AIBU to expect a £1300 tent package to leak everytime it rains...

[no73]

I posted this in Legal but it was mentioned I should put it here and see what people think and then send the thread to Camping World and Kampa

I wonder if anyone can give me advice please..

I bought a Kampa Filey Air 6 tent and have had nothing but problems with it, the zips get stuck and I have to get people to get me out and it leaks badly when it rains.

It has already gone back to the manufacturer who insist there is nothing wrong with it and its condensation therefore the shop is refusing to refund me the money or exchange the tent. They have stated I am not ventilating the tent. I am the back ventilation flap is always open regardless of the weather and if it is during the day then the inner door is also open (it has a porch area).

I went away in it this weekend and as soon as the rain started only light drizzle but went on for a few hours so did the leaks. It is leaking from the top seam and running down the poles and pooling there. If it rains really badly these are huge puddles extending under the carpet and the sleeping pods.

I have taken photo's of the puddles and the dripping from the seams but Camping World still insist its condensation. This only happens when it rains and no other time e.g. not after it has stopped raining, the sun has come out and then the temperature drop at night. I have taken photos at 06:00 after a day of rain to show that there is no condensation present which if it was a condensation issue there would be some evidence of this.

This is a huge tent with only myself and my 5 year old in it and so we are not creating much vapour and the sleeping pods inside never get wet like the rest of the tent does. I have never had this issue with tents not even the cheap ones and I have been camping for over 25 years.

I have sent the CAB letter to Camping World stating I continue to have this issue and that unless resolved I will be taking them to the small claims court. This tent package cost £1300 and so a lot of money for a tent that causes massive issues when it pours down and I have to take plenty of towels with me so I can mop up the water in the tent.

Camping World are still insisting there is nothing wrong with the tent because Kampa states its fine however are offering me sealant to seal all the seams. I am not happy with this because I do not think this will work well and I have spent an awful lot of money on a tent for it not to be fully waterproof. I also do not like the fact the zips are so difficult to get out of as the plastic trim on the outside, alongside the zip gets stuck in the zip mechanism.

I have friends who are all willing to state they have seen the rain coming in and the zips getting stuck and have also filmed and taken photos of the zip issue.

Do I stand a good chance of winning with my own evidence despite the report from Kampa? I really do no want to continue using this tent but I am having to to get evidence of the leaks. Its an awful lot of money to lose and I will have to buy another tent to use.

Hope someone can help advise me. Its bit out of my comfort zone tbh.

There is also evidence on forums that this is an issue with this tent as well and I wondered if I could use this as evidence in my case against Camping World

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

I think it is unreasonable to expect a £1300 tent to leak.

How long ago did you buy it? I would be proceeding with the next stage of the small claims court action.

[grovel]

You might want to look at Steve Griffith's post here:

www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=32&TopicID=314419

It would seem you are not alone.

[TarkaTheOtter]

Bump

[AlternativeTentacles]

I'd put some food dye in a watering can full of water, and then water the tent and let the towels absorb the dye - videoing it whilst you do it - to show that it is coming through from the outside. If they are offering sealant then they are admitting that the seals need sealing and hence it is not condensation. A full refund should be forthcoming esp if you post the video on their facebook page.

[grovel]

www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/p/2/Kampa-Filey-6-Air/2760

Some unhappy punters here too.

[blankgaze]

funky2sarah at the bottom of page 1 of that thread says

"Please return to whoever you brought off under sales of goods, I will happily provide info re ours to back you up.

The quality is awful, the seems kept catching when trying to get out for a midnight wee with a 5 yr old, pools of water at the base of the Airbeams, faulty pump, clumps of thread hanging inside, awful quality bag that offers no protection.."

It would seem that you are not alone in the problems you've encountered, maybe notify your Trading Standards Dept at your local Council?

[no73]

Do you think that I can insist that both company's tell me how many of these tent they have had returned?

[latebreakfast]

You should get your money back - but if you don't, try spraying it with Fabsil. It's amazing at sealing up leaks in tents.

[GloGirl]

. £1300! I'd be hopping mad! This thread seems to be adding to the many out there that will come up when you search for

Kampa Filey Air 6 tent review

What poor quality. I hope you get a good outcome soon.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Id want a refund for the zip issue alone. It's a basic but stupid design flaw.

Puddles in a tent is not condensation. Id take them to court.

[no73]

I've tried to email the people on UKcampsite that have had problems but there doesn't seem to be a 'message poster' button like on here. Thanks for this finding the links. I did have some of which I have actually included in the emails to both Kampa and Camping World. Camping World's attitude has been appalling.

[Doyouthinktheysaurus]

I hope you get your money back, that's shocking!

And thank you, you've saved me a lot of money We have a frame filey 6 which is pretty fantastic tbh and I got it for a bargain price. I've been lusting after the air version but I won't be bothering now.

[no73]

I'm glad I've stopped you from making a huge mistake. It is a great tent size wise and the ease of which it goes up but not worth the constant hassle.

Please do not buy from Camping World either there customer service is appalling and they have belittled me, accused me of lying and told me to drive there with the tent a second time so they could check it. I drove the 40 min car journey to be told they would be doing nothing with my tent as there is simply nothing wrong with it.

[AndHarry]

My £30 tent from Millet's stays dry 10 years after it was bought. I would be absolutely furious if I'd paid over a grand!!!!! and the company I'd bought it from kept quibbling a return for something like this. The tent is not fit for purpose, they should offer an exchange or refund your money, end of.

[no73]

bump

[wowfudge]

I would go and play merry hell in the shop until they refunded me. Or try Trading Standards. Or social media - often the people dealing with customers on Facebook, etc are more responsive and willing to actually do something.

If the manufacturers really thought there it was fine then why didn't they swap it for something else as a goodwill gesture? Are you sure it really went back to them?

[no73]

Apparently there is a full report that states nothing wrong apart from a dodgy pole that they replaced. It came back in an awful state muddy inside the roof canopy off, one of the toggles broken and some mildew on one part of it. Not put in the bag correctly i.e. only the tent in the bag not the porch groundsheet, poles for windows or the tent pegs. The zip on the actual tent bag broke the second time I used it as well, very poor quality.

I was accused of lying by Camping World because according to them and I quote from their email

"Whilst I understand your frustration, it is clear that your tent does not leak. Regarding the stated condition of your tent, Kampa use purpose designed clean and carpeted indoor inspection area meaning no dirt or moisture could be picked up in this process, nor through our secure handling of the tent. Any dirt, mildew or moisture is down to poor customer handling and this is not a warranty issue."

I have never had mildew in a tent and I actually had one tent for 15 years and used it many, many times with no signs of mildew/damage etc. So basically accusing me of lying. I wish I had taken pictures now of the dirt but I had to get the tent up as there was only myself and DS camping and it looked like rain and my camera was packed away somewhere. Again on a forum someone had stated that their tent came back in a similar state. Its amazing what reviews you can find to confirm your story.

[AmyLeeha]

A waterproof tent shouldn't leak, or it's not waterproof.

A tent that gets so much condensation inside that towels are required, wouldn't be fit for purpose.

And for £1300, there shouldn't be so much as a thread end sticking out.

So, regardless of the cause of the problems, the tent sounds crap.

Thanks for the heads up on what to avoid though!

[suitsyousir]

I had similar with a Vango tent I bought from a large camping shop in kent. I emailed photos of the leaks and other problems. They said to me that I had obviously tried camping and decided it wasnt for me, so was making up reasons to return the tent when there was nothing wring with it. I am a seasoned camper so was very unhappy with this. I staged a one man protest in their shop until they ageed a refund (I have form for staging one man protests in shops where I dont get the service I expect )

[Choccybaby]

Did you buy it using a credit card? If so you can apply to the card company for a refund as they're jointly liable without going to the expense of the small claims court

[no73]

That wasn't Camping World was it..I know they have branches elsewhere. Its awful isn't it. Its not like I would go to all this bother is there was nothing wrong with it.

[suitsyousir]

No. it was a shop based in medway.

[Bathsheba]

We bought a Kampa airbeam 8 berth tent last year. Had numerous problems with air leaks from the many valves - to the point where it wouldn't stay inflated for longer than 2 hours.

We arranged with Kampa to send it back to the retailers, who were then to send it back to Kampa to be fixed - Kampa were do willing and happy to fix it that we were lead to believe it was a known problem.

Problem was that literally the day after the courier collected it to return it to the retailer, the retailer went bust. No-one would take responsibility, no one could even find the very large packages - it has disappeared. The administrators don't have it, the new company who bought the premises (but not the stock) don't have it, and Kampa don't have it.

The whole process took so long that by the time everyone stopped blaming everyone else, we were outwith the time frame to claim under our insurance, or to claim from the bank.

All in all we lost over £1000 on a tent which deflated and then was lost.

Thè fact that really caused the whole thing to fall down was that we couldn't contact Kampa ourselves- everything had to go through the retailer and from them to Kampa. If we could have returned the tent to Kampa it wouldn't have happened.

For all these reasons we would never buy from Kampa again.

We have just had to spend roughly the same amount on another tent so we can continue camping - this time we bought a vango.

[no73]

Oh gosh that is appalling you must have been furious. I never realised that there was a time limit on when you could claim by.

I've left message on their Facebook group I expect it will get deleted.

I paid some with a credit note and the rest on a credit card I no longer have and can't even remember which one it was. I am going to try and call them all tomorrow as there is only 3 cards it could have been but I no longer have the details. I would still have to claim for the rest though.

[Bathsheba]

It's not a very short time but it's shorter than the time we had - 60 days or 12 weeks or something (I know those are wildly different scales of actual time)...

Needless to say the new tent was out bring tested on a campsite 2 days after it arrived even though it was freezing overnight.