Taylor Made custom fit irons.........

[Deleted member 1147]

I posted on here a while ago, that on the 10th of May I had a custom fit for irons at the Belfry. The 1st choice on the day, by only a small margin, was the TM MC irons. I was told to wait for a couple of weeks for delivery & if I hadn't heard anything to get in touch with the shop.

Well, 2 weeks went by with no word so I got in touch with the Belfry. They hadn't heard anything from TM and so got in touch with them.
The next day, Hindley from the shop got in touch with me. I was apparently the 1st of 15 people he had to call that day to advise that the TM irons wouldn't be available until late July (at the earliest)due to huge demand.
Obviously I was annoyed at such a potential wait and Hindley, knowing I am a good customer at the Belfry offered me another CF with the same fitter to confirm the result and to discuss my options.
So on the 31st of May I had a 2nd CF and the best two choices were once again the TM MC & Titleist AP2 (2nd choice previously).
So after some discussion, the fact that the fitter thought I was hitting the AP2 very well, they felt good and all aspects of the stats were within hoped for ranges I opted to change my order.
After a call on thursday (1 week and 2 days later) my new clubs were available for collection. A little better than the, nearly,3 months for the TMs.

What annoys me most is that the manufacturers advise CF and then,because your results aren't standard,they cannot produce your required end product in a timely manner.

I think I'll have to see what apology I can get, was thinking about a new R11 3 wood .........or is that just too hopeful?

 

[sweatysock41]

Taylor Made delivery times are crap. It took nearly 2 months for my R9 irons to arrive last yearand they were standard Loft & Lie. Previous irons were Ping and they were not standard but were delivered within 10 days.

I like my clubs but the customer service is crap.

 

[granters]

Does anyone know where Taylor Made have their clubs manufactured? I ask because i'm having massive headaches in my line of work, which is construction supplies, due to lead times from China, and a lot of club manufacturers manufacture there.

It seems at the moment that China is in turmoil due to lack of food for the workers. They filled the factories with the people during the boom in manufacturing, when they basically began supplying the world with evreything, and as a result there were not enough people left to tend the farms etc.

So then they sent more people back to the farms and manufacturing suffered. I frequently am quoted lead times of 8 months to a year + for big orders.

The whole country stops for chinese new year which is on a different date every year depending on the moon cycles and there is also a sizeable lag from this too. Add to that a lot still comes by boat rather then air, 5000 odd miles, and you have a wait on your hands.

So if TM manufacture there and have to send off standard spec clubs then you can see why they may be talking such long lead times

 

[sweatysock41]

If that's the case then they should say that up front. Not state it will be here on such and such a date then deliver a month later with no real explanation.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

My TM R11 driver took less than 2 weeks.

 

[granters]

If that's the case then they should say that up front. Not state it will be here on such and such a date then deliver a month later with no real explanation.

Absolutely 100% agreed, but customer service is a thing of the past. If it were still a major issue for manufacturers they wouldn't be going to China. It's profit before people all the way now. They will secure the sale knowing there's a long lead time and just hope that more people will wait than walk. That's where custom fit comes in - you go through all these procedures and come out the other end convinced that there are no other clubs that will do the same job for you, so you may wait.

I'd rather pay substantially more for something knowing

a) I'd get it when i expect it
b) The quality of build was there

 

[chrisd]

I have to say that Titleist are superb. My range Pro ordered my AP2 irons on the Tuesday, a week before Xmas when the snow was about 2ft deep. He told Titleist that the order was urgent and they assembled them on the Wed and they were received on the Thursday!

How good was that!

Chris

 

[Oddsocks]

not the first time tm got a battering on customer service. It seems if your going CF Mizzy, Ping or Titleist is the way to go.

 

[Imurg]

+1
I've had Ping, Titleist and Mizzy fittings and all have kept to or beaten advertised lead times.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

TM are shoddy on the customer service front not just on clubs. I've had issues with stand bags before and they've not responded to the club pro (registered dealer) or to me as the customer. I have to say even as a confessed TM gear whore I'm coming to the end of my rope with them. I've not hit the new irons yet but have been less than impressed with the R11, superfast burner, the latest wedges with changeable face or the penta ball. I can see my allegiance shifting especally if there are issues and I can't get them resolved. Not a good way to do business