Hi all,
First post on here but have already gleaned a fair bit of info from reading through the forum.
Took my wife and 4yr old up to Beadnell Bay in Northumberland a few weeks back to see if they would like camping. Using my 4man Quechua tent, which I only use for site camping when away on hill walking weekends with my mates. We figured that if they enjoyed it in that with the limited space and minimal equipment, then they would be more than happy doing it properly...
Well, they both loved it so we started lookin around for a more suitable family tent. Outwell seemed to be the best suited to us, we like the "panoramic" living areas and sturdy build.
I looked on the website of a large store, who shall remain nameless but let's just say that they encourage people to "leave the indoor environment!" The first of their package deals that we saw was for an Outwell Tennessee 6 with footprint and carpet for £450 ! A quick Google showed that best price for tent only was £599 elsewhere. The video on YouTube was very impressive and it seemed like it would suit us perfectly.
We decided to be a bit cautious and sleep on it before making a decision, only to find that when we looked again, the offer had finished and the tent was no longer available on the website at all!
I sent an email to their customer service and headed up to my nearest branch the next day. The store had the tent and accessories all in stock but wanted full price (over £950) for it! The sales staff asked the manager if he would do the deal...he said he wasn't aware of that offer and he was unable to honour "web only" deals. Not one to give up easily, I rang the customer care line from the store. Explained to them that the store were unaware of the offer and could he help. He said that he couldn't help because it was a store decision but that he would ring the store and confirm to them that the offer had been in place on the website. He did just that, no more than speaking to one of the sales assistants to "confirm that the offer had been on the website." After tracking down the store manager, I managed to somehow make him believe that the guy had authorised him to do the deal! Still not sure how I managed it.
Chuffed with that result, I carried the stuff to the checkout and the manager told the lass to put it through as "head office authority" or his goolies would be in a vice! It got better...when she put it all through, she priced the carpet and footprint at full retail price and reduced the price of the tent right down to make the total £450.00. However when she hit the final button, she looked at me and said "Oh, the carpet and footprint are actually reduced at the minute anyway, so the total only comes to £410.00!" I opened my mouth to correct her and received a swift kick from my wife!!
We loaded the car and drove away VERY quickly!!!
So anyway, that's where we are and now need to start building up our kit to get started and get the aforementioned bargain out for a test run.
Any advice, on any aspect would be greatly appreciated. I've been camping for most of my life but in a very rustic way. Always wondering what goes on in those MAHOOSIVE house sized things at the other end of the site! Well, now I need to find out...
Cheers
Graeme
------------- Starting out family camping from scratch!
Follow or contact me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Appfixer73
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6 man tent for 3 of you, you will have plenty of room. We went for a 5 man for 3 of us and find there is more than enough space.
A Kitchen stand is a good place to start, table, chairs, some people like a loo too to save on night time trips. A cupboard or wardrobe for clothes. Storage boxes, the list is endless.
Be prepared to pay more than you spent on the tent for all the 'extras'.
We have an outwell vermont xl it's a fantastic tent the quality of the tent is amazing and we have had many a happy camping trip. We always have electric and have a halfords cool box thats good a bit noisy but worth it for size, good chairs & air beds with quality sleeping bags and then it's just what makes your life comfortable, everone takes different things with them that they can't do without thats the beauty of camping for me we all do things differently but really love the camping experience enjoy your trips and family time.
Lucky you and well done on the "haggling". About time that retailer got stiffed! I just know you're going to have a great time but can you sleep at night knowing you've stiffed them. Hahahahaha. I know I could.
------------- You don`t stop playing `cos you get old, you get old `cos you stop playing!
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
------------- Newbie Campers gathering vast amounts of kit
2 x 1 night trips and 1 x 2 nighters at Kelvdon Hatch
3 nights Sandringham
Last weekend coming up Epping Forest
3 year old boy twins
Choccy Labrador
7 Chickens (yes I leave them at home!)
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
Nice one
we have the tennessee 5 and love it soooo much space for the kids to play as well as fitting in all that new gear that you will end up buying!!.
we have just had a weekend without electric and got one of the igloo maxicool cool boxes and have to say im more than impressed,filled it up with bag of ice and all my food drink stayed cold even when we got home(very light as well)
dont know what you will be using for beds but we have now gave up on airbeds as went through about 4 since april??so on the hunt for decent self inflated mattresses(SIM)
i did notice quite a lot of bargains on tables ect. online at camping world and stores like that.
enjoy your new tent
ps we found our tennessee bit heavy to pitch at first but got it sussed now
comfy chairs and beds are a must. We started off saying we wasnt going to fill our living area in our wolf lake with loads of stuff, but ...... now we have:
Blow up sofa bed, kitchen unit, large electric cool box, wardrobe and a chest box. Only thing i put in the bedrooms is airbeds and bedding. We tend to keep our 2 tables and 4 chairs outside.
Happy camping!
------------- love shopping, love a bargain even more!
Hi all, sorry for lack of reply, got sidetracked on another thread or ten!
Just looked back at this to get the link to stick on another thread and realised that I hadn't thanked any of you for your comments and advice.
So errrm Thanks!
------------- Starting out family camping from scratch!
Follow or contact me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Appfixer73
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Topic: Newbie with a bargain tent!
It got better...when she put it all through, she priced the carpet and footprint at full retail price and reduced the price of the tent right down to make the total £450.00. However when she hit the final button, she looked at me and said "Oh, the carpet and footprint are actually reduced at the minute anyway, so the total only comes to £410.00!" I opened my mouth to correct her and received a swift kick from my wife!!
