Ping Irons-Liked the iron, disliked the durability

[Tom 48]

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]

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]

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?

 

[SammmeBee]

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

 

[Dibby]

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]

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]

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.

Take them to the small claims court then.

 

[Jensen]

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]

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

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

 

[Tom 48]

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?

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]

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

Just for your info, the shafts Are graphite.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

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]

Five shaft failures, sounds dodgy to me.

 

[Tom 48]

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.

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]

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

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]

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

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.

 

[BubbaP]

Did they replace it?

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

 

[Crow]

Did they replace it?

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

 

[Dibby]

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.

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]

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 !