Experience with PING service and Guarantee

[Marinus]

I am / was - at least thought - the proud owner of a Ping i525 iron set. The set was - after a fitting session and reviews on the different websites - purchased in march 2022.

In March 2023 during a practise session on the driving range the clubface of my iron 5 let loose and was found a few yards further on the driving range. After examination by the golfpro and me we identified that the clubface was not broken of the the graphite shaft however the clubface simply released from the shaft. The shaft was fully intact and we identified no scratches or nicks. It was just simply loosed! The whole set was returned to the store and they told me that the set would be returned to the PING service department. Todays update: after 3 week  they were allowed to send the set via UPS to the UK for ....

My questions:

Has somebody experience with the service department of Ping? and is it 3 weeks normal that the set could be returned for ....

With these expensive clubs is it normal that this occurs in less a year?

What are the guarantee periods for these clubs/

Happy to receive information and advice 

Kind regards Marinus

[cnosil]

10 minutes ago, Marinus said:

 

My questions:

Has somebody experience with the service department of Ping? and is it 3 weeks normal that the set could be returned for ....

With these expensive clubs is it normal that this occurs in less a year?

What are the guarantee periods for these clubs/

Happy to receive information and advice 

Kind regards Marinus

Ping evaluates each case of defective clubs individually.  Don’t know their current turnaround time or how on top of the request the store was.  
 

all product can have defects; yours had an epoxy breakdown.  Impossible to tell if it was a manufacturing defect or how you stored the clubs.  Good news for you is that Ping is repairing 

Ping typically will cover defects for 2-3 years but evaluates each case so you might see some periods that are shorter or longer 

[Golf2Much]

I can tell you that I've had nothing but great service from Ping! 

I had a G400 SFT head crack at the hostel.  I called around the end of last year and they said send it in and they would replace it.  It was before they officially launched the G430 in the States, so I got the impression it was still under warrantee.  In return, they sent me a new G425 SFT.   Unfortunately, the G425 had too much draw bias and I couldn't hit the fairways.   To make sure they could give me something that worked for me, Ping's reps said go get fitted and they would send another club that matched those specifications.  By then they launched the G430 family of products and all the G425 components were shipped back to Ping.   In response, they said go get fit for a G430 and we'll send you a new one that fit's those specifications. 

After a four plus hour trip back and forth, i had my specifications and a new G430 Max driver was on the way.  

I found Ping very end customer oriented and they would so almost anything to make sure you were happy.

[Niall Murphy]

I have had Ping clubs for almost 50 years. Invested in a new set of I525 irons 6 months ago. I noticed faces were marking very badly with perpendicular marks between the groves. Spoke to my golf pro who had never seen marks like this before, showed to the Ping rep who also had never seen marks like this before, sent photos to Ping customer service who had never seen marks like this before and asked for the clubs to be returned. Three weeks later they returned my clubs informing me that they had cleaned the clubs. Two rounds later the same marks are back on my irons. I tried cleaning them but can’t remove the marks, Ping must have used machinery.

Very disappointed in Ping service and their attitude. Definitely wouldn’t recommend and now in process of changing the irons and cutting my losses.

[GolfSpy_APH]

1 hour ago, Niall Murphy said:

I have had Ping clubs for almost 50 years. Invested in a new set of I525 irons 6 months ago. I noticed faces were marking very badly with perpendicular marks between the groves. Spoke to my golf pro who had never seen marks like this before, showed to the Ping rep who also had never seen marks like this before, sent photos to Ping customer service who had never seen marks like this before and asked for the clubs to be returned. Three weeks later they returned my clubs informing me that they had cleaned the clubs. Two rounds later the same marks are back on my irons. I tried cleaning them but can’t remove the marks, Ping must have used machinery.

Very disappointed in Ping service and their attitude. Definitely wouldn’t recommend and now in process of changing the irons and cutting my losses.

The biggest difference is now they use forged faces for better feel and they do mark more often or easily than the older cast irons they used to make. 

Do you have photos to share?

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 hours ago, Niall Murphy said:

I have had Ping clubs for almost 50 years. Invested in a new set of I525 irons 6 months ago. I noticed faces were marking very badly with perpendicular marks between the groves. Spoke to my golf pro who had never seen marks like this before, showed to the Ping rep who also had never seen marks like this before, sent photos to Ping customer service who had never seen marks like this before and asked for the clubs to be returned. Three weeks later they returned my clubs informing me that they had cleaned the clubs. Two rounds later the same marks are back on my irons. I tried cleaning them but can’t remove the marks, Ping must have used machinery.

Very disappointed in Ping service and their attitude. Definitely wouldn’t recommend and now in process of changing the irons and cutting my losses.

That’s actually pretty common with ping faces especially the hydropear. I have them on 525 and had them in 210s.

Not sure why both people told you they haven’t sees that before.

I also don’t care that it happens. They are clubs that hit a hard object and make contact with Mother Earth and debris. 

 

[W1zarDdd]

On 4/15/2023 at 9:07 PM, Golf2Much said:

I can tell you that I've had nothing but great service from Ping! 

I had a G400 SFT head crack at the hostel.  I called around the end of last year and they said send it in and they would replace it.  It was before they officially launched the G430 in the States, so I got the impression it was still under warrantee.  In return, they sent me a new G425 SFT.   Unfortunately, the G425 had too much draw bias and I couldn't hit the fairways.   To make sure they could give me something that worked for me, Ping's reps said go get fitted and they would send another club that matched those specifications.  By then they launched the G430 family of products and all the G425 components were shipped back to Ping.   In response, they said go get fit for a G430 and we'll send you a new one that fit's those specifications. 

After a four plus hour trip back and forth, i had my specifications and a new G430 Max driver was on the way.  

I found Ping very end customer oriented and they would so almost anything to make sure you were happy.

Interesting

[Gman007]

Disappointed in Ping customer service!

Purchased a set of ping i210 irons along with G400 3, 5, rescue 4, and driver from retail ping dealer in 2020. 
This crack in the face happened to my 3w last week.  Not abused just normal use from a 90mph driver swing speed 9 handicaper. 
I was told by ping cs rep, “that nothing is indestructible”, sorry but we can’t help you.

BTW, I registered every ping club I purchased at that time on their website.                CS rep said that was only for club specifications on their end and the customer’s own personal records. Basically a waste of customer time. 

I have been loyal to Ping through the years but not anymore. Will definitely be looking elsewhere for my next set………….

[RickyBobby_PR]

6 hours ago, Gman007 said:

Disappointed in Ping customer service!

Purchased a set of ping i210 irons along with G400 3, 5, rescue 4, and driver from retail ping dealer in 2020. 
This crack in the face happened to my 3w last week.  Not abused just normal use from a 90mph driver swing speed 9 handicaper. 
I was told by ping cs rep, “that nothing is indestructible”, sorry but we can’t help you.

BTW, I registered every ping club I purchased at that time on their website.                CS rep said that was only for club specifications on their end and the customer’s own personal records. Basically a waste of customer time. 

I have been loyal to Ping through the years but not anymore. Will definitely be looking elsewhere for my next set………….

Interesting first post. Hopefully you didn’t join just to make this post and then disappear or to hope it gained some traction to influence google search results to make Ping look bad.

You have clubs to at are past their warranty date. Ping like almost every club manufacturer has a 2 year warranty from the manufacture date not date of purchase.

The g400 is now 4 release cycles old. They have no obligation to do anything for an out of warranty club. Being disappointed in Ping shouldn’t be the feeling here. Ping and most manufacturers might do something for a club barely past manufacture date like if you had a g425 that had issue, potentially even a g410 but to expect any company for any product to do something 4 years past warranty date in unrealistic 

And yes registering the club is only for specs and future build changes not for warranty especially this far past the warranty 

 

Edited March 1 by RickyBobby_PR

[Gman007]

Are you a ping rep? Is that what the PR stands for in your username?

 I was told yesterday by a ping CS rep that the warranty was 3 years. He did not distinguish from manufacturer or purchase date. This shouldn’t have happened to a club this new that was not abused, period. 
As far as the “cycles” of models go, that should be irrelevant imo. So the more cycles a manufacturer goes through in a short amount of time the older models shouldn’t hold up to normal use in a few years time?
The statement that was made by the ping rep about “nothing is indestructible” is not something that should be said to a customer. 

As far as making ping look bad, I am just stating my situation and stating the facts. Ping makes themselves look how ever they choose. 
 

Again, as for me, I’ll choose a different manufacturer other than ping for my next club set or merchandise purchase. 

 

[cnosil]

8 hours ago, Gman007 said:

Disappointed in Ping customer service!

Purchased a set of ping i210 irons along with G400 3, 5, rescue 4, and driver from retail ping dealer in 2020. 
This crack in the face happened to my 3w last week.  Not abused just normal use from a 90mph driver swing speed 9 handicaper. 
I was told by ping cs rep, “that nothing is indestructible”, sorry but we can’t help you.

 

I am sure you are disappointed, we all want clubs to last forever.   Obviously, we are hearing your side of the story and not the entire conversation.  Generally, PING CS seems to above and beyond.  

 While you purchased the clubs in 2020, the G400 line is from 2018 so they are essentially 5/6 years old.   You bought them in 2020 so you have been using them 3-4 years.  Most OEMs warranty for 2 years; Ping doesn’t have a specific period of time and states they work with each situation individually.   Again, we didn’t hear the conversation, but when looking across most OEMs, you are probably outside of any general warranty period that would be offered.   

[Gman007]

20 minutes ago, cnosil said:

I am sure you are disappointed, we all want clubs to last forever.   Obviously, we are hearing your side of the story and not the entire conversation.  Generally, PING CS seems to above and beyond.  

 While you purchased the clubs in 2020, the G400 line is from 2018 so they are essentially 5/6 years old.   You bought them in 2020 so you have been using them 3-4 years.  Most OEMs warranty for 2 years; Ping doesn’t have a specific period of time and states they work with each situation individually.   Again, we didn’t hear the conversation, but when looking across most OEMs, you are probably outside of any general warranty period that would be offered.   

This is absolutely correct. 
Also, what Ricky Bobby said was correct about ping having no “obligation” to me it being a year outside of warranty. 
That being said, I have no obligation to ping for future purchases and can express my displeasure as to the way the situation was handled by their rep. 
They could have said, send the head in and we will take a look at it to see why it is defective. We can possibly exchange it or give some type of credit according to their findings. They did not. 
As is, ping has lost several hundred dollars in future purchases from a customer. 
Was it worth it for them? I doubt it.

 I do know for a fact from several of my playing partners that Titleist and TaylorMade have replaced and or repaired clubs over 3 years old. 
One of those two will get my hard earned dollars on my next set………

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, Gman007 said:

That being said, I have no obligation to ping for future purchases and can express my displeasure as to the way the situation was handled by their rep. 
They could have said, send the head in and we will take a look at it to see why it is defective. We can possibly exchange it or give some type of credit according to their findings. They did not. 
As is, ping has lost several hundred dollars in future purchases from a customer. 
Was it worth it for them? I doubt it.

 I do know for a fact from several of my playing partners that Titleist and TaylorMade have replaced and or repaired clubs over 3 years old. 
One of those two will get my hard earned dollars on my next set………

Absolutely correct.   We all have different expectations.   I have a g400 driver in my bag and if the face broke I wouldn’t consider calling Ping simply because if how old the club is.  If I have bought it new in 2020 and it recently broke,  I’d still consider it past the anticipated warranty period and not defective.   

[Gman007]

6 hours ago, cnosil said:

Absolutely correct.   We all have different expectations.   I have a g400 driver in my bag and if the face broke I wouldn’t consider calling Ping simply because if how old the club is.  If I have bought it new in 2020 and it recently broke,  I’d still consider it past the anticipated warranty period and not defective.   

I can understand that being the case with a driver.
Between range time and the course, my G400 driver has been hit probably 10:1 more times than my 3w. I actually use my 5w more than my 3w. My 3w probably is one of if not the least used club in my bag. 
That being said, I know how little this club has been used and that makes it hard to want to reinvest in pings. 
If I were in pings shoes, I would want to know what caused it and how it could be prevented in future model offerings.

But as stated earlier, ping has no obligation to fix it and I definitely have no obligation to invest any of my hard earned dollars in a future purchase with them……..

Thanks for the reply and have a great weekend!

[RickyBobby_PR]

12 hours ago, Gman007 said:

Are you a ping rep? Is that what the PR stands for in your username?

 I was told yesterday by a ping CS rep that the warranty was 3 years. He did not distinguish from manufacturer or purchase date. This shouldn’t have happened to a club this new that was not abused, period. 
As far as the “cycles” of models go, that should be irrelevant imo. So the more cycles a manufacturer goes through in a short amount of time the older models shouldn’t hold up to normal use in a few years time?
The statement that was made by the ping rep about “nothing is indestructible” is not something that should be said to a customer. 

As far as making ping look bad, I am just stating my situation and stating the facts. Ping makes themselves look how ever they choose. 
 

Again, as for me, I’ll choose a different manufacturer other than ping for my next club set or merchandise purchase. 

 

I am not a Ping rep but it’s standard industry practice that warranty for clubs is two years and from manufacturer date. Doesn’t matter the brand. I’ve been around golf for awhile and know the warranty times and policies and have seen plenty of stories good and bad about warranty items.

even if it’s 3 years the g400 is well past that timeframe. So it’s still long past their warranty period and long has helped people out on out of warranty period, but it’s usually for the the previous model release like I said earlier if you had a g425 they probably would have helped you out, g410 it would be 50/50.

The number of cycles isn’t irrelevant because it affects inventory and also represents timelines from manufacturer date. In the case of Ping it’s every two years. TaylorMade is every year, so if you have a model that’s 3 years old from TM it’s out of warranty and depending on inventory of that model or the model after they may replace the club, but they wouldn’t  have to give you a new release because you had a problem with an out of warranty club. They might but it’s not as likely.

The Ping rep isn’t wrong and whether he should have said that or not is up for debate, for me I wouldn’t have been bothered by it,  it I know the warranty policy and if they chose to not do anything then I would have moved on because I have it a shot to see but i would have gone in with no epxectation.

Ping despite your experience actually has some of the better customer service in the industry.

abuse has nothing to do with it, 6 years out from a release is a long time and materials degrade over time. The face actually thins out from use.

[RickyBobby_PR]

10 hours ago, Gman007 said:

 I do know for a fact from several of my playing partners that Titleist and TaylorMade have replaced and or repaired clubs over 3 years old. 
One of those two will get my hard earned dollars on my next set………

Ping has too, yours is 6 years old. I’ve seen Ping give a new head to replace a 4 year old head, thus my example above about a g410 breaking might get replaced.

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 hours ago, Gman007 said:

If I were in pings shoes, I would want to know what caused it and how it could be prevented in future model offerings

They aren’t worried about wny a 6 year old club broke. They already have that data from any other warranty claims after release. They would have made the adjustment in the following releases which there’s been 3 of and the last two are some of their better releases. 

[Gman007]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

I am not a Ping rep but it’s standard industry practice that warranty for clubs is two years and from manufacturer date. Doesn’t matter the brand. I’ve been around golf for awhile and know the warranty times and policies and have seen plenty of stories good and bad about warranty items.

even if it’s 3 years the g400 is well past that timeframe. So it’s still long past their warranty period and long has helped people out on out of warranty period, but it’s usually for the the previous model release like I said earlier if you had a g425 they probably would have helped you out, g410 it would be 50/50.

The number of cycles isn’t irrelevant because it affects inventory and also represents timelines from manufacturer date. In the case of Ping it’s every two years. TaylorMade is every year, so if you have a model that’s 3 years old from TM it’s out of warranty and depending on inventory of that model or the model after they may replace the club, but they wouldn’t  have to give you a new release because you had a problem with an out of warranty club. They might but it’s not as likely.

The Ping rep isn’t wrong and whether he should have said that or not is up for debate, for me I wouldn’t have been bothered by it,  it I know the warranty policy and if they chose to not do anything then I would have moved on because I have it a shot to see but i would have gone in with no epxectation.

Ping despite your experience actually has some of the better customer service in the industry.

abuse has nothing to do with it, 6 years out from a release is a long time and materials degrade over time. The face actually thins out from use.

“The face actually thins out from use”

As I stated in a previous post, that is what disturbs me about this particular club. It has been hit less than any of my other clubs in my bag.

Release date 6 years out is irrelevant to me. Club face metals should hold up longer that with normal or light use. Also, mine was not 6 years old. I purchased it in March of 2020, while it was manufactured in 2019 according to the ping rep that checked the serial number, so it is 4 years old  

As to Ping not worrying about why my “4” year old clubface cracked?? They should when others in the industry are lasting longer.

As far as ping having some of the best customer service in the industry, I’m sure that’s debatable considering TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway, Mizuno, and others………

[RickyBobby_PR]

10 hours ago, Gman007 said:

As I stated in a previous post, that is what disturbs me about this particular club. It has been hit less than any of my other clubs in my bag.

 

Like it or not it’s true. It’s why when heads are measured and sorted for the pros they don’t get clubs near CT limit. This way their clubs stay legal longer.

10 hours ago, Gman007 said:

Release date 6 years out is irrelevant to me.

This is why your complaint is off base. There comes a point in time where the manufacturer of any product stops replacing a product or worries about any defects that occur from it.

its no different than your TV, microwave, various parts on your vehicle. They have a warranty date and past that there’s no obligation to take care of the customer or is there a concern for anything that isn’t going to cause harm to the operator.

10 hours ago, Gman007 said:

Also, mine was not 6 years old. I purchased it in March of 2020, while it was manufactured in 2019 according to the ping rep that checked the serial number, so it is 4 years old  

Still last the warranty period. Not that hard to understand, again try to get a replacement for a part on your car that’s out go warranty and have it covered. 
 

 

10 hours ago, Gman007 said:

As far as ping having some of the best customer service in the industry, I’m sure that’s debatable considering TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway, Mizuno, and others………

All have good customer service. You will find plenty of positive reviews from all of them. You will find some negative reviews on all of them too. You will find gripes with qualify of a build, quality of the product. We can use titleist as an example and the badge falling off brand new irons. I’m a huge Titleist fan and can knock them when it’s necessary. Mizuno used to be very good at build quality and being one of the few brands to build to requested specs where other brands would do their best but no guarantee. Covid affected that a lot and Mizuno had a bunch of reports of bad build specs, incorrect shafts.

Your jaded at the moment because Ping didn’t take care of you like you expected them too, but they are near or at the top in customer service.

Im friends with someone who runs a pro shop and does all the fittings. I know who if good and who isn’t and good when it comes to customer service

I also have other friends in the industry, whether it’s sales at a course, instructors or fitters. I used to fittings better part of 6 years and worked along side the reps from multiple brands 

Edited March 2 by RickyBobby_PR

[Gman007]

It’s probably a blessing in disguise for me. 
Broke out the ole Adams Speedline 3+ and picked up a few yards. 
Was using this several years ago with some Adams CB2 irons, Cleveland wedges, TM R7 driver and a center shafted 2ball mallet putter.

Played them up until I got my pings in 2020.  Those were some durable oldies but goodies.

Brought back some good memories……….

[RangerGrey]

Good luck with your next purchase with whomever that may be as I can tell you some horror stories from several other manufactures but choose not too go into details, sorry PXG and Titleist, etc, etc as no one is going to resolve your problem for you. I know PING is one of the best with their warranties and Customer Service has been top notch compared to most, at least they have been for me. Remember when that club was manufactured and that is primarily the date the warranty went into effect. Unfortunately to you they were newer to you then what the warranty stated.  Seems like you got some good used from them if they were bought in 2020 as PING has done nothing wrong as maybe the rep. could have said something a little different but we only hearing one side of the story.