Drama with member FSUgolfer (sellers beware) - UPDATE 4/28

[txbadger]

I've read a few of these type of threads and considered myself fortunate that I never had to write one.... well.. that ends today unfortunately.    First of all.. the $ in question is not huge ($160) and many others have experienced far more drama/$ loss than this will cause but thought I should create some awareness.

 

Placed an ad on 4/11 selling a few things, one of them 8 Project X 6.0 iron shafts 4-GW with red GP MCC midsize grips (see pic).   These came directly out of a new combo set of Srixon ZXis.   They never even saw the course but did see a little over a months simulator use (for those curious: I was fit into these shafts a while ago but since then have reworked swing to not be so aggressive/upper body focused so these were too stout). 

 

Here is the chain of events:

 

1) @FSUgolfer contacts me on Friday 4/11 asking some questions.   States that he doesn't play MCC mids (but plays standards) and is interested in the PX 6.0 for a "test set".   Decides to buy later that day for $160.  I ask him if I can ship on Monday and he says that was fine as he needed to source some heads anyway.    

 

2) I ship on Monday 4/14 and he receives them on Thursday 4/17

 

3) On Saturday 4/19 leaves me positive feedback (you can check my feedback for yourself, but not sure of if there is a way to retract feedback, I included image of said feedback stating: "Great seller - item as described, in great condition with quick shipping."   Keep in mind this is two days after receiving the shafts. 

 

 

4) On Sunday 4/20 sends me a message asking where I got the grips as they have and "off putting and strong smell".     Giving him the benefit of the doubt I mentioned perhaps the smell was from the epoxy remaining on the irons or an artifact from the remaining grip solvent interacting with the grips (considering these shafts/grips were fairly new)...had no idea to be honest as these came directly from Srixon.   I might not have the best sense of smell in the world (my wife will attest) but these grips never had any sort of smell associated with them at any point I had them.   He sends me a picture of (see pic) why he thinks these are fake (along with the smell aspect).    After our resulting conversations, I'm not sure they are the same grips... or maybe they are after he reinstalled them after his "test",.. that is all conjecture on my part.    I tell him i see some differences but it could be to how grips were applied (if one was slightly stretched over another), but thought surely Srixon knows how to apply grips.    

 

 

5) He tells me he is going to submit to Golf Pride, which I thought was a great idea.   I always knew that fake GP grips have a terrible smell but did some research (including here on WRX) with some other giveaways that grips are fake.   I told him of other things to compare to including the cord, the seam, end cap, etc... and to take more pictures.    This is still on Easter Sunday. 

 

6) The next afternoon he replies that Golf Pride told them they were fake .....fun fact, he embellished a little on how long he had these... said a week had gone by when he had them for 3 days (nitpicking but interesting combined with a comment he later made... see #8).   Also note he apparently didn't include the picture above...

 

 

 

7).  At this point I'm floored... I know these came from Srixon as did the shafts (he later claimed that he believed the shafts were fake too).    I decide to contact Golf Pride myself with the first picture I listed in the ad, as well as another one I took but didn't include as I thought it was superfluous.    I didn't have any of the cap, etc...  But thought it would be enough for them to offer an opinion.   Haven't heard back from them aside from a general reply that they had no prior claims that Srixon were using fake grips.   Although I did get back this initial reply I haven't heard a detailed reply back.    

 

8) FSUgolfer states he wants a full refund and a shipping label.   I told him that he could ship them to me at his cost and I would refund him minus shipping I paid (I would even eat the PP fee).   I said other than that he could file a claim with PayPal.     I told him if I get these back and they are not in the same condition that I sent them in, it wouldn't be over and I would post this issue here.   Again, the amount we are talking about isn't huge.   Thought his response below was interesting.   I guess he would be fine with me reselling these even though he is so sure they are fake as long as he gets all his money back...such integrity.   Love how he says "No harm to you"... really?   No harm but I have to eat costs of shipping them both ways, PP fees and even if I get these back will they be the same as shipped?    

 

 

 

9) That brings us to today.   I hadn't heard from him in over two days but get a notice from PayPal that he filed a claim.  I have responded to that claim.      As many have mentioned in other similar threads, the best course of action is to resolve between buyer and seller and allow a dialogue.   Now that has happened and he is pursing this via a PP claim, I thought was a good time to post this and unload this monster of a post on WRX

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28 by txbadger
edited title to reflect update in PP case

[Yanki01]

It's hard to tell without clear photos of your original listing but the cord on fake golfpride grips are always the giveaway. the cord is more pronounced on the fakes vs the real ones. they have more cord showing. the cord is more straight and stringy than the real ones. hard to explain but people will die on the hill thinking they got a real set on ebay, amazon or even on here. FB marketplace is flooded with them. I stopped buying grips anywhere but my local Edwin Watts because of them. 

 

the second photo showing two different grips, is the top one yours and the bottom one his? 

 

 

 

[txbadger]

3 minutes ago, Yanki01 said:

the second photo showing two different grips, is the top one yours and the bottom one his? 

 

He didn't mention which one was which.   Even in the crazy odd event Srixon was using fake grips.. these had no smell and from what I remember cord look just like the ones I still have.   When I did the search on all the ways to spot a fake I saw some had cord that was "drawn on" and others that had like a cross hatch or '+' pattern with the cord.    Neither were the case on the ones I sold.   From what I can recall they appeared just like this....

 

[Yanki01]

The reason why I ask is because the PX shafts are stepless, right? The grips in your photos all seem to have the same, even font. Hard to determine fake with that but nothing is giving them away as being fake compared to the two grips he has in the photos. With one clearly shown fake but the shaft it's on is a stepped shaft. 

 

I too have ordered from Srixon and haven't seen any of this. Also frequent the Srixon iron threads. Never seen any of them inquire about the grips being fake. 

Edited April 24 by Yanki01

[txbadger]

5 minutes ago, Yanki01 said:

The reason why I ask is because the PX shafts are stepless, right? The grips in your photos all seem to have the same, even font. Hard to determine fake with that but nothing is giving them away as being fake compared to the two grips he has in the photos. With one clearly shown fake but the shaft it's on is a stepped shaft. 

 

I too have ordered from Srixon and haven't seen any of this. Also frequent the Srixon iron threads. Never seen any of them inquire about the grips being fake. 

holy cr*p that is a good catch on the bottom shaft!  Yes.. that is stepped and PX 6.0 is not stepped... wow.. can't believe I didn't see that.  

 

[Anser3]

6 minutes ago, txbadger said:

holy cr*p that is a good catch on the bottom shaft!  Yes.. that is stepped and PX 6.0 is not stepped... wow.. can't believe I didn't see that.  

 

 

 

He does have fake grips but he did not get them from the OP.  Sounds like a scam to me.

[weems]

11 minutes ago, txbadger said:

holy cr*p that is a good catch on the bottom shaft!  Yes.. that is stepped and PX 6.0 is not stepped... wow.. can't believe I didn't see that.  

 

So he is claiming that the grips you sent are fake and he sends you a pic of a fake grip on a different shaft (not the ones you sold him)?

 

If so it definitely doesn’t bode well for his case. 

Edited April 24 by weems

[Yanki01]

4 minutes ago, Anser3 said:

 

 

He does have fake grips but he did not get them from the OP.  Sounds like a scam to me.

 

you mean you don't have fake grips hanging around at home waiting to purchase the same shafts you play to swap out with ones you bought trying to offload the box of fake grips you bought on Temu/AliExpress/DHGate/Ebay/Amazon/FB/Craigslist? Wow, and I thought you guys on here were club ho's!

 

[txbadger]

2 minutes ago, weems said:

So he is claiming that the grips you sent are fake and he sends you a pic of a fake grip on a different shaft (not the ones you sold him)?

 

If so it definitely doesn’t bode well for his case. 

not only that, he sent pictures of the fake grips to Golf Pride instead of mine.    

[weems]

Just now, txbadger said:

not only that, he sent pictures of the fake grips to Golf Pride instead of mine.    

Oh boy. I’ll without judgement until we hear from @FSUgolfer but if that’s true then that is some really shady stuff and takes a lot of effort just to get some new grips. 

[Yanki01]

3 minutes ago, txbadger said:

not only that, he sent pictures of the fake grips to Golf Pride instead of mine.    

 

that's another issue with buying grips in bulk online. the listing will show decent looking grips that may be real. once you get the ones they sent, they're probably a fake set and not the ones that were initially listed in the photos. so again to those out there, don't buy grips online other than a retailer. 

[jacob7071]

OP, if you got the grips directly from Srixon, I'd tell the buyer to go find a bunker and punch it.  I wouldn't offer to take anything back even with deducting shipping and PP fees.  Sending 3 pics of a portion of one grip to Golf Pride and saying they smell awful wouldn't mean much to me.  I don't know how Golf Pride can make a judgment based on pictures alone.  They're probably claiming fake due to his assertion of the smell.  

 

In his picture of the two grips, which is he claiming as fake?  

Edited April 24 by jacob7071

[Joselo]

2 minutes ago, jacob7071 said:

OP, if you got the grips directly from Srixon, I'd tell the buyer to go find a bunker and punch it.  I wouldn't offer to take anything back even with deducting shipping and PP fees. 

 

agreed with this

 

[FSUgolfer]

Comments will be reserved until appropriate methods are handled as to not disrupt the process. 
 

I am not opposed to having a temporary pause on BST until that time comes and this can be addressed further. 

 

Remember folks, the first and loudest isn’t always right. 

[txbadger]

3 minutes ago, FSUgolfer said:

Comments will be reserved until appropriate methods are handled as to not disrupt the process. 
 

I am not opposed to having a temporary pause on BST until that time comes and this can be addressed further. 

 

Remember folks, the first and loudest isn’t always right. 

you know what you did.   I'm making sure PayPal has all the information.   Including this thread

[player922000]

34 minutes ago, Yanki01 said:

The reason why I ask is because the PX shafts are stepless, right? The grips in your photos all seem to have the same, even font. Hard to determine fake with that but nothing is giving them away as being fake compared to the two grips he has in the photos. With one clearly shown fake but the shaft it's on is a stepped shaft. 

 

I too have ordered from Srixon and haven't seen any of this. Also frequent the Srixon iron threads. Never seen any of them inquire about the grips being fake. 

Was going to say the same thing about the stepped shaft, great eye. I also find it very strange that he used the picture of the letters to show OP fake vs not fake, but didn’t include that same picture to golf pride. The whole thing feels off to me. 

[txbadger]

18 minutes ago, jacob7071 said:

OP, if you got the grips directly from Srixon, I'd tell the buyer to go find a bunker and punch it.  I wouldn't offer to take anything back even with deducting shipping and PP fees.  Sending 3 pics of a portion of one grip to Golf Pride and saying they smell awful wouldn't mean much to me.  I don't know how Golf Pride can make a judgment based on pictures alone.  They're probably claiming fake due to his assertion of the smell.  

 

In his picture of the two grips, which is he claiming as fake?  

On the first part, yeah... that was my first reaction.   I even showed him the receipt I have from Srixon showing the PX shafts and red MCC mids.     I agree on their (Golf Pride's) reaction to his claim that they smell.. but to send pics of his fake grips,  not mine,  probably sealed the deal.

 

On the last question on which one he was claiming was fake, he didn't make a claim.. just the differences in certain letters.    My initial read was that both were mine and he was pointing out inconsistencies.

Edited April 24 by txbadger

[Yanki01]

6 minutes ago, FSUgolfer said:

Comments will be reserved until appropriate methods are handled as to not disrupt the process. 
 

I am not opposed to having a temporary pause on BST until that time comes and this can be addressed further. 

 

Remember folks, the first and loudest isn’t always right. 

 

OP seems pretty animated about this, understandably. I consider myself being pretty good at spotting fake golf pride grips and I'm having a hard time determining that on the grips in OP's first photo. they all seem uniform and matching. do you have the full photos you sent to golf pride? 

[jacob7071]

5 minutes ago, FSUgolfer said:

Comments will be reserved until appropriate methods are handled...

Isn't the appropriate method, when one of these threads starts, to come in and state your case?  Shafts are delivered 4/17, positive feedback left 4/19, grips don't start to stink until 4/20?

[rooski]

Very, very weird that the photo he sent you with the fake grip is objectively not on the shafts that he bought from you (stepped vs stepless shafts).

 

Something very uncouth going on here

Edited April 24 by rooski

[txbadger]

5 minutes ago, Yanki01 said:

OP seems pretty animated about this, understandably.

fair assessment.   I mean, as said initially... the amount isn't the issue.    I have no tolerance for stuff like this. 

[BUBS25]

Pretty shady here from the buyer it seems!

[noodle3872]

Looks like my ignored user list may have another named added to it….

[Red4282]

Hmm interesting case, following. Any chance you have an invoice sheet from srixon?

[txbadger]

Just now, Red4282 said:

Hmm interesting case, following. Any chance you have an invoice sheet from srixon?

yes I do.. and I showed it to him (mentioned above)

[Red4282]

9 minutes ago, txbadger said:

yes I do.. and I showed it to him (mentioned above)

Well, that should be enough proof in my mind. Just speculation, but wonder if he removed grips to resale, put his own fakes on, then return everything for refund. Seems like a lot of work, but something seems a little off.

[Red4282]

1 minute ago, Red4282 said:

Well, that should be enough proof in my mind. Just speculation, but wonder if he removed grips to resale, put his own fakes on, then return everything for refund. Seems like a lot of work, but something seems a little off.

On second thought, doesnt seem like much of a profit to be made, a lot of work for a few bucks. I think its on the buyer to post/explain pictures to the forum at this point. His evidence is shaky at best. 

[txbadger]

1 minute ago, Red4282 said:

Well, that should be enough proof in my mind. Just speculation, but wonder if he removed grips to resale, put his own fakes on, then return everything for refund. Seems like a lot of work, but something seems a little off.

it sure seems plausible at this point.   If I end up getting these back, I will post pics of what he sends.    Wouldn't shock me at all if he puts on the authentic grips but also wouldn't shock me if the fakes are on it. 

[jjthomp2]

Appalling, really. 

[Yanki01]

1 minute ago, Red4282 said:

On second thought, doesnt seem like much of a profit to be made, a lot of work for a few bucks. I think its on the buyer to post/explain pictures to the forum at this point. His evidence is shaky at best. 

 

people buy boxes of fake grips online and try to sell them as real ones. i've encountered many of them on FB golf groups. they're everywhere, including here.