Club Conex - What’s going on?

[knudson81]

16 minutes ago, Hertsjoatmon said:

Ah, you found the thread then. This is such bad practice from a business point of view. If they had marketed their system differently they could have had so much more consumer engagement rather than just focusing on fitters. I know so many golfers who love to tinker and had no idea of this system and now its pretty much off limits as they are pricing everyone out.

 

Thank you for the heads up! I agree 100% that they could have marketed this to the WRX crowd and we would have really adopted it. How many of us have a couple shafts laying around that we want to test against each other on the course and the range? And if you aren't going all in with 20 shafts and every OEM driver it is fairly affordable.

[Hertsjoatmon]

19 hours ago, enfuego said:

 

 

Someone also approached TXG and said his engineering students wanted to design a better universal fitting adapter for them. Ian said yes but I don't think they have them yet.

If you have any more information on this, let us know. I'd pay into a kick starter etc if it means getting a reliable product at a reasonable price.

 

I was all excited about building a modest shaft collection and feel the rug has been pulled from under me

[SwingBlues]

Ok, so I have email Anthony and the response was that he has yet to hear back from his management about the direct to consumer orders and when he does he will email blast it out. Again, I invited him over to GolfWRX to have his say so hopefully, he will consider. Fingers crossed the gate remains open.

 

Also, feel free to reach out to Club Conex and let them know: [email protected]

 

If you guys want Club Conex, please do your part to reach out to them via email (above) or through social medai and also their parent company True Spec.

Edited February 28, 2021 by SwingBlues

[JohnPaul]

The one thing I will add is that Anthony is a messenger for this whole situation.. It wasn't his call to make.

 

I'm not going to put words in his mouth, but I feel rather confident that he feels very similarly to how we all feel. He's been there since day 1.

 

Anthony is our best shot at getting upper management to change this new agreement.. Our best hope is that he can use our feedback as ammunition to build the case against this agreement.

[kjbuckeye]

On 2/23/2021 at 8:15 AM, trhode said:

Mostly All-Fit. Still have Conex Fuse-Fit on the irons, but that might have to change because of this. 

I just ordered some All-Fit components. I should expect to receive them in the week or so. Looks promising so far.

[knudson81]

46 minutes ago, kjbuckeye said:

I just ordered some All-Fit components. I should expect to receive them in the week or so. Looks promising so far.

 

Only downside is that it looks like they don't have new drivers sleeves for Ping and Cobra yet

[kjbuckeye]

1 minute ago, knudson81 said:

 

Only downside is that it looks like they don't have new drivers sleeves for Ping and Cobra yet

The catalog they gave me has the G410 adaptor listed, I ordered one. I also ordered an adaptor for the Cobra f9. I assumed the adaptor was still the same for Cobra. I also ordered that adaptor.

[knudson81]

7 minutes ago, kjbuckeye said:

The catalog they gave me has the G410 adaptor listed, I ordered one. I also ordered an adaptor for the Cobra f9. I assumed the adaptor was still the same for Cobra. I also ordered that adaptor.

 

Did you order directly from All-Fit? When I was looking online I thought the Ping collar was listed as a G30. When did the Cobra adapter change?

 

[kjbuckeye]

1 minute ago, knudson81 said:

 

Did you order directly from All-Fit? When I was looking online I thought the Ping collar was listed as a G30. When did the Cobra adapter change?

 

I ordered directly from all-fit. From my research, Top Golf Equipment (hnmgolf.com) is the creator of the All-Fit system. I reached out to them directly and they provided a pdf catalog. They have both PING collars, the g400,g30,etc. and the G410/G425. Too my knowledge, the cobra adaptor has not changed. Golfworks sells an aftermarket adaptor that is listed for speedzone, f9, f8, etc. I bought the All-Fit collar that was labeled F9, F8, etc. I assume they have not updated the listing to include Speedzone and Rad, but to my knowledge it is the same adaptor. 

[SwingBlues]

F9, Speedzone and RAD are same. Thanks @kjbuckeye I am looking at alternates as well 👍

Edited February 28, 2021 by SwingBlues

[knudson81]

1 hour ago, kjbuckeye said:

I ordered directly from all-fit. From my research, Top Golf Equipment (hnmgolf.com) is the creator of the All-Fit system. I reached out to them directly and they provided a pdf catalog. They have both PING collars, the g400,g30,etc. and the G410/G425. Too my knowledge, the cobra adaptor has not changed. Golfworks sells an aftermarket adaptor that is listed for speedzone, f9, f8, etc. I bought the All-Fit collar that was labeled F9, F8, etc. I assume they have not updated the listing to include Speedzone and Rad, but to my knowledge it is the same adaptor. 

 

 

Nice, can't wait to hear what you think about the setup.

[SwingBlues]

The latest from Club Conex this morning. However, they still have not addressed the retail consumers concerns. It sounds more and more like CC has issues with it's fitter customers and us retail consumers that happen to bought into their Uni-Fit systems, are JUST collateral damage.

 

It's an irony is that us retail consumers are using genuine adapters and sleeves bought from CLUB CONEX and they have stopped selling to us. Sigh.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Dear Club Conex Partner,
 
I am writing to share some important information regarding Club-Conex’s product offerings. 
 
As you know, we recently contacted you regarding Club-Conex’s new Membership program, which was designed to ensure that we can best serve you and our other club-fitting customers.  The Club-Conex Membership program was created, in part, due to recent instances of low-quality counterfeit adapters being sold by offshore manufacturers, which are commonly mistaken for authentic Club-Conex products.  These counterfeit adapters are not genuine Club-Conex Uni-Fit, Faz-Fit, Fuse-Fit, or P-100 products, and are not subjected to the same rigorous quality control measures that we have in place for our Made in the USA adapters. Counterfeit adapters may present an increased risk of failure, resulting in possible damage to club-fitting equipment or, worse, injury to you or your customers.
 
Club-Conex has recently become aware that the market for counterfeit adapters is growing, which increases the risks to Club-Conex and its loyal customers.  The sale and use of these counterfeit products constitutes infringement of Club-Conex’s intellectual property rights.  Club-Conex intends to vigorously enforce these rights against any infringers, including any merchant importing, offering to sell, or selling counterfeit adapters, such as Top Golf Equipment Co., and any club fitters using these counterfeit adapter systems.  While Club-Conex prefers to avoid pursing litigation where possible, particularly because litigation is so costly for small business owners, Club-Conex will take all appropriate steps to protect its intellectual property.
 
Because we understand that many of you may not have been aware of this problem, we are offering our loyal customers who become Club-Conex Members the one-time opportunity to send counterfeit adapters, or adapters that they believe may be counterfeit, to Club-Conex and to receive, in exchange, 20% off of an equal number of authentic Club-Conex adapters.  If you wish to participate in this exchange, or have any questions about whether your adapters are genuine Club-Conex adapters, please respond to this letter by March 12, 2021. If we do not hear from you by that date we will assume that you do not wish to exchange any counterfeit adaptor products that you may have.
 
Club-Conex takes seriously its commitment to providing high-quality, authentic Club-Conex adapters, and will not hesitate to enforce its intellectual property rights.
 
 

Edited February 25, 2021 by SwingBlues

[Golfrnut]

Someone tell me exactly how they would ‘go after’ anyone that’s using counterfeit adapters?  Is this really turning into that big of a clown show? 
 

And then they want to make it seem like they are doing you a favor?  
 

This gets more comical by the day...

[eth4and]

20 hours ago, SwingBlues said:

The latest from Club Conex this morning. However, they still have not addressed the retail consumers concerns. It sounds more and more like CC has issues with it's fitter customers and us retail consumers that happen to bought into their Uni-Fit systems, are JUST collateral damage.

 

It's an irony is that us retail consumers are using genuine adapters and sleeves bought from CLUB CONEX and they have stopped selling to us. Sigh.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Dear Club Conex Partner,
 
I am writing to share some important information regarding Club-Conex’s product offerings. 
 
As you know, we recently contacted you regarding Club-Conex’s new Membership program, which was designed to ensure that we can best serve you and our other club-fitting customers.  The Club-Conex Membership program was created, in part, due to recent instances of low-quality counterfeit adapters being sold by offshore manufacturers, which are commonly mistaken for authentic Club-Conex products.  These counterfeit adapters are not genuine Club-Conex Uni-Fit, Faz-Fit, Fuse-Fit, or P-100 products, and are not subjected to the same rigorous quality control measures that we have in place for our Made in the USA adapters. Counterfeit adapters may present an increased risk of failure, resulting in possible damage to club-fitting equipment or, worse, injury to you or your customers.
 
Club-Conex has recently become aware that the market for counterfeit adapters is growing, which increases the risks to Club-Conex and its loyal customers.  The sale and use of these counterfeit products constitutes infringement of Club-Conex’s intellectual property rights.  Club-Conex intends to vigorously enforce these rights against any infringers, including any merchant importing, offering to sell, or selling counterfeit adapters, such as Top Golf Equipment Co., and any club fitters using these counterfeit adapter systems.  While Club-Conex prefers to avoid pursing litigation where possible, particularly because litigation is so costly for small business owners, Club-Conex will take all appropriate steps to protect its intellectual property.
 
Because we understand that many of you may not have been aware of this problem, we are offering our loyal customers who become Club-Conex Members the one-time opportunity to send counterfeit adapters, or adapters that they believe may be counterfeit, to Club-Conex and to receive, in exchange, 20% off of an equal number of authentic Club-Conex adapters.  If you wish to participate in this exchange, or have any questions about whether your adapters are genuine Club-Conex adapters, please respond to this letter by March 12, 2021. If we do not hear from you by that date we will assume that you do not wish to exchange any counterfeit adaptor products that you may have.
 
Club-Conex takes seriously its commitment to providing high-quality, authentic Club-Conex adapters, and will not hesitate to enforce its intellectual property rights.
 
 

I similarly find this follow-up comical! Let's assume for a minute that Club Conex' intellectual property ("IP") is truly defensible (litigation is pending, so quite literally, the jury is still out on this matter), a consumer and/or fitter's decision to knowingly OR unknowingly purchase 'counterfeit' products in no way violates Club Conex' IP. The people producing and/or selling said 'counterfeit' products are the only ones potentially violating any IP... but good luck going after Chinese manufacturers for patent infringement... has anyone here bought something from Amazon recently? But for the sake of good humor, let's go down the path of ridiculous examples for a minute: IF Club Conex' position here were true, anyone that has ever purchased a Louis Vuitton, Gucci, or any other 'name brand' hand bag in China Town would be at risk of litigation from one of these European luxury brands. Here's another one: Apple & Samsung were tied up in IP litigation for 7+ years relating to design similarities between the original iPhone & what became the Galaxy... Apple ultimately prevailed and won a small settlement; BUT, does that mean Apple is thus entitled to file a class action lawsuit against every consumer (or cell phone reseller) that ever purchased or sold a Galaxy phone?? HAHA, No, & Nope! 

 

Fun fact: I've actually read Club Conex' patent infringement claim against Club Champion & I'd encourage everyone here to do the same (attached below along with the underlying patent). It should be noted that the claim ONLY references Club Conex' Faz-Fit products... NOT its .335 driver/fairway wood adapters. I wonder why...??? 

 

There's a really comical line in the section 3 (pg. 1) of the patent infringement claim: "The claimed method provides golf equipment resellers with an efficient and cost-effective way to fit customers for a customized set of golf clubs..." a.) I'm pretty sure the vendor agreement Club Conex' put forth referenced by other posts demanding a $300/month licensing fee negates the underlying fundamental "cost effective" claim and also b.) refers solely to "golf equipment resellers" -> not consumers. 

 

This follow-up is nothing more than a thinly veiled scare tactic that should be summarily disregarded. It's great that Club Conex takes its job seriously providing high-quality adapters... but that in no way infringes upon any consumer or fitter's right to source components from whenever they so chose. If the fear is that low-quality adapters are flooding the market, oh well. It's always the consumer and/or fitter's prerogative to put their shafts at higher risk of failure as a result. I for one have enjoyed working with Club Conex historically and was looking forward to continuing the relationship; but these latest maneuvers on their part have irreparably damaged my impression of them as a Company (not to mention the multiple shafts I've broken as a result of their 'genuine' products).     

 

 

 

20190123-Golf-Patent-Infringement-Complaint-True-Spc-v-Club-Chamption.pdf US8046899.pdf

[SwingBlues]

@eth4and you know, I searched and searched before I jumped into their Uni-Fit system, the durability of it. I could find nothing. So what happened with those shafts of yours? Where was the weakness?

 

I agree, these moves from Club Conex is just harming their reputation. They are annoying me enough and worrying me enough that I am going to switch to their competitor. You know, the ones that they brand as "counterfeit".  Pricing wise, the Top Golf All-Fit is less than 1/2 the cost of the Uni-Fit.

 

It's not just me but pretty soon almost every other consumer with a Uni-Fit will be forced to switch to Top Golf or alternate "counterfeits" where once we were loyal.

 

Time wise, it's been almost 2 months now since Club Conex has stopped selling retail.

 

Club Conex/Anthony - are you seeing all this?!?!? You have the thread link.

[eth4and]

Just now, SwingBlues said:

@eth4and you know, I searched and searched before I jumped into their Uni-Fit system, the durability of it. I could find nothing. So what happened with those shafts of yours? Where was the weakness?

 

I agree, these moves from Club Conex is just harming their reputation. They are annoying me enough and worrying me enough that I am going to switch to their competitor. You know, the ones that they brand as "counterfeit".  Pricing wise, the Top Golf All-Fit is less than 1/2 the cost of the Uni-Fit.

 

It's not just me but pretty soon almost every other consumer with a Uni-Fit will be forced to switch to Top Golf or alternate "counterfeits" where once we were loyal.

 

Time wise, it's been almost 2 months now since Club Conex has stopped selling retail.

 

Club Conex/Anthony - are you seeing all this?!?!? You have the thread link.

I've had two recurring break-points, both in the tips: 1.) right above where the adapter is affixed to the shaft; thankfully the shaft OEMs were kind enough to replace the shafts (another reason to work with high-quality partners that stand behind their products, no questions asked) and 2.) adapter itself snapping at the midpoint of the adapter. I found that the adapters were hit or miss standing up to x/tx swing speeds. 

[SwingBlues]

18 minutes ago, eth4and said:

I've had two recurring break-points, both in the tips: 1.) right above where the adapter is affixed to the shaft; thankfully the shaft OEMs were kind enough to replace the shafts (another reason to work with high-quality partners that stand behind their products, no questions asked) and 2.) adapter itself snapping at the midpoint of the adapter. I found that the adapters were hit or miss standing up to x/tx swing speeds. 

 

Interesting. I presume these are current adapters they are selling and not any earlier ones?

[kjbuckeye]

Their endeavor to stop IP infringement is negatively impacting their customers. I was dead set, cash in hand, actively trying to purchase Club Conex. Give them my CASH in exchange for their product. They have single-handedly push customers to find alternative methods to a universal adaptor by trying to implement a system that hurts small businesses and an industry that already works at small profit margins.  How many custom fitting studios can really afford a $7,200 fee (24 month contract) to purchase a product? 
 

Club Conex should actively market their product as the original designer, including its patented technology, to club fitting studios and the general public. They should also defend their product, where they are entitled against patent and IP infringement all while continuing to provide customer service that makes people want to purchase their product. I would have much rather purchased from CC but they forced me to go elsewhere. I gave my money to someone else. 
 

Then they release a statement threatening users of “counterfeit” product. Get out of here. Club Conex is scared IMO. If you want to protect your IP go after companies compromising it. But consumers are allowed to purchase and use whatever products they want. 
 

Hopefully they reconcile this issue. But they have a long way to go to reverse the damage they’ve done. 

Edited February 27, 2021 by kjbuckeye

[Milfordlefty]

A curiosity question only. Do club fitters advertise use of ClubConex connectors as part of their marketing to the club fitter customers? An individual goes in for a fitting and the fitting club used ClubConex to allow trial of various shafts and or heads. But the delivered product after the fitting has the OEM adaptor.

[JohnPaul]

9 hours ago, Milfordlefty said:

A curiosity question only. Do club fitters advertise use of ClubConex connectors as part of their marketing to the club fitter customers? An individual goes in for a fitting and the fitting club used ClubConex to allow trial of various shafts and or heads. But the delivered product after the fitting has the OEM adaptor.

In my experience at least... 

 

The fitter advertises something like "over 30,000 combinations" or "try any Tour AD/Ventus/Oban shaft in any driver head" and they sometimes mention how they are able to do this, but mostly just focusing on the breadth of the offering. Some come out and say the adapter they use, some don't, but they all advertise the combinations.

[third-times-a-charm]

On 2/21/2021 at 8:18 PM, third-times-a-charm said:

A terrible company who is lucky to have a patent.

 

Cant wait till it runs out and the market is flooded with options and they go bankrupt.

 

This isn’t the first time their shady practices have been under discussion like this.

lol just gonna quote myself here after the last few posts 

 

Their clownshow lawsuits and etc are exactly what I was talking about - oh and blatant “not for you” attitude to add retail consumers.

 

Ring a bell?

 

”for law enforcement only” (colt - bankrupt) and “for tour use only” (scotty - stagnant) come to mind.

 

Anytime you cut out people trying to throw money at you it never ends well.

Edited March 1, 2021 by third-times-a-charm

[GetEagle]

Just reach ALLFITGOLF, look likes they just get this online now. 
www.allfitgolf.com
Made an order, let’s see how it goes. 

[GetEagle]

On 2/25/2021 at 1:08 AM, kjbuckeye said:

I ordered directly from all-fit. From my research, Top Golf Equipment (hnmgolf.com) is the creator of the All-Fit system. I reached out to them directly and they provided a pdf catalog. They have both PING collars, the g400,g30,etc. and the G410/G425. Too my knowledge, the cobra adaptor has not changed. Golfworks sells an aftermarket adaptor that is listed for speedzone, f9, f8, etc. I bought the All-Fit collar that was labeled F9, F8, etc. I assume they have not updated the listing to include Speedzone and Rad, but to my knowledge it is the same adaptor. 

I did very detail works, all-fit look likes have met all the 2021 lines. This looks considerable. 

[Hertsjoatmon]

On 2/24/2021 at 4:52 PM, kjbuckeye said:

The catalog they gave me has the G410 adaptor listed, I ordered one. I also ordered an adaptor for the Cobra f9. I assumed the adaptor was still the same for Cobra. I also ordered that adaptor.

Any feedback yet. Now that they have a website up im tempted to order a bunch. I saw in a video that the adaptor is adjustable +-1.5* and also lie adjustable. Sounds great to me.

[SwingBlues]

29 minutes ago, Hertsjoatmon said:

Any feedback yet. Now that they have a website up im tempted to order a bunch. I saw in a video that the adaptor is adjustable +-1.5* and also lie adjustable. Sounds great to me.

 

It's not "independently" lie adjustable. The lie would depend on the loft adjustment +/- although information on that is very sketchy. See the other thread for more details, page 2

[SwingBlues]

Listening to McGolf live telecast today on YouTube and he's moving on from Club Conex.

 

At the 51:18 mark...

 

 

He mentioned it was due to the new monthly fees as well. Guess what he's looking to switching to? 😉

 

 

Good job Club Conex, you're doing a wonderful job losing customers to your competitor.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by SwingBlues

[SUMM1T]

I’m so glad this page is here. As a golf fitting studio, I was unbelievably upset when I got the email about the membership costs. Not only that, they bumped up the cost of the product by 20%. It also is exclusive to the US market. I spoke with TXG and they were told it was only happening in the US. 
 

I bought roughly $12,000 worth of adapters and tools from them over the last 2 years and was never informed this was on the way. I have had a few phone calls with Anthony and he is saying he has no control over the situation and it is all above him. I will not be paying the $300/mo fee and will recycle as much as I can in my system until I find an alternative that works for me. 
 

 

[SwingBlues]

On 9/18/2021 at 10:37 AM, SUMM1T said:

I’m so glad this page is here. As a golf fitting studio, I was unbelievably upset when I got the email about the membership costs. Not only that, they bumped up the cost of the product by 20%. It also is exclusive to the US market. I spoke with TXG and they were told it was only happening in the US. 
 

I bought roughly $12,000 worth of adapters and tools from them over the last 2 years and was never informed this was on the way. I have had a few phone calls with Anthony and he is saying he has no control over the situation and it is all above him. I will not be paying the $300/mo fee and will recycle as much as I can in my system until I find an alternative that works for me. 
 

 

 

Sorry to hear that. Personally, I had a couple of benjamins invested which is a lot for an enthusiast and non-fitter. I really liked their concept but alas, I got the royal screw treatment from Club Conex as well. No warning, they only cared about a contract to lock in $300 a month for more than a year. So much for investing in American company, f- that.

 

ps why does your user show "BST revoked"?

Edited August 26, 2023 by SwingBlues

[SUMM1T]

2 hours ago, SwingBlues said:

 

Sorry to hear that. Personally, I had a couple of benjamins invested which is a lot for an enthusiast and non-fitter. I really liked their concept but alas, I got the royal screw treatment from Club Conex as well. No warning, they only cared about a contract to lock in $300 a month for more than a year. So much for investing in American company, f- that.

 

Anyway, I and many others here on WRX were forced to switch so have a look here:

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1796585-all-fit-universal-adaptor-thread/

 

Most of us have gone to All-Fit Universal now.

 

They are Chinese but their adapter is stronger and thus far I have had zero issues with them. Adjustment is 0.75 increments to a +- 1.5*. However, they lack any lie adjustment like the Uni-Fit.

 

Now Top Golf is coming out with a next generation, All-Fit Master. This version is a hybrid of OEM and All-Fit. The lower half gives you the exact same OEM adjustment such as the Callaway OptiFit 2 rings and the top half is the All-Fit sleeve and screw in.  Check it out in that thread...

 

ps why does your user show "BST revoked"?

 

I am not allowed to use BST since I own a fitting shop. Sold a couple of things that weren’t my personal items. 
 

 

[Big Mike the Long Shanks]

So for anyone searching this forum as i was to try and find out things about Clubconex,  They just won a lawsuit and basically absorbed the company that was "counterfeiting" their product and infringing on patents. They do own the patents and that's their right but it's now out of price point. They want $2000 to open an account - $100 per month just to be able to buy and use their system. That's $1200 per year, plus whatever you'd spend buying the system.  They also absorbed all the all-fit adapters as well, so that's no longer an option.  As a small shop, they just priced me out of custom fitting. I'm going back to just the OEM fitting carts. 

 

EDIT - for the record, i'd never bought any of the off-brand adapters. I've always been just clubn conex. When they stopped selling (apparently) and when i tried to contact them over the past couple years I did start looking at all-fit because some other fitters said it was a good option.  I guess they were just trying to halt the market for this push of "subscription". As a former client of theirs, i've received a signature confirmation only letter from them detailing that we can't use them unless we pay, regardless that they were authentic items. That's messed up. 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Big Mike the Long Shanks