands unless a customer has specific clubs he's interested in they won't try and flog stuff not suited.
 
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