New (old?) scam - switching golf balls in the boxes at the B&M stores

Well, I won a dozen Callaway HX Tours when I bought a fairway wood from Roger Dunn on Sunday and was given a "game piece". If the game piece has the name of a pro and they win a major, you get to win whatever the prize was...mine was "Graeme McDowll" and it was for a dozen HX Tour balls.

Booyah!!!

So I headed down to the Roger Dunn to claim my prize this afternoon. They didn't have any more HX Tours so I picked up a box of Tour iz balls and head back home. All content and happy....it was a 15 minute drive back home. When I opened up the box at home - SH*T....someone had switched ALL the sleeves in the Tour iz box with Warbird Plus sleeves!!!!

WTF!?!?!

I called RD's manager and drove back down and they were happy to give me a replacement box.

I heard rumors that people were doing this but never did I expect to get caught out by this scam. Some lowlife switched out the sleeves and if I had lived an hour away, I would be p*ssed as hell to drive back to get my replacement balls.

It's not RD's fault and the mistake was not to check the sleeve before I left, nor did the clerk. Next time!

Anyone else got caught in these "switcheroo" scams?

no, but it sounds like someone around you has a little too much time on their hands.

While I didnt get burned by this scenario...I almost did. Was at Wally World looking for some TM blacks or reds on super sale and found a little section a few feet away from the regular ball shelf that had some of last years Nike balls on sale for $30. I wasn't intrested in them but a black box of older Nike One Black's caught my eye. They had no price on them and seemed to be a rouge box. I was on my way to one of those price scanners when I opened the box up and found 4 sleaves of Wilson Magnums!!! The Wilson Magnums popped up at Walmart a few months ago for $5 per dozen. They are a disgrace to the golfing world and Wilson specifically. Previously, when they came out, I sent an email to Wilson Golf asking about all these balls they are flooding the market with (Wilson True, SmartCore, Deep Red). They are all old Wilson names but they are NOT made by Wilson. Wilson bids the job out to ball foundries and the cheapest get the job. The Trues and Smartcores are decent. I opened a sleeve of these Magnums and they were rough and you could peal the paint right off them. Worse that 20 year old range balls.

I have tried the Smartcore (big blue box of 24 for $15) and they are very similar to the old Smartcore that was out about 5-7 years ago. The True's are almost identical to the Smartcore but claim that seamless cover, and true roll on putts. I have not tried these $5 balls and nor will I.

So, some scumbag got $40 in balls for $5......

[quote name='TourBound3617' date='22 June 2010 - 04:52 PM' timestamp='1277250729' post='2526982']
no, but it sounds like someone around you has a little too much time on their hands.
[/quote]

Nah man, the box did not leave my hands when I picked them up and got home and I was just about to spin them with the check-n-go and found the sleeves were wrong.

Some smartalex had switched the ball while at RD and paid the Warbird price for premium balls as the last poster said.

Like I said, I ain't seen this happen before till now. Moral of the story - check your balls before leave the shop to make sure you have the right ones you paid for

Old scam. The same thing happens with shoes in boxes. People put the expensive ones in the cheap box, get rung up by a minimum wage employee, and out the door they go. Shoplifting.

I see it all the time.

The golf shops around Houston (as well as sporting goods stores) have started keeping the $40+ balls behind the counter, or under lock and key. It's a shame really, but I've seen it myself with gloves now too.

At the largest golf retailer here the cashier takes the top off the box to check what balls are inside to ensure nobody has switched.

Me and the wifey were doing some shopping at Wally World the other night and I decided we will go grab some golf balls for a tourney I was gonna play in that weekend. They didn't have the Pentas so I picked up a box of Bridgestone B330s. I figure I better play it safe and make sure my blue sleeves are in the box. Open it up and sure enough... Orange e6 sleeves are staring me in the face. I would of been so mad if I had mad it hope with these instead. At least for the price difference. I grabbed a 2nd box of B330s and they were right so I took the first one to the Store Director and told him to make sure them and LP inform the other employees on what to look for. I used to be a manager at Circuit City and this kind of thing drives me crazy...

Unfortunately it happens all too often. I always check the box before I leave the store.

no, but it sounds like someone around you has a little too much time on their hands.

 

Nah man, the box did not leave my hands when I picked them up and got home and I was just about to spin them with the check-n-go and found the sleeves were wrong.

 

Some smartalex had switched the ball while at RD and paid the Warbird price for premium balls as the last poster said.

 

Like I said, I ain't seen this happen before till now. Moral of the story - check your balls before leave the shop to make sure you have the right ones you paid for

meant the guy switching the boxes

I was in a walmart. someone didnt even bother to switch them. they just took all the sleeves

Not only do I check the sleeves inside the box, I check the balls inside the sleeves to make sure that 1)they are correct and 2)they are all there. I purchased a box of TM TP Reds at Wal-Mart once and when I got home, I only had 11 balls in the box.....WTF.

This happens a lot in Target. People do it with gloves too.

I bought a box of Tour ix balls at walmart on the way to the course one morning. I opened the box in the store, and all the correct sleeves were in it. Off I go. I drive 45 minutes to the course, and get out in the parking lot. I opened the box to unload the balls into my bag, and when I dumped the first sleeve out, I noticed the balls were HX Tour! I was pissed, but I didnt have any other balls, and I wasnt about to spend $50 on a box of decent balls at the course, so I played them anyways. Some schmuck had actually opened every sleeve, and switched the balls with the HX Tours. How can a person actually do this in the store with no one seeing what is going on? It's not like it is a quick 5 second switcharoo like just swapping sleeves. It takes a considerable amount of time to open 8 sleeves of balls and switch them around.

I have not had this happen top me yet, but I always open the box to see that the correct sleeves and all of them are in the box. Maybe I should also check the sleeves to ensure the correct balls are in them. There was one time though I grabbed a box and on my way to the counter noticed that the weight of the box felt off and when I checked one of the sleeves was missing.

Dick's Sporting Goods around here checks to see if the sleeves match the box but I still found Warbirds in a box of Tour i(s)'s this year . . . someone managed to switch out 9 of the 12 with no employee noticing. Whatever though, when I returned them the manager let me keep the 3 i(s) from the first box and gave me a replacement dozen; 15 for the price of 12 though I had to make two trips.

When are ball makers going to wise-up and just start sealing the packaging?!?

Found this once at wally world. You have check the inside of the sleeve as well.

[quote name='stevestrike' date='23 June 2010 - 04:17 PM' timestamp='1277324244' post='2528566']
When are ball makers going to wise-up and just start sealing the packaging?!?
[/quote]

Excellent idea!

If they seal the package, the idiots will not be able to switch sleeves to get all of the Number 1 balls.

[quote name='stevestrike' date='23 June 2010 - 03:17 PM' timestamp='1277324244' post='2528566']
When are ball makers going to wise-up and just start sealing the packaging?!?
[/quote]

Sealed packaging would be a great idea for the premium balls. Manufacturers must not get enough complaints to make the change.

I have opened boxes at Wally World on many occassions and found sleeves missing, or balls missing from the sleeves. If I buy a dozen at a box store, I make certain everything adds up.

I got burned a while back at Wally World. Someone actually shrink wrapped the dozen balls...I purchased Cally HX Tours and got em home and opened them up only to find Warbirds. I took them back to the manager and he would not do a thing.

[quote name='stevestrike' date='23 June 2010 - 01:17 PM' timestamp='1277324244' post='2528566']
When are ball makers going to wise-up and just start sealing the packaging?!?
[/quote]


[quote name='hef63303' date='24 June 2010 - 05:57 AM' timestamp='1277384236' post='2529697']
If they seal the package, the idiots will not be able to switch sleeves to get all of the Number 1 balls.
[/quote]


[quote name='storm319' date='24 June 2010 - 08:20 AM' timestamp='1277392848' post='2530035']
[quote name='stevestrike' date='23 June 2010 - 03:17 PM' timestamp='1277324244' post='2528566']
When are ball makers going to wise-up and just start sealing the packaging?!?
[/quote]

Sealed packaging would be a great idea for the premium balls. Manufacturers must not get enough complaints to make the change.
[/quote]

Great suggestions & totally agree. Now do you think the manufacturer's will pick up on this thread?

I guess it's time to treat the golf ball boxes like DVDs, super seal them on all 4 sides and wrap in shrinkwrap so staff and scumbag customers cannot switch 'em.

[quote name='Ima3putter' date='26 June 2010 - 10:29 AM' timestamp='1277573398' post='2538090']
I got burned a while back at Wally World. Someone actually shrink wrapped the dozen balls...I purchased Cally HX Tours and got em home and opened them up only to find Warbirds. I took them back to the manager and he would not do a thing.
[/quote]

That was what I was afraid of when I found the Warbirds in my Tour-iz box - that RD thought I did the switch and would not replace them. So I called 'em up immediately but when I got there the manager that I spoke to and the assistant that I got the ball from was gone to lunch. However, the other manager was kind enough to replace them. Kudos to RD.

But it could have so easily gone the other way as well. Next time I will check every freaking sleeve.

I use a cart bag normally, but take a stand bag with me when I travel.
While out of town not too long ago I had forgotten to put balls in my bag when I switched over. I ran by a sporting goods store on the way to the course and picked up some HX Tour 56s.
I go to get a little putting, and chipping practice in before my round, and the first ball I pull out is a pinnacle. Not even a new pinnacle, an old, beat up, waterball looking, pinnacle. I go thru the entire box and they are all used balls of various brands.
Someone had brought in their old, used, or found golf balls, and swapped them out for my nice new HX tour56s....

I returned 3 or 4 boxes of Nike One Tours a few months ago for some Vapor Speeds at Roger Dunn, and the guy opened each box and a sleeve from each to make sure that they were legit. I guess not all employees are doing this.

[quote name='storm319' date='24 June 2010 - 07:20 AM' timestamp='1277392848' post='2530035']
[quote name='stevestrike' date='23 June 2010 - 03:17 PM' timestamp='1277324244' post='2528566']
When are ball makers going to wise-up and just start sealing the packaging?!?
[/quote]

Sealed packaging would be a great idea for the premium balls. Manufacturers must not get enough complaints to make the change.
[/quote]

I think its because a lot of people like me like to open boxes of balls ive never tried to feel out and see if I like the look.

So where did you find new HX 56's in the box?