Who owns Donnay?

Brett69

Rookie
Does anyone know what has happened to this iconic company? There is a certain person running it (ruining it) who couldn’t possibly have a stake in the ownership. I really like the rackets. They’re unique in feel but it’s impossible to deal with this person who’s currently representing the company. Absolutely unprofessional and zero business acumen. I think I understand why TW no longer carries the brand. Impossible to deal with.
 

Brett69

Rookie
great question.......someone here with reasonable pockets should buy him out and put this proud brand back on the map.....anyone?
Howie Mathews (aka tennis menace) is running the brand right into the ground. I’ve never done, or I should say, attempted to do business with someone so rude, ignorant and completely unprofessional. The emails I saved would get anyone fired. I was playing with and promoting the racket. Wanted to buy more. NEVER again! Don’t even consider buying from this company. He’s not fit to run a lemonade stand.
 
Too bad - I loved their original X series (especially the X-Blue 99 and X-Black 94) and recently took a spin with their Pro One GT (from 2016) which has such a wonderfully flexible feel. Great, unique racquets but all of the anecdotes surrounding the customer experience have been very negative.
 

Crocodile

G.O.A.T.
Has anyone bought any of their later stuff like the Allwoods etc?
Compared to brands like Pro Kennex, how does Donnay perform on arm safety?
 

Brett69

Rookie
Too bad - I loved their original X series (especially the X-Blue 99 and X-Black 94) and recently took a spin with their Pro One GT (from 2016) which has such a wonderfully flexible feel. Great, unique racquets but all of the anecdotes surrounding the customer experience have been very negative.
I purchased 2 Formula 100’s and 2 of the X-99 Gold models from T.W. before it fell into the hands of this current incompetent leadership.
 

Brett69

Rookie
Has anyone bought any of their later stuff like the Allwoods etc?
Compared to brands like Pro Kennex, how does Donnay perform on arm safety?
The first generation of the Allwood was great. The second generation plays and feels different. The paint looks cheap, the handle is no longer palleted, so that changed the feel and overall it looks like a cheap knock off. Regardless, under no circumstances should ANYONE give this company a dime while it remains under the leadership of this rude, arrogant, condescending ingrate who’s currently running it from his house.
 

PT280 Fan

Semi-Pro
Too bad - I loved their original X series (especially the X-Blue 99 and X-Black 94) and recently took a spin with their Pro One GT (from 2016) which has such a wonderfully flexible feel. Great, unique racquets but all of the anecdotes surrounding the customer experience have been very negative.
Yeah I got a couple of the Pro One GTs from the classified section last year and am still in love with them. Modeled after the PT57a - I prefer them to my old PT280 as the power and spin is easier (16/19) and the sweetspot bigger.
 

PT280 Fan

Semi-Pro
You wouldn’t believe the emails I saved. The profanity and the insults. All stemming from an order that he failed to process and never bothered to notify (me) the customer.
Sounds like whoever owns it is going to be out of business soon if that's the case. And that's a shame because they are seriously nice frames IMO. Still, you know they have to be in trouble when they offered a money back guarantee (without returning the racket) around Christmas time last year.:unsure:
 

Brett69

Rookie
Owned by the British Fraser Group, which also owns Slazenger. This fellow Howie seems to be their US distributor, and one has the sense he does that entirely by himself. I've wondered if his assertion that he can be reached at his phone number 24 hours a day 365 days a year has made his personality rather more astringent.
I’ve attempted to contact Fraser Group by email but it doesn’t go through. Considering a phone call to the U.K
 
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Brett69

Rookie
Sounds like whoever owns it is going to be out of business soon if that's the case. And that's a shame because they are seriously nice frames IMO. Still, you know they have to be in trouble when they offered a money back guarantee (without returning the racket) around Christmas time last year.:unsure:
He’s a grifter. He’s involved in all kinds of buying and selling over the internet. Donnay is clearly a side project for him. His username is “tennis menace” and “tennis haven” on different online sites.
 
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vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
I’ve attempted to contact Fraser Grp. by email but it doesn’t through. Considering a phone call to the U.K
Donnay has been owned by Sports Direct International in the UK. Sports Direct had been taken over by Fraser’s Group. Donnay tennis licenses the name Donnay from Sports Direct, they have no involvement in Donnay Tennis Racquets. That’s xenecore that has the license for Donnay Tennis Racquets.


 

SVP

Semi-Pro
Owned by the British Fraser Group, which also owns Slazenger. This fellow Howie seems to be their US distributor, and one has the sense he does that entirely by himself. I've wondered if his assertion that he can be reached at his phone number 24 hours a day 365 days a year has made his personality rather more astringent.
That’s a great word, “astringent.”
 

Brett69

Rookie
Donnay has been owned by Sports Direct International in the UK. Sports Direct had been taken over by Fraser’s Group. Donnay tennis licenses the name Donnay from Sports Direct, they have no involvement in Donnay Tennis Racquets. That’s xenecore that has the license for Donnay Tennis Racquets.


What a maze of confusion. All I want to know is, who does this person answers to? For the sake of the brand he needs to be terminated from his position before the company goes under.
 

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
What a maze of confusion. All I want to know is, who does this person answers to? For the sake of the brand he needs to be terminated from his position before the company goes under.
Contact Xenecore people in Long Island
 
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big ted

Legend
i have a couple pro ones and theyre nice racquets and feel different but i dont think theyre seriously better
than any of the other racquets out there? i also tried the formula which seemed kinda counterintuitive in that
its built like a power racquet but it doesnt have much power (so why build it that way lol).. i suppose they are nice racquets
for their unique feel and apparently theyre easy on the joints tho if you have tennis elbow or something..
their old selling point with the x series was it was a thinner beam so you could swing faster i guess?
now its all about how many foam cores they can put in there.. i think theyre up to 6 or 7 now lol...
 

mctennis

Legend
Interesting:unsure: I remember hearing in another one of these threads that he's selling Prince grommets at exorbitant prices.
Yes, it is indeed true. It may have been me stating the Prince grommets were exorbitant priced. It was for a racquet for my daughter's older racquet she used in college. He said he had the grommet and quoted me one price. I had to contact my daughter to make sure she was still interested in keeping that racquet as her main racquets. She said yes. So I contacted him the following day. Then he quoted me an even higher price. I told him the price he quoted me the day before. He said " Prices change and go up." I still bought the because she used those racquets as her main racquets and also I swore to myself not to buy anything else from him. He charged me $35 for that grommet set that you could buy for about $4 back then.
 

PT280 Fan

Semi-Pro
What’s the problem with stringing them?
I don’t string but the guy I used said it. Also heard it on this forum. I think it had something to do with the bumper guard pulling up. Whatever it was made it very difficult to tie off the mains. My stringer butchered a whole set of zyex trying so we had to use a different string. I string mine with zyex crossfire and play em till I break a string so I’ve only dealt with it once.
 
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DarkWilmo

New User
The first generation of the Allwood was great. The second generation plays and feels different. The paint looks cheap, the handle is no longer palleted, so that changed the feel and overall it looks like a cheap knock off. Regardless, under no circumstances should ANYONE give this company a dime while it remains under the leadership of this rude, arrogant, condescending ingrate who’s currently running it from his house.

What are differences from Unibody to old Allwood?
How is the comfort?
 

esm

Legend
I don’t string but the guy I used said it. Also heard it on this forum. I think it had something to do with the bumper guard pulling up. Whatever it was made it very difficult to tie off the mains. My stringer butchered a whole set of zyex trying so we had to use a different string. I string mine with zyex crossfire and play em till I break a string so I’ve only dealt with it once.
Not sure, ihave no problems string my hexacore pro one 97. Maybe he didn’t like the mains tie off at the top. I usually do with Syn gut or multi.
 

PT280 Fan

Semi-Pro
Not sure, ihave no problems string my hexacore pro one 97. Maybe he didn’t like the mains tie off at the top. I usually do with Syn gut or multi.
This is the 2016 GT. I was having him do zyex mains with poly crosses and he was able to complete one frame like that but kept snapping zyex at tie off on the other. So I had to give him another pack of strings and I had him do Kevlar mains and zyex crosses which is my regular set up anyway.

Could have been him as well. I’ve since changed stringers.
 
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Brett69

Rookie
There are so many other brands out there. Give your money to brand that gives you good customer service and gives you the product that you like.
I agree but the Donnay brand is worth saving. The rackets are unique. Going all the way back to Borg then Agassi, Rusedski and I can’t even name all of the others. At one point Wilander, Courier and James Blake were using them on the senior tour. It’s a shame to see this person destroy it.
 

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
I agree but the Donnay brand is worth saving. The rackets are unique. Going all the way back to Borg then Agassi, Rusedski and I can’t even name all of the others. At one point Wilander, Courier and James Blake were using them on the senior tour. It’s a shame to see this person destroy it.
The original Donnay died in 1996 when sports direct bought them. What it is now is just a name and has nothing to do with the original Belgium company
 
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big ted

Legend
The original Donnay died in 1996 when sports direct bought them. What it is now is just a name and has nothing to do with the original Belgium company

yea and even when they were a brand i don’t think their racquets were any better than the other ones.. they did have two of the hottest names tho, borg and agassi... but when they left the company took a big hit it seems
 

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
yea and even when they were a brand i don’t think their racquets were any better than the other ones.. they did have two of the hottest names tho, borg and agassi... but when they left the company took a big hit it seems
Donnay’s problem was their wood racquets were very good and were an OEM for a lot of other brands. When tennis went to graphite they didn’t adjust quickly enough
 
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mctennis

Legend
I had the Donnay's Borg racquet back in the day. That was the last wooden racquet I bought. Then graphite changed the whole tennis racquet world.
 

PT280 Fan

Semi-Pro
yea and even when they were a brand i don’t think their racquets were any better than the other ones.. they did have two of the hottest names tho, borg and agassi... but when they left the company took a big hit it seems
Truthfully, I think they make a better product now than they did then. Maybe they didn’t quite corner the market on foam filled, but they make the best one IMO. You’d almost expect to hear something breaking loose in there but it doesn’t and the sweet spot and the forgiveness and the sound “thwack” and feel are unparalleled IMO.
 

Brett69

Rookie
Truthfully, I think they make a better product now than they did then. Maybe they didn’t quite corner the market on foam filled, but they make the best one IMO. You’d almost expect to hear something breaking loose in there but it doesn’t and the sweet spot and the forgiveness and the sound “thwack” and feel are unparalleled IMO.
I think you’re absolutely correct about their product. That’s why it needs to be saved. It needs real management and not some clown running the racket division from his house.
 

Knife

Professional
What’s the problem with stringing them?
I don’t string but the guy I used said it. Also heard it on this forum. I think it had something to do with the bumper guard pulling up. Whatever it was made it very difficult to tie off the mains. My stringer butchered a whole set of zyex trying so we had to use a different string. I string mine with zyex crossfire and play em till I break a string so I’ve only dealt with it once.

The top crosses are virtually impossible to install if you don't weave'em before starting the mains. If you do that you'll be fine. I have never seen such a tight bumper guard with so badly blocked holes.
 
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