Faulty Zip on Outwell Tent - How do I get it repaired?

[summerof76]

We bought an Outwell tent from Yeomans about 2 years ago but have only just got round to using it last week. When zipping up one of the windows, one half of the zipper came off the end of the zip because it was not sewn in (did not notice until it was too late). Now we can't close the window properly, so the tent won't be water-tight.

I think that this is a manufacturing fault, but I am wary of taking the tent back to Yeomans as I think they are in administration and if I send it off to be fixed through them, they could close and I might never get it back.

Does anyone have any experience of getting an Outwell tent repaired, especially if it was a faulty? Is there any chance that Outwell will fix it for us?

Any advice gratefully received!

Thanks

Go to the Outwell site and ask on there?

Outwell say that you need to go back to the dealer that you bought the tent from. Yeomans have advised not to go through them as they could be closing any day and we could lose the tent. So going round I'm circles!

I have emailed Outwell (there is no telephone number on their site) but it says I may not get a reply for a week as they are so busy this time of year!

All I can do it seems is sit and wait. Just wondered if anyone else out there had tried to get a repair throughout Outwell direct?

Where have you heard that Yeomans are in administration?

Our local shop is having a closing down sale and will not take returns. The staff told us that the company is in financial difficulties and that is why they are closing. I don't know for sure whether they are in administration (possibly not if they are a privately owned company?) but I do not think the outlook is good for them (hance the risk of handing over my tent and not getting it back!).

If you search on google you will find closing down sales at several stores and a big sale on the Yeomans website.

Gosh. Yeomans always have a big sale this time of year but closing stores is a worry.

We had a problem with an outwell tent where both zips broke on one of the doors the first time it was used - we'd had it for three years before using it as well and bought it from Yeomans!

You have to go to the place you bought it from to get a refund, repair or replacement under the Sale of Goods Act. We bought ours from a Yeomans tent sale so we wrote to Yeomans head office. They tried to fob us off by saying they couldn't do anything about it as they wouldn't get the money back from Outwell. After doing some more research wrote to them again saying they had to repair or replace it under the Sale of Goods Act as it wasn't fit for purpose based on the price we'd paid, how long we'd had it and how many times it had been used. They didn't agree with the whole of our argument but did say in the interests of customer service that they would replace the tent, which they did.

No idea if Yeomans going into administration or not - would be worth writing to them in the first instance to see what they say, you've got nothing to lose. If they do offer to replace it then we took ours to one of their shops and picked up the new one. Not sure about an offer to repair as they could take tent and you could never see it again and if they agreed to you getting a repair done and then would reimburse you, if they go into administration you would probably be at the bottom of the pile of creditors.

Before writing to Yeomans we did take the tent to a tent repairer so it maybe possible that you could find someone who could repair it for you but you would have to pay and no guarantee that Yeomans will refund you for the repair. If Yeomans weren't going to replace it/repair it we did think about buying an extension to the tent to make it useable again but this would only be possible if the window was in a part of the tent that would face into an extension - and obviously this costs you more money.

Hope this helps!

It may just be that they are closing some shops - I'm really not sure. I said to the staff that I wad surprised they were closing as I thought camping was really popular at the moment and business would be good. They said no, and that since the shops had been taken over (it wad originally a family business) they were having financial difficulties.

Thanks maxmissie - that's really helpful. Your situation sounds very similar! You said that you went to a tent repairer first. Was that to get an expert opinion to make a claim against Yeomans or was it just to see if it could be repaired?

I've heard back from Outwell who have said they can't doing anything as it is out of warranty. So, other than paying for a repair myself (which I am pretty loath to do as the tent cost over £700 and you would not expect it to be faulty!), it looks like the best option is to write to Yeomans head office and request a repair or replacement under the sales of goods act.

Thanks again