Bad fitting experience

[nicksampo]

After hitting a mates steel shafted irons I realised that I'm more suited to them than graphite so I went to a well known chain golf store a few days ago planning on getting some custom fit irons, I gave them my budget of £300-400 and ending up primarily hitting Wilsons. Firstly their launch monitor wasn't working, but they, not literally but nearly, pushed me into the net to hit some balls. I had no idea which club I was hitting better, but I felt the ci7's where suiting me more. Anyway, me being the push-over I am, was persuaded into the di9's even though I prefered the ci7. He was saying 'at your handicap you shouldn't be looking at clubs like the ci7', he also said I was hitting the di9 alot nicer, contrary to what I thought.

Then the fitting commenced. I'm only short and he said he was going to lop an inch of the shaft, to which I though he must know what hes doing, then he changed his mind to .5 then to .25. He then stuck the sticker on the bottom of the club and got me to hit of the black plastic board. And strangely I was grounding the club towards the toe! He then said 'looks like you need it 2 degrees flat' yes he said FLAT! I disagreed and he asked the manager and he sorted it out. Anyways, I (someone who started the game properly around April time) ended up basially choosing the spec and in a rush to get out of there went to pay.

I was qouted £300 fitted for the di9s which is a top price. I was then told they werent going to accept anything lower than £350. I wouldn't have minded if they said that from the start but to suck me in with a great deal and then change the price is not on. I got them down to £335 and payed and left, not feeling totally content.

After thinking about it alot I went in 2 days later (yesterday) and asked for my money back, so that I could go and get fitted by someone who made feel like they really knew what they were doing and had a launch monitor or range to test in.

So just wanted to share my experience and say that if your not quite comfortable with a club fitting don't be an idiot like me who hates to say no, don't go ahead with it.

 

[Andy]

Spill the beans on who they were?

Save somebody else wasting their time at least.

Andy

 

[Cernunnos]

Oh my word...!!! You really should have walked out before getting anywhere near parting with cash. Easy to say now, but would have been better in the long run to have made an excuse that you'd come back when the monitor was working or something similar & then going somewhere else.

Hope you got your money back, though something tells me that its doubtful.

 

[TonyN]

That is absolutly terrible and sounds like you were almost had!

See these kind of stories on Cowboy traders. Good job you got your money back. I have learnt that if I am not 100% happy, I will not proceed. C/F is all about you, if you aint happy hitting clubs, dont buy them.

Who where they?

 

[nicksampo]

I got my money back fine, if I didn't I would be reaally angry! The problem with identifying the store is its my most convienient golf store, if I want some gloves or something I go there. Still anyone with any common sense wouldn't of given them any hard-earned in the first place!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I am going to have a punt and say AG purely because I had a similar experience in their Camberley store when looking for X20's. They don't have a range so it was a net and launch monitor and they young man said he could custom fit me. To say he didn't have a clue would be to put it mildly and he kept trying to persuade me to go to Nicklaus or Yonex (their biggest mark-ups). I was getting so frustrated I forgot to concentrate on hitting balls and so my figures and shots were all over the place.

He then said I was 4 degrees upright (I'm only 6ft and had my previous clubs C/F's by the manufacturer and was only 1 degree). He said I needed steel when I had been told by my pro and several others including a Cally rep at a demo (hence the reason for getting them) I needed graphite. In the end I said I wasn't happy and he tried to charge me £25 for the C/F session. In the end I caused such a scene (the store was packed) and played the I write on a well known golf forum (I didn't mention names) and said that the store would be all over the web within an hour. In the end the manager said there would be no charge and offered to redo the fitting himself at a time to suit. I politely refused and told him I would be taking my business to another AG so that they could get the commission and reporting his staff to AG head office which I duly did although I never heard anything back. Mind you given AG's track record on customer service I'm not surprised.

 

[nicksampo]

Homer you are good, it was AG! I'm guessing I also got a newbie. I know people have to start somewhere but I wish they were trained before being let loose on us

 

[CliveW]

Why on earth would you pay for the clubs before you got them? OK perhaps a deposit but certainly not the full amount. I have had two sets of irons custom fitted in the past and didn't have to part with any cash until I was happy with what I had. The first set of Callaways did not suit straight away and had to be changed. If I had paid for them when I was fitted I'm sure I wouldn't have had them sorted. (Incidentally it wasn't a Golf Store I dealt with)

 

[TonyN]

I think it's wrong that AG can offer 'custom fitting' as a service agh the shops that only have the indoor net. You only gets to try the stock shafts so how is this custom? I would also hazard a guess that atleast 90% of the staff are not qualified fitters and the manager just showed them the loft/lie tape when they started. My first set was from AG and I didn't have a clue about C/F. The guys didn't even offer grip sizes!

I think it's something people should be very wary of, what the OP posted seems to me nothing short of being swindled. His can they tell him he should buy the clubs he hit worse than the others. And how can they quote him, then put the price up. I would be furious and be havi g a good old moan to the powers that be to stop this sort of idiocy(sp) happening again!

 

[thecraw]

Never ever had anything other than a positive c/f experience.

Maybe I've just been lucky or maybe Ping and Mizuno just have it spot on as these are the two manufacturers that I have been to.

 

[medwayjon]

Of course it was going to be AG, they are a shower of shite when it comes to fitting and anything like that.

The manager of my local store admits openly that their equipment is shite when it rarely works and that the staff havent got a clue anyway.

They will be mad keen to get you into Wilson Staff as it is their biggest comission earner alongside Nicklaus.

 

[Canfordhacker]

I think AG are missing a trick here, I really do. Surely at leat 1 forummer must be an AG employee - after all they are by definition golf fans working there, so have an interest in stuff represented on here from that angle. If just one employee (after having a word with head office perhaps) were to refute some of the stuff said on here, or even acknowledge that the feedback was being dealt with then both customers and store might end up happier.

A startpoint would be confirming just what training the staff have in the use of the equipment in the net in most stores.

 

[nicksampo]

I know now that I definetaly shouldn't of given them my money before getting the clubs, I just thought that that was how it was done. I think they should have at least one qualified fitter per store, even if he only works 2 or so days a week (as long as they tell you when their working).

Now though I can't imagine paying that much for clubs without seeing how the ball flies with my own eyes. Yesterday I hit my old clubs, I sold them to a friend, and want them back! Cobra 3100s, out of date maybe but they have a better weight behind them and I can get them for £100 or so, I think I'll play those and try get a fairly repetitve swing going before I head to the Belfry or Direct Golf. Out of interest has anyone else had any c/f experience with either or those two?

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Nicksampo,

Now that you've had a bad experience with AG, when you go for your next fitting somewhere else at least you know exactly what you want.

Don't buy if your not 100% certain that the clubs arent right for you.

Good luck trying new shiny bats mate.

 

[nicksampo]

Every cloud has a silver lining. I'm really looking forward to being able to try loads of new clubs out, I know its sad but its just the same with me and cameras. I'm just not looking forward to the hefty dent in my not so hefty bank balance! I'm off to uni next year so I may aswell try and stock up on clubs before poverty starts

 

[thecraw]

Demo days are a good starting point, speak to the reps and get their advice, these guys can point you in the direction of a recommendedand qualified fitter.

Demo days will be rolling out again shortly full of shiney new 09 ranges!!!!

 

[dandpl]

Hi guys

Why is it so many of you use the big sheds like AG and their like.

I would never ever buy any club that i had not been able to test on a range and see the ball fly!

I have bought all of my equipment from a Club pro (Yeovil Golf Club, Somerset) whom I trust and have used for some 15 years. many of these guys have launch monitors and good stocks.

Yes I accept that I may pay a little more but that is the price for service!!!!!!!!!

They are out there go find one and stick with them.

Best of luck

dandpl

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The AG I use at Birds Hills in Maidehhead is attached to a range so I do get the chance to hit balls on a monitor in a bay to get a feel for spin rates etc and then go out onto the range and actually see the shots for myself.

I agree with the post that says AG do not operate a proper C/F programme. They will often only have shafts in R and S and only one or two head shapes. THey have never asked my preference on grips etc. They do measure lie/loft etc but as my Camberley experience (4 degrees upright) they can't be guaranteed to interpate the results correctly anyway.

I have found the best way of trying clubs is to go to demo days at local ranges. There are often more than one manufacturer there on the day so you can get to try loads of different shaft combos. The TM and Cally guys always have launch monitors and the snap in shafts so it is easy to change to a different head/shaft. Mizuno always bring loads of different 6 iron options and Ping and WIlson are pretty decent too.

The only other option is to go with a manufacturer and a authorized dealership (e.g Mizuno at World of Golf in New Malden) which may limit your choices. Alternatively there are places like the Belfry where you can try different makers. Of course if you have a brand in mind like Cally you can laways go for the fitting at their HQ.

 

[barry610]

Yesterday i had an incredibly disappointing experience with one of the best custom fit brands (wont mention names just yet ).With the weather being a bit sh*tty i was quite obviously the only appointment that the guy had on that day and he could not wait to get me out of the place.

It all started when i turned up for my appointment and the guy proceeded to tell me that because of the weather the machine may not be able to pick up the flight of the ball (to which i was later told by my mate who is a pro ,is a lot of crap as these machines cost thousands and they are designed for the light to have very little effect on them).I then hit balls for the next 15 mins to warm-up,after that the fitter had me hit 2 balls with each club and shaft spec that he thought would suit me best which took another 10-15 mins (not very thorough i know).Once he told me which one was best , it was on to the wedges , which he proceeded to tell me what ones i would want to use as 'We all use these' (by that i think he meant pro's)and in between all of this he managed to squeeze in my grip size and loft & lie.

In total i was in there for no more than 40 mins and that was with a 15 min warm-up, i'm not sure about the rest of you guys but i would have thought that this should have been a lot more thorough and certainly alot more balls should have been hit so that the machine could have worked out better averages for speeds , distances and spin etc.

After looking forward to this fitting session all weekend i left the fitting session quite bemused and disheartened and i will almost certainly not be spending any of my 600-700
quid with this company.

Cheers

Barry

P.S- I also dropped the customer services dept a little email to ask if this was normal practice in all of their National Fitting Centres.

 

[TonyN]

Thats bad news, come on spill, I think they should be made public. Might not be a company problem, just the pro in general.

My custom fit at Mizuno in Wrexham lasted 2 hours, its only booked in 90 min slots so I got extra half hour.

I spent about 1hour 20 mins hitting ball and the other 40 mins were used to do loft/lie/grip select shaft, view amd compare results etc.

I have had a 45 min suctom fit experience similar to yours although it wasn't as bad, but I did have to find the club for me in that time as it was £25 up front.

Will be interested to hear the reply you get(and who it was)