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We spent over £700 on a new tent by Khyam at the Camping Centre (London) exhibition in Wokingham, Berkshire last month, and took it out for its first camping trip last weekend which ended in disaster.

We had bought a quick erect tent, but it wasnt, it totally fell apart, poles bent and elbows snapped. The tent filled up with air, and dispite being held down by us, another couple and guide ropes was impossible to erect.  We had to abandon the camping trip and find a hotel.

The retailer refuse to refund, saying it must have been our fault, and wouldnt return to Khyam under warranty. Khyam has now gone into liquidation too, as of this week. We are now being forced to get a refund via our credit card.

Anyone else had similar issues?

Thanks for replies.


Khyam only went into liquidation on Wednesday this week. I spoke to them on Monday and they were disgusted with the retailer and were trying to help out, but when I spoke to them today they told me about going under.

The tent came with a couple of spare elbow joints, we tried to replace one, but then another pole snapped so we gave up. A cheap camping weekend ended up costing over £500.  We phoned the company whilst at the campsite, and were told that as the exhibition was over noone was available and they didnt know when someone would be in the office. Wasnt til Monday evening that we got hold of someone, 4 days later.

At one point the retailer said lets not argue over £700, just take your tent and go. I cant beleive companies can get away with stuff like this. Consumer Direct said to try CC now, so we have filed a dispute, which could take some time I guess.

We were meant to be going camping with friends this weekend too, but obviously had to cancel without a tent, and now are put off trying again. :(

Can I ask how windy it was ?

I think that tents leisure tents are not guaranteed under extreme conditions so if it was very windy, the blame will be put on you and your money wont be refunded.

If it was normal weather conditions then you are fully entitled to a refund as the product wasnt fit for purpose.

Hopefully it will get sorted quickly and you wont be put off camping

Angie

Yes, how windy was it? Remember that almost all family leisure tents are 2-season ie not designed for use in windspeeds over 30mph, though the manufacturers don't much like to emphasise this. If you were trying to erect an unfamiliar and large tent in a high wind then it would not be surprising at all if it got damaged...and yes, it would be your fault.

Only piece of advice I can give is to get Googling and find the weather report for that area on the day you tried to pitch it so you can proove the wind speed wasn't excessive. The other thing is are you experienced campers? I would have a better chance of arguing a tent was faulty, with my thirty-plus years of experience of erecting tents, than someone out on their first trip trying to erect a tent for the first time.

Have to say though that given my thirty-plus years of camping experience I test pitch every new to me tent  on a nice calm day on the grass behind my house, with plenty of assisting hands and no pressure. This is to check for damage and pitching quirks. And secondly, if I got out the car on site and thought the wind was to strong to pitch the tent, I would not be trying to. The possible combination of unfamiliat tent + high wind speeds + inexperienced camper is a sure fire recipe for disaster.  

Theres a thread on here with the info in the industry news section.

I was just about to buy a Khyam too