My Stewart Q Follow experience

[Jim Davidson]

I am sharing this so that maybe I can save someone that might be looking to purchase a Stewart Q Follow from having the same horrible experience that I am having and perhaps buy something else instead. 

My experience started with the purchase of a Q Follow from Motogolf in November 2021. I live in Michigan so golf season was close to wrapping up. The only highlight of my experience was it showed up in 2 days from the time I ordered it because the distributor is located about an hour away. I was able to use it for a few rounds before we were shut down for the winter. My observations were this was much better than the Caddy trek R2 but the follow mode was inconsistent which I just attributed to wearing too many layers of clothing .

Flash forward to April 2022 and we get back on the golf course and the follow mode issues are persistent. I seldom get it to work, without stopping behind me, for more than a single hole. The cart just stops and when I turn and look it is  50 - 60 yards behind and I have to switch to remote control mode for it to catch up to me. I am determined enough that I want this to work so I keep trying it and the same thing happens over and over again. So generally by the 6th hole I give up and just switch to remote control mode.  The constant stopping of the cart and me having to stop for an instant  and get it caught it is slowing down pace of[play. The problem with using this in remote control mode is that it is not a very good remote control cart because of the fixed front wheels. There are much better remote control carts on the market for a lot less money. If I had wanted a remote control only cart I would have bought the Motocaddy M7.

I play on a flat course and I am a 2 handicap so I am generally walking in a fairway when the carts stops.

So I start reaching out to Stewart Golf, who turfs me to their US distributor Golf Sellers Direct and I hear nothing.  Finally I loop in Motogolf  and I hear something from Golf Sellers Direct and first they inform me to try and reset the remote and see if that helps. It doesn't. Then they ask me to send in the remote.  After 10 days of not hearing anything I call and I get informed the battery was swollen and they were going to replace it and I would be all set.  

I also find out that despite I was in my 5th week of using the cart when I started complaining, I was outside my window to return the cart because I had 60 days from the date of purchase in November.  I get bureaucracy, 60 days is 60 days regardless of whether I was using the cart or not but this is clearly a lesson that one should not buy something like this at the end of the golf season.'

I get the remote control back and no surprise to me , it doesn't help, in fact it is worse. Not only is the cart still stopping in the follow mode, it seems to be veering off in different directions.  I inform Golf Sellers Direct and they ask me to drop off my Q Follow. They test it and replace the entire electronics. I pick it up and take it out for a spin and same issues. It just randomly stops following me.  I get asked to send a video in to which 3 weeks later I get asked to instead of clipping the remote to my back pocket can I try clipping it to the middle of my shorts over the belt.  I try that to no avail and I get asked to send in another video to which I do.  The only response I received on this video from Golf Sellers Direct was they were waiting on a response from Stewart Golf.  That was in early August 2022.  

4 weeks later I have had it with the continued lack of response from Golf Sellers Direct and I just box up the Q follow and send it back to them. I inform Motogolf that I have done so  and that they sold me a lemon and they need to do something about it.  None of these actions on my part get any type of resolution. I guess neither Golf Sellers Direct nor Motogolf believe in the value of an ongoing customer relationship. 

So here it is the end of 2022 and I have made absolutely no progress on getting this resolved to my satisfaction by either Stewart Golf, Golf Sellers Direct or Motogolf. My hope here is by sharing my story I may be able prevent someone else from having to endure the same experience and they will think long and hard about buying a Q Follow. I am out over $3K and I am resolved that I will never see it . 

I really wanted this to work, I tried many things. I bought the Stewart SuperSport bag instead of using my Sun Mountain C-130 thinking that might help, it didn't. I added more weight and that didn't help either. I have tried multiple times to post a review on the Q Follow to the Stewart Golf USA website and that never gets posted. I am suspicious that are are only letting 5 star reviews post so as to not impact their future sales

For those that haven't had issues, I am envious of you. All I can say is no one at my club will buy a Stewart follow cart because of the issues they see me have as well as there is someone else with an X10 that won't use that in follow mode either because of how inconsistent it is. So at my club Stewart is batting zero. 

Though I get the need for it, taking video is a huge pain in the ass. The cart is behind you and it generally goes 50 to 100 yards before it stops. Sometimes more, sometimes less, so it is impossible to do it while you are playing golf.  And then when you do capture it the file is too big to send vial email.

In the middle of all this I did end up buying a Motocaddy M7 because I wanted something besides my Clicgear push cart. I would highly recommend that.

This has been my worst golf purchase ever and by far my worst customer service experience.  Motogolf in particular has been awful by telling me that this is operator error on my part even though the only hard part of using a cart in follow mode is the getting it to start following me. Once it gets going it is just as simple as walking with the remote clipped and marching forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Sorry to hear about your experience both product and experience. Not that I think it will help, but I will try to pass this on to our contacts. We had a test for our members that overall went well. Of course wasn't a product for all, but still had decent results. We also have a thread with many who have had problems. 

The concerning part for me is that it seems you're having to go through vendor and vendor to get support. 

Either way hope you stick around and are able to share more of your golfing experiences and thank you for sharing this one as well!

[RollingGreens]

Really wish Stewart could have handled this more directly or talked with you personally to troubleshoot vs all The back and forth hoops you’ve gone through

[MattF]

That sucks and I've seen too many bad reviews for Stewart golf that I wouldn't buy one of their products because of the same reasons you're stating. The product is not that well made and they abandon you if there's an issue.

[fixyurdivot]

@Jim Davidson, sorry to hear about the issues with the Q Follow.  Perhaps I missed it in your post, but did you try and contact StewartGolfUSA?  Clearwater, FL, (727) 939-6520  This is where the units for the forum tests shipped from and perhaps it might be easier to reach them?  It's odd they would send you to "Golf Sellers Direct" and not their stateside office .

As one of the product testers this past summer,  the positive response/support myself and other testers received from Stewart Golf, leaves me a bit surprised they are not getting you squared away.  Also a bit surprised that, based on your purchase date noted, your trolley isn't covered under warranty - which is listed as 24 months.

Hope Stewart Golf can make things right for you - good luck and keep us posted.

 

 

[Jim Davidson]

@fixyurdivot thanks. I have and they seem to have gone quiet as well but it might be because of the Holidays. I expect they are going to offer me a brand new replacement Q Follow but that is very little consolation here.  As I said I ended up buying a Motocaddy M7 because I wanted something besides my Clicgear 3.5 and I am very happy with that. A new Q Follow  is virtually useless to me as because of the problems I have had I don't feel comfortable selling it to anyone. So it would just take up space.  I certainly am not going to take it out on the course and use it.  If it stops one more time it will end up in the bottom of 1 of lakes on my course.  I get pissed just thinking about taking it on the course and having the same issues.  And that isn't the worst part of the story, the appalling customer service is by far the worst part. 

Take away the promise of a follow me cart, the Q Follow is lousy as a remote control only cart

If the best they can do is send me a brand new replacement Q Follow I will likely just give to someone.  I am just going to keep sharing my story and maybe impact their future sales. Anyone live in West Michigan and want a Q Follow free? 

It is covered by warranty but despite my sharing with them videos they are saying the product is working as intended.