Hi,

Me and my friends wereinterested in picking up some racquets from this so called Racquet Doctor..and before I did...I emailed my contact at Yonex Canada to check if he was legit or not...this is the reply I got....

"Thank you for your email. The Racquet Doctor is not an authorized yonex dealer. Please be careful and advise your friends that their are some counterfeit Yonex racquets floating around."

Just wanted to share this with you and to remember the buyer beware saying....

Anonymous

get the one with PBSI logo, guaranteed real

Like I've said before and I'll say it again..if it ain't got serial numbers..it ain't going to be bought by me..

Booyah, I'm with Tony on this.

Is serial number difficult to engrave ?
IMO, I do not think so.

I'm sorry, we've already had this checked out by a guy in person at Yonex Canada. He's legit. Why the anonymous handle? Afraid to get sued? If you feel that you have substantial proof besides an email then please do tell, other than that, keep your trap shut. This topic has long been beaten to death enough.

Besides, as a Yonex guru of rackets...I mean..TODAY's rackets...I've learned from other people on how to spot fake rackets. You gotta have eyes you see...and having serial numbers comes to a plus for a real one. You gotta check out the whole racket. Look at everything closely and at the cosmetics.

Damn Don, why you bashing on this guy? The dude is probably new so give him a break. He ain't as "well-educated" or "well-informed" like we are. Like I said before...we all learn something new everyday.

Tony,
This poster knows what he's doing. He's not new and should know better. Would you go into a MacDonalds and yell out that the burgers are made of rat meat because someone in the industry told you? I don't think so, chances are you'll be served after making a comment like that.

Give me a day, and I can produce a fake Yonex with perfect cosmetics and a generated serial number. Serial numbers are not tracked as far as I know it. It's only used for distribution purposes. That's not enough to spot a fake. The only way I can see to spot a fake is to crack open a racquet and take a look at the interior construction. Wouldn't it suck that you "thought" you had a fake, but you really had a legit racquet.

Have to go towards Don with this one.

What about this situation?
Say i buy loads of Yonex stuff from Japan, put them in my suitcase and sell them in US via mail order, then I'll be as legit as racquet doctor.
Thought it was already mentioned the sources are different than from Yonex distributor.

It is not necessarily inconsistent for the Racquet Doctor to sell genuine Yonex racquets yet not be an authorized Yonex dealer. As is pretty clear from all that we know of him, the Racquet Doctor does not sell the very latest 2001-2002 model racquets, but sells new, unused racquets that have been on the market for 1-6 years and which may no longer be in production. He could very well be a liquidator, not a dealer. I have purchased quite a number of high end, expensive items of outdoor gear and clothing from Sierra Trading Post (www.sierratradingpost.com - I highly recommend it), receiving items that were overstocks, last year's models or factory seconds at discounts of anywhere from 30% to 75% and I have been entirely happy with the products I received from the company. This mail order vendor is able to sell at such low prices because it is a liquidator, not a retail dealer, of products from the North Face, Lowe Alpine, Marmot, Vasque, Asolo, etc....

What is the good Doctor's warranty practice? Does he simply provide the equivalent of a Yonex warranty on his own initiative, exchanging defective racquets for new ones out of his own stock of products, or does he deal directly with Yonex on warranty issues?

It is interesting that, according to our friend "anonymous," Yonex would make an implication that RD's racquets may be counterfeit Yonex products. I also have some doubts about the authenticity of such a statement, as one might assume that a large, multinational corporation like Yonex would employ individuals who would be sufficiently careful and/or knowledgeable to avoid basic writing mistakes such as "their are."

Don is correct that we should not continue exchanging gossip, hearsay and innuendo about the Racquet Doctor. If a poster has a genuine, indisputable fact not previously discussed, then that might be appropriate to post here. However, thus far no one has shown any genuine and credible proof that this individual is doing anything other than what he claims to do - sell genuine Yonex products to badminton enthusiasts at very low prices. That seems to me to be a service to the North American badminton community.

That really makes you think about ways to make it harder for people to counterfeit rackets. Yonex needs to come up with a system were people can track serial numbers. Something needs to be done about this...or..just go do with "Anonymous" did...call Yonex themselves and ask what's up.

That's why I always stay informed with this website and other reliable sources...it's good to always do research about this stuff..I do it almost everyday. I could major in this..heheheh

Are you a lawyer Brett? It seems that everytime you say something...there's like an essay or some sort of great argument that you always bring up...good shiet though...

Tony,
Life is an argument.

You could teach a philosophy class Don.

To begin, I'd like to claim that I'm not taking any sides here.
However, if the question keeps coming up about the legitimacy of the RD, then I have to say from MY perspective, that I'd be hesitant to purchase from him. I have not seen ANY conclusive proof that the RD is real; neither have I seen any that he is not. I just think that all the arguments, if you can call them that, for or against RD are mostly from personal experience.
Brett, you do make a good point that, though RD may not be "Authorized" he can still be genuine as a liquidator. But, for me, as long as questions and hearsay continue to be raised, I'll continue to be wary. From what I've read, I don't doubt RD's authenticity, but I'm also not sure enough to send him 150 bucks to test my hypothesis.

Knock-out, I think there has been some proof of satisfaction with the RD's products. Shaun has ordered a number of racquets from him, met with him in person, and while Shaun may like switching racquets more than most of us, it seems that his issues relate to his personal preferences, not quality of the racquets. Other Canadian posters such as Don and at least one or two others have reported receiving racquets from him and have only praise for the product and service.

There has been a lot of conjecture that the RD's racquets are fakes because (a) his prices are so cheap; (b) he is not an authorized Yonex dealer and (c) Shaun's friend's stringer thought these racquets were fake because they did not have serial numbers and he didn't feel the Yonex logo was real. I think that Shaun's follow-up after talking with the man himself, along with several other explanations provided by others, give reasonable, plausible explanations for each of these three concerns. The mere fact that a lot of people have doubts about this vendor does not necessarily concern me because they have no facts to support those doubts. After all, we still see lots of statements from newcomers to the site who keep repeating the same "old wives' tales" of badminton that have been discussed and debunked already (e.g. merits of titanium in racquets, looser strings always produce the most power, etc...). I personally haven't heard anything among all these concerns that would make me refuse to do business with the Doc.

However, despite having said all of the above, I join you in having no plans to buy from the Racquet Doctor. I'm still getting used to my new Airblade 900, but I like it a lot so far and I plan to stick with it for a long time. I might buy another AB 900 as a backup, but since the Dr. only carries Yonex products (and since I've decided not to bother with Yonex for the foreseeable future, see previous posts this week), RD doesn't sell anything I'm interested in buying. Now if he gets Carltons in stock.....

Most of the Yonex stuffs are made in China. There are a lot of way for third parties to export real Yonex products (but not sold by Yonex). The difference with the OEM products is that Yonex has more quality control men at the factory. I'm still unsure how the racquet still have Made in Japan wording, but the racquet are made in China. The graphite material are shipped in Taiwan and most of the other component are sourced locally. So try to play a few Chinese made racquets, you may find it play like Yonex as they all come out from the same factory.

You go Don!!!

I'M TIRED OF THIS AS WELL... SO I'M JUST GOING TO END THIS THREAD.
THE REASON WHY THERE ARE "UN-AUTHORIZED YONEX RETAILERS IN THE WORLD, IS BECAUSE YONEX SPECIFIES THAT THE RETAILERS SHOULD SELL THEIR PRODUCTS AT A CERTAIN PRICE, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO IN TERMS OF PRICING OF THEIR PRODUCTS IN THAT TERRITORY... IN NORTH AMERICA, THAT MEANS IF YOU GO BELOW A CERTAIN LEVEL WITH YOUR PRICING, YONEX WILL NOT RECOGNIZE YOU AS AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR THAT FACT. IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT A RETAILER HAS BEEN PINNED AN UNAUTHORIZED DEALER, E-RACKETS.COM ALONG WITH OTHER PLACES HAVE HAD THAT TITLE PINNED ON THEM BEFORE... SO GIVE THE GUY A BREAK ALREADY, AS HE'S DOING A GOOD SERVICE FOR THE PUBLIC, AND THERE IS NO PROOF, THAT HE SELLS COUNTERFEIT GOODS. IN NORTH AMERICA WE ARE ALL INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY, SO JUST STOP BEATING RD UP ALREADY. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BUY, THEN GO ELSEWHERE... I'M SURE YOU'LL PAY THE 300% MARKUP, AND BE HAPPY. OTHER WISE, LEAVE HIS HAPPY CUSTOMERS ALONE. THE GUY IS A LEGITMATE MASTER RACQUET TECHNICIAN, AND CERTIFIED STRINGER OF THE USRSA ORGANIZATION.
IF THAT'S NOT PROOF ENOUGH... GO LOOK HIS NAME UP AT THIS WEBSITE...
HTTP://WWW.RACQUETTECH.COM
GO TO FIND A CERTIFIED STRINGER, AND UNDER THE CITY TYPE IN TORONTO.
YOU WILL ALL SEE HE HIS CREDENTIALS AS A PROFESSIONAL.
END THREAD.

I POSTED THIS IN THE WRONG SPOT SO I'M JUST GOING TO DO THIS AGAIN... AND IF YOU DIDN'T READ MY POST THE FIRST TIME READ IT HERE, AND IF YOU READ IT... WELL READ IT AGAIN ANYWAY.


I'M TIRED OF THIS AS WELL... SO I'M JUST GOING TO END THIS THREAD.
THE REASON WHY THERE ARE "UN-AUTHORIZED" YONEX RETAILERS IN THE WORLD, IS BECAUSE YONEX SPECIFIES THAT THE RETAILERS SHOULD SELL THEIR PRODUCTS AT A CERTAIN PRICE, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO IN TERMS OF PRICING OF THEIR PRODUCTS IN THAT TERRITORY... IN NORTH AMERICA, THAT MEANS IF YOU GO BELOW A CERTAIN LEVEL WITH YOUR PRICING, YONEX WILL NOT RECOGNIZE YOU AS AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR THAT FACT. IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT A RETAILER HAS BEEN PINNED AN UNAUTHORIZED DEALER, E-RACKETS.COM ALONG WITH OTHER PLACES HAVE HAD THAT TITLE PINNED ON THEM BEFORE... SO GIVE THE GUY A BREAK ALREADY, AS HE'S DOING A GOOD SERVICE FOR THE PUBLIC, AND THERE IS NO PROOF, THAT HE SELLS COUNTERFEIT GOODS. IN NORTH AMERICA WE ARE ALL INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY, SO JUST STOP BEATING RD UP ALREADY. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BUY, THEN GO ELSEWHERE... I'M SURE YOU'LL PAY THE 300% MARKUP, AND BE HAPPY. OTHER WISE, LEAVE HIS HAPPY CUSTOMERS ALONE. THE GUY IS A LEGITMATE MASTER RACQUET TECHNICIAN, AND CERTIFIED STRINGER OF THE USRSA ORGANIZATION.
IF THAT'S NOT PROOF ENOUGH... GO LOOK HIS NAME UP AT THIS WEBSITE...
HTTP://WWW.RACQUETTECH.COM
GO TO FIND A CERTIFIED STRINGER, AND UNDER THE CITY TYPE IN TORONTO.
YOU WILL ALL SEE HE HIS CREDENTIALS AS A PROFESSIONAL.
SO IN SUMMARY, THE ONLY REASON WHY A BUSINESS, OR A PERSON CAN BE LABELLED, BY YONEX AS AN UNAUTHORIZED YONEX DEALER, IS JUST FOR THE FACT, THAT THEIR PRICES ARE TOOOOOOOOO LOW FOR YONEX'S STANDARD PRICING!
GET IT? GOT IT? GOOD!
END THREAD.

dood RD sells real stuff! so what if theres some "clones floating around?" u can tell clones from real yonex!!!! because the clones dont have the original mold, they can never look exactly like yonex....and also they wont be able to use the same material! they will just use plain graphite, not ultra high modulious.....if they use all the same materials, same paint job and same design, it would practically cost as much as a real yonex racquet! so wots the point of making a fake if it costs just as much? THIS IS WHY THERE ARE NO EXACT CLONES!!!!
rd sells real stuff...believe me, i have been going to him for 1/2 a year and have bought like 10 racquets from him and refered other ppl to him. all of us are satisfied with his products and service.....maybe u should go over there urself and see the racquets! THEY ARE REAL. if ur a true badminton fan, u would be able to tell if they are fake anyway....so therefore, dont buy it! but u will see that they are all 100% yonex.

Now, do u all see how powerful yonex's marketing strategy and distribution control have on the consumers. Need i say more?

i should mean to both north american dealers and consumers.

give it up anonymous...if u dont trust RD, then dont buy from him.....Spend the extra money and get the yonex from a normal retail store if it makes u feel any better. But i'm telling u, RD is 100% legit....and if u dont go for a good deal when u see it, its not my fault...its your money, do with it as you like.
I suggest that you go over to racquet doctor yourself and check out the racquets first....see if they live up to your "true" yonex expectations...i garuntee that its real! I've basically seen all his racquets. I have seen my share of clones, and there is no such thing as a good quality clone...u can tell just by looking at the finishing! ie)winex, hiqua....bad quality....i dont mean to say that they are bad racquets, but their cosmetic quality is bad....and there is no cloning manufacturer that can be a 100% replica of the yonex because the balance will be different...there are many factors....
anyway the point is, go to RD and see for yourself!

heres the msg i posted to show that i was wrong about RD(i thought he sold fake stuff too):
RD is truely real.
I called him up and addressed this issue....its true, i jumped the gun...he sells 100% authentic stuff.....there are many
reasons for it, but the main ones consist of:
He gives out his address, number and email to anyone he sells to.
this address is where he LIVEs...he sells from his house.
so wot kind of moron would sell fake stuff and give out his addy at the same time? It would be so easy to ream his ass...so
theres no way racquet doctor is selling fake things.
the reason why the iso800 doesnt have a serial is because old racquets didnt have them....this isnt even a tour 800, its
before thet! that would explain why it doesnt have the serial number. But it has the yonex hologram sticker.....this is a real
racquet, they are all real.
Dont believe any of the ******** i wrote in my first msg, i was just pissed at the fact that my friend had a "fake" racquet and
didnt have a clear head to think things out at the time.
The racquet doctor is a MASTER RACQUET TECHNITIAN.
there are 48 ppl that are the same caliber as him in the world.
he works with other technitians on pete sampras's racquet to do custom modifications....this guy knows his racquets.
His name is very famous in the tennis world, he wouldnt mess up his repuitation by selling fake stuff.
so to sum it up, i'm just a stupid kid who doesnt know anything.
I accused him and went overboard.
Hes a good man and wont do things such as sell fake stuff.

Author: Ali
Date: 05-12-01 21:13

I would like to thank all my awesome customers for standing up for me, I really appreciate that.
Let me first introduce my self. My Name is Ali, I am the Racquet Doctor.
I'm a Certified Master Racquet Technician with the USRSA. What does that mean exactly? Well that is the highest honor that the USRSA can give you, cause you are a racquet expert. I have worked and continue to work with some of the best tennis players in the world as far as their equipment is concerned. I give them advice and help them with their racquet customization as very few of the pro's on tour play with retail versions of their racquets. I have been in the racquet business for over 16 years, I am involved in racquet manufacturing and design. I have my own tennis string label called SUFIX, which has been around for about 12 years.
I have designed and sold over 20 different tennis strings......I know my stuff.

My family was the Yonex Distributor in the Middle East for over 15 years so I have some very good connections with Yonex Worldwide. I have also met a lot of the top Badminton pro's through my tennis friends and have some connections with them. This should be enough information about me.

I decided to post a reply to all these rumors and accusations about me and my business. I was not really aware of this forum, but some of my customers brought tto my attention some of the postings here. I was very surprised and shocked to hear all the "stories" floating around.
I am not an Authorized Dealer of Yonex, I was when we had our 2 stores in Toronto 4 years ago, (I had 2 stores for about 6 years), I have never said I was an Authorized dealer, nor have I advertised it.
I have a warranty policy and honor it all the time, there are very few issues, but the ones that come up I take care of immediately.
Now about the "Fake racquets", if anyone has any and know where I can get some, please let me know, cause I am sure I can make more money than the few bucks I make selling the Real ones!!! (Frustration and Sarcasm here)
I get my racquets through many different sources... am I going to reveal them, NO.
My racquets are all legitimate, any one wants to argue that, call me.......
How come I sell for less? Cause I am an idiot....I love the racquet business and I want to stay in it for as long as I can, this is not my primary job.
I provide a service to people, I make very little on the racquets I sell, I don't get them free you know......
If people do not want to buy from me, well I have not forced you...If you have bought from me and had a problem, I resolved it....if you have a problem, contact me first......I am not here to steal or cheat anyone out of anything!!!!! Lets make that clear....I am not hiding or running away after I sell you a racquet and the $15.00 profit that I make from that $150.00 racquet does not change my life.
I don't want to go into a whole song and dance about racquets or the fake ones, but understand that I know a lot more about racquets than any one on this forum and there are many highly educated people here...they know the marketing stuff...I know the truth.

My business has suffered because of these accusations, just to let everyone know...but that's life. I will fight to keep my customers and reputation....
I think that my advise to people is that, if you find a vendor like my self that has really put him self out there and on the line, then don't worry or be scared to purchase from us, give us a try...if you don't like our products, send it back...we will give you your money back or send you another racquet.
Once again I would like to thank my customers for speaking highly of me, I will continue to get the newest and best racquets at the lowest possible prices for you all. Thank you to Shaun and Don...you guys Rock!!

I will leave all you Badminton Enthusiast with this one question?
When Yonex gives racquets to their Sponsored professionals on the Badminton World Tour, do those racquets have Serial numbers??

Thank you for you time,
__________________________________
Ali Nemati
USRSA Master Racquet Technician

t. 416.222.3455 or 416.836.6764
e. racquetdoctor@home.com
badmintonsales@home.com
tennissales@home.com

ALRIGHT..THAT'S IT! I'm going to get some rackets from you!

wait...so the rackets you have are those from sponsored yonex players? if so i'd like some too :P (hope that makes one of those funny faces lol).

There are worse places in the Toronto area you could go to.....L**'s, you can fill in the blank with the letter E, hahaha =P.....obviously you can tell....I am not a fan of Lee's...it's ok...I have my Carbonex 23 that I am happy with, if you must know I bought it from Yo Sports.....where I get all my stinging done....

LL

YONEX CANADA LTD
4405 1 ST SE
CALGARY, AB
T2G 2L2
(403) 243-0930

Mr. Anonymous,
you are now getting on our nerves!!!
Either be a man and reveal yourself or just get a life........

Anonymous, stop hiding your identity and just reveal yourself.

Ali, I can tell you right now that the rackets that Yonex assign to their players definitely HAS a seriel no. on their rackets!

Can someone provide me with the racquet drs email add . I would like to chat with him about a purchase . Thanks Greg

it's racquetdoctor@home.com and badmintonsales@home.com

Cool, I guess the Pro's are fussy about their racquets too!

It's their weapon! man!

Thanks Don .... Greg

If you are going to bad mouth someone, at least show some guts and character and reveal your name.

I play regularly at Lee's, and very much enjoy the experience. The facilities are not top notched, but so are many other places. The key is how good you yourself are, and how willing you are ( and able )to improve yourself. Don't blame it all on someone else.

If you are going to bad mouth someone, at least show some guts and character and reveal your name.

I play regularly at Lee's, and very much enjoy the experience. The facilities are not top notched, but so are many other places. The key is how good you yourself are, and how willing you are ( and able )to improve yourself. Don't blame it all on someone else.
LL wrote:
>
> There are worse places in the Toronto area you could go
> to.....L**'s, you can fill in the blank with the letter E,
> hahaha =P.....obviously you can tell....I am not a fan of
> Lee's...it's ok...I have my Carbonex 23 that I am happy with,
> if you must know I bought it from Yo Sports.....where I get
> all my stinging done....
>
> LL