As you may have already gathered I'm a newbie to camping. After a bit of mithering from the OH I capitulated and we tried our first weekend away in a very tired Vango that OH hadn't used for years. Unfortunately the seams were old on it and we got a bit wet on our last night away. So, we decided that I actually enjoyed myself (which was a surprise to me) we went and invested in a new Zenobia 6 and porch from GO.
The first weekend we tested it out, we found that one of the tags for the window hadn't was missing from the tent (not a biggie but as it was brand new we decided we wanted it changed) and one of the poles on the porch hadn't been made properly and you couldn't fix them together. So we took both back to GO which they replaced for us no problems. The second tent was perfect and we were really happy with it. However, when we tested the second porch at home we discovered that it hadn't been made properly and didn't fit at all. so back to GO for another porch. This one we got home only to find they'd swapped it for one that had clearly been returned by someone else which was stuffed back in its bag badly and to our horror was filled with grass and was still wet! So, back to GO and they tested the next porch for us in store only to discover there is a design fault with the Zenobia porches (we tested 2 more with them in store). So in the end they agreed to swap it for a Vango Maritsa 700 for us and we paid a bit extra to make sure we'd got a decent tent from a well respected brand.
As we're off on a two week holiday with our 7 year old in a few weeks time we decided to test it this weekend to make sure everything was ok. And everything was perfect on friday and saturday and we finally felt that after all our problems we'd found a great tent and were really happy with it. Until the rain started. Unfortunately we fund that all the window zips were leaking and the bottom panel of the porch door hadn't been seam sealed and water was pouring in.
OH spoke to Vango earlier and they have advised we take the tent back to GO. I'm sure when we go back to GO tomorrow they're going to think we're complete nightmare customers but we really don;t make a habit of complaining for no reason. Honest!!! Being a newbie I thought that after paying so much money for what I was hoping was a decent tent, that we wouldn't have any more problems (I realise the Hi-Gear products are made to a budget so we knew it wasn't necessarily going to be as well made as the more expensive items and we would have been more than happy if it wasn't for the design problems with the porch). Or do you think that I'm I expecting too much and with any tent (unless you're spending a fortune), you have to put up with a bit of water coming in?
Sorry for the long post but thanks for your advice! I just wanted to see what the norm is before we go back and give poor Craig at GO Manchester a hard time tomorrow!
I haven't found any problems with my Hi-Gear tent to date in sun, rain and winds on the trips we have done.
I bought a Hi Gear Voyager 6 from GO last year. We have no leaks, but there is a 2 inch square patch in the SIG for some reason. It was clear that it had not been out of the bag, so rather than a return I guess a material fault picked up by QA in manufacture and fixed to save trashing the whole tent.
Given the performance of the rest of the tent, I felt it was a keeper and did not return it. I am very happy with my specific tent, but am aware that others have found issues which have normally been resolved by GO with little quibble.
It sounds like you have been very unlucky, and I am sure they will understand especially as you upgraded.
------------- The drinking will continue till the economy improves
107.7 The Bone rocks my tent (earphones after 10pm)
OMG! I'd be horrified if I'd have had the problems you have.
I do think, with tents, you get what you pay for, insofar as you get less wind noise, and more waterproofing etc, but you shouldn't EVER have to put up with a fault, which leaking zips and porch definitely is. They are brand new! They should be fit for purpose and none of those you mentioned above have been.
I'd give Go a call before going there and explain what's happened - perhaps they can do all the checks on a new tent before you have to pitch it AGAIN.
Best of luck - I'm sure you'll get the perfect package in the end.
I have to say most if not all zips will leak, given the right set of circumstances like heavy rain, battering wind and the baffle flaps either lifting or not being straight due to uneven ground or less than perfect pitching. After all a zip is only a series of holes held together by teeth.
As to the bottom panel of the porch door well, if it was supposed to be sealed it's a fault, sure enough. I might well have been tempted just to run a bit of seam sealant across it though, if it was the only fault in an otherwise perfect tent. It's not long since most new tents came with a tube of seam sealant for just this circumstance, in fact new owners were told to check the seams on first use and seal anything that looked worrying when the tent was under tension. But if a whole seam was missing an expected tape? Yes, problem.
Hope you get it sorted out!
Incidentally you WILL get water inside your tent at some point, even if it doesn't leak a drop. Condensation is a major problem in synthetic tents so make sure you try to reduce it as much as possible...no wet coats, dogs or towels in the tent, no boiling steamy kettles or pots, keep the air vents open as much as possible especially at night, make sure you air out the tent fully every day, including bedding and under mattresses. Condensation can be severe enough to be mistaken for a leaking tent, especially when you get puddles of it inside on a groundsheet!
I'm glad that you're still thinking of camping! That is a bit of a nightmare scenario. I do think you've just been unlucky, and don't feel one bit bad about going back (again) to GO.
Hopefully this will not put you off camping for life! Let us know when you've got sorted!
I have just returned from a week in the Peak District, camping with my brother and his family and a mate and his wife. We were in three tents and experienced rain of biblical proportions on the Monday and Saturday nights and yet we were all completely dry.
Why? Because we were all in older tents.
After Saturdays storm, on Sunday morning we passed the campsite skip and it was typically full of abandoned tents, carpets and various other items of destroyed gear. Sat in the pub, we started discussing this seemingly predictable result of any bad weather - and, let's face it, we do get some nowadays.
Our conclusion? Tents just aren't of the quality that they were even four or five years ago. I'm not talking about cheapo tents from Go Outdoors, Argos or Halfords either. We are all avid collectors of tents - I currently have six, my brother has five and our mate has so many in his loft he isn't sure how many he has. We all visit camping exhibitions, larger retailers with displays and nosy at other peoples tents around the campsite and we agreed that we have noticed a drop in quality of even premier brands. I myself have recently seen Vango tents with seam tape hanging off in places, Outwell tents with toggles that aren't properly aligned and one particular Kampa tent at an outside exhibition with a vent that was so badly out of line that the rain flap didn't even cover the bottom right-hand corner of it. Don't even get me started on some groundsheets that are so flimsy that the manufacturer will try to charge you an extra forty quid for a footprint under the pretense that it is to keep the underneath of the tent clean when, in actual fact, the groundsheet would be next to useless without one.
I suppose it's the price to pay for mass production in China.
I think you've just been very, very unlucky. We too have a Zenobia 6 and porch from Go Outdoors. We camped in the Peak District last week and had two lots of absolutely torrential rain. I've never seen anything like it. The tent didn't let in a drop which was amazing. We were out and about during the second downpour and returned to the tent expecting to have to grab our wet bags and go but it withstood a real battering and we finished our holiday without any worries. Hope you get it all sorted out!
No you're not asking too much at all. My 3 year old vango tent has stood up to some pretty horrendous weather and is still watertight and I love it. I got it from Go Outdoors and it was a like-for-like replacement as the first one leaked - a whole panel was letting water soak in and the windows were leaking.
I've been looking at the Maritsa lately but have been put off by some of the reviews I've read about them leaking. Maybe you could have a read to see if they have similar problems to yours?
Good luck and persevere... hopefully your next tent will be YOUR tent and you'll have many wonderful trips in it.
------------- April '14 - Red Squirrel
May '14 - Nydie (twice)
July '14 - ?
Aug '14 - ?
Sept '14 - ?
Oct '14 - Red Squirrel
Thanks everybody for your advice - its good to know that we're not just being picky and we're right in expecting that everything should be perfect! We did realise that there was some condensation in the tent and we also learnt that we had a problem with water coming in where the EHU cable was so we've learnt our lesson on that one and we're definitely not complaining about either of those things. Where the water was dripping off the bottom of the zips was surprising though as these were only for the window coverings inside the already sealed windows so weren't even exposed to the outside!
Anyway, hopefully the poor staff at GO won't just think we're nightmare customers and will take us seriously - we're going with pictures to prove to them we're not just being picky and we do have a real problem! They have mentioned something about sending the tent away for testing but fingers crossed they don't do that as we're going away in two weeks and I really don't want to be panicking at the last minute about getting it back. We're off to see them after work later so I'll report back on how we get on....fingers crossed I'll have something positive to tell you
Well.......I have some good news to report! We managed to see the same chap at GO that dealt with us last time so he knew the problems we'd been having. He managed to find an area that was missing some seam tape so he said that was enough for him to authorise a straight swap. So we have (another) shiny new Vango to play with! This one's going up in the garden with a hose on it before we go anywhere though just in case we're just that unlucky. The chap on the tills reckons we're holding the record at the moment with three porches and four tents (plus a parking ticket as we were in there soooo long last time which has thankfully been overturned with the help of the manager at GO but that's another story!) so lets hope this ones a keeper and we're not going to end up with number 5!
Thanks for all your help everybody - I'll keep you posted with our little drama!
Well done GO - The store can't be blamed if a product is faulty, but they seem to have done everything they could to sort it!
I once received a faulty tent and was sent (the same day) a replacement and they picked up the old one. Problems happen - retailers that sort the problems quickly should be commended!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Are we asking too much?
We managed to see the same chap at GO that dealt with us last time so he knew the problems we'd been having. He managed to find an area that was missing some seam tape so he said that was enough for him to authorise a straight swap. So we have (another) shiny new Vango to play with! This one's going up in the garden with a hose on it before we go anywhere though just in case we're just that unlucky. The chap on the tills reckons we're holding the record at the moment with three porches and four tents (plus a parking ticket as we were in there soooo long last time which has thankfully been overturned with the help of the manager at GO but that's another story!) so lets hope this ones a keeper and we're not going to end up with number 5!
