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?
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Oh dear,that sounds bad..I didn't know Khyam have gone into liquidation.
Those quick erect tents seem ok,but imo there is a lot that can break on them,especially those elbow joints.
I know its no consolation but as you say you can get a refund via your cc.
------------- Sue & Phil
--------------------- I Love My AeroBed
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. :(
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Oh my, you've got me seriously worried now, we've just bought a Kyham Longleat but haven't had a chance to erect it yet. Got it purely for the promise of quick erection as my husband was getting grumpier and grumpier every trip at length it took to erect our Vango. I dread to think his reaction if that would happen to us as I really had to talk him into parting with the money. :-(
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
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.
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Would tend to agree with Val, I have a small kyham tent which i have used for over ten years and never had any problems, did need to buy the storm guys for some of the weather but again it is a smaller one.
We have bought a 3 season large tent and had it up in some bad weather both wind wise and wet. I hope you do get recourse if it is due to you but, i think not.
Shame about Kyham a great company with some great products, was just about to buy another small tent from them as we have done a lot of 1 nights this year in farmers fields...maybe see if we can get some bankrupt stock..
------------- The futures bright the futures ginger.
Oh dear, I'm really sorry you ahve had such a bad experience
We have two big Khyam Ridgidomes. They are both excellent in poor conditions. Not once whatever the weather has thrown at them have we ever felt worried about them taking the punishment.
However, it sound slike your issues were with pitching in windy conditions. Khyams Ridigidome do need a special technique when pitching, esp so in the wind. Whilst the joints are strong once up, it is quite easy to break them esp if the joint is forced to bend sideways too much on erection or taking down (we have broken 2 joints - ironically not in bad conditions, but in a bit of breeze when we weren't concentrating - it's easy for the tent to lift when not guyed once the wind blows and then the joints can twist in the wrong direction.
Our first pitch in anger (luckily we had practised a few times at home) was also in the wind, on a very sandy pitch where pegs didn't hold well, we managed but it was hairy.
You do need special care in the wind - you must either make sure that someone is holding each of the main poles at all times - or guy them as you go along as the pitching instructions suggest to always support the poles, and do not let anyone whoi doesn't know how to erect the poles do the joints, it is so easy to get it wrong. Once you ahve the main Ridgidome section up and the guys pegged out properly then you are fine - the rest will flap about but that is the key bit done.
JennyR - don't not fret it will be fine, but do practise it first and under stand what not to do. Once you get the knack, it really is easy to get the main section up in no time.
I would happily buy another Khyam - in fact if they really do go bust alogether I will be keeping my eye out for the good deals. Just stock up on a few extra spare Rapidex joints now :-)
AFAICS they haven't actually gone into liquidation as such - at the moment anyway. But there seem to be some ructions as the owners of Eurotech are selling that company
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Scrumble is there any obvious 'do not do's' that might tempt us? My hubby is a great one for throwing instuctions and doing things his way :-) I'll have to make sure he sits and watches the video a few times! Hoping weather fine for a practice run in garden this weekend.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Total camping disaster, Khyam tent broke!
