Stealth Driver warranty claim - lack of support and customer care

[Springveldt]

For me, if they are that good, and I don’t just mean Ping, I will wait like I did when I got my last Ping driver. The new one came out and I saved a fortune on the previous ones original price. One thing about Ping. The warranty is excellent and I cannot for the life of me see Ping delivering the sort of aftersales service TM are dishing out. And that I don’t understand. The OP has done the right thing asking questions re his driver on here. But gofers are not stupid, if they see or hear this type of negativity towards a product, they will steer clear of it.

I’ve steered clear of TM ever since they came out with the carbon face simply because of all the horror stories you see online about the face caving in, the face falling off or something happening to the crown.

On Reddit, the vast majority of posts about equipment failure is TM but to be fair their customer service is normally better than “sorry it’s out of warranty”.

 

[IanM]

I'm just back from my round this morning. One of my mates proudly announced he'd had a fitting this week and the latest Taylor Made was what he's ordered.

I'd forgotten about this thread, and it's probably too late to warn him. But it's not a Stealth he has coming.

 

[WorldHandicapSystem]

Freezing temperatures and driving ranges have been the death of many a driver.

I’d be interested to know how many of these drivers that fail live in the boot of a car.

 

[Smoj]

For me, if they are that good, and I don’t just mean Ping, I will wait like I did when I got my last Ping driver. The new one came out and I saved a fortune on the previous ones original price. One thing about Ping. The warranty is excellent and I cannot for the life of me see Ping delivering the sort of aftersales service TM are dishing out. And that I don’t understand. The OP has done the right thing asking questions re his driver on here. But gofers are not stupid, if they see or hear this type of negativity towards a product, they will steer clear of it.

fwiw I just retired my og stealth HD, I beat the hell out of that thing for about 3 years from beautiful summer evenings, to snow, rain and frost and multiple rage sessions and, apart from the face carbon getting worn, it is in pretty good worn condition. I think I paid £200 2nd hand, and loved it. Maybe I'm just lucky this one didn't break.





Recently changed from all Taylormade to Ping, and it's been nothing but amazing. I bought my G430, which was the head only for under £200, which at the time a g425 was more, with shaft..so i felt pretty lucky getting that price.

 

[BigPhil14]

I've just had a different experience, but helped by still being within the 2 year warranty. I bought the Qi10 23 months ago, and the face popped off in the same way as the original post, however TM have just confirmed that they have sent out the new Qi4D head as a replacement and will be here next week.

 

[Oddsocks]

3 years life is p155 poor given the cost. I’ve playing partners with 910 or 913 drivers in the bag that are low single figures and play 2-3 times a week excluding track man sessions, these drivers are circa 12-15 years only and still performing.

I also wonder how many balls Rose’s trusty m2 has ever hit!

 

[Neilds]

3 years life is p155 poor given the cost. I’ve playing partners with 910 or 913 drivers in the bag that are low single figures and play 2-3 times a week excluding track man sessions, these drivers are circa 12-15 years only and still performing.

I also wonder how many balls Rose’s trusty m2 has ever hit!

Not sure you are comparing the same thing. The Stealth has a 'pop in' face and that is what is causing the issues.

 

[Klimski]

Not sure you are comparing the same thing. The Stealth has a 'pop in' face and that is what is causing the issues.

Haha, so because TaylorMade launched a frail product, they can't be held to normal product standards. You should be a lawyer sir!

 

[Neilds]

Haha, so because TaylorMade launched a frail product, they can't be held to normal product standards. You should be a lawyer sir!

Apologies, but I have no idea how your reply has any relevance to what I posted. Oddsocks said he knows people who are playing older drivers with no issues, but I pointed out that these older drivers are made using a completely different process (not a separate face) so cannot be compared to the Stealth design. At no point was I defending TM or saying they should not be held to the same standards.

 

[Klimski]

Apologies, but I have no idea how your reply has any relevance to what I posted. Oddsocks said he knows people who are playing older drivers with no issues, but I pointed out that these older drivers are made using a completely different process (not a separate face) so cannot be compared to the Stealth design. At no point was I defending TM or saying they should not be held to the same standards.

Okay, let me explain: the story about how long the guys had been using their drivers pertained to how long the life of 'a driver' is. And this is relevant to this discussion because of the fact that you can (try to) claim extended warranty if a product (especially an expensive product) lasts much shorter than its expected life. In that sense, it doesn't matter what manufacturing process a company uses to create a driver - the product needs to be as durable as a fictional 'standard' product in its category and price range. That's why I had a laugh at your remark that the TM driver can't be compared because it's poorly designed (paraphrasing). No harm intended, apologies in return if I offended.

 

[Neilds]

Okay, let me explain: the story about how long the guys had been using their drivers pertained to how long the life of 'a driver' is. And this is relevant to this discussion because of the fact that you can (try to) claim extended warranty if a product (especially an expensive product) lasts much shorter than its expected life. In that sense, it doesn't matter what manufacturing process a company uses to create a driver - the product needs to be as durable as a fictional 'standard' product in its category and price range. That's why I had a laugh at your remark that the TM driver can't be compared because it's poorly designed (paraphrasing). No harm intended, apologies in return if I offended.

No offence taken, actually hate it when people refer to annoyance/confusion/different opinion as offence.

 

[Slab]

Couldn't an out of warranty broken item like this be claimed for on the appropriate insurance cover

 

[Oddsocks]

Not sure you are comparing the same thing. The Stealth has a 'pop in' face and that is what is causing the issues.

I’m saying how can you design a club with an expected shelf life of 2-3 years due to the face insert when previous models such as M2’s are still in play on the tour which must be 5-6 years plus old and would have hit 1000’s of balls with a tour pro swing speed and not a club golfer.

Clearly there IS a design fault with the way they attach the stealth and Sim faces otherwise they would be lasting a similar period to that of previous models … such as rose and his dinosaur M2 or stenson and his magic 3w

 

[mister v]

My son had a stealth driver and the face popped out within the warrenty period, contacted TM and they sorted it out straight away and even sent the stealth 2 as his replacement.
TM are fantastic if its within warranty but as the OP has found out once its out of warranty they dont want to know.
I agree with the fit for purpose side of things, and the it should last for ...... years etc, and im sure a huge percentage of the stealths never had an issue. but its a shame when one pops and you get no help from the manufacturer

its the same wtih any product , a C63 AMG is £100k new and has a 3 year warranty, a pair of footjoy golf shoes only has 12 months. as soon as it out of warranty your on your own. buyer beware!!

 

[KenL]

Car manufacturers often offer a “goodwill” repair when out of warranty, they may ask you to make a contribution.

I don’t see why TM or any manufacturer shouldn’t do likewise.

If you don’t get anywhere, why not write to all the golf mags and hope that someone publishes the letter.

 

[Oddsocks]

Car manufacturers often offer a “goodwill” repair when out of warranty, they may ask you to make a contribution.

I don’t see why TM or any manufacturer shouldn’t do likewise.

If you don’t get anywhere, why not write to all the golf mags and hope that someone publishes the letter.

I don’t agree with the last bit as no mag will go against an industry giant that may pay to advertise etc, but 100% there should be good will.

If the crown had beginner bruising from endless sky marks you could argue miss use, but it’s mint.

 

[Klimski]

I am reading a bit more about the issues with the Stealth and Stealth 2 - from what I am gathering (helped a bit by Gemini AI) it appears that the issues are less prevalent in the newer carbon face models. But it remains odd design: adding the enormous complexity of a carbon face for no tangible (data) benefit. It's not as though these carbon face drivers are out performing other top of the line drivers in any way.

OP needs to go the the retailer and negotiate a settlement, I'm sure it will turn out fine.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Others may have covered this in the thread. However just in case not.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 allows that if a product had a failure and that failure is known and others have had same issue, then the purchaser has rights for fixing or replacing - irrespective of whether it is within or out of warranty. And your rights are with the retailer.

 

[Klimski]

Others may have covered this in the thread. However just in case not.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 allows that if a product had a failure and that failure is known and others have had same issue, then the purchaser has rights for fixing or replacing - irrespective of whether it is within or out of warranty. And your rights are with the retailer.

Agreed, and nowadays you can use an AI (like Gemini or Chatgpt) to gather information for you to make a nice document full of mentions of common issues and the fact that they occur more than for average drivers released recently.

 

[Oddsocks]

I wonder if the failure is common with players who hit more off centre hits. My bad strike is low heel, I’d expect the carbon insert in the eye after 2-3 rounds.