ordering through the peoples clubs, payment question

[dubg]

this is a first for me ordering a custom built set of irons. chatted through email with the peoples clubs a ton and have my specs and all the club info for order. 

 

now its time to order and the email says since all the specs are here in the email, use this like and grab the amount of money the irons will cost in gift cards off the link sent. that way they have shipping information in the backend and can quickly and easily send tracking and updates on the build. 

 

ive never ordered from a custom builder let alone the peoples clubs although they have great reviews im a little skeptical of this payment method of just buying a certain dollar amount of gift cards without an invoice for the specific order, I dont know something seems a bit off here. 

 

anyone have any experience like this with the peoples clubs to reassure me about this order? it isn't cheap and ive heard great things im just a touch skeptical about this payment method but maybe its nothing I need to be concerned about 

[cfmgolf]

I have 0% experience with them, but just as another savvy customer - I would call them and ask why this is their preferred method of payment?  If you are uncomfortable now, how do you think you would feel if something were to go wrong upon receipt?   You are the customer and I would recommend paying for them in the manner in which you prefer.  Maybe this is their standard MO and others will chime in, but if this makes you uncomfortable, don't do it.  

[596]

I don't know anything about the "people's clubs"  but anytime "gift cards" are used for payments, I run!  That's the number 1 red flag for scams. 

 

Even appears as though someone got hold of some emails and are using them to scam.  I'd never buy anything using gift cards through a supplied link! 

 

I could be totally wrong, but maybe not. All the red flags are there.

[SBH9458]

If we are talking about Will Peoples, yes he is a class act.  I have never had an issue with them at https://thepeoplesclubs.com

 

I’ve only ever paid Will by PayPal.  Never had the beginning of a problem that wasn’t resolved via a single chat with him.  @Peoples Golf

[GarretG]

Will is top notch and very trustworthy in my experience. I would reach out to him directly via email with your concern. Perhaps verify the email address you’ve been communicating with is their official email and not a scam account. 

[D0ch0l1d4y]

21 hours ago, dubg said:

this is a first for me ordering a custom built set of irons. chatted through email with the peoples clubs a ton and have my specs and all the club info for order. 

 

now its time to order and the email says since all the specs are here in the email, use this like and grab the amount of money the irons will cost in gift cards off the link sent. that way they have shipping information in the backend and can quickly and easily send tracking and updates on the build. 

 

ive never ordered from a custom builder let alone the peoples clubs although they have great reviews im a little skeptical of this payment method of just buying a certain dollar amount of gift cards without an invoice for the specific order, I dont know something seems a bit off here. 

 

anyone have any experience like this with the peoples clubs to reassure me about this order? it isn't cheap and ive heard great things im just a touch skeptical about this payment method but maybe its nothing I need to be concerned about 

 

100% a scam. What email address were you using to communicate?

 

The link they sent is a website they built to take your money...I'd bet a mortgage payment on it.

 

*edit - these are the payment options on his website:

 

Edited July 24 by D0ch0l1d4y

[BYK]

Will Peoples is the best. 
I’ve had him do countless builds for me and pp was how I paid every time.  He has never mentioned a gift card option. 

[joshm500]

can you share the email address you were communicating with, i have bought gift cards on his site before but never has he suggested it as a form of primary payment. Will is a great guy and runs a great company

 

[scottaz]

All good. I did exactly the same thing on my last transaction with Will. Maybe it's just easier on his end but nothing to worry about. 

[circa3182]

At first I interpreted this as you being requested to buy gift cards from a third party site and transfer. If it’s buying for a set amount on the website then I don’t think that raises my spidey senses as much. It likely results in less fees for him relative to PayPal. 

[dubg]

3 hours ago, SBH9458 said:

If we are talking about Will Peoples, yes he is a class act.  I have never had an issue with them at https://thepeoplesclubs.com

 

I’ve only ever paid Will by PayPal.  Never had the beginning of a problem that wasn’t resolved via a single chat with him.  @Peoples Golf

yes, we've had back and forth emails for the past few weeks now about this new club build and all specs sent through email so he said in order to keep the specs that ive sent and he can get started on the build to just do the payment through gift cards on the website. I have heard nothing but good reviews and yes im a bit skeptical but I trust that he's not just taking my money and he said I could pay through different methods but this way he will have all the shipping info and my information so that he can send updates and tracking updates. it is strange to me as someone else said any payment being in gift cards is usually a scam so im still a bit nervous about the purchase but everything he explained makes sense so im trusting him and hopefully it isn't a big waste of money. I guess only time will tell 

[dubg]

1 hour ago, circa3182 said:

At first I interpreted this as you being requested to buy gift cards from a third party site and transfer. If it’s buying for a set amount on the website then I don’t think that raises my spidey senses as much. It likely results in less fees for him relative to PayPal. 

he did say I can also pay through pay pal and he can send an invoice or he can have someone call me to place the order through the phone. but if I went on the website and did the gift cards through the website he said it would keep all my info on the back end on his side so he has info to give me updates and send tracking info when that time comes. everyone has said great things about this company so I have hope im not being scammed. he did also mention he understands me being skeptical and they are working on a new system in order to fix this situation for future builds. 

I dont think payment options would be this way if we hadn't been back and forth for weeks about club build specs and all that information through email. I guess time will tell we will see

[dubg]

1 hour ago, scottaz said:

All good. I did exactly the same thing on my last transaction with Will. Maybe it's just easier on his end but nothing to worry about. 

I did go through with it. he did explain the whole situation over email and the reasons why and they are working on a work around for orders discussed and purchased through email. it is nice that he gave me the time of day to voice my concerns and explained things in detail, really good CS from him. glad to hear you had this situation for me to be hopeful it will work out just fine and there's nothing to be concerned about thanks mate

[dubg]

1 hour ago, joshm500 said:

can you share the email address you were communicating with, i have bought gift cards on his site before but never has he suggested it as a form of primary payment. Will is a great guy and runs a great company

 

it was their company email on the website. we talked for a few weeks over email about this order and I think its 1) easier on their end to have a custom order be purchased this way when discussed over email for a few weeks and 2) he explained this way they will have my info on their back end of the order so I can get updates and tracking info when that time arrives. 

[dubg]

3 hours ago, D0ch0l1d4y said:

 

100% a scam. What email address were you using to communicate?

 

The link they sent is a website they built to take your money...I'd bet a mortgage payment on it.

 

*edit - these are the payment options on his website:

 

all the information is good. it is their email, we talked for weeks about this order and specs back and forth and I voiced my concerns about many things and he has been great through email talking me through the process. it is not as if he's asking for random gift cards to be purchased and then sent to him, just to go on this website and purchase the amount this build is in gift cards for payment (which I did) and that it will keep all of my information on my account so they can send updates of the build as well as tracking info when that time comes. he talked me through 1 or 2 different options of payment as well and they are trying to work on software for a work around when these builds are ordered through email and specs of build are discussed over email but for right now these are the options. ive never seen a bad review and so far from my experience the CS has been fantastic and all my question and concerns have been answered and someone else said this is how he had one transaction with the peoples clubs and nothing to worry about so hopefully in 4-6 weeks I will message you for that mortgage payment to be sent to me :))) lol only time will truly tell I guess 

[Tzoid]

I bought wedges many years ago from Will and this just sounds messy. I would ask for an invoice for the exact custom build I was ordering and then make the payment. No clue what the " Buy Gift Cards" transaction is all about but I am all about mitigating risk of errors. 

[Pnwpingi210]

This does seem really odd.  Hard to imagine paying with gift cards is the only way they can track your order on the backend…

 

that being said I’ve purchased from them in the past (no gift card nonsense) and the clubs where built well, turn around time was around what they quoted.