[q9h9pPne]

Very disappointed with the way Callaway held a local range day. I drove down and picked up my father, took a half day off work to do so, and we were excited!
Took him over to a local range day for Callaway, as I recently purchased a Fit 3 Wood and a few hybrids from them that he liked and as he is in the market for a completely new set figured this would be great.

Needless to say, these guys were about the worst salesmen I have ever seen. From the moment we got there, they were arrogant and unhelpful. We stood around for 30 minutes waiting to speak with someone. Got him set up with a new driver, he swung a few times and the guy just said "your swing is all over the place" and walked off.

Now, my father is a pretty darn good golfer in my opinion, he normally shoots 2-3 over per 9 and has golfed all of the courses in Kohler WI. He is not a long hitter though, he drives 175-200 yards, but consistently straight and with a consistent swing (it's not perfect - he is a casual golfer like most he struggles with consistency which leads to minor variances at time, but definitely far from "all over the place").

Instead of helping get my father set up with a completely new set they spent maybe a combined 5 minutes assisting us and the rest of the time they were bull****ing with their friends who were hitting long balls and hanging out.

I wouldn't speak or treat people I didn't like with the amount of arrogance and disrespect this guy did, and to completely blow someone off who was prepared to drop cash on new driver,woods and irons is absolutely astonishing to me.

After today I am half tempted to replace my Callaway clubs and never even consider their company as an option again.

[TheBest-Host]

Wow what jerks! At the callaway demo day a few months ago I had a similar experience, they didn't really pay attention to anyone unless they showed that they were ready to drop 2500 for a brand new set of callways. Perhaps it was the same guys haha.

I had the opposite experience with the cleveland demo day, the rep was so patient and let me try out whatever I wanted even though I was painfully hacking away, this is one of the reasons i want to buy cleveland stuff, he also gave me some free sleeves of all their current ball line up. This is why cleveland golf stood apart for me between callaway taylormade and Nike demo days that I went to .

[WGRocky]

I think you have to look at specifically

What did you and your Dad ask them for? and did they do that?

often times, the actual fittings are done by appointment and really much beyond that you're just stopping by to try clubs

if you're specifically asking them for help, and being ignored that's one thing... but if you expect them to just magically know what you need without you and your father chirping up, that's unfair.

[PhillipHer]

I think you have to look at specifically

What did you and your Dad ask them for? and did they do that?

often times, the actual fittings are done by appointment and really much beyond that you're just stopping by to try clubs

if you're specifically asking them for help, and being ignored that's one thing... but if you expect them to just magically know what you need without you and your father chirping up, that's unfair.

I have to disagree a bit, the whole purpose of the demo days is for them to fit the person with the best club and SELL the clubs. I understand they may not have time to fully FIT everyone they see. But if the purpose isn't to sell golf clubs why have the demo days.

[Janny2006]

Did you get the salesmen's names ? I would write a nice email to Callaway and let them know how you were treated and how their Employees are ruining their name by POOR salesmanship !
They can't fix what they don't know is broken ! Some of these guys have real big egos and think beings they are better players they don't have time for a hacker .

[TheBest-Host]

I have to disagree a bit, the whole purpose of the demo days is for them to fit the person with the best club and SELL the clubs. I understand they may not have time to fully FIT everyone they see. But if the purpose isn't to sell golf clubs why have the demo days.

Exactly, when I went to the cleveland one and the rep just went through everything with me starting with the driver and he would hand me what he thought I would hit better and it made a difference, even without an appointment he helped me figure out what loft/shaft combination would be best for me. I was really impressed by this demo and I expect all of them to be like this since in fact it does cost around 2 grand to get a new set up from the 2012 line up, that's some serious money and if a company refuses to help a customer, I'm taking my business elsewhere.

[WoCTrt0X]

I would write the company and let them know of how your day went and how you and your father were treated. Unfortunately, it takes just one bad apple to ruin the bushel, and while I understand your frustration, this shouldn't be a reflection of the company as a whole. Who knows. Worst case scenario, you end up gaming someone else's equipment because of their lack of attention. Best case, maybe Callaway offers some incentives to you to game their equipment, as an apology. Doesn't hurt to try. And yes, the way you and your father were treated was ridiculous and those guys should be ashamed of themselves.

[papadopul]

I would send a letter to Callaway and tell them what you have written here. Give them the exact day and times you were there, I can't believe they would not want to know this. As far as you being at fault for anything, I totally disagree that was the problem here. Demo days are for trying out clubs whether you want to buy or not and sales reps should be working to find out what they can do to help you, you shouldn't have to beg for help.

[Patgaepx]

I agree with the above post; those guys should not be representing their company that way. I went to a Cleveland/Bridgestone fitting yesterday and it was a great experience. I went there to test out the new Cleveland drivers and narrow down my choices and the rep was super nice and informative. He wasn't real busy so we ended talking for awhile and going through a bunch of different combos. He even told me to get my driver out of my car and do a side-by-side comparison. The Bridgestone guys were equally was friendly and helpful. It sucks you had a bad experience with Calloway, especially since you drove a decent distance to get there.

[q9h9pPne]

I think you have to look at specifically

What did you and your Dad ask them for? and did they do that?

often times, the actual fittings are done by appointment and really much beyond that you're just stopping by to try clubs

if you're specifically asking them for help, and being ignored that's one thing... but if you expect them to just magically know what you need without you and your father chirping up, that's unfair.

This just wasn't the case, we told them exactly what we were looking for (to get him fitted into a completely new set).

When they finally came over to us after about 30 minutes of being there (no big deal we didn't mind waiting) he pulled a driver out first and walked over with us. My father made the comment "This is a stiff flex, I usually game a regular, could I try one of those first?" The guy actually scoffed and made some comment under his breath as he was walking away. He actually rolled his eyes, I was blown away immediately by that. There were several incidents equally as apauling before made father turned and said "You know, I don't think I really want new clubs any more".

Honestly, for someone who is supposed to be trying to bring more people to the game, this is extremely poor. My father loves the game of golf as much as the rest of us, and to be told "your swings all over the place" and then to walk away essentially giving the impression that he is not/will not be good enough at golf to warrant the time of this person was a blow to his ego, I could see it on his face. Just completely unacceptable and unwarrented.

Did you get the salesmen's names ? I would write a nice email to Callaway and let them know how you were treated and how their Employees are ruining their name by POOR salesmanship !
They can't fix what they don't know is broken ! Some of these guys have real big egos and think beings they are better players they don't have time for a hacker .

Good point, I should let them know as I do have his name. Though I am not looking for any hand outs, just disappointed and your right, if they don't know about it they can't fix it.

[Anakattawl]

Yeah I would definitely write a letter to the company.

[engacenus]

I've been to several demos and never really had any bad experiences, though Cleveland and Wilson Staff have always seemed to go the extra mile and be a little more friendly and helpful than most.

[TessUnsonia]

Why is it that these Golf reps are so arrogant? I don't understand their mentality at all. People already think golf is a snobby sport and guys like these aren't helping the case.

[WoCTrt0X]

I've been to several demos and never really had any bad experiences, though Cleveland and Wilson Staff have always seemed to go the extra mile and be a little more friendly and helpful than most.

+1 to Cleveland. Every time I have had any dealings with Cleveland, they have went above and beyond to be helpful and they don't talk to me like I have carrots growing out my ears.

[TheBest-Host]

I agree with the above post; those guys should not be representing their company that way. I went to a Cleveland/Bridgestone fitting yesterday and it was a great experience. I went there to test out the new Cleveland drivers and narrow down my choices and the rep was super nice and informative. He wasn't real busy so we ended talking for awhile and going through a bunch of different combos. He even told me to get my driver out of my car and do a side-by-side comparison. The Bridgestone guys were equally was friendly and helpful. It sucks you had a bad experience with Calloway, especially since you drove a decent distance to get there.

I wonder if you had the same rep I had, he let me compare my r11 to the CG black, I was really impressed by this

[nicktender]

Wow. Agree.. If i was there i would never buy one of their products again.

[WGRocky]

Why is it that these Golf reps are so arrogant? I don't understand their mentality at all. People already think golf is a snobby sport and guys like these aren't helping the case.

I'm not saying this about the OP at all

but I commonly see golfers show up at demo days just to goof around and hit free range balls

some guys at a demo day are serious shoppers, and others not so much. I think a lot of the confusion and bad experiences happen when there's confusion as to which golfers are shoppers and which ones are there for the free range balls

[derty]

I would definately write Callaway an email and let them know how you were treated. There is no excuse for that, the reps are there to help you and get you properly fit in hopes that you will buy new clubs, not bullsh!t with the the "bombers".

I wouldn't hold this against Callaway because I can promise you that the rep wasn't trained that way. Please let us know if you get any response from them after you write.

I can tell you as a Callaway Sponsored player in the Morgan Cup, I have been treated first class all the way and I know that they want you to have that experience at a demo day...please let them know about this...because as you said, if they dont know they can't fix it.

[HarryMet]

Sorry to hear that you had a poor experience. I must say that every single time I have dealt with the company, they have been unbelievably courteous, gracious, and helpful. I wouldn't sour on them too much if you like the clubs. Not every company can have every single employee under their thumb unfortunately. Hope you have a better experience next time.

[HarryMet]

I would definately write Callaway an email and let them know how you were treated. There is no excuse for that, the reps are there to help you and get you properly fit in hopes that you will buy new clubs, not bullsh!t with the the "bombers".

I wouldn't hold this against Callaway because I can promise you that the rep wasn't trained that way. Please let us know if you get any response from them after you write.

I can tell you as a Callaway Sponsored player in the Morgan Cup, I have been treated first class all the way and I know that they want you to have that experience at a demo day...please let them know about this...because as you said, if they dont know they can't fix it.

My thoughts exactly TBT.