[pct-l] 2 person tent under 3lbs

[James Vesely]

I guess it was the lack of response from you that made the situation a
bad experience for me.   Yes, you did exchange the first tent I bought
(because it was too small for my wife and I) and as far as I remember
you made one exchange not two and I appreciate that.   

My gripe with you was that you left me in the dark for almost a year and
I basically gave up and bought a new tent.  If you wish I can forward to
you or post as many as a dozen emails that you failed to respond to (I
also called several times and left messages).  I can also send you my
original email I sent you requesting repairs, where I state the repairs
needed and in that email I don't mention any rips in the floor.   

What happened in the many months that you had my tent or why you didn't
answer any of my inquiries I don't know?  But when you basically blamed
me for the two rips in the floor when you admittedly lost the tent for
months and then also explained that your shop went through some
catastrophic accident I think would be a little hard for the average
hiker to swallow.  I also didn't demand that you send me a new free tent
but was willing to purchase another one at your cost as a compromise.
Is this "above and beyond the call of duty" I am not so sure about that,
but I guess that is for others to call. 

Sincerely, Jim 



-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Henry Shires
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 10:03 AM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] 2 person tent under 3lbs

re: James Vesely, I need to respond. What he neglects to mention is the
prior history of what I consider us going above and beyond the call of
duty.

Back in 2007, he ordered a Rainbow. Then he returned it a few weeks
later and wanted a Double Rainbow. So we sent him a Double Rainbow.
Then, a few months later he requested custom trekking pole handle
adapters so we send him those (no charge). Then several months later,
after using the Double Rainbow for 5 days in the field, he decided that
he wanted to "trade up" for a Rainshadow 2. He sent back his used DR and
we send him a new Rainshadow 2 (no charge, again). We were left with a
used DR which could no longer sell. Then, two years later he sent back
his Rainshadow 2 for repair. At that point, we admittedly lost his
package for many months. We were in process of moving into a new office
and temporarily working out of a tiny garage with everything in storage.
I did eventually find his box and spend a couple of hours repairing the
things I saw that needed repairing. One part of that-a grommet tear out
which took a few minutes to fix-was our responsibility. The rest of it
was his wear and tear after many weeks of use. No charge, again, for the
repair. Then he informed us that there were floors tears and that it was
our fault. Maybe. Or maybe not. I certainly never saw any floor tears
when I worked on it. At his request we then sent him some scrap fabric
to do a glue repair. Then, not happy with that, he wanted us to sell him
another Rainshadow 2 "at the lowest price".

So..I will accept responsibility for taking much too long to repair his
Rainshadow but at some point we are just not responsible. Selling him
another Rainshadow 2 keeps this obviously broken relationship going and
at this point we just can't continue. I would hope that he finds another
line of products better suited to his needs.

Henry Shires
Tarptent