I have been toying with the idea of buying some new clubs for some time, having at last started to shave  a few shots off my handicap. I had intended to go the whole hog and get measured for something, but given that I'm 5'10 and pretty much average in every way i decided, following the advice of one of my playing buddies, to take advantage of some of the amazing deals on the internet.

Golf Direct take some beating, I must say, but when you look further afield, there are even better bargains, apparently. The site I found was called Golf18.com. On the face of it it appears rto be American, and it has amazing 24 hour online assistance.

To cut a long story short, I have ordered a set of Callaway X-24's, an Ft-iZ driver, fairway wood and 2 diablo hybrids for £620, a cool £300 less than any UK site could manage.

However, since ordering, 2 things have caused me to worry about this. Firstly, Callaway have apparently forbidden internet sale of the X-24 until December, and secondly, the shipping company's tracking information is in Chinese!

I am beginning to wonder whether I have just ordered fake golf clubs, especially having read all the stuff about the number of fake clubs coming out of China.

Has anybody had any dealings with Golf18.com, or any information that migth enlighten me?

doesn't sound good Peter.

Contact Callaway and get the clubs checked out Peter

pete i had a little scout around and they seem genuine but if they are american none of their details should be in chinese,i to looked at so called discount sites when i was looking for my callaway diablo edge irons some of them seemed to good to be true so i plumbed for direct golf uk 100% genuine and a first class service i hope this helps you out mate the only other thing is when they arrive take them to a repuatable golf store and they will tell you good luck. and wayne is right callaway will know if they deal with this company.

When I was looking for my Callaways I also came across a few of these sights which advertised very low prices.  I tried contacting a few of them to see if they were genuine and I either got no reply or a not very convincing reply.  If it seems too good to be true it usually is.  I opted to get mine from Direct Golf so that I was certain I was getting what I was paying for.  I've had a look for golf18.com but can't even find the site.

Thanks for the suggestions. I had already contacted Callaway who weren't very helpful. They cannot in fact say that these people are not selling the real thing, but are prepared to inspect them once they arrive. They will even issue a counterfeit notice, if that is indeed what they are. Trouble is, that may be too late, and will leave me chasing my money back from a shadowy organisation in SE Asia. At this moment in time they still haven't charged my credit card.

On the plus side, the company have a London telephone number, and apparently a returns policy. Sorry, in my earlier post I got the site name wrong; it is Golfstore18.com. They appear to have an American sister company called Golf superstore.com.

Somebody out there must surely have ordered something from them....

Once they charge your card Peter you won't have to chase them, prove to your card provider they are fake and claim through them.

Now that is helpful! Does that even apply to a debit card? My credit card was refused , but the transaction went straight through on debit. Nothing sinister there, is there? Anyway, much as I'd love to report that these clubs are genuine, I am resigned to the inevitable now.

Still, look at it this way; I can report back to you all and at least then it should reduce the chances of anyone else getting caught, and, if they are fakes, I'll give'em to me dad for Christmas, and he'll never notice the difference!

On the other hand....maybe ..just maybe, they're for real.

 

Ever the optimist..the conman's dream customer! hahaha!  

Weird that your cc was refused...........or did they just say that to get you to use the debit card not sure about the legalities for that but you could check with your bank

 

As far as I know you don't get the same level of protection with a debit card as with a CC.  With a credit card the money is not yours when it was transferred therefore they are liable for problems with the purchase if the supplier refuses to honour it's debt - refuse (with good reason - ie fake goods) to pay and the onus is on the CC company to get it back, and they will.  With a debit card the money comes straight out of your bank account, it's as good as cash, so it's buyer beware I'm afraid. 

I thought so. That's why they asked if the second card was a MasterCard too

 Peter, I do believe that you do get the same protection on a VISA debit card as a credit card. It's called reverse charging (some of the call people do not realise this) and all the companies signed up to this. 

 Sounds like these particular Chinese are incredibly inSCREWtable. Still all might be well. Good luck.

Thanks, Patrick, I'll check with my bank.

On second thoughts, the clubs probably ought to go to a Charity Auction. Suggestions as to a worthy cause?

 

If a deal seems to good to be true...

 I bought my last Irons from local pro. 

sound comment there Stephen

Sent an e-mail to Ping about the website - see reply below:

Thank you for your e-mail and for visiting our web site.

A general rule to follow is if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. We have very few online accounts, and they all have a physical store, as well. If there is no actual address listed, they will not be an authentic PING retailer.

Here are some helpful guidelines to avoid being a victim of a counterfeit scam:

1. Purchase PING products from only authorized PING retailers, who can be found using the Retailer Locator on this web site. Once there, follow the instructions to identify the PING authorized retailers near you. The risks of acquiring counterfeit goods, product unavailability, low stock, inadequate service and fraud are best avoided by dealing with Ping Authorized Retailers.
2. Be wary of any retailer, particularly an internet retailer, that offers what is claimed to be a new PING product at a retail price that is exceptionally outside of the normal range of retail prices for that product.
3. When in doubt, be sure to physically inspect the offered product and compare it to a genuine PING product. There are typically significant or subtle differences in shape, color, markings, finish and/or various insignia. There are always differences in quality of manufacturing and performance. This comparison should be done with the actual products in front of you. It can be extremely difficult to check for differences by simply comparing photographs or with the counterfeit club and no genuine PING club to compare to. Counterfeiters also use the trick of displaying a photo of a genuine PING club on their web site, but ship buyers something entirely different. How can you avoid these traps? We again strongly recommend that you follow Guideline No.1 and purchase from only authorized PING retailers.
4. Be wary of internet sites that fail to provide reasonable contact information, or that ship product from a far away location. Internet based counterfeit sellers also often take advantage of domain proxy services to hide their identity, or list bogus addresses and telephone numbers in their WHOIS data.
We hope you find these Guidelines helpful, and that you take them into consideration when shopping for PING products. Please note that the registration tool provided on this site does not verify product authenticity. Please contact PING if you have any questions concerning the authenticity of product you have purchased. If you purchased what you later determine to be a counterfeit PING product, your options include reporting the seller to the appropriate authorities. PING would also appreciate your reporting the seller to us so we can further investigate.

Thank you for your interest in PING and have a wonderful day!

Join the PING Locker Room. Register your clubs, track your stats and connect with your friends who love the game of golf.

Become a member today at http://lockerroom.ping.com/

Play your best!
LeAnna W. Hope this helps - I still don't!!!!Sean '3 off the Tee' Goucher

 

 

Many thanks to all those that have replied. Some of the advice has been very useful. I suppose just like when you play a bad shot and have to hack out sideways, there are times when you just have to take your medicine, learn your lesson etc.,

I still live in faint hope, but deep down, I suppose I know I've been a fool

What does still concern me is the evident inability of the major manufacturers to offer any realistic reassurance here. Both Ping and Callaway offer the sort of response to inquiries about their products being offered for sale at discount prices that my granny could give (if she were alive, that is!).

Why can they not say there is no way these people are selling genuine Ping/Callaway products? When is a deal in their view too good to be true? K15's and X24's are already available at discounts of 15-20% from retail outlets that nobody would question, and they have only been on the market for a few weeks...

The trouble is, that they have vested interest in making sure we all go to our local pro, and pay £1,000 to have him confirm that we need regular irons, which presumably have cost £50 to manufacture in China.

The only good news is that your bank/credit card company are likely to be understanding if you get scammed.

Who'd have thought that eh? A sad and sorry story of a greed and deception, and the only people who come out of it with credit are the bankers!

Many of these fake clubs are actually the same clubs as the real thing.

For instance, Ping will get a chinese factory to make so many clubs for them.

The factory continue to make the clubs after the original run has finished.

They then sell the clubs as genuine clubs, which they are all apart from the serial number.

But under no circumstances will Ping acknowledge these clubs as being genuine!

Russ

You're nearly right Russ, but underestimate the duplicity of the major club manufacturers.  The conversation would go something like this:

Ping:  How much for a run of 50,000 of our new club heads?

Chinese Manufacturer:   Oooh, that'll work out at $1.45 per head for that quantity.

P:  That's a bit expensive, we'll only be making  $1.5m on that range - any way we can make it cheaper?

CM:  Up the production run to 100,000 and they'll cost 80 cents each

P:  We'll never sell the extra 50,000 - they're our top of the range set so we need to keep them exclusive.

CM:  Don't worry about that, we'll take the others off your hands.

P:  Ah, I see.  No serial numbers and stuff though?

CM:  Of course not, but you'll still pretend to be outraged by the forgeries market but not take any action?

P:  Sure thing.  Business as usual then.

CM:  Yep.  Trebles all round! 

Take a look at the trolleys on offer at the above site. They even sell a Stewart X3 trolley - not called that obviously.

The site are not selling authentic gear.  That is manufacturer approved, should I say.

As above, any difference in quality may be arguable.

Oh, also the protection offered by a credit card is far more than a debit card as you are actually borrowing the money to pay for goods and you are covered by the consumer credit act, not the case with a debit card so your money may be as good as gone!

The longer this string has gone on, the better I have felt about the whole story. Thanks, Guys!

After this long running story, what was the eventual outcome. 'Fake' or 'Genuine' Clubs.

Come on Peter, I am thinking of getting some Fusion wide sole clubs from "mygolfwholesale.com" which is a similar site. Have you got your stuff yet and was there anything to pay in the way of import duty etc. Harry 

pete what's the news were they genuine?  i hope they were mate but the suspense is killing me

Peter I don't know you and I hope this doesn't ruin your day. I also hope I ain't too late.

I dealt with Golfstore18 (Also mygolfwholesale.com) ............ FAKE FAKE and more FAKE

It cost me money that took months to get back through Paypal. Who have now struck them off their client list.

DON'T be cheated out of your cash.

Also spread the word to other golfers.

Hi

Sorry to add to the bad news but I also can say that these clubs are FAKE!

I bought a set of mp58s for £230 (should have known) and knew they were fake the second i pulled them out of the box. I played with though and to be fair if it wasnt for the inconsistency in distance you wouldnt tell the difference. I complained to the website and they refunded me £100 without asking for the clubs back. I now keep them as a spare set.

like the other guys have said if it sounds too good to be true it usually is. If they were genuine id buy 100 sets and double my money on ebay lol.

I just received a Callaway FT9 from Golfstore18 - Its a fake for sure ! I have a bag of Callaways and it was easy to compare the quality. 1 - Club came from china 2 - At top of grip all my other clubs have 'Callaway GOLF' printed - GOLF text was missing - The dart under the 10 degrees on the sole of the club was missing - the joints along the seams are wavey. Being stupid I thought I was buying from Golf118 who are approved resellers. I wish I had been a little more carefull. Anyway my credit card company are sending me a claim form, so fingers crossed I might get my money back that way. For everyone else stay well clear.  I can send photos if anyones interested.

I have unfortunately also bought club++ from Golfstore18.The club was fake. Golfstore18 recommended me to try the club which I did and then they claimed that their ruturn policy did no longer apply since it was used.Also bought a training net that broke after an hour. Golfstore18, who has 6 months gurantee, claimed the guarantee did not apply because if it broke, it must have done so because of wrong use.The last thing I bought was a training mat that actully worked. I did however buy the largest one which turned to be 20cm*40cm Golfstore18 = Pure SCAM

I cancelled a order after the fake club reviews I found! It's been over a month and I still have not been refunded, the order was never dispatched all I get is abusive emails threatening no refund if I don't take a lesser amount than paid!! Stay away from these people(use that word loosely) they are disgraceful.

Hi 

Don't use this site I bought a callaway FT-iQ driver from these people I found out today from golfbidder who i sent this to to sell that it is a counterfeit club and not a very good one I'm now going to try and get my money back through my credit card 

GET YOUR MONEY BACK

hope this helps