Coleman Tent Warranty.

Agree! buy a decent tent ( We own a freedom as well as a Southern Cross camper) and they will last if you look after them

Logic like that would see EVERYone driving around in BMW's or Mercedes. There is a little thing known as "price point" - i.e. a point at which something is too expensive to be practical given the amount of use it may get.

Coleman definitely isn't the best around - nowhere near it. What it does is provide many, many people with a means of getting into the great outdoors to see if they like it before they spend their entire fortune on it.

I totally agree with you. It was a long time ( and a few tents) before we managed to save enough to buy what we have. Geez I'd hate to see what you would write if I owned an Ultimate.

Apologies if you misunderstood

MMmmmmm..... Ultimate........ (drool....grrrr grrrr... Homer Simpson look....)

I dont know about SA but in NSW, if the item is faulty or does not do what it is intended to do, you have a choice, money back from the retailer or exchange for another unit.. Buggar their policy, it has nothing to do with them.. They have no say in it.. Michael

Hi Michael & Happy Camper,

Yes - the Trade Practices Act and related consumer protection legislation is pretty uniform across Australia - some states provide more or less government agency assistance and proactive support.

But elapsed time can be an issue, as can proving something is not fit for purpose.

In the original post's issue, it comes down to what their 5 year warranty included (assuming you were shown some details). If you were and it had no exclusions on zips, the 5 year warranty is not doing what a reasonable person would have interpreted that it should do and so you have a reasonable product fault case. If you were provided with the details, and it had an exclusion on the zips you're hozed.

In the case of the Flouro, if it was wear related and you had purchased it some time ago you are probably at the mercy of the manufacturer.

Sometimes the effort in proving fit for purpose is difficult and you're better off just getting it fixed.

A new zip should be a $30 or $40 zip if you know where to go so I wouldn't be too fussed, and the material for the mozzie cover should be pretty easy to source too if need be.

The advice I got on a recent problem I had: "Heavy Duty xxx psi compressor" (made in China and rebadged by a local 4WD store chain) where the rubber feet that it sits on and which connect it to it's base just vibrated to bits in the back of my 4WD - ie. nothing heavy duty about it, was that as they were unwilling to replace it (it was 4 mo old) I could try taking them to court, but they might be asked to stump up $20 to fix it maybe, and I might still have the cost of serving a summons et al. In the end I spent $7 on some nuts and bolts and $5 on a piece of 5mm rubber, and now it is the best engineered Chinese compressor in Australia ;-)

That said, Coleman (through Snowy's) replaced a whole 2-man tent I had after it was blown inside out (and the fittings torn off). This was 2 years old and I didn't have the receipt. Of course they mumbled a lot about the winds that it was designed - or not designed - to handle - hey! how was I to know?

Ciao for now.
Andrew.

Thanks all for the imput. Heard back from Coleman late this arvo, after putting the foot down. Seems now we will have a new fly delivered to our home withing the next 14days. (We will be counting) Yes the zip is covered under the warranty. Apparently they should be self correcting zips. Ours is stuck period in the one spot about half way down the track.
Well at least we got a phone call back in the same week this time!!! Will wonders never cease? Looks like a better tent is on the agenda in the future.