Brand new Ping clubs, frayed shaft ends

[Troutfly]

Looking...is that a pencil mark for the cut? No way these are factory.

[tangojay]

IMHO you going after the wrong company, I would go after a refund from WWG first. The screen shot you posted does not say anything about the condition of the clubs.

People loose their money because the add says "Like New". If they say no, talk to your credit card company about fighting the charges.

[braincramp52]

Exactly right! Somebody tried altering the irons and failed miserably. I'd be all over the place you bought them. I feel bad for you though, don't give up until the place you bought them makes it right. Somebody there didn't do their job if they sold them to you as new. I'd guarantee you somebody took a tubing cutter to those shafts.

[mrshinsa]

Below is response from WWG. Looks like I'm in for a ride either way...
Hello, Yeah it seems as Ping messed up these shafts when assembling the clubs, I just sent our Ping Rep an email about how we can solve this for you, As soon as he gets back to me I will update you here.Trevor Brodeur | Customer Service Representativewww.worldwidegolfshops.comP 888.216.5252E [email protected]@tangojay Yes, the clubs were definitely brand new with ping black socks on the club heads and all.
Luckily I did use an AMEX (mental note, always use a good CC when purchasing), so that will be my last resort.

[tangojay]

Hey, looks like your going to be an spectator now. PING is a great company, never had to go anywhere like what your going to, but,I bought s set of PING Eye's (originals, red dot) off the rack at Williams AFB AZ, 3 months later I was stationed in Europe, 5 years after I bought them, I was once again stationed in Chandler AZ. Took them there, they had me hit some balls and adjusted the lie to 2 degrees upright,,,, for free.

Great move using AMEX, that's what I use for travel.

[t4t3r]

You should be able to just return them to WWG and let them deal with it while they either send you out a replacement set or you can just place another order.

[62@Oakmont]

I’d bet large sums of money that those clubs didn’t leave the Ping factory like that. Ping may make it right with you (although it should be WWG doing that) but no way that is a factory job.

Regardless of whether or not these clubs appear to have been hit doesn’t mean that some idiot didn’t try to alter them in his garage with a pipe cutter, realized he screwed them up, and returned them. Some unsuspecting shipping/receiving clerk probably looked at them, said “yep, look unhit” and threw them back in with the new stock in the warehouse.

[Socrates]

Post the serial number on the heads. I'll tell you what they left Ping as.

[braincramp52]

I'd bet WWG is passing the buck. Like 62 said, clubs like that don't make it out the door at Ping. Or any other reputable OEM.

[Nessism]

I agree with the others here; no way Ping performed that butchery. WWG has a money back guarantee. Ask for credit towards something else and walk away.

[dmac4g]

Post the serial number and we can provide you with what they were when they left PING originally.

[mrshinsa]

Attached is the serial:

[dmac4g]

 

[mrshinsa]

O wow! Never knew such site existed.

At least the specs seems to match.

[dmac4g]

I would send them back to WWG and let them sort it out. They were built a year ago and I doubt WWG held them in inventory that long. My speculation is someone did a hack job to the clubs doing something to try and change either a grip or extending or shortening a shaft. Just my guess. I would be shocked if they came out of Ping in that condition.

 

[mjf34g]

Easy enough to just check the lengths. They should be a 1/2” shorter than std. anything less tells the story

[Rdriver]

Someone should have given up after they ruined the first shaft. That’s terrible.

[mrshinsa]

@mjf34g, Yes, the clubs are 1/2" shorter than standard men's length, or in this case they are standard ladies length of 36.5" for 7-iron, therefore I don't think someone other than Ping tried to cut it. If someone else did try to cut them, they should be shorter, but no they are indeed spec length.

Again, the second picture shows extra strands of fiber(which extends beyond the length of the shaft) which were not cut clean, tells me that the cut was from factory, no?

The factory stickers with the same serial number show no sign of tempering, which tells me that these are in fact the original shafts from the factory.

The G400s came out in 2017 and now have been retired, and is no longer production. I actually bought the last clearance set of ladies G400 in stock at WWG. It's quite possible that it was made in 2019 and was just sitting at the warehouse in Illinois, but who knows...

As far as just returning it and getting something else, I did consider it, but I'm partial to this setup with this head and shaft, seeing how well it worked out for my son. He did not like the Alta CB shafts and we both cringed at the cracking sound of the G410 heads. If they had another set in stock, then yes of course.

 

[t4t3r]

Someone could’ve pulled the grips and damaged them somehow, or as others have said, tried to trim the butt or do something else funky and caused it. Grips aren’t hard to save and they could’ve thrown the grips back on and sent them back to WWG where they sat until someone else bought them. A set with those shafts at -1/2” is not going to be flying off the shelves. It also seems strange for a set with those specs to even be sold by a retailer so I would say they were a custom order that was returned, again maybe for the reasons I and others mentioned.

WWG should absolutely be the one to sort it out. Older Ping irons can be ordered but that’s only meant to be used as replacements and a max of 2 clubs I believe. Maybe Ping could make an exception though given the set you received. With the state of the nation you’d be waiting on the build though.

Do they have the White GP Tour Velvets installed as indicated in the original build specs?

[wcgolfer]

I agree. I think the retailer pulled a fast one. Perhaps unwittingly, but still . . .

[dmbrill719]

Very surprising that the specs matched up. This is very, very strange.

The good news is you are dealing with two reputable companies in World Wide and Ping, so even though this is very bizarre, I'm sure they'll get you taken care of.

Easiest solution would be for you to send them to Ping via a prepaid shipping label, they reshaft/regrip and sort out with Worldwide if there's any invoice to Worldwide for the work.

[mjf34g]

Heres another piece of the puzzle. IIRC correctly Ping GP Tour Velvets are also color coded. The grip pic that was provide was just a std Tour Velvet. Perhaps proving a re-grip at some point?

 

[mrshinsa]

@t4t3r @mjf34g The grips looked like just plain ol off the shelf GP tour velvets. I posted a picture of them in one of the replies. Since they were supposed to be standard size, I'm not sure whether ping uses off-the shelf regular GP grips, or color codes them white.
Maybe other ping owners can chime in.

[t4t3r]

Thanks. I went back after my post and realized you had posted grip pictures. It appears the "White" designation refers to the grip size in Pings system which would be standard, so we can only assume the grips are the originals.
Definitely a strange occurrence with this one and there's certainly a few possible scenarios outlined here. As @dmbrill719 posted, both companies are quite reputable, and my few dealings with WWG have been very good. I would still say the onus is on them to resolve this to your satisfaction regardless of who the club manufacturer is.

[Hstead]

Looks to me from the specs they were sent out at from Ping, that someone from Ping must have chopped those up late on a Friday afternoon, after they downed a twelve pack at lunch.

I am guessing Ping fixes them because it is a Ping issue.