Buyer Beware: The PGA Superstore
Here's what really happens when you order a "new" set of golf clubs...
Two years ago, a friend asked me if I would be interested in taking golf lessons through a summer recreation program. Both of our husbands are golfers, and she thought it would be something fun for us to try.
I agreed, but I went to our first lesson with my husband’s 7 iron and low expectations. For some reason, I had it in my head that I wasn’t cut out to play golf.
But I was wrong.
After that first lesson, I picked up a used ladies’ starter set to practice with as I learned how to play the game. There’s nothing wrong with those clubs, but I’m ready for an upgrade. Since I judged so many cheerleading competitions this season, I thought it would be nice to use some of the extra money I earned to buy myself a new set of golf clubs.
At first I was eying the 10-piece Women’s Callaway Edge set sold at Costco, which is affordable and gets generally positive reviews. However, I also tend to fall prey to “analysis paralysis” when it comes to spending money on myself. Golf clubs are expensive, and I want to spend my money wisely. After giving it a lot of thought, I decided to schedule a professional club fitting at the new PGA Superstore that opened in Commack. I had a feeling that I would end up spending more money there than at Costco, but I was also curious about what I could learn from the club fitting experience.
Here comes the actual point of this post:
I had my full-bag fitting last Tuesday, and it was a great experience! After three hours (and probably three hundred swings) we found that I performed consistently well with the TaylorMade Kalea Premier irons. The PGA Superstore carries a 7-piece ladies Kalea Premier set for as good a price as anywhere, but the Commack store didn’t have my configuration in stock. The employee who conducted my fitting helped me place an order from the store with free ground shipping included.
They arrived via FedEx this morning.
This afternoon, I returned them.
Here’s why: When I opened the package, I immediately noticed that I received 6 rather than 7 clubs. The 7 iron was missing from the set! This was the first problem.
Next, of the 6 clubs that arrived, only one (the pitching wedge) was actually new. By new, I mean that it came with the club head wrapped in cellophane like you see them on the shelves in the store. Not only were the others unwrapped, they were also obviously used.
On close inspection, I noticed that the 5 wood and the 6 hybrid were damaged. Both had notable scuff marks on the club head. Some of the other clubs had scratches on the club heads and the shafts. A few of the grips looked dirty, and, perhap most comically, the 6 hybrid came with a 7 wood headcover.
I immediately called the PGA Superstore customer service hotline to report the issue. While the representative who took my call was very kind and did her best to help me, it didn’t take long for me to realize that I was ripped off.
Here’s what I learned:
First, when you place an order on the PGA Superstore website, the order does not come from a fulfillment center. Instead, the order is first “accepted” and then filled by a store that has that product in stock. They also maintain all responsibility for quality control and stuff like making sure the 7 iron is in the stupid box!
The PGA Superstore has a loose interpretation of the word new. I told the representative that I had expected to be shipped a box full of brand new, never used clubs wrapped in cellophane. She then explained that the set that I received IS “new,” but some of the clubs in the set may be unwrapped and/or have some scuff marks because the store that shipped them may have let some of their customers “try them out” in their practice bays. To be clear, golf clubs available to customers who want to “try them out” in the store are generally considered to be “demo” clubs. Demo clubs are NOT new, and that should be reflected in the price. To my understanding, stores will sell gently-used demo sets for 30-40% off.
The PGA Superstore likes to play games: Part 1. I went on to explain to the customer representative that, of the MANY clubs that I used during my fitting, only one was from the sales floor. Both the club head and the shaft were wrapped in cellophane, but the employee conducting my fitting put blue masking tape around the club head before he let me use it. I asked if that was not a common practice, and I was told that PGA Superstore locations are “independently managed” and “may have different procedures” as it relates to letting customers take practice swings with new clubs inside the store.
The PGA Superstore likes to play games: Part 2. To make a long story short, the customer service representative was unable to find me a suitable replacement set. After putting me on another brief hold to call the GM of the the only other store that had these clubs in stock, she came back on the line to tell me that the set of clubs they wanted to send me were reported to have been “heavily used” inside the store, but they would give me a discount if I wanted them. I was offered a laughable 10% off on that exchange.
“Can you do better than that?” I asked. I was placed on hold AGAIN as the representative went to consult her manager. Luckily I’ve been to enough car dealerships to know how this works…
We went two rounds and two additional holds. The discount went up to 12%, but their “best and final” discount offer was 15%
When it doubt, consult Reddit. Here’s the kicker… before calling customer service, I dropped a post on Reddit. It immediately gained traction, and I was able to read many helpful comments whilst waiting on my numerous holds. Nearly everyone commenting urged me to send the clubs back for a full refund and raise holy hell for the attempted ripoff. One Reddit user who claimed to be a former employee spilled the tea. He (or she) explained that the PGA Superstore knowingly ships used clubs attempting to pass them off as brand new clubs. He added, “This is especially common with ladies clubs since there [sic] are not a lot of demos…these clubs should be converted to demos skus instead but alas it never happens.”
And with that, I will no longer be shopping at the PGA Superstore.