Golf In The Family (Business)

In years past I've commented on how Callaway Golf raised the bar for customer service, particularly with warranty repairs. Well, this company continues to surprise me with the level of service they provide to insure customer satisfaction.

We have a very good customer who decided to buy Callaway irons this year. He's someone who buys three or four sets every year and is a trend setter at the club where he plays.  He's also had some health issues and is discovering his swing is less than what it used to be.

We ordered his first set in one model with steel shafts. He didn't like them and Callaway replaced this set with another model with steel shafts at no charge. He decided the steel shafts were too heavy and we sent that set back to get re-shafted in graphite. Callaway sent us a label to have these clubs picked up and reshafted at no charge.

I couldn't believe it. No other vendor would replace the set and the shafts on their dime, AND pick up the freight. This is not a small deal like reshafting a broken driver.

Thank goodness it's over for 2009. Between the turmoil in the golf industry, the economy and Tiger Wood's life I couldn't wait for 2009 to end.  None of that turmoil has subsided much but I feel better prepared to cope.

Another local competitor, Cam's Golf, closed its doors and some of their customers have visited our shop.  It's too early to tell if Cam's closing will make any difference to us, but it probably won't hurt.

I'm revising the website (again) to position it as a resource for used clubs, hard to find items and collectibles. New clubs will get write ups and I'll let you know what you can get at our Chicago shop. However, you will have to call or email to buy new equipment if you can't visit the store.

It’s taken me awhile to get back to the blog.  I wanted to sell my clubs, end Golf Talk and get out of the business altogether last Saturday after another lousy day of play and rain.  

I can’t believe how much it’s rained in Chicago since March.  This area has had more rain in the past 14 months than any other similar period since rainfall was measured (about 140 years).  The last time this happened was 2002, resulting in the demise of several golf chains across the country.

Maybe if I was playing better I would feel more optimistic.  Maybe if it stopped raining I wouldn’t mind that my game stinks.  Maybe if we could get three nice days in a row and a store full of customers I wouldn’t mind being in this business. 
 
Business sure ain’t what it was before the recession hit.  And if it doesn’t stop raining I have doubts about celebrating 100 years next spring.