VERSALADDER or LITTLE GIANT

happyhero

Hi has anyone seen or better still bought one of those ladders from the shopping channels on Sky? They look really good but the advert is a bit "Ideal Homeish" i.e. you buy it and get it home and then regret it because it is a load of rubbish.

There are 2 advertised at different times, one is called the VERSALADDER and the other is called the Little Giant.

So I am tempted but what I want to know is has anybody got one and found it great or full of shortfalls, etc.

paullwill8

Hi Happy Hero.

I purchased a 5 tier set of Little Giant Ladders about 18 mths ago, being a decorator these have been a excellent buy. They were expensive, just under £200 with the step adjustment attatchment, but well worth the money. They are extremely sturdy and very versatile and would definately recommend.
I got mine from http://www.ladders-online.com/

happyhero

Cheers paullwill8 thanks for the reply, I was beginning to think no one was going to answer this one.

Do you know if all the Little Giants are the same, i.e. all have identical features but just different sizes; I think they are looking at the pdf file from that site.

The only thing I find annoying about the Little Giant as opposed to the Versaladder is that all the accessories are twice the price, i.e. the platforms are £40 but only £20 on the Versaladder, yet they appear to be the same thing. Gets a bit pricey if you want two platforms and a leg leveller, but the Little Giant does seem to be the one to have. I suppose they know they have you by the b***s and know they can get away with expensive accessories because you have no choice if you buy their ladder. I will just have to cough up a load to get what I want I suppose.

paullwill8

Your welcome hh.
Yes they are all the same apart from the size. I wish I'd got the 6 rung now instead of the 5.
They do have you by the b***s unfortunately.
But it is a top quality ladder, and so are the add-ons, the leg leveller is a must.
Hope you get on all right with them.

classact_2

happyhero wrote:

Hi has anyone seen or better still bought one of those ladders from the shopping channels on Sky? They look really good but the advert is a bit "Ideal Homeish" i.e. you buy it and get it home and then regret it because it is a load of rubbish.

There are 2 advetised at different times, one is called the VERSALADDER and the other is called the Little Giant.

So I am tempted but what I want to know is has anybody got one and found it great or full of shortfalls, etc.

Did you decide which to get? I'm having a hard time choosing which to get too. I have seen the Versaladder with a single step for £79 + £19 delivery. It looks to be a three rung, plus the top, when folded. Not sure which to get.

happyhero

Hi classact, yes I got really deep into researching these ladders, and here is what I found, the solution will end up costing you more but I think it justified, here is why,

I was deciding between the Little Giant and Versa ladder when I too noticed they dropped the price. The Versa ladder looks a bargain in comparison especially when you look at the price of the add on bits, almost twice the price with Little Giant.

Searching on the internet for info on these ladders and finding that they originated from the USA, I was amazed what I found. Firstly there are in fact 3 makes, Versa ladder, Little Giant and one called a Gorilla ladder. The Gorilla seems to be identical to the Little Giant but much cheaper and made in China. It is sold in the USA's equivalent of B&Q, Home Depot, but hard as I tried you cannot get this one in the UK not even on Ebay. If you find any of them on Ebay the postage is increddible which makes it a non-starter. So you are back to choosing between the other two.

The next thing I found, which surprised me when you consider their adverts, putting 400lb bears on the ladder and gymnasts, and that was that there are hundreds of cases of the public sueing Versa for defects on their ladders. Apparently they have been fracturing and giving way at the hinges all over the place. Just put in a search on google to search Versa ladder so that it searches USA too, you will find loads of injury cases. I tried this with the Little Giant and Gorilla and there was none I could find and no complaints.

I have just received my Little Giant, within 5 days of ordering and I have had a play and I am very pleased. It is the model 17 ( there are 4 sizes, but this size suited me exactly).

I personaly do have a complaint and that is the price, one you buy the ladder they have you by the b****s for the accessaries but for me safety and strength were very important, so I coughed up.

The cheapest place I could find on the net and it was a very good price compared to anybody else by a good margin was

http://www.bestdirect.tv/product-Little-Giant-Ladder-BDA07177W.htm

They only do model 17 but that seems to me the best one for most tasks. There is a bigger one available elsewhere which when stretched out goes up over 7 meters. But with what I read about the Versa ladder it put me off going too big on the Little Giant even though there are no bad reports on it. Besides which it is bigger to store, costs more, etc.

On Best Direct I chose the £189 pack because I found it best value amongst other things. I also ordered an extra platform, ie one to stand on and one to put your paint on, etc. They deliver quickly too. Now that I have it and tried it out I would deffinitly advise you to buy the same, if you leave anything out I deffinitly feel it will be something you will miss later.

Only problem now is cost, your £79 plus postage will soar to £200 plus, but remember the ladder will be no use to you if you had an accident. Safety should be paramount.

If you want to know anything else let me know, I can bore you with loads more info.

Hope I have been of some help.

mangloria

Many thanks for this info, Happyhero.
I've been looking all afternoon at one variety of these ladders or another.
Your advice has been very helpful.

Cheers.

corbettsimon

I suggest you look at this which I found when I googled versaladder;
Widow wins suit in Versaladder death

SC widow awarded $700,000 in suit over husband’s death from fall off Versaladder; manufacturer has hid evidence of personal injuries for years

08/07/05
Versa Products, maker of a popular folding scaffold called the Versaladder, agreed on Wednesday, August 3, 2005, to pay $700,000 to settle a personal injury lawsuit brought against them by Madge Socky on behalf of her husband Frank. As Mr. Socky stood on his Versaladder to replace rusty screws on a floodlight at his home, the Versaladder collapsed, causing him to fall headfirst and backward onto his concrete walk. Within an hour, he was dead.
Mr. Socky’s accident occurred on Father’s Day 2001. As part of their settlement with Mrs. Socky, Versa Products, maker of the Versaladder, G&L Products, the distributor of the Versaladder, and Versa Products CEO David Lambert were not required to admit to any wrongdoing in Mr. Socky’s death. But evidence brought by Mrs. Socky’s personal injury lawyer and filed in U.S. District Court in Columbia, SC, points to a history of accidents with the Versaladder. John Monk of The State newspaper in Columbia, SC, recounted the evidence in an article published August 7, 2005.
Since 1990, more than 170 people in 35 states and the District of Columbia have been involved in Versaladder collapses, many alleging a failure of the hinges that extend the scaffolding from the ladder mechanism. Claims have been made in suits filed in the following states against Versa Products:

• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• California
• Texas
• Florida
• Pennsylvania
• New York
• Virginia

Versaladder injuries include broken bones, broken spines, amputated fingers, and two other deaths besides Mr. Socky. At the same time, Versa Products has paid out approximately $3.4 million in damages to more than 80 people across the nation who said they were injured in collapsing ladder cases.
Mrs. Socky’s award is the largest ever granted to a Versaladder victim. Ten other lawsuits against the company are pending. Despite the lawsuits, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has never issued a recall of the Versaladder. Versa Products has taken down their Versaladder website and no longer manufactures Versaladders, but an estimated 900,000 may still be in use across the country.
Source: John Monk, ” Columbia widow gets $700,000 in

Paeony

Hi Happyhero thanks so much for your info regarding versaladder I was just about to order one!
Now i l be taking your advice and ordering Little Giant, as you say the extra expense is money well spent to avoid landing up in hospital.

Kind and thankfull regards,

Christine

uote=happyhero;1893178]Hi classact, yes I got really deep into researching these ladders, an here is what I found, the solution will end up costing you more but I think it justified, here is why,

I was deciding between the Little Giant and Versa ladder when I too noticed they dropped the price. The Versa ladder looks a bargain in comparison especially when you look at the price of the add on bits, almost twice the price with Little Giant.

Searching on the internet for info on these ladders and finding that they originated from the USA, I was amazed what I found. Firstly there are in fact 3 makes, Versa ladder, Little Giant and one called a Gorilla ladder. The Gorilla seems to be identical to the Little Giant but much cheaper and made in China. It is sold in the USA's equivalent of B&Q, Home Depot, but hard as I tried you cannot get this one in the UK not even on Ebay. If you find any of them on Ebay the postage is increddible which makes it a non-starter. So you are back to choosing between the other two.

The next thing I found, which surprised me when you consider their adverts, putting 400lb bears on the ladder and gymnasts, and that was that there are hundreds of cases of the public sueing Versa for defects on their ladders. Apparently they have been fracturing and giving way at the hinges all over the place. Just put in a search on google to search Versa ladder so that it searches USA too, you will find loads of injury cases. I tried this with the Little Giant and Gorilla and there was none I could find and no complaints.

I have just received my Little Giant, within 5 days of ordering and I have had a play and I am very pleased. It is the model 17 ( there are 4 sizes, but this size suited me exactly).

I personaly do have a complaint and that is the price, one you buy the ladder they have you by the b****s for the accessaries but for me safety and strength were very important, so I coughed up.

The cheapest place I could find on the net and it was a very good price compared to anybody else by a good margin was

http://www.bestdirect.tv/product-Little-Giant-Ladder-BDA07177W.htm

They only do model 17 but that seems to me the best one for most tasks. There is a bigger one available elsewhere which when stretched out goes up over 7 meters. But with what I read about the Versa ladder it put me off going too big on the Little Giant even though there are no bad reports on it. Besides which it is bigger to store, costs more, etc.

On Best Direct I chose the £189 pack because I found it best value amongst other things. I also ordered an extra platform, ie one to stand on and one to put your paint on, etc. They deliver quickly too. Now that I have it and tried it out I would deffinitly advise you to buy the same, if you leave anything out I deffinitly feel it will be something you will miss later.

Only problem now is cost, your £79 plus postage will soar to £200 plus, but remember the ladder will be no use to you if you had an accident. Safety should be paramount.

If you want to know anything else let me know, I can bore you with loads more info.

Hope I have been of some help.[/quote]