Sunday, January 8, 2012

Taylormade Driver Cracking!?


            Have you ever had a poor experience at a restaurant that was so bad you never wanted to eat there again? Apply that same idea to what has recently happened to my Taylormade R9 460 driver. During a normal round of golf, the clubhead cracked upon contact with the ball. What has followed the incident during past few weeks has led to an abandonment of my love for Taylormade woods and the purchase of a new Titleist driver.
            Here is some background to my story: I used to love Taylormade woods. I have played the Taylormade R580, the Taylormade Burner, the Taylormade Superfast, and the Taylormade R9 460. I have loved each driver and was giving thought to purchasing a new R11 before this debacle.
            Before heading home to North Carolina before Christmas, I was playing one of my final rounds here in St Andrews. I was out on the New Course on a cold December morning. My first driver of the day came on hole number two. Immediately upon contact with the ball, something didn’t feel right, and the sound produced upon contact was terrible. I looked down to realize that the head of my R9 460 had cracked right down the top of the driver. I was shocked to say the least! I finished up the remaining sixteen holes teeing off with my 3 wood.
            My disappointment with Taylormade didn’t emerge from the failure of the driver, but how they have since handled the issue. Post-round, I took the driver up to Auchterlonies, a golf store off the 18th green of the Old Course. They are an authorized Taylormade dealer and recognized that I had also flattened out the face of the driver! They called Taylormade to ask about the issue. Their answer was along the lines of, “Driver heads crack on occasion with heavy use. This driver is outside of its 2-year warranty, and therefore we can’t do anything for the customer.”
            Is it acceptable that a well-kept, non-abused driver should crack after a mere two years of use? If it does crack, isn’t it reasonable to think that the company would replace the driver even if outside of the coverage? Taylormade’s warranty states: “This warranty does not cover normal wear and tear. All cosmetic and other repairs not covered under this warranty may be made for a fee.” Is the driver head cracking during a round “normal wear and tear”? I may be off the mark, but I don’t believe it is.
            Unfortunately, Taylormade has lost a loyal customer from these interactions. Has anyone else experienced a driver head cracking? How did the company handle it?

2012 Golf Plans:
            As the cold weather passes, I will be getting back out to play some great golf. I’m going to get my fill of St Andrews golf in late January. I’m also planning on making a trip down to play Muirfield in late March in addition to an English golfing adventure at some point. I will be visiting the Masters Golf Tournament this year when going State-side over the Easter Holidays. Course write-ups and reviews will come once again when the weather is good and the courses off their winter setups. 2012 should be a great year of golf!




10 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your experience with TaylorMade Customer Service. I also have an R9 460 and was playing golf on Monday, July 9, 2012. I hit a normal drive on a par 4 hole and heard a funny noise as the driver hit the ball. I looked down at the club and had a crack across the top. I called TM and to make a long story short they directed me to Dick's Sporting Goods where everything was taken care of and they supposedly are supposed to be sendign me a brand new club within the next 7 to 10 days. I guess we will see!

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  2. I have had this problem with my taylormade club, however it is not the driver but the 3 wood, i asked my pro at my golf club and he said he cant do anything for me, but i will not accept his answer! i think a club that costs a lot of money shouldnt crack and when it does it should be replaced with no problem or hassell at all !

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    1. I completely agree that Taylormade should replace the clubs without question. With the first comment, it sounds as though it is Dick's solving the problem instead of TM. I hope the new club comes and lasts longer than the first!

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  3. Same exact thing happened to my TM burner that was bought brand new in spring 2011. This is total BS. What a POS company. I'm going with a complete overhaul. Hanging up all TM irons and woods.

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  4. I have just read this with interest as my young son has just had the same experience with the R11, Personally I'm a Titleist man through and through and have never seen anything like this before. To say that I was shocked to see it on a 11 month old club being used by a very good 12yr old is an understatement. I'm going to take it back to retailer this week, I will update post when I get news. BTW have you played Lundin Links? beautiful course just down the road from StAndrews well worth a visit. Richard

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  5. It's disappointing to hear that this has happened to so many people with Taylormade drivers... For now, my Titleist driver is hitting it long and is still in one piece. Richard, I am yet to make it down to Lundin Links, but have heard great things. It's on the to-do list for this spring!

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  6. My r11 cracked today I called TM and they told me to take it in to a golf store and they will replace it with the new r1

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  7. My TM R11s driver has cracked on the trailing edge of the head around the top rim. I took it out to practice one day and noticed it cracked so I have no idea how this happened. There is no impact damage and it certainly cannot be attributed to ball impact being on the opposite side of the club head. It has to be a serious flaw in the manufacturing or bad design.

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  8. I had a R11 which cracked, Taylormade changed this for the R11s because it was still under warrenty. My R11s driver has now cracked after only 16months, Taylormade have said nothing they can do. Way I see it replacing a faulty item with another faulty item isn't good service.

    Ive always used TM woods from R7 all the way up, I will not spend another penny on any item with the Taylormade brand on it.

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  9. It's scary to hear how often TaylorMade products fail... I haven't bought another TM product since my driver cracked - my Titleist driver has been great and is still in one piece!

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