what happened to KZG?

8.15.2005

What happened to KZG? Well, since you asked, let me tell you. I returned home from vacation on August 13th, 2005 to find a voicemail from KZG. It was, as usual, extremely impersonnel and unfriendly, suggesting that I remove all KZG products from my website, that I wasn't "authorized" to use their logos or images and threatening me with legal action if I failed to comply. Now, let me say, this wasn't the first time that somebody from KZG had called me and treated me poorly. Last summer, when I complained about non delivery of the Gemini driver heads, I was verbally berated by Jennifer King, the owner of KZG. She said, and I paraphrase, that I was a "hack clubmaker, selling SMT and Bang products. Anybody, even our janitor, can buy those products and slap them together. We're not even sure that we want a clubmaker of your caliber selling our products." I was extremely upset by this, so much that I considered dropping the line. After much phone conversation with other people at KZG, I was assured that this is "just how she is", that she has no social skills and that everybody was terribly sorry. It probably also helped that I went onto a couple of large golf forums and relayed this information to their past and future customers, many of whom have purchased KZG products from Clubwerks.com. To further expound on my complaint, I had 13 Gemini heads on backorder for THREE MONTHS. Every time I called my rep, I was told they were "shipping very soon." Finally, I was told two different times that my heads were shipped, but they never arrived. When I called to complain, I was doing so under the impression that my heads were shipped. I was told, point blank, by Jennifer King that I was a "small account" and that the large accounts would get their heads first and I "might never get heads, so maybe I should just cancel my backorders." This is the point where I protested and she started berating me, making personal attacks on me and my clubmaking skills, trying to defend her policy that bigger accounts would get serviced first, for as much as they wanted, and only then would the smaller accounts get product. OK, that's fine, I played along, waited patiently and received my heads about a week later, probably because everybody at KZG felt bad about what had happened to me. Fast forward to this past week. After receiving that voicemail, I called KZG, not sure what was going on. Had I done something to offend them? Had I accidentally disregarded their internet pricing policy? Not likely since I've been one of their internet price watchdogs since the beginning, alerting them many times to companies selling below their minimum advertised prices or selling on eBay. I called and spoke with Lisa, Jennifer's daughter and my former rep. She said that KZG was no longer selling to accounts that sold on the internet. The internet, as you probably already know, is the devil. It causes overpriced mom and pop stores to go out of business. I was also told, again, that they don't want KZG being sold side by side with the likes of Wishon Golf, SMT and Bang. Talk about arrogant. I have sold hundreds of products from those companies and no one has ever complained about their quality. Many customers that have purchased said products from Clubwerks.com have said that those are some of the finest golf products they've ever played. So, that's it, KZG only wants their products to be sold by mom and pops, where pricing can be controlled (read gouged) and the unwary customer will have no way of checking the internet to make sure he/she is not being ripped off. No warning, no "hey thanks for being with KZG since the beginning", no nothing, just a threatening phone call from the owner of KZG. Typical, business as usual over at KZG. Personally, I'm almost relieved to be rid of that account. Delivery was a nightmare, ordering was equally as bad and getting what you ordered seemed to go from expected to "consider yourself lucky" over the last few years. Recently, I ordered ONE Gemini head. I received FOUR Gemini heads and one headcover. Somebody at KZG had made a keystroke error entering my order. OK, no problem, happens all the time. It took me a month to get credit back to my credit card and they practically acted like it was my fault. They said "Are you sure you didn't order four?" If I ordered four heads, why did you send me one headcover? "Oh, I guess that makes sense." I should have taken the lead from Dana Upshaw last year, when they pulled the same BS on him. He just said "Take your products and shove them." In case you don't know who Dana Upshaw is, he has been Clubmaker of the Year two or three times. They probably called him a hack too.

In any case, I will no longer be selling KZG products. I will also no longer be playing KZG products, which I have done since 2001. If you are interested in purchasing KZG products and you want to verify that the local mom and pop is not ripping you off, contact me, I will be happy to tell you dealer cost on any product that they sell. If anybody is interested in a nice set of KZG ZO blades with Apache/MCC 105 X Orange KJ Choi shafts, please, let me know.

Updated: 3/25/08

I really appreciate the literally hundreds of emails I've received from other golfers, clubmakers or just plain digusted customers over the last couple years. It's nice to know that I'm not alone or this attack on me wasn't "personal." Judging from many of the emails I've received, it's wasn't personal, many other people have been treated as shoddily as I was. I will say one thing, in the two and a half years I've never received a single email from anyone that said "You're so full of shit, KZG is great." I find it almost alarmly odd that 100% of the response I have received to date have been supportive of my plight. Also, I will add, to date, I have never received an apology from anyone at KZG over this bizzare and unfortunate incident. Look, I can hold a grudge with the best of them, but after six months or so of knowing that somebody was basically telling the world my business, I'd be all over getting my apology on. Way to nut up, KZG. Kudos to you for understanding that even bad publicity is good publicity. Brittany Spears thinks you're an idiot.