Katie Stevens goes home :(

I can't believe it!~Katie Stevens to go over that Tim Urban guy?

I'm so sad!!!!!!!

I'm done with season 9......:(

Password scare, LOL!

I almost had a password scare! LOL

Just yesterday I changed my email password. I wanted to make my password 'more complicated' to minimize the risk of being hacked.

So I went ahead and created this ultra long password comprising of upper case and lower case letters, numbers and several symbols. LOL!!!!

When I tried to log on today, it says 'password incorrect'.

I was like 'holy shit, I changed my password to be so complicated that I myself could not recall!'

I told myself not to panic, I had a vague idea of how it should look like.....it was only 1 day ago, my memory was still quite fresh.

So I spent the last hour creating a list of possibilities............after 29 tries, I managed to get it!

Lesson learnt for sure :)

What kind of weather is this?!?!?!?!?

Geez!

Its 1:12am and its 32 degrees Celsius! What on earth?!

Its so warm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just took a shower and no more than 15 mins later, I am sweating again

I can't wait for my trip next month. 8 days in winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, happy Phil won. When he hugged amy at the 18th I cried, hahaha!

Oh man! I found out something...

Maybe because it's a small world, maybe because God is good, maybe because karma's a bitch... I managed to find out something about someone today

Remembering that karma is a bitch, I've decided to just know about it and 'swallow' it. No need to 'announce' to the world......unless there's a need to.

Well, the golf industry is small. Indeed

A well respected guy in a very popular american based golf forum has been selling stuff for a long time. He owns a golf shop too. His reputation is good. In fact, I'd say he has 'master' status. A lot of people look up to him and respect him. Enuff said.

So, I do not know why, but like 2 hours ago, a piece of evidence just fell into my hands, evidence showing that the 'so called' [tour only] clubs he's selling are shipped from china. (I did not instigate an investigation....this piece of info just dropped to my hands) An anonymous person gave me these evidences.

What does that say? Well, one word came to my mind - contradiction. How can you possibly tell people things like 'buy safe, buy from USA or take your chances elsewhere' when you yourself buy stuff from a dodgy origin?

I've never liked to bad mouth people behind their backs. For this case, it felt ultra pleasurable for me to find out about what I just found out. He did bad mouth me before, I do know know him, we never met, we never spoke, yet he tried to hurt me......so I guess this is what I mean by Karma's a bitch.

Anyway, I'm going to leave it as it is. I'm not going to reveal who he is, I'm not going to showcase to the world the evidence presented to me. I'd rather mind my own business.

Of course, the great part here is, if he does cross my line in future, I will have a whole lot of story to tell.

I am the kind of person who prefers a 'I mind my business and you mind yours' kinda relationship.

Until then, I thank God for showing me the light.

Also, I thank anonymous for giving me such precious evidences. You made my day....in fact you probably made my whole week! ♥

Its just a ferrule, chill out!

Interesting, a buyer asked me, if the ferrules I were selling for the 2010 FCT sleeves were meant for a .335 or a .350?

I replied 'it fits both', as I have personally tested it out.

Came a reply that another vendor mentioned mine was just an OEM.

Laugh Out Loud!

Who is this 'other vendor'? It leads me to wonder...

well, the truth is yes, there are 2 sizes, but I took a .335 and tested it on a .350, it fits perfectly, so what gives? The Minimum Quantity for me to bring these in is 2000pcs.....I'd rather order 2000pcs of a size, rather than to commit 4000pcs for 2 sizes, you know?

Anyway seriously, its just a piece of plastic so chill. (but make sure it does not break when u squeeze it....cos only a genuine one can withstand the pressure...only then you will judge for yourself if mine is an OEM or a real deal)

Chao!

My very 1st negative feedback on eBay. Surprise surprise!!!

WOW! So while I was enjoying my Hagen-Dazs ice-cream (Macadamia Nut) flavour, I clicked the refresh button on my eBay page.

Weird, my feedback score is 1167...I was thinking I thought it was 1168 just now?

"Crap, a negative?" I spoke to myself. I opened my feedback page there it was: - A BIG FAT NEGATIVE RED FEEDBACK staring at me.

Worst of all, the feedback says: "Fake, straight bore through, should have known from singapore"

You guys who follow me closely know that I never sell fake Taylormade sleeves. In fact after all I've done, writing articles to help people identify fakes (I usually write articles at mid-night...sacrificing my sleep), I would never be selling fakes.

There's only 2 possibilities here:

1) This is a misunderstanding

I would love to think this is the case, but if this is really a misunderstanding, the buyer would have contacted me first, tell me there is a problem. Even if not, he should file a Paypal dispute to get his money back. No dispute case has been opened until now. I'm very puzzled

2) Sabotage by competitors

Need I say more? I hope this is not the case but there's always the possibility, in fact I feel like I might be sabotaged. Come on, no one leaves negative feedback just like that without contacting the seller first. BUT, I wanna remain professional about this whole thing. I don't want to speculate so soon. It's still early.....I contacted eBay to request for his contact number, I tried calling the buyer up on his cell, it went straight to his voicemail. I left a voice message, I left him a message on eBay and I also sent him an email.

Yes, I spent money to do a long distance call....this shows how serious I am about upholding my reputation. I recorded my call to him and also recorded the voicemail I left.

Like I said, it's still early, I'm going to be professional about this and give him a chance to respond. This could be all a misunderstanding. Well, if not? Let's just say I know very strongly about my products and I won't allow my reputation to be defamed.

That's the purpose of this blog. I'm so glad I have a place to 'vent'!

Also, Thank You to all of you who has stayed by me, believed in me and supported me all the way! ♥

Well....I'm just going to chill now. Going to play Guitar Hero

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UPDATES:

Ok, so after about 12 hours later, the buyer revised the feedback to a Neutral.

This is what actually happened....

like I said, the first thing I did was to call him up on his cell, no answer....so I left a voicemail, and also sent him an email

I also had a friend, who gave him a call. My friend is in the US and he's so sweet by helping me out (Thanks S)

So my friend managed to speak with him....turns out the guy brought it to Golfsmith and the guys told him it was a straight bore. So of course my friend was surprised and stood up for me....offered to meet him up to have a look at it, and even offered him a new sleeve (from my friend's own pocket....yes, I'm so touched). They guy said ok, but he has already installed the sleeve he received from me (Questionable point 1: U say its fake, and u go on and install and use it?).

So I sent the buyer a feedback revision form, and I went straight to sleep. It was like 4:30am in Singapore already!

When I woke up, I realized he changed it to a neutral. Hmmm, 'can't he have changed it to a positive?' I thought to myself.

I mean, I think I did enough, in fact more than enough. More than what any seller would do.

So do I think this might be a case of a 'red eye sabotage'? Honestly, maybe. I don't wanna sound like a sour grape but you can't blame me for feeling this way can you?:

- no contacting me first, straight negative

- no paypal dispute (he does not want his money back....just wants to leave a negative, for $20...quite cheap)

- says my sleeve is fake, but has installed and used it?

- after all that I've done to make things right, meeting him to have a look at his sleeve, offering a new one, all I got was a neutral?

Whatever. Maybe he is a genuine buyer who is hard to please. I'll take it.....thats the kick you have to take for selling on eBay.

Or

Maybe he is sent by a competitor with the intent to bring me down. Whatever too. I hope from this episode they'll actually know that I mean business and will run a long race just to make sure my reputation remains intact. Especially when I am accused of something I know is not true!

Closed case. I shall just leave it as it is. The buyer, revised his feedback (although only to a neutral).....but at least he removed those defamatory remarks, I shall just let it be. I'll not dig any further. Instead of wasting time, I'll write more guides for you guys!

Woah Katie Stevens rocks!

Wow, I just saw her performance on American Idol this week.....AWESOME!!!

Her best performance yet!

2010 Taylormade Supertri FCT sleeves (Fakes, refurbished vs Genuine)

So, I wrote articles to spot fake FCT sleeves for the older FCT sleeves. Now that there's a newer more sophisticated FCT sleeve for the 2010 Supertri, the fakes are out.
Well, I have in my hands a fake and a refurbished. After taking some time to compare, I've made some findings....we shall compare the Fakes, Refurbished versus the Genuines.

By 'refurbished' ....let me explain what I mean. These are the FCT sleeves that are made of the same mould taken from the Taylormade factory. They are produced outside with that same mould. These FCT sleeves are better than the fakes, because they are adjustable....BUT are they done up to the exact specs? We would not know for sure, as long as the words (L, R, N, NU) are printed slightly off...even 0.01 degrees off, the angles that we play on our drivers will all be messed up some way or another. Some people may not mind....the Refurbished sleeves are much cheaper than the Genuine ones....but then some people are selling refurbished sleeves as genuines, and people buy them without knowing, afterall they look so similar. Pictures says a thousand words:

(Do not worry if you find the pictures too small. At the end of this page I will put up a link where you can view the big pictures)


So, we will be comparing 3 kinds of 2010 FCT sleeves here:
1) Genuine - 100% Taylormade (same as those installed on your Taylormade clubs)
2) Refurbished (made from the same mould, adjustable but may not be accurate)
3) Fakes (just replicas, not adjustable at all. Straight bore all the way)

We can see from the above picture, the 3 kinds of sleeves. Refurbished and genuine sleeves have tilt (which means they're adjustable)....the fake one is kinda straight. Also notice the very obvious difference in teeth groove on the fake (boxed in yellow)

Putting the refurbished and genuine sleeve side by side, its hard to tell any difference right?

Well I had the 2 in my hands and when I looked at it, the refurbished sleeve is one tone slightly brighter. However, this difference in color is NOT easy to tell. It really is very very close!

I noticed that on the refurbished sleeve, the line goes down way more than the genuine. Again, very close! Another picture below:

The fake sleeve are easy to tell by the teeth groove, also the hole for the screw to lock is red (for the fake). Pictured below:

I think this would be my pick for 'how to easily tell refurbished from genuines'. On the black part where the R, L, N, NU words are, you should see horizontal fine lines across....almost like fine laser machine prints. I looked through the refurbished one under the magnifying glass...it does not have it.

I notice that the paint tend to 'spill over' near the screw hole too.

Another look at the difference in length of the lines. Left is genuine, right is refurbished.

The R is different (font)...very close again. The gap for the genuine one is much smaller.

So, refurbished sleeves are adjustable, and 99.9% of buyers will not be able to tell them apart. Well the question is, how accurate are they made? Like I said, as long as the L, R, N and NU are printed slightly off, even 0.01 degrees off.....it changes everything.

I hope this helps.

Some may ask why on earth do I spend time doing this? Well, the answer is simple. I get questions everyday from buyers comparing me with other sellers on eBay. They say that my price is expensive - compared to the rest out there. People need to know you get what you pay for. Well especially now, when there is such a thing as 'refurbished sleeves'...well I am not sure if refurbished is the right word.....my vocab book is not working right now....haha, 5AM and I am writing this....brain freeze. If you guys can think of the right word, let me know.

Oh by the way, I only sell genuine sleeves. I am in no way tempted to go the refurbished route, although I can make more profits. LOL. Its hard to build a reputation, and harder to keep it clean. I won't risk it.

LINK to enjoy bigger pictures:

(click on these small pictures to enlarge. It will take you to photobucket website to view the pictures. Over there, you can click on the picture again for extra zoom)

Disclaimer: Links on my blog

I would like to clarify that the external links on my blog are not endorsed by me.

I have been asked several times, by some of my readers, if the links were put up by me. Apparently there are some links to buying golf products, it will direct you to another website, outside of my blog and my readers asked if I was associated with them.

No, I am in no way associated with these links. These links are put up by Google as part of their 'Google Adsense' program. If you click on the links, apparently I get to earn some money - like referral fees (but I have yet to ever receive any payment at all LOL)

So please just take note that these external links are not associated with me. I only sell things inside my blog, via Paypal.

Thanks

Dang it!

Woke up with a sore throat and runny nose. Dang it... There goes my Sunday....but I should be going to the post office tonight. There's a post office that operates on Sunday, although it is out of the way...I wanna go ship some stuff as some shipping has been delayed due to the Good Friday holiday.

Yes, chasing high DSRs on eBay is a chore

Watching the Malaysian F1 race on TV soon

One of my friend who used to be an assistant on the Japanese golf tour is now working with the F1 circuit. Cool! He goes to every F1 race around the world, how wonderful! Its a wonderful job man!

I like Katie Stevens

I thought Katie did very well this week on American Idol

She sang well, did not sound pitchy....performed well, dressed well....has swagger, and gave a bit of the slutty look while singing chain of fools. Haha

I like her! Her best performance so far.

I like Aaron Kelly too....yeah I like all the young kids :P

Oh but Big Mike is one of my favourites too....also for Andrew Garcia who finally found himself after so many disappointing weeks.

I think Tim Urban is going home. Time's up for him, he's cute though.

New 2010 Kiama TP Putters

Yeah! Received 2 putters from my beloved cousin today, 1 for me, 1 for hubby :) ♥♥♥

Fontana is for me, Daytona is for hubby. HAHA!

This year's KiaMa TP putters are in silver, I actually dig the black finish....but must admit that the silver finish looks classier.

More pics: (click to enlarge):

Not sure how it works for me. Will know this weekend.....but I will bring my trusty itsy bitsy spider putter just in case :)

A deeper look into R9 Supertri ferrules

So I have been told that my name was mentioned in a few golf forums...most of them positive remarks from customers on how happy they are with my service and products (Thanks guys ♥♥♥)

Then there was one guy (reputable in the golfing circle) who happily claimed that my ferrules were FAKE.

Well I usually take situations like this with a pinch of salt. I mean, you can't please everyone. You see, not everyone is a fan of Adam Lambert....that's what I mean, to each its own.

Due to the fact that the post was made by someone reputable, I feel a need to say something in response. Not in a way to want to pick a fight, but in a way of defending myself with facts.

Chill, I'm a nice person. I respect my own business, and I respect other's businesses too. There's this thing called Karma which I very much strongly believe in. We're all in it to make a bit of extra cash, so lets keep it ethical and honest. It is one thing to give a fact, and it is another to defame another person's good name.

I don't feel the need to advertise myself. Not at this stage anymore. The customers I have served in the past, and at present are my biggest advertisement.

Lets compare my ferrule, SIDE BY SIDE with a a Supertri golf club

(Picture on top is Supertri golf club, bottom picture shows my ferrule. Click to enlarge)

3 ways to tell if your ferrules are those from Taylormade:1) It smells like shit (LOL, its true, they stink!!!)2) Look for 3 dots on the top of the ferrule3) They are flexible, yet strong enough to go back to its original form

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Peace out!

ferrules...oh you cause me trouble :)

Wow! First time in my life, someone told me my sleeves are FAKE. LOL!

Well, of course it is impossible.....and to my regular buyers, you guys should know better that this is completely impossible.

Anyway, I wrote to this buyer (who has already left positive feedback) to please give me a reason, why he thinks it is fake.

If I can't answer him correctly, I'll refund.

I kind of think it is because of the ferrules. He probably received the FCT sleeves and went 'oh my God this looks weird....completely different! They are fake'

Hahaha. I am waiting for him to reply......I am quite sure its regarding the ferrules.

Let's see

http://iheartburner.blogspot.com/2010/03/2010-taylormade-r9-supertri-fct-sleeves.html

These ferrules are so troublesome :(

*I have colored off the buyer's ebay ID to protect his privacy

Golf in the heat!

Its an average 36-37 degrees here for the month of Feb and March, because its humid in Singapore, it actually feels like 39 degrees.

(Degrees Celsius)

Can you imagine playing golf in such heat? I saw stars by the time I hit the 7th hole today. It was 2pm, the hottest time of the day. Plus, the halfway house was closed (yes, WTF right?)...so no liquid consumption!!!!

In a few friendly email exchanges with my friends from the States and Europe, they told me they were envious. As it was winter there, they had no chance to hit the links. Oh I tell you, I'll take the cold anytime! I mean, cuddle at home with the fire.....eating pies and cheesecake, good wine, LOL!

It was such horrible heat, until now, 2am, 9 hours after my game, I still feel like I am breathing in and out hot air.....can anyone top this feeling? I know summers in Australia are hot too, also in FL, CA, but at least its not humid. I think hot and humid is the worst! Gross!

Even in Dubai, its 42 degrees Celsius sometimes at the peak of summer, but its not humid...

Gosh, when the LPGA babes came over last weekend for the HSBC tournament, they all suffered. Ai Miyazato in particular had an ice-pack wrapped around her neck....some korean players applied so much sunscreen on their face that i thought I saw a ghost! LOL! Anyway too thick sunscreen on the face makes your pores clog!! Apply moderately, not excessively.

Michelle Wie did not seem too bothered with the heat. She's just soaking up the attention, but seeing her live for real, I think shes quite chubby. hahah

Oh I told myself I'm going to stick with night golf these 2 months.