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Callaway to discontinue support for UPRO product 12/31/14...

SuperStroke
JB said:
Im well aware of how the device works and am not incoreect. The device functions without extra cost and has since the beginning. For those that wanted more they could have the Pro mode.

Your comparison with 1st gen sky caddie devices does not however because without paying every single year the device won't function at all. It's a brick.

And FWIW sky caddie promised features in their previous line and never brought them to market. They did not offer full refund like this company did and did not support the promised features.
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It is incorrect because the main feature of it was the aerial imagery. Right on the front of the box it stated "the only GPS that uses actual aerial imagery" You go into a SkyCaddie knowing that you have the pay a subscription.

At the time of purchase, it cost a set fee for X number of courses. After a year, they changed it to unlimited lifetime download of "pro courses" for another set fee $$. Then they came out with new GPS units which did not have to pay the fee, but had access to the aerial imagery...

Without access to the site, you cannot update the imagery. It will just give front, middle and back. While technically it will still function as a GPS, you cannot update anything after 12/31/14. If you put 10 PRO courses on it (which about maxes it out for memory), you will be stuck with those 10 courses. I've already chalked it up as a loss, but it still doesn't make it right for their customers.

And another question, you mention "they did not offer a refund like this company". Did I miss an offer for a refund from Callaway??? From what everything is point to, they are walking away from it, no commentary at all other than the info on the website. Oh, and they are still actively selling these units on the UPRO website...
 
lightningbolt44 said:
This thread is amazing to me. We are in an era where things go obsolete and pretty fast as well. 5+ years is a pretty long time for any device to be supported. It is not that it wont work just it wont be supported with any upgrades.

Another thing I think many are forgetting about 2 years ago with the MX + had all the issues at launch Callaway did a HUGE recall on the units if you bought one you could either send it back for a new unit or send it back for a FULL refund. They were also refunding you in full if you paid for the lifetime of courses as well. Not many companies would do that for you even if they did put out a clunker.

I am sorry to say but things you buy are now disposable nothing you buy will last a lifetime and will come to the end of its life sooner or later.
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bigdaddy said:
It is incorrect because the main feature of it was the aerial imagery. Right on the front of the box it stated "the only GPS that uses actual aerial imagery" You go into a SkyCaddie knowing that you have the pay a subscription.

At the time of purchase, it cost a set fee for X number of courses. After a year, they changed it to unlimited lifetime download of "pro courses" for another set fee $$. Then they came out with new GPS units which did not have to pay the fee, but had access to the aerial imagery...

Without access to the site, you cannot update the imagery. It will just give front, middle and back. While technically it will still function as a GPS, you cannot update anything after 12/31/14. If you put 10 PRO courses on it (which about maxes it out for memory), you will be stuck with those 10 courses. I've already chalked it up as a loss, but it still doesn't make it right for their customers.

And another question, you mention "they did not offer a refund like this company". Did I miss an offer for a refund from Callaway??? From what everything is point to, they are walking away from it, no commentary at all other than the info on the website. Oh, and they are still actively selling these units on the UPRO website...
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See the bolded above
 
But it still left original UPRO customers out in the cold... not the MX The Original Upro was even worse than the MX quality wise. Nothing was every done about those. No refunds for anything. You were stuck essentially trolling message boards to solve your own software issues with them. Once you got it going it worked great. But now, they are shutting the website down to walk away... It doesn't cost that much to put it up on their servers and have it remain active in a legacy area. At least then, it is still useable...
 
Callaway to discontinue support for UPRO product 12/31/14...

Keeping the website up doesn't cost much. They could leave it up static for peanuts, so they should leave it up much longer. Bad PR, financially unnecessary.
 
bigdaddy said:
It is incorrect because the main feature of it was the aerial imagery. Right on the front of the box it stated "the only GPS that uses actual aerial imagery" You go into a SkyCaddie knowing that you have the pay a subscription.

At the time of purchase, it cost a set fee for X number of courses. After a year, they changed it to unlimited lifetime download of "pro courses" for another set fee $$. Then they came out with new GPS units which did not have to pay the fee, but had access to the aerial imagery...

Without access to the site, you cannot update the imagery. It will just give front, middle and back. While technically it will still function as a GPS, you cannot update anything after 12/31/14. If you put 10 PRO courses on it (which about maxes it out for memory), you will be stuck with those 10 courses. I've already chalked it up as a loss, but it still doesn't make it right for their customers.

And another question, you mention "they did not offer a refund like this company". Did I miss an offer for a refund from Callaway??? From what everything is point to, they are walking away from it, no commentary at all other than the info on the website. Oh, and they are still actively selling these units on the UPRO website...
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Are they? I just had a look and don't see that.. if you click shop it brings you to Callaways website and they do not have the upro on there... They are not actively selling them.
 
I don't have a dog in this fight, but I understand being upset about customer support issues. However, I'm not sure I would totally discount Callaway because of this; some companies do things much better than others, and Callaway obviously knew GPS units weren't going to work for them. Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide.
 
bigdaddy said:
But it still left original UPRO customers out in the cold... not the MX The Original Upro was even worse than the MX quality wise. Nothing was every done about those. No refunds for anything. You were stuck essentially trolling message boards to solve your own software issues with them. Once you got it going it worked great. But now, they are shutting the website down to walk away... It doesn't cost that much to put it up on their servers and have it remain active in a legacy area. At least then, it is still useable...
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Callaway is a publicly traded company that has Net Income in the red, for the last few years. There is cost cutting involved. GPS devices are not a priority. So, they have to cut that cost. Regardless of how little you might think servers and storage cost, it is still a cost. Giving the consumer a 12 month heads up, it's pretty aboveboard, IMO. It is unfortunate that the customer service side of the Upro's was below average. My guess is that it was a 3rd party support group. But, that is a pure guess. Maybe that's another reason to end the line of business???
 
Im at the PGA Show so can't respond in full right now but interesting thing I learned today about what companies (most of them) offer in terms of coverage vs life cycle.

Let's just say that removing oneself over a golf company not covering a product after 5 years would leave many golfers with very few items to choose from.

I actually sent an email to Sony genuinely curious if they covered their previous Playstations. Very similar situation when you look at the device still functioning but no support for it.
 
Obviously we're talking about two different companies here, but I didn't buy the xFT wedges from taylorMade two years ago thinking they'd stock those wedges plates for too long.

Fun concept, but no different from the current club lifecycle.
 
Just want to be sure you understand. My intention of the OP was to use it as a PSA. I have formed an opinion of them as a company (I actually stopped playing Callaway after the Razr Fit, but recently have found their irons "interesting")
 
Canadan said:
Obviously we're talking about two different companies here, but I didn't buy the xFT wedges from taylorMade two years ago thinking they'd stock those wedges plates for too long.

Fun concept, but no different from the current club lifecycle.
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Really? Isn't the whole reason behind those wedges is you were able to buy replacement faces and never have to buy a complete wedge again? I would think the faces would have been around for 5-10 years, not 2.
 
Vegan702 said:
Really? Isn't the whole reason behind those wedges is you were able to buy replacement faces and never have to buy a complete wedge again? I would think the faces would have been around for 5-10 years, not 2.
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Conceptually? Maybe.. But if you watch the product cycle of golf clubs, why would that ever change?

I knew that even if the xFT concept stayed around for more than a year, it would be improved upon.
 
JB said:
Im at the PGA Show so can't respond in full right now but interesting thing I learned today about what companies (most of them) offer in terms of coverage vs life cycle.

Let's just say that removing oneself over a golf company not covering a product after 5 years would leave many golfers with very few items to choose from.

I actually sent an email to Sony genuinely curious if they covered their previous Playstations. Very similar situation when you look at the device still functioning but no support for it.
Click to expand...

Sony shut down their PS2 support 5 years after they launched PS3. They are expected to Support PS3 for 3-4 years now that now that the PS4 is out.
 
bigdaddy said:
But it still left original UPRO customers out in the cold... not the MX The Original Upro was even worse than the MX quality wise. Nothing was every done about those. No refunds for anything. You were stuck essentially trolling message boards to solve your own software issues with them. Once you got it going it worked great. But now, they are shutting the website down to walk away... It doesn't cost that much to put it up on their servers and have it remain active in a legacy area. At least then, it is still useable...
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I am almost positive they offered some sort of refund on your pro course membership just not the unit itself when mx refund was going on



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bigdaddy said:
True, but when do you need a GPS most??? When you are on a new course!!!
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New for who? You or them?

I realized they were doing this before I bought my uPro MX+ back in October, but I figured it gave me 15 months to find and download the 50 free satellite imaged courses I would use the most often (allowed me to download all of the Florence CC's and about half of Myrtle Beach). Plus with this announcement the units became ridiculously cheap. Got mine for $50, brand spanking new. It will still work at just about every course in the United States that is currently playable, and they will keep it updated through the end of the year. By 2016 I will probably be in the market for something else anyways. That's my two ducats at any rate.
 
I don't know when Callaway formerly annouced this, but I found this out in Oct 13 and posted about it.

http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?49450-Callaway-uPro-MX-Update

I will add that the Callaway uPro customer service department has been great. I have never waited more than 10 mins or so to talk to a tech. The uPro MX+ is a great device that just has too many issues...most software. I just received my 4th replacement device from Callaway over the past 2 years. Also, if you barely drop the device the screen will crack...no gorilla glass there.

I have no problem with them ending the support. If I remember right, the original uPro wasn't a Callaway device and they bought it. They have tried to make it work for the past few years and firgure it is time to move on. I feel Callaway has given the users ample heads-up time.
 
I don't understand why they say it's not supported on Windows 8. I sent them step by step instructions on how to get the drivers and software installed when Win8 was in beta.

I love my uPro and never really used the Pro Mode anyway. Mainly used it for front/middle/back and hazard carries.

I don't use it near as much as I used to, mainly use a laser now.
 
As my last comment on the unit,I say again.I have no problem with them ending support after 12-31-2014.I just have a problem with not being able to get any help for the LAST 7 months. And yes I was aware of the bugs on the mX+ before I purchased it,but I made the purchase after the recall was lifted and a lot of the problems "had been fixed".I would still like to download some more Pro Mode courses before the website goes down but am unable to sync the unit and unable to get ANYONE at Callaway to respond to my requests!This is the reason I am disappointed---in the lack of customer support in the last 7 months!!!!And I frankly don't care who is or was in charge then or now,their support has been very poor to this customer.I guess I will use the MX+ until it has a totally fatal problem and then go back to my trusty 5 year old BRICK,fee or not .It still works "as sold" for the cost of a dozen high end balls per year.End of rant.
 
This is my first hearing of Callaway discontinuing their gps service and I find it quite frustrating and disapointing. I understand them wanting to cut costs, but if entice your customer base to purchase a new product, there should be a commitment to the consumer to support and not completely pull the plug after they lay out their hard earned cash. Most companies will support their products years after they discontinue to manufacture it. Can you imagine buying a brand new car and finding out 3 or 4 years later that you can.t get replacement parts. It is not as if Callaway is filing bankrupcy. Rather, they are a good company that is trying to understandably cut costs in hard economic times. However, many of their customers paid full price for the Upro, plus $150 to get unlimited courses. They subsequently changed their policy to give the unlimited courses, but of course this policy change was after manyI already paid them. So now I am into them for over $500 and am being told that they will stop supporting it completely. The least they can do is maintain the servers to allow people to download courses, even if the yardages start to change over time. Most public courses change very little over the years. Maintaining the website should not be a major issue or cost for them. For those of you who do not accept callaway's poor policy decision, I suggest you contact them and let them know your dissatisfaction. If at the end of the year the website is dropped, then in all likelihood, I will NEVER purchase another callaway product again. I currently own a callaway driver, the X24 irons, and play with the callaway balls. Fortunately we have choices, and TaylorMade, Ping among others are certainly provide very good products to choose from instead.
 
I don't have this device, so maybe this is an ignorant suggestion. Does this device store the course data on the device itself? If so, just download the course data for any and all courses so you have it. That may be a handful of courses,all of them in your state, or all in the US. Then you've got them. The only thing that would be affected would be if the course changes its layout which is rare. Then you've got full functionality for whatever course you go to. Or spend $30 and get golfshot!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
deuce said:
New for who? You or them?

I realized they were doing this before I bought my uPro MX+ back in October, but I figured it gave me 15 months to find and download the 50 free satellite imaged courses I would use the most often (allowed me to download all of the Florence CC's and about half of Myrtle Beach). Plus with this announcement the units became ridiculously cheap. Got mine for $50, brand spanking new. It will still work at just about every course in the United States that is currently playable, and they will keep it updated through the end of the year. By 2016 I will probably be in the market for something else anyways. That's my two ducats at any rate.
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New for me. My biggest use for it is when I don't know a new course, I can see what "I don't see". Makes it very helpful. Most courses I play regularly, I could do with a rangefinder. (I have on of those too).

I travel a ton for work so I either have to plan well and look at courses online or fly blind.


deuce said:
New for who? You or them?

I realized they were doing this before I bought my uPro MX+ back in October, but I figured it gave me 15 months to find and download the 50 free satellite imaged courses I would use the most often (allowed me to download all of the Florence CC's and about half of Myrtle Beach). Plus with this announcement the units became ridiculously cheap. Got mine for $50, brand spanking new. It will still work at just about every course in the United States that is currently playable, and they will keep it updated through the end of the year. By 2016 I will probably be in the market for something else anyways. That's my two ducats at any rate.
Click to expand...




deuce said:
New for who? You or them?

I realized they were doing this before I bought my uPro MX+ back in October, but I figured it gave me 15 months to find and download the 50 free satellite imaged courses I would use the most often (allowed me to download all of the Florence CC's and about half of Myrtle Beach). Plus with this announcement the units became ridiculously cheap. Got mine for $50, brand spanking new. It will still work at just about every course in the United States that is currently playable, and they will keep it updated through the end of the year. By 2016 I will probably be in the market for something else anyways. That's my two ducats at any rate.
Click to expand...



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This is a b.s. move by Callaway! The only reason they are getting out of the GPS business is because the tool was buggy from the get go and it costs too much money to fix/support it.

As to all the comparisons to Apple, Microsoft, etc., that's a false equivalency. They upgrade their products to provide new and improved functionality. The upro is a GPS - it's not like that technology has changed so much that the device is now obsolete. I could understand it if the satellites changed their communication protocols making the upro no longer effective, but that's not the case.

As a past Callaway customer from way back, this really is a poor way to treat your target audience.
 
I get that people are upset about Callaway dropping future updates and the pro option. But they are giving you a yrs notice that this will happen.

If they have deemed that it is not financially feasible or is not within in their future plans why would they keep supporting it?

If it just doesn't make financial sense any business would be smart in dropping the product.

If it doesn't meet their future growth plans then why would they keep it? It doesn't make sense to do so when their are numerous companies who specialize in these devices.
 
Callaway u-pro

Callaway u-pro

I bought my Callaway U-PRO mx last year as it looked like everything that one would want in a GPS type measuring device and I could get about any of the golf courses already programmed into it that I desire to play. Then I was doing updates recently and Callaway has announced they won't support it after Jan 1st, 2015. I sent a email asking for the reasons behind this decision and still have no reply. I think it is a great aide to any golfer and found the yardages to be very accurate and now I'm quite surprised to see this news from Callaway. Do any of you fellow golfers know or heard anything pertaining to this Callaway decision?
 
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