Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: Questions on February 08, 2022, 12:59:23 AM
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Hi All,
On the weekend my GM Ross Taylor Player's Edition bat broke from a nothing delivery with minimal pace (in Australia) .
The bat was purchased in mid Dec 2020 and has only been used in a handful of games (no games or use over winter). As you can see from the photos, there is no other damage or cracks on the bat. Can bats have internal defects not visible which will cause a bat to crack like this regardless of the preparation put into the face, so basically the bat is doomed from day dot?
I have contacted GM who advised that it is outside of their 12 month warranty (13.5 months since purchase) and to basically suck it up; their only suggestion was to see if the store the bat was purchased from would be willing to sort something out. I have had a Laver and Wood snap in half outside of the warranty period and they offered a replacement with a 50% discount, GM no such thing.
While I understand that the bat just falls outside the warranty period, would you still expect a company of GM's size to offer some sort of assistance or am I being unreasonable? Do you think it is worth pursuing further or do I just need to accept my losses and move on to another brand that backs their product (like Laver and Wood did)?
I have been using GM products for some time now, but after this experience and ordinary customer service (thus far) I will be looking to go elsewhere unless they can assist in some way.
Apologies for the vent, just a little frustrated with the situation.
Cheers!
NOTE - It is not allowing me to upload photos of the damage.
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Without pictures hard to know what the issue is, but there are many variables:
1) Poor quality balls can break bats
2) Storm damage to the willow - ie, storms have caused damage to the willow whilst growing and caused stress lines to be present in the timber, which can mean the bat lasts not long at all (although some can be fine, it's hard to pin point) and it is usually the cause of those bat breaks where the bat snaps in two
In regards to the warranty, you are kind of stuck unfortunately. Big Brands have the most money but they are also the ones that typically care the least when things go wrong.
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(https://www.cricketstoreonline.com/product_images/uploaded_images/screen-shot-2015-02-23-at-3.47.26-pm.png)
(https://www.cricketstoreonline.com/product_images/uploaded_images/screen-shot-2015-02-23-at-3.39.59-pm.png)
did it break like the bat above? snapped into 2 pieces. This is what storm damage looks like
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Ross Taylor Player's Edition bat
>> ROSS Taylor
Thats your real problem right there ;) ;) :D
should have gone with Ben Stokes edition or Warner Kaboom- can crack a couple of skulls (based on past performance) and still keep on going :D :D
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My Laver and Wood broke like the bats shown. This break is through the middle of the toe and off towards the edge. I'm still working to get th photos attached for reference. But from the sounds, it's an expensive break!
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(https://i.ibb.co/ZLzYssn/GM1.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/dJprrp1/GM2.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/YhRjJbQ/GM3.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/SJ5zK0t/GM4.jpg)
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Can I ask where are you storing your bats months? Both winter and during the summer
Will have an affect to the willow
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Was this "nothing delivery with minimal pace" a Yorker you tried to smash into the next state, by any chance?
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Sorry this happened to your bat :( :(
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Stored in my cricket bag indoors, oiled and new extratec applied at the start of this season.
No yorker, just a cut shot towards the toe. Nothing that hasn't happened a heap of times before with various other bats without issue.
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Cut shot that you've hit off the corner of the toe, I wouldn't expect a manufacturer to be refunding. It's not daft like trying to whack a yorker into the next postcode but I've lost a bat to the exact same thing and it's not exactly down to a fault on the part of the batmaker.
It's gutting but just part of the reality of smacking a ball around with a bit of willow I guess.
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It is a risk with bat buying this happens at top of the range or lower down in price. If fact one batmaker told me the higher grades are softer and need more looking after over time.
I’ve seen this a few times before, some caused by poor quality balls and the quality seems to be getting worse.
It’s a shame but if it was my bat I would get a price from GM and let them do it, with a nice accompanying email.
Good luck
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This is why I tape toe of my bats. Last season I used 5 bats and all of them were tied. This all happened in outdoor nets. And I take edges as well, especially when they are new. I always done that.
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This is why I tape toe of my bats. Last season I used 5 bats and all of them were tied. This all happened in outdoor nets. And I take edges as well, especially when they are new. I always done that.
Yes, I'm sure a strip of fibreglass tape would have prevented this... 🤡
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3 layers for toes, 2 for edges. Common sense, as single wouldn't do anything!
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Can I ask where you bought that bat? The grains on the bat hardly look like a players edition as most player editions from GM seem to have 8-14 grains, but it could be a special low density cleft so take this with a pinch of salt.
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Which ball were you using? Unfortunately, this is very similar to Yorker damage, which is typically not covered.
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Which ball were you using? Unfortunately, this is very similar to Yorker damage, which is typically not covered.
This is quite likely the real cause. Bad balls in indoor nets will always cause damage, you may find it was a ball played ealier which started the problem.
Guy and Girls, please check the quality of balls used indoors and if it looks new and shinny ask them to put it away and use another
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If it were me I'd argue that the bat wasn't of merchantable quality. A bat is designed to hit cricket balls, and it's a £600 cricket bat – apparently the kind supplied to test players who will hit thousands of runs with them and hit the ball much harder than you ever will. For it to break in 13months is unacceptable.
I'd put a complaint in writing in accordance with Australian consumer law, send it off to the retailer and GM's importer out there.
Under consumer law there is no limited "12-month warranty" and a manufacturer can't hide behind that as an excuse. A product must last as long as it's reasonable expected to do taking into account the cost and quality.
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Issue is there's so many variables when a bat goes, as with anything. What balls are used, was it knocked in correctly, was it misused at anytime etc etc. All variables which can be no fault of the manufacturer.
That said, I'd expect some latitude personally. I had one similar recently on a fairly new bat (not as bad as this tho). Asked if the young lad who's bat it was had knocked it in, he assured me he had. Then spoke to another guy at his club who said he'd gone straight into the nets with it, no knocking in. The lad also said he'd just hit the previous ball for 'six', so was likely trying it again.
However, I repaired it f.o.c as i take a customers word for it and want then to be 100% happy. I also advised if it doesn't hold to come back in and I'd sort a new bat.
Just to add though that the customer fully expected to pay for the repair, as didn't see it as a fault on my part.
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Horrible to see! You would think GM would give you some kind of offer to replace your current bat + stick with them but oh well. Bigger brands are less inclined to do so.
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GM customer service is usually excellent, I would go back to the retailer and see what they can do, per Tom's advice.
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Was this "nothing delivery with minimal pace" a Yorker you tried to smash into the next state, by any chance?
Of all the yorker damaged toe splits exactly like this one that I saw over the years, not one (zero! none!) customer ever acknowledged that it was a yorker and they were trying to smash the leather off the ball, it was always a gentle forward defensive or the like...
In this case if the OP is adamant that this damage presented during a cut shot, then I'd argue both of the below points:
1. A yorker was smashed shortly before the cut shot, and caused the majority of the damage, maybe not enough to present itself obviously, but the cut shot then tipped the bat over the edge.
2. The balls being used were cheap/hard, commonly known as the bat breakers. The argument of 'we only use good quality balls' that I hear from lots of serial bat breaking customers is nonsense. The overwhelming majority of balls out there, even league balls, are cheap rocks, regardless of price paid. Only when spending £30 + a ball can you start to say with any certainty that a ball is not a bat breaker. And I'll be honest, outside of professionals, I can't say I know anyone who has even seen a ball at that cost, never mind used one.
It is unfortunate that you are outside the warranty period, but where is the cutoff? If GM make an exception for you and then your mate with a 15 month old bat has an issue, is he going to feel let down for only being a few weeks further out of the warranty than you? Ultimately, this is why I never use my match bat in nets. Taking what I'm assuming is a $1000 + purchase into a net on what I presume to be an artificial surface is asking for trouble.
If the bat traps a ball against the ground (either a compacted hard aggregate base, or more likely in Aus, a concrete base, with some cricket carpet over the top) then the ball isn't going to give way. The few millimetres of carpet will give way but the base below it won't move. The only thing that will let go is the willow, and in this scenario it doesn't matter if said willow cost $100 or $1000 - it is unlikely to stand up to such an impact.
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Qiute sad to see this kind of damage.... but in case u dont get a replacement for any reason IMO it can be repaired, nothing that cant be solved with glue... clamps... and binding and u should have it ready to use again.
I do always bind my bats at the toe, in case it cracks for any reason at least binding helps in not being worse...
Hope u can find a solution for ur bat...
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Only when spending £30 + a ball can you start to say with any certainty that a ball is not a bat breaker. And I'll be honest, outside of professionals, I can't say I know anyone who has even seen a ball at that cost, never mind used one.
I’m lucky I have a couple of test match and ODI balls and they are different beasts! I’ve got a red dukes in my sidearm. No other balls even come close in terms of feel and longevity. They also shine up really well and swing round corners!
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I have a load of old balls I use for nets but are there any noticeable signs in the really bad quality balls (old ones at least) so I can know which to throw away and which to use?
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I've got some our league match balls. I use newer ones for playing bats in and older ones to bowl in the nets.
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I've got some our league match balls. I use newer ones for playing bats in and older ones to bowl in the nets.
Surely that's the wrong way round...
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Going slightly off the topic. But, on the subject of good quality cricket balls. What do the leagues force in this respect for everyone else?
We're lucky (from a bat breaking standpoint), but not so much financially because our league force the use of Dukes County International balls for the 1st XI. They RRP between £35 and £45 I think, but we order through the league and get them at £23.50 a ball. This obviously hits the koffers hard for an entire season, costing £500+ just on cricket balls for just one side.
But they are very good quality, and we have an abundant of good quality spares leftover as well for spare match balls, nets, and training.
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Our club unfortunately uses some really awful balls. Last season some slazengers turned up and they were doing all sorts for 5 overs until one side got knocked out of shape. Waiting for the inevitable moment one of my bats gets some serious damage.
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I'm not sure what part of Australia the OP is from, but in the leagues I've played in we don't get low quality balls. Now that I don't play at a decent level and play club cricket, we still use balls which are A$60 each even in the lowest grades and juniors. There's no possibility of substituting the balls because they are all branded specifically by the association and need to be purchased directly from them. This is at a premium over RRP which I think is crazy, but I suppose they have a captive market.
I think the bat is repairable, but it will probably never be the same and longevity will be an issue. Disappointing for a $1000 bat but it's a natural product and this stuff happens.
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Poor quality balls was certainly not the issue. We use either Kookaburra Regulation or Club Match 4 piece balls.
Happy to say that after some further back and fourth with GM, we have managed to sort something out to replace the bat through the dealer as the bat was deemed not repairable.
Have to thank GM for coming to the party and backing their products.
Appreciate all the responses and feedback.
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Poor quality balls was certainly not the issue. We use either Kookaburra Regulation or Club Match 4 piece balls.
Happy to say that after some further back and fourth with GM, we have managed to sort something out to replace the bat through the dealer as the bat was deemed not repairable.
Have to thank GM for coming to the party and backing their products.
Appreciate all the responses and feedback.
Very happy for you, enjoy it! 👍
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Poor quality balls was certainly not the issue. We use either Kookaburra Regulation or Club Match 4 piece balls.
Happy to say that after some further back and fourth with GM, we have managed to sort something out to replace the bat through the dealer as the bat was deemed not repairable.
Have to thank GM for coming to the party and backing their products.
Appreciate all the responses and feedback.
Great result, congrats and enjoy