Callaway X20 Fakes.... Opinions required.

[Anthony]

Thanks for the response to my last post, though what I really wanted to here was "Sweet, what a great deal, you'll love the clubs.....";)

I have tried to be fair and asked for my money back as he seemed like a kid trying to make a quick buck and may really not know what is going on. Don't want to report him, but I will to Callaway and told him so and his response was:

"Well looking at the situation I asked my uncle who is a lawyer about it and getting your $700 is not possible, because first of all I am not a scammer and I do not sell these in huge quantity and I do not know that fake clubs even existed. Second of all, you had a chance yourself to examine them and you had the choice to say no to purchasing these clubs, so that already is enough to annihilate any chances of prosecution of scam. Third of all, for all I know these clubs could have been replaced with fake ones and now scamming me to pay you back since I know nothing about golf clubs. I never knew selling these would cause so much problems and if you're the expert here and telling me those are fakes and harrassing to prosecute, I will also have to take the proper procedures in telling you what I did was not wrong as well."



So instead of doing any immediately I thought I'd ask for ipinions here as I should have done immediately.



Thanks,

[golferboy]

Persue this as far as you can.

[Bellyhungry]

I think there are anti-counterfeit agencies in North America. You can notify them and they will go after this kid.

Call Callaway and they will point you to the right direction.

You might not recover your $700, but this kid will lose more than the $700 he scammed off you.

[Tyler18]

Take it to the police. You were robbed and he is just trying to make you think that you don't have a case.

Just because you had the opportunity to look at them does not make it right, you bought them on the assumption that they were real and now know they are not.

To me this seems like a response he has sent to numerous people. It accomplishes a couple of things.
1. I have a lawyer in the family I am not affraid to use.
2. It's your fault, because you already saw them.
3. Blame you for trying to scam him.

This would more than likely scare some people off and cause them not to take this any further.

Try to get your money back.

[dekker]

Ignorance is no excuse on his part.He is claiming to be naive,but sellers have a responsibility towards the legitimacy of the product they sell.
He is also threatening you with his inferred access to an lawyer uncle.lol
If he is local,threaten to expose him on the net he might be affilliated with (I am assuming he deals on a forum of sort,not this one I hope.I haven't read your original posting as yet)and do take him to small claims court.At the very least he will think twice before doing this again. See a lawywer yourself just to get an idea as to your chances .Innitial consultation is usually free.
At the very least make the police aware of this fellow so that you have their write up as backup in court, if it gets that far.

[xander.uk]

ha ha ha!
the old my uncle/dad's a lawyer line!

BO**OCKS!

my daughter REALLY IS A LAWYER............but so what...lmao

if i recall he told you they were an unwanted present? but now he says he doesnt sell huge quantities? lies lies! ( he get 50 sets for xmas?)

then he says he didnt know fakes existed?...lies lies! ( u can get fake everything now)

u had chance to examine them? so what...he deliberately decieved you!

he is just trying to bully you into dropping your claim and in the meantime still selling these fakes to other people!

1) send him a registered letter outlining your complaint giving him 14 days to refund you IN FULL for the clubs!
(he will probably refuse to accept the letter because he is deliberately defrauding people but thats ok,if it is returned to you undelivered keep it sealed with your proof of postage as evidence)

2) if he refunds you great ( but sadly he wont) so report him to your police AND callaway golf immediately ( they will shut him down and prosecute him to save you the expense of a private prosecution)

3)unfortunately i think your money is gone forever BUT ( in england u might have something similar over there?) you could get a court judgement against him and have bailiffs reposess items to the value of your payment.....in england you would have a 50/50 chance of getting your money back i guess.

4) even if your money is gone dont let this thieving ba**ard get away with hit.callaway will roast his *** and ( again in england) he would be looking at a jail sentence for selling fakes goods!

http://www.benhogan.ca/contact.html

that is the link to callaway golf contacts in canada in ontario.

i hope you get ur money back or get the thief arrested.........those clubs are definately fakes unfortunately but unless people like yourself prosecute these scumbags they will continue to exploit others!

good luck ;)

[jayda]

report him to Callaway - you might get a complimentary set for doing that!

[JEBS]

Keep pushing!!

Also don't we now have a "cooling off period" law ? I remember talk of that a couple years ago.

[racmbs]

Thanks for the response to my last post, though what I really wanted to here was "Sweet, what a great deal, you'll love the clubs.....";)

I have tried to be fair and asked for my money back as he seemed like a kid trying to make a quick buck and may really not know what is going on. Don't want to report him, but I will to Callaway and told him so and his response was:

"Well looking at the situation I asked my uncle who is a lawyer about it and getting your $700 is not possible, because first of all I am not a scammer and I do not sell these in huge quantity and I do not know that fake clubs even existed. Second of all, you had a chance yourself to examine them and you had the choice to say no to purchasing these clubs, so that already is enough to annihilate any chances of prosecution of scam. Third of all, for all I know these clubs could have been replaced with fake ones and now scamming me to pay you back since I know nothing about golf clubs. I never knew selling these would cause so much problems and if you're the expert here and telling me those are fakes and harrassing to prosecute, I will also have to take the proper procedures in telling you what I did was not wrong as well."



So instead of doing any immediately I thought I'd ask for ipinions here as I should have done immediately.



Thanks,

No lawyer in their right mind would guide this kid in the direction he's claiming, let alone let him respond in the manner in which he has. Quoting that he's sought the advice of a lawyer in an email to you, runs the risk of his "uncle" getting into trouble himself. He's also worded the email to you very poorly....in my opinion, he's done this before and is simply trying to scare you away with verbal threats.

Here's my advice, and this is coming from me being in the industry long enough, having dealt with fraudulent claims:

1: Get a screen shot of the listing off of craigslist.
2: Keep a folder with the photo's he listed for advertising
3: Take photo's of the set you currently own
4: Call the police, file a report with what you've got listed above (including the email he sent to you) and ask that charges be laid...do NOT back off from doing this
5: Send a demand letter, providing him 14 days to refund you money after which, if he fails to comply, you will then take him to small claims court (do NOT mention or utter threats in your letter about going after him for more money!) Just state that you will be suing for your full refund...you can also seek the advice of a lawyer to see if punitive damages can also be included.
6: Don't bother calling Callaway...they won't do anything, unless you can prove that he is a seller worth going after. If he's a guy who sells onesies and twosies every now and then, they'll thank you for your call and end it at that.

If you need more help, please PM me and I'll help anyway I can.

[esidirop]

Call the Callaway report the seller of fake goods. THen meet him and feed him the business :) Violence solves everything with punks like this:) LOL

[dan_]

None of those excuses would hold up. I say teach the kid a lesson, if he won't give you your money back.

[Twisted]

Come on guys, we're Canadians here. Violence doesn't solve anything. I say stalk him and steal his car and/or his girlfriend.

But in all seriousiness, sorry to hear you got ripped off.

I'm lucky I found a super great guy from the US through ebay that sends me all my stuff.

[The Troll]

As mentioned above:

Tell him 1) you are reporting him to Callaway and 2) you are reporting him to the local police and the RCMP (counterfeiting ya know).

Then do it!!!!!

[swaaain]

Anthony,

Can you give me a call please? I have spoken with a few People, including Callaway and a Toronto Police Detective in the Major Crime Division.

Jeff

[nearace]

can you post the add for us too view it and where it came from?

[skt07]

If you're going to pursue this further, I would suggest getting a letter from Callaway or maybe Golftown stating that these clubs are fake.

As of right now (to my knowledge) you do not have proof that your clubs are fake (even though we are 99% sure they are fake). If you want to take this further (to the police and/or Callaway) you will need proof that these clubs are fake.

Unless the seller admitted they were fake?

And I assume you have all of his personal information such as full name, phone number, email address, car licence plate, color and model etc. This information will be essential for going after the guy as well.

[Anthony]

The kid was not too smart (and neither was I). I have his email, phone #, car model and below the ad that included the pictures.

http://toronto.craigslist.org/spo/334523416.html

I have had Jeff @ Swank confirm they are fakes....

Best of all, my spouse is the smartest... She says that his prints will be all over the bag and he hit one of the irons a few times.

My thought is that with all thses mistakes it is a one off for this kid and I just want my money.


Thanks for the advise.

Anthony

[guitarman]

The kid was not too smart (and neither was I). I have his email, phone #, car model and below the ad that included the pictures.

http://toronto.craigslist.org/spo/334523416.html

I have had Jeff @ Swank confirm they are fakes....

Best of all, my spouse is the smartest... She says that his prints will be all over the bag and he hit one of the irons a few times.

My thought is that with all thses mistakes it is a one off for this kid and I just want my money.


Thanks for the advise.

Anthony

If you want your money back, you could present all this evidence to him and he may be more likely to cave. On the other hand if you just want to shut him down and don't care as much about getting your money, you can take your evidence to the authorities.

[nearace]

did you put a complaint in with craigs list? you can also post about them being fakes. keep trying dont let him get away with this kind of behavier.

[Anthony]

If you want your money back, you could present all this evidence to him and he may be more likely to cave. On the other hand if you just want to shut him down and don't care as much about getting your money, you can take your evidence to the authorities.

I've emailed him some of your responses to the original post, and am giving him the benefit of the doubt that he just was a naive kid trying to make some money on a one off (fingerprints and problems all over his ad).

I then told him if he thinks I'm harrassing him, my emails read like love letters compared to what the Police or Callaway will do if I pass the info to them.:)

[thekathrynorchard]

I think your best bet is to compile all the evidence you've gotten thus far (you'll have to do it eventually) and present it to him. In the event it 'scares' him then you may get your money back. If not, the police will ask what steps you've taken to receive a refund anyway, and this way you've already done a reasonable amount of your own legwork and they can begin to investigate without losing anymore time.

I would personally give him a chance to backpeddle and give me my money, then I wouldn't even bother telling him or threatening him with a police report, I would simply do it. Contacting Callaway can't hurt anything either.

Everyone else is right on the ball in terms of his response to you. That is utterly ridiculous and I'd call him on his bluff. Even in the event his uncle is a lawyer (which he likely isn't), and if that is the advice he's given him, I'd take my education and put it up against him in court any day. I took 4 courses as Osgoode as part of my master's degree and while I don't know anything about this kind of incident, I know enough to know this is BS.

[Big Shooter]

If they 'were real' I would be suspecting him of 'stealing' them from some golf course...it's scary, and it happens...more so at Private Courses!! :mad:

[The Troll]

How 'bout me and the boyz from Michigan go "negotiate" with him. :D

[alienurbanite]

Hey Anthony,

Let's put it this way, based on the quantum of this claim there's no advantage to him that his uncle's a lawyer.

If you want to pursue this claim legally, I'm very familiar with the small claims court procedures so drop me a PM if you're considering it. It's a very simple process (although you'd have to fork over $100 for court fees - possibly recoverable). My gut feeling is that once he receives an issued claim from the court, he'll be willing to talk.

[Anthony]

Thanks for the responses.

Very simply unless the phone # he gave me and called me with is a disposable phone, his email account can't be traced or the craigslist posting (which he took down this afternoon) came from a public IP (ie a library or internet cafe), he will have a hard time hiding when I bring in the authorities.

Have played really nice to this point thinking he was just a kid trying to make a quick buck who got caught.

[Bellyhungry]

How is your quest to recoup your money?

Just curious...

[Anthony]

No luck... Called police and have contacted Callaway. Will follow-up with them today.

[artvandelay]

Are you continiuing to update the seller on your activities (i.e. have you told him that you have contacted Callaway and the police and he should be expecting a call)?

He may have thought you were bluffing, but realize it's more serious when you have actually called these people...

[Anthony]

I warned him and told him I did not want to contact authorities. He responded by stating his "lawyer" uncle said I did not have a case and then removing the ad he placed.

I was waiting for a response from Callaway before I emailed hime again.

This time i will tell him I have provided the police with his partial plate.


Yea I was a real idiot.... Way too trusting in people in cases like this and unfortunately also in business sometimes.

[iyell4]

speaking of Callaway X460

$50 for a replica driver .... looks like the 'real deal' :eek:

http://toronto.craigslist.org/spo/341430392.html

[dohboy]

Yeah, these things are getting soooooo good now that I've been completely scared off from buying off Ebay.

[SnoopyGolf]

This is why I only buy clubs from TGN members (in good standing, of course) :)

[esidirop]

looks like this guy is at it again...

Why not arrange a meet and greet with him using a different name/person to set up the meet?

http://toronto.craigslist.org/spo/346348191.html

[focal]

looks like this guy is at it again...

Why not arrange a meet and greet with him using a different name/person to set up the meet?

http://toronto.craigslist.org/spo/346348191.html

awesome....tell him to meet at village by the grange....only two steps away from 52 division...LOL

[Bellyhungry]

Let's get 10-20 people to show up and give this punk some vigilante justice :angry:

[Big Johnny69]

For fun I flagged it as "prohibited". :)

[esidirop]

Coutn me in.. i want to test the bounce of these clubs
Let's get 10-20 people to show up and give this punk some vigilante justice :angry:

[reincarnated]

Seriously guys, I will try to arrange something with him if we want to nab him.

Anthony, maybe you can tell Callaway/police that this person is at it again. Otherwise, we go somewhere where there are no public cameras and beat his a**!

So I just emailed this clown saying I was interested in the clubs. Anthony, was his email wedeal4less@rogers.com? He says his name is David in the Bathurst/Rutherford area. Sound familiar?

I am thinking of arranging a fake meeting with him (somewhere far so he drives) and not show up. Any other ideas?

[BowmanvilleJim]

I emailed the guy and asked if they where genuine or fakes and this is his response.

"Dear Sir,

I'm not a golf expert, I got this set as a christmas gift at my old work but I do not play golf and have no use to it.
the only thing I can advice is that you take a look at it if you are interested...

Regards,
David"

He knows what he's selling. Fakes for sure. I asked him where I could see them.

[jayda]

this is like watching a drama...

[BowmanvilleJim]

I'd like to see him get busted.

[BowmanvilleJim]

I asked him where I could see them and he's willing to meet. If I was a cop I would show up just to bust him.

"I'm available today (friday) till 6PM or Saturday & Sunday 12PM - 6PM

I will meet you at the plaza on Bathurst St. & Rutherford Rd. (Tim Hortons)

Let me know when is the best time for you and your phone number.

Regards,
David"

[reincarnated]

I tried to get him to drive to Whitby (I don't live there but it would have been funny to just get him to drive from Vaughan). He said he'd ship them.

I responded by telling him he's been reported to the authorities and to Callaway. That'll hopefully make him a bit paranoid for a bit.

Neil

[Warbird]

I have had the same type of thing happen to me before when I bought a hybrid off ebay and found out that it was counterfeit... Matter of fact it was a Callaway too and when I contacted them they said there was nothing they could do for me because I didnt buy them from an authorized retailer which is 100% true.... its buyer beware when you try to get a deal on clubs from anyone other than a retailer...

oh well... I lost $100 on my purchase... I have learned my lesson and will only buy from retailers now...

Good luck... push the legal route especially if you know where this guy lives or have some type of contact information...