Wingolf - Shame to the Ping brand

A friend just came back from Wingolf at OCC and shared this unpleasant experience for all to take note.  

He made a fitting session booking online to try out the new PING driver and before completion of the online booking, there is a checkout page (I tried myself to verify this) which stated clearly that the session is FOC and costs zero.  

20 minutes into the session today, he was told by this Indian sales staff that he had to pay $100 for the use of the Trackman and for trying the drivers.  When my friend refused and said he wanted to call a friend for advice, the staff became aggressive and raised his voice at my friend.  My friend walked out of the shop and left the place less than half an hour.

I have done similar fitting session with Titleist and so did many of my friends.  I have to commend Andrew the fitter at Titleist for his excellent service and friendliness.  He emailed all of us our individual data from the FREE fitting session, which easily lasted an hour and he made it very clear right from the start that he was not a sales staff and he was not in a position to sell us anything, even if we wanted to purchase from him !  When I eventually wanted to purchase the 917 driver but faced with some issues on the order, he readily offered his help and advised me on various occasions.  I am still to date encouraging and recommending my friends to make an appointment to see Andrew and try the full range of Titleist clubs, although I am not using any at the moment.

Comparing such wonderful experience I had with Titleist to what I have just heard from my friend at Wingolf representing Ping, it is such a shame and disgrace !

I understand the golfing industry here is very competitive and Wingolf is running a commercial operation.  But so is Acushnet and Titleist.  If Wingolf feels that it is only right to charge $100 for each time a potential customer tries their products, then I would like to request that they put in this fee very clearly on their online booking system and mentioned it in bold. Such underhand method and pressure tactics is despicable and do not go down well with genuine customers like my friend.  

To PING, what an oversight on your part to allow your distributor tarnishes your branding and upsets your customers in this way.

There is a T&C at Wingolf shop, that states that the fitting session is free if purchase their Ping products, else it is chargeable.

billcoke wrote:

There is a T&C at Wingolf shop, that states that the fitting session is free if purchase their Ping products, else it is chargeable.

Not a great way to promote themselves but should be a lot clearer and transparent right from the beginning.

I think Titleist Sentosa charges 80+/hr for fitting too.

I thought the Ping fitting shop is called "Custom Golf" and the boss is someone by the name Rick. Is there a Wingolf at OCC?

donego wrote:

I thought the Ping fitting shop is called "Custom Golf" and the boss is someone by the name Rick. Is there a Wingolf at OCC?

that guy is gone already. it's replaced by wingolf. 

anyways, referring to ts post, did u go down to sentosa to get it fitted by andrew or was it simply a titleist demo day? those 2 have a major difference. a demo day would be free (they do bring trackman down) with limited shafts in the past (stock shafts only). but with the release of the new 718 and 818 clubs, their demo days actually bring all sorts of shafts to test. 

the sentosa one is more comprehensive with a 1hr one to one session that actually costs money (85 bucks).

MianBaoFren wrote:

donego wrote:

I thought the Ping fitting shop is called "Custom Golf" and the boss is someone by the name Rick. Is there a Wingolf at OCC?

that guy is gone already. it's replaced by wingolf. 

anyways, referring to ts post, did u go down to sentosa to get it fitted by andrew or was it simply a titleist demo day? those 2 have a major difference. a demo day would be free (they do bring trackman down) with limited shafts in the past (stock shafts only). but with the release of the new 718 and 818 clubs, their demo days actually bring all sorts of shafts to test. 

the sentosa one is more comprehensive with a 1hr one to one session that actually costs money (85 bucks).

No mate.  I did it at Warren range end of last year.  For a long period of time it was FOC. And you're quite correct that now , it costs $85 which one is made aware when booking. I was just told that this is due to numerous cancellations and abuse of the fitting sessions.  However, I was also told that they give away some freebies which values are more than that.  Not sure what freebies though. 

The main point here is for Wingolf to be transparent and upfront with the costs.  And in event a customer unknowingly attend the session without being aware of the costs, be gracious enough to let the guy, who made the effort and journey to complete the fitting session without much harassment to pay up or buy the club which he's still undecided. 

The whole purpose of the exercise should not be to make a profit out of it, but to educate and spread the gospel of the brand.

chien wrote:

MianBaoFren wrote:

donego wrote:

I thought the Ping fitting shop is called "Custom Golf" and the boss is someone by the name Rick. Is there a Wingolf at OCC?

that guy is gone already. it's replaced by wingolf. 

anyways, referring to ts post, did u go down to sentosa to get it fitted by andrew or was it simply a titleist demo day? those 2 have a major difference. a demo day would be free (they do bring trackman down) with limited shafts in the past (stock shafts only). but with the release of the new 718 and 818 clubs, their demo days actually bring all sorts of shafts to test. 

the sentosa one is more comprehensive with a 1hr one to one session that actually costs money (85 bucks).

No mate.  I did it at Warren range end of last year.  For a long period of time it was FOC. And you're quite correct that now , it costs $85 which one is made aware when booking. I was just told that this is due to numerous cancellations and abuse of the fitting sessions.  However, I was also told that they give away some freebies which values are more than that.  Not sure what freebies though. 

The main point here is for Wingolf to be transparent and upfront with the costs.  And in event a customer unknowingly attend the session without being aware of the costs, be gracious enough to let the guy, who made the effort and journey to complete the fitting session without much harassment to pay up or buy the club which he's still undecided. 

The whole purpose of the exercise should not be to make a profit out of it, but to educate and spread the gospel of the brand.

warren range? think it was just a demo/trial session (unless they did it there before the national fitting centre was set up). but they do give advice and stuff (emailing specs and writing down spec sheets based on the best configuration u tested). the only fitting centre i am aware of is actually the sentosa one only. the freebies are actually not bad. i know someone who has done it and the freebies are considerably good.

as for wingolf, i do go to occ driving range and i noticed a small sticker on a pillar near their shop which states that they charge $100 for fitting/trackman which will be offset if u purchase equipment from them. and yes, i do agree that not being upfront about it when people are booking a fitting session is not justified.

there's a reason why titleist is one of the more well-known brands in sg. the amount of demo days, good customer service and great equipment (though very expensive  ) makes it a pleasant experience. i do believe the other brands are actually very comparable in terms of their quality but when it comes to spreading word about the brand, they are not doing very well in the sg market. i have created a thread asking for demo day information but so far, none has replied and there's no way to find out about demo days in sg ever since the golf magazine singapore ceased to exist.

For demo days you might have to follow the manufacturer's social media page. Most will publish there.

My 2 cents and some factual description of my personal experience.

I had been fitted at Titleist in Sentosa and ended up not buying eventually. I was not charged a single cent. It was a very pleasant and professional experience and I can only blame my own golf swing for not being ready for their gear.

To be fair to Wingolf, they did tell me that they will charge 100 bucks for fitting if I don't buy eventually. Demo clubs are free for use, as I recalled being told over the phone. In the end, I didn't even go down to view anything at OCC. I just didn't really fancy the buying experience. I guessed I didn't connect with the guy on the phone. In the interest of full disclosure, I did end up buying Ping gear from another retailer.

gino wrote:

My 2 cents and some factual description of my personal experience.

I had been fitted at Titleist in Sentosa and ended up not buying eventually. I was not charged a single cent. It was a very pleasant and professional experience and I can only blame my own golf swing for not being ready for their gear.

To be fair to Wingolf, they did tell me that they will charge 100 bucks for fitting if I don't buy eventually. Demo clubs are free for use, as I recalled being told over the phone. In the end, I didn't even go down to view anything at OCC. I just didn't really fancy the buying experience. I guessed I didn't connect with the guy on the phone. In the interest of full disclosure, I did end up buying Ping gear from another retailer.

woah.... charging 100 for fitting if you don't buy...

Here at HappyGolf we are introducing another concept known as Golfer fitting instead of club fitting.  No, you do not get to buy a golfer. 
Just take your current clubs and use the "device" that club fitters use to see how you fit the clubs.
Sample report below, it takes about an hour to do 6 clubs, another point - you can do different brands.
And we do charge regardless what you buy - and no, you cannot buy any golfers here. 
Charge is not 100 but only 40 per hour on weekdays and 48 per hour on weekends.
Reports are free!

donego wrote:

I thought the Ping fitting shop is called "Custom Golf" and the boss is someone by the name Rick. Is there a Wingolf at OCC?

 Wingolf took over the shop space of Custom Golf. Custom Golf is now relocated to next door of Joe Creative.

I’m planning to get fitted for a g driver and eventually purchase it. Aside from the sub par service at OCC, any bros here have any feedback on the competency of fitter at OCC or champions? If you happen to have feedback on a compassion of fitting experience between the two centres will be even more appreciated! Thanks in advance.. still a virgin on the fitting exp btw.

identti wrote:

I’m planning to get fitted for a g driver and eventually purchase it. Aside from the sub par service at OCC, any bros here have any feedback on the competency of fitter at OCC or champions? If you happen to have feedback on a compassion of fitting experience between the two centres will be even more appreciated! Thanks in advance.. still a virgin on the fitting exp btw.

I'm using Ping G30 driver, love it very much. But for driver, due to the curve surface of the club head, the lie can not be fitted. Your choices would be the shaft, R or S and the various brands.

I’ve never experienced anything but good service at Wingolf especially from J the Indian sales guy. In fact he’s one of the most mild mannered guy I’ve met and gave me really good advice when I recently purchased my G400 driver. Hence I believe there is a misunderstanding somewhere.

Titleist is good and I love their demo days as well. One of these days I’ll try their wedge fitting.

chien wrote:

20 minutes into the session today, he was told by this Indian sales staff that he had to pay $100 for the use of the Trackman and for trying the drivers.

and the need to mention the sales person race, is because....?