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Friends of ours were recently shopping for a brand new folding camper at our local camping store in Shepperton. They couldn’t help overhearing some customers trying to return the tent that they had purchased during the week before as there was a tear in the fabric on examination.

These customers were very polite, almost apologetic, unfortunately the shop owner was apparently unsympathetic, very loud, aggressive and rude. He accused them of deliberately damaging the tent, although he refused to examine the tent at the customers request and refused to give them a replacement or a refund, he stated it had been a mistake when an employee had promised this in an email.

The customers pointed out that they were not allowed to examine the tent before purchase, the owner shouted that it was very unreasonable to expect this or a demonstration, even though they actually advertise this service.

The couple were obviously very upset and seemed to be shocked and left the shop with their damaged tent, our friends decided to go somewhere else to buy their folding camper.

I have just discovered that I know this couple when they were chatting about their tent at the club and praising the manufacturers. They showed me the correspondence, including advice that they got from trading standards and the letters they wrote using the official templates, very polite and business like. The letter that they had in return from the camping shop appeared to me to be a personal attack on this couple, saying they were happy to see them in court and untrue from what I had seen written and previously heard independently from my friends.

This couple decided to have a holiday after many years without one, because they care for others before themselves. But after their recent bereavement and all the stress involved, they decided to treat themselves to the holiday that they could afford, which was camping, they had been campers for many years before and had never experienced these problems before.

The camping shop concerned should be absolutely ashamed of itself and the way they treated this lovely couple, who just wanted a break and didn’t want to make a fuss. Well done you lost good customers as a result.

Fortunately the tent manufacturers Coleman sent an immediate replacement flysheet without question as they admitted that there must have been a fault. So well done Coleman.

This couple are now looking forward to their very well deserved holiday.

Name and shame the shop, no one should be treated this way!

Loopieloo

Pleased to hear the couple had a satisfactory outcome due to Coleman but the shop should have sorted it, they should not have had to go to all that trouble to get satisfaction.

I'm glad your other friends decided to shop elsewhere, perhaps if you named the shop involved then others could take their busuness elsewhere as well.

I agree with Loopielou

Name and shame the shop

Perhaps naming and shaming might end up being illegal, I am certain that naming the town in which this couple had such a ghastly experience is not illegal.

It seems so contrary to the experience of all campers, the man should be ashamed, he might be giving camping and campers a bad reputation.

Hi all

You can name and shame without fear of legal reprisals as long as its true, there can be no libel or slander if the statement is true.

In the above case there were witnesses to the exchange of dialogue.

If what you say is provably true, you wont have any problems.

I mentioned in an earlier thread about the excellent service Coleman give. A couple who had bought one of their tents had a pole missing from the bag, and when they rang the shop the Coleman rep happened to be in at the time, and he travelled to the customer with the missing pole he took from his demo gear.

They may be in the relatively higher price group, but the tents are superb as are all their products I have used. And if they consistently offer good service, this can only enhance their reputation.

Dear all

I have to respect the fact that this couple have been through quite enough already and didn't want to make a fuss and didn't know I was posting this. They tried to do the right thing and follow the trading standards advice, but at the end of the day the last straw would have been facing these people in court over a tent.

But I beleve neelie is correct, and if you check their website about returning faulty goods, it doesn't seem very customer friendly to me. The law looks clear about the right to return faulty goods and get a refund or replacement, but it appears that some people don't respect customers rights, it just seems a funny way to run a business.

I just get angry when people are treated like this, especially as you can see from all the threads and on the campsites, people are usually very helpful and friendly. As I said before this couple are now looking forward to their very well deserved holiday and I hope they meet some good people.

I appreciate that the people involved might find it hard to persue the point further, but isn't it a shame that the company involved can get away with such behaviour. Having done it this once, if not many times before, the will think that they have 'carte blanche' to do it again.

I work in a service industry, a cash & carry, and would be seriouysly ashamed if I thought our company had behaved like that.