Broken Ventus TR

[NicholasP]

I've got a handful of rounds in with TR's in driver and 3 wood,I love the performance.  This thread does make me nervous, especially if Fuji won't stand behind their product, which I personally remain optimistic they will.  I get radio silence is frustrating, for $350 a pop I'd certainly think they are better than that.  However, they are a fairly large company, not based out of the US, policy changes and decision making/communication have to go through many channels and people to resolve.  My hope is by the 30 day mark from when the Fujikura staff member commented in this thread we see some kind of update.  

 

I can say this, if there is not a REASONABLE resolution, like a free replacement, or a highly reduced price on a replacement for those that have had an issue, etc., I will not be able to support them on future purchases regardless of the performance.  

 

 

[Fujikura Golf]

Hi guys, sorry to see some breakages. As a reminder we are a component company so our product warranty has to go through the proper channels - the original equipment manufacturer (OEM, the club companies) or authorized dealer it was purchased from. So, if your Fuji shaft breaks, please contact the authorized dealer or OEM you purchased it through to begin the warranty process. They will contact us directly and we will go from there. Please also keep in mind that we evaluate any and all issues or breakages with our shafts regardless of where on the shaft the issue occurs and stand behind the quality of our products.

 

Here's an excerpt from our warrant policy as reference (full policy can be viewed here: https://fujikuragolf.com/warranty-information)

Fujikura Composites America (or FCA) warrants to the original consumer only, a limited lifetime warranty from the original retail date of purchase against defects in materials or workmanship, provided that the product has not been altered, misused or abused, or damaged through neglect from the consumer. If a defect develops, Fujikura Composites America, will repair or replace the defective product (through the authorized FCA Charter Dealer it was purchased from) with the same or similar product upon return with original sales receipt. 

[Fujikura Golf]

18 hours ago, Haber said:

The silence from Fuji is deafening on this one. Thought my situation was a one off but it’s clearly an issue. Will be writing them off on future purchases 

 

Apologies for the delay. We do not have a full time community manager so we do our best to read & respond on these forums when the time allows. Our phone lines are always open and we have a contact form on our website if you ever have any questions or need to get in touch those are the best ways. Thank you for your understanding.

[Razortxn]

11 minutes ago, Fujikura Golf said:

Hi guys, sorry to see some breakages. As a reminder we are a component company so our product warranty has to go through the proper channels - the original equipment manufacturer (OEM, the club companies) or authorized dealer it was purchased from. So, if your Fuji shaft breaks, please contact the authorized dealer or OEM you purchased it through to begin the warranty process. They will contact us directly and we will go from there. Please also keep in mind that we evaluate any and all issues or breakages with our shafts regardless of where on the shaft the issue occurs and stand behind the quality of our products.

 

Here's an excerpt from our warrant policy as reference (full policy can be viewed here: https://fujikuragolf.com/warranty-information)

Fujikura Composites America (or FCA) warrants to the original consumer only, a limited lifetime warranty from the original retail date of purchase against defects in materials or workmanship, provided that the product has not been altered, misused or abused, or damaged through neglect from the consumer. If a defect develops, Fujikura Composites America, will repair or replace the defective product (through the authorized FCA Charter Dealer it was purchased from) with the same or similar product upon return with original sales receipt. 

And what happens if the dealer does not assist like in my case? They claimed it could not possibly break where it did under “normal use”. 

[Fujikura Golf]

1 minute ago, Razortxn said:

And what happens if the dealer does not assist like in my case? They claimed it could not possibly break where it did under “normal use”. 

 

Please give us a call directly and ask to speak to one of our sales representatives to explain the situation or send me a PM and we can go from there. Our main phone # is 1-800-728-6420. We will do our best to help get that resolved.

[ChipStrokes]

5 hours ago, Razortxn said:

 

My two Black 6Xs broke about 3.5 inches below this one. This is starting to get really interesting.

two? 

 

what are you doing to these shafts?

[ChipStrokes]

double

Edited May 31, 2022 by ChipStrokes

[ChipStrokes]

triple

Edited May 31, 2022 by ChipStrokes

[ChipStrokes]

ah, a good old quad. 

 

just like on the course. 

Edited May 31, 2022 by ChipStrokes

[NicholasP]

Essentially the way I understand the warranty is, if it wasn't bought from an authorized dealer, you are hosed.  So if you bought from another forum member, or an auction site second hand, they will not honor the warranty.

 

I bet this will rub a lot of folks the wrong way, and I can see comments like "they won't stand behind their product", or "why does it matter where I bought it from?".  This is though, an extremely common, and reasonable way to do business in my opinion.  Unfortunately there are more than a few people out there who abuse warranties, and they can become a huge liability if not properly managed.  This coming from someone who bought both TR's from a forum member who I doubt is an authorized dealer.  It's a risk, we the buyer take, when trying to save a buck buying below retail.  

 

Also, good on Fujikura for circling back with an update, regardless of whether or not it makes everyone happy.

[Krt22]

41 minutes ago, Fujikura Golf said:

Hi guys, sorry to see some breakages. As a reminder we are a component company so our product warranty has to go through the proper channels - the original equipment manufacturer (OEM, the club companies) or authorized dealer it was purchased from. So, if your Fuji shaft breaks, please contact the authorized dealer or OEM you purchased it through to begin the warranty process. They will contact us directly and we will go from there. Please also keep in mind that we evaluate any and all issues or breakages with our shafts regardless of where on the shaft the issue occurs and stand behind the quality of our products.

 

Here's an excerpt from our warrant policy as reference (full policy can be viewed here: https://fujikuragolf.com/warranty-information)

Fujikura Composites America (or FCA) warrants to the original consumer only, a limited lifetime warranty from the original retail date of purchase against defects in materials or workmanship, provided that the product has not been altered, misused or abused, or damaged through neglect from the consumer. If a defect develops, Fujikura Composites America, will repair or replace the defective product (through the authorized FCA Charter Dealer it was purchased from) with the same or similar product upon return with original sales receipt. 

When you are seeing multiple catastrophic failures in a very odd place, perhaps it’s time to run it up the flag pole and ask to adjust the policy.

 

You stand gain a lot more being proactive trying to get ahead of a potential systemic issue than you do  quoting the warranty policy and remaining in a reactionary position. 

[dlow206]

i will say, its important who you buy the shaft from even which chartered dealer you buy from. a good dealer will work hard to make things right

[bekgolf]

1 hour ago, NicholasP said:

Essentially the way I understand the warranty is, if it wasn't bought from an authorized dealer, you are hosed.  So if you bought from another forum member, or an auction site second hand, they will not honor the warranty.

 

I bet this will rub a lot of folks the wrong way, and I can see comments like "they won't stand behind their product", or "why does it matter where I bought it from?".  This is though, an extremely common, and reasonable way to do business in my opinion.  Unfortunately there are more than a few people out there who abuse warranties, and they can become a huge liability if not properly managed.  This coming from someone who bought both TR's from a forum member who I doubt is an authorized dealer.  It's a risk, we the buyer take, when trying to save a buck buying below retail.  

 

Also, good on Fujikura for circling back with an update, regardless of whether or not it makes everyone happy.

 

One person in this thread bought second hand.  Others have had a wall thrown up by their authorized dealer.

[fpyle3]

I hope Fuji can help the posters in this thread.  I had my Ventus black snap near the handle last summer on a follow through, thought it was very odd as I’ve never had a shaft snap like in my 20+ years of playing.  It was a custom order from Taylormade so I made my claim through them, received a new Ventus black within a week.

[NicholasP]

1 hour ago, bekgolf said:

 

One person in this thread bought second hand.  Others have had a wall thrown up by their authorized dealer.

Ok, so hang with me here, good point.  What I draw from that is a problem with the authorized dealers, and possibly the process claims are handled between them and Fujikura.  Can anyone on this thread who bought from an AD discuss their experience beyond they were denied?  Of those did any reach out to Fujikura direct?  These are the questions where answers would help address where the disconnect is.  

 

If nothing else take the gentleman from Fujikuras advice.  If you bought from an AD, and we're denied, take him up on his offer to speak direct with them, and give them the opportunity to make it right.  If you have proof of purchase, and the shaft is broken within reason, and they don't make it right.....well then I am done thinking of reasonable causes and will be extremely disappointed 

[dlow206]

i have been through this situation and work in the biz. PM me if you have any questions (note, i cannot solve your warranty issues for you, but can answer any questions via PM). 

[bekgolf]

...

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by bekgolf

[Haber]

4 hours ago, NicholasP said:

Ok, so hang with me here, good point.  What I draw from that is a problem with the authorized dealers, and possibly the process claims are handled between them and Fujikura.  Can anyone on this thread who bought from an AD discuss their experience beyond they were denied?  Of those did any reach out to Fujikura direct?  These are the questions where answers would help address where the disconnect is.  

 

If nothing else take the gentleman from Fujikuras advice.  If you bought from an AD, and we're denied, take him up on his offer to speak direct with them, and give them the opportunity to make it right.  If you have proof of purchase, and the shaft is broken within reason, and they don't make it right.....well then I am done thinking of reasonable causes and will be extremely disappointed 

Dealer asked for pics of the break and how it happened. They said it is against fujis warranty policy to cover a break in that portion of the shaft and there isn’t much of a chance but they will send off the pics and let me know. A few days later they messaged and said that they stuck to their policy on the breakage point and wouldn’t be covering it.
 

I didn’t take the time to reach out as my work schedule and 2 little ones leaves me little time to waste. it says right on Fuji’s website that it is only the authorized dealer that can process a claim so I figured it would be another dead end.

 

I ended up buying a replacement as the shaft gives great results and fits my swing. Regret it now as it would be close to $700 down the drain if this one breaks in the same spot.

[Haber]

16 hours ago, Fujikura Golf said:

 

Please give us a call directly and ask to speak to one of our sales representatives to explain the situation or send me a PM and we can go from there. Our main phone # is 1-800-728-6420. We will do our best to help get that resolved.

This is what my dealer said as well which supposedly came from Fujikura. Sent a PM last week and am still waiting for a reply

[third-times-a-charm]

Yikes, this is a lot of recent breakages.

[Trippels]

18 minutes ago, third-times-a-charm said:

Yikes, this is a lot of recent breakages.

Appropriate user name, as I've just installed my third ventus black driver shaft today. Hoping for no more breakages.

[Krt22]

50 minutes ago, third-times-a-charm said:

Yikes, this is a lot of recent breakages.

I was seriously about to buy one to try after my buddy said it was great these failures and piss poor response from Fuji has me thinking otherwise. I have not had issues with my ventus black, but the TR seems like their might be a flaw

[third-times-a-charm]

1 hour ago, Krt22 said:

I was seriously about to buy one to try after my buddy said it was great these failures and piss poor response from Fuji has me thinking otherwise. I have not had issues with my ventus black, but the TR seems like their might be a flaw

The Ventus with Velocore line has been around for years now with what I would consider an acceptable amount of failure across the board. You heard stories here and nothing but nothing major and nothing in succession.

 

Whether it's ramping up production due to popularity or COVID - or a material science issue - this new onslaught of reports of breakages across ALL Ventus with Velocore shafts is pretty obvious. Just the sheer frequency means something is up whether it be minor or major. We can assume its an issue that can be batched out of production with a change or two. How Fuji handles it will make or break their bottom line in 2022.

 

There is also merit to Russ Ryden's commentary on Fuji's QC standards and what/why they allow such loose standards in the shaft specs that make it to market. Not sure what their decision making process is in that and why companies like Mitsubishi and GDI do not. It could be as simple as their internal testing showing that those aspects like hoop strength and other deviations and etc dont matter - but other companies think it does.

[Pastit]

On 6/1/2022 at 3:23 PM, Haber said:

This is what my dealer said as well which supposedly came from Fujikura. Sent a PM last week and am still waiting for a reply

In the U.K. at least, Fuji’s liability is unlikely to be restricted in law to a claim via an authorised dealer. It might be arguable under contract law but not in a negligence action. It’s obvious that stating a defence of c “ no claims if a breakage at point x “ is unsustainable. 
 

It’s also clear that a breakage in normal use is due to negligence.
 

Should anyone receive a Fuji’s rejection, I’d use the above argument and threaten to sue. Then place a truthful comment upon the Web.

 

Their customer service is clearly lacking and they’ve no idea of consumer law IMO. They are risking a collapse of confidence in their whole range IMO. 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Pastit

[Haber]

5 hours ago, Pastit said:

In the U.K. at least, Fuji’s liability is unlikely to be restricted in law to a claim via an authorised dealer. It might be arguable under contract law but not in a negligence action. It’s obvious that stating a defence of c “ no claims if a breakage at point x “ is unsustainable. 
 

It’s also clear that a breakage in normal use is due to negligence.
 

Should anyone receive a Fuji’s rejection, I’d use the above argument and threaten to sue. Then place a truthful comment upon the Web.

 

Their customer service is clearly lacking and they’ve no idea of consumer law IMO. They are risking a collapse of confidence in their whole range IMO. 

I don’t doubt it would have ground to stand on but the time and energy for the sunken cost wouldn’t be worth it. Thankfully they’ve reached out responded via PM and will be contacting my dealer

[NicholasP]

1 minute ago, Haber said:

I don’t doubt it would have ground to stand on but the time and energy for the sunken cost wouldn’t be worth it. Thankfully they’ve reached out responded via PM and will be contacting my dealer

Excellent news, please keep us posted

[Valtiel]

On 6/1/2022 at 8:25 AM, Krt22 said:

I was seriously about to buy one to try after my buddy said it was great these failures and piss poor response from Fuji has me thinking otherwise.

I'd hesitate to call it a "piss poor" response given that an issue like this would likely have to be sent up a pretty dense chain of command since we're talking about communicating through the marketing channels of the American distribution side of a major multinational Japanese corporation. Investigations into what could be causing this are likely going to take a bit and saying "yes everyone will be taken care of, call me and we'll get a new shaft sent out" is likely not something that can happen until they've figured out what could be causing the issue, especially if they also have to deal with dealer network related warranty agreements. 

[Krt22]

2 minutes ago, Valtiel said:

I'd hesitate to call it a "piss poor" response given that an issue like this would likely have to be sent up a pretty dense chain of command since we're talking about communicating through the marketing channels of the American distribution side of a major multinational Japanese corporation. Investigations into what could be causing this are likely going to take a bit and saying "yes everyone will be taken care of, call me and we'll get a new shaft sent out" is likely not something that can happen until they've figured out what could be causing the issue, especially if they also have to deal with dealer network related warranty agreements. 

 All of the stuff you said is true, but at the end of the day this is a company that makes one thing, golf shafts and the shaft in question is their current flagship product. If your flagship product is experiencing strange catastrophic failures, it's a fire fighting time. This issue is a month old at this point, it's clearly a non-trivial problem, so reiterating the warranty policy really doesn't help anyone who experienced a failure at a point that isn't technically covered by the warranty anyway. I say this as a guy with a bag full of ventus shafts, so clearly not just picking a bone with Fuji.

 

 

[Valtiel]

Just now, Krt22 said:

If your flagship product is experiencing strange catastrophic failures, it's a fire fighting time.

Agreed. Although I do wonder about the "company that makes one thing" angle and whether Fujikura Golf is just a subsidiary of the obviously much larger Fujikura Composites Inc and how that factors in. That's all a bit academic when it comes to the customer facing side though, but from a customer service standpoint I imagine that someone had to make the case to someone else higher up the food chain that his is actually a problem and not just a random burst of people experiencing failures that would otherwise fall within the normal failure rate being magnified by an internet forum. I don't think that is the case given the very similar location of these failures, but I can see corporate needing some convincing, heh. 

[buckeyefl]

Not really an acceptable response given that it's pretty obvious this is an issue and a known issue at this point. 

 

You don't get to charge premium prices and then deliver substandard customer service without being punished financially.