leaking tent purchased over 12mths ago but never used

sue4formulaone

i purchased a gelert horizon 8 tent from littlewoods catalogue at the end of july 2012, to take to the f1 camping , but as i had an operation later in the year and had to get the train, i couldnt use this tent and it was still in its wrapper , until last week when i went to the f1 again but got a lift off someone, as this tent is over 22kg. the tent was great, erected brilliantly and looked fab, that is until it rained, and then there were puddles galore inside the tent, leaking in from the seams, i explained to littlewoods, that it had only just been taken out of the wrapper and therefore had only lasted 2 days, and must be faulty, it was nearly £300, i contacted gelert on twitter who said i needed to take it up with littlewoods, who in return said as it was out of its 12mnths guarantee there was nothing they could do, i live in a town centre, so i couldnt erect the tent anywhere and hope that at some point there would be a downpour, i expected the tent to be perfect when i bought it, and this is not the case as it was only used for one week, i feel ive wasted all that money and left with a leaking tent, i would be quite happy for a replacement , as i need a tent for the f1, and have explained to littlewoods this, but still no joy!!!!

bris

It's been 2 years, if you want a resolution now you need to get an expert to say it was inherently faulty and then take it back to Littlewoods, with the report proving your point.

ninja2302

Hi. I had a similar problem with a tent, in the end I just put some Fabsil along the seams and was fine after - just in case you don't get anywhere.

agrinnall

Littlewoods are wrong, they are still responsible for it under SOGA. However, because you've had it for more than 6 months you have to show that the fault was inherent. Perhaps you could take it to a proper outdoor gear supplier and pay them to examine the tent and produce a report on the cause of the leaks. If the fault was due to a manufacturing issue then Littlewoods will have to refund the cost of the report and will have to repair/replace/refund.

Read the Consumer Rights link at the top of the page for more information.

sue4formulaone

sounds like it may just be easier to try and repair it myself then, as i do still want a tent for camping, but dont think littlewoods will back down

sue4formulaone

or on the other hand, as a matter of principal, and due to the expense of the faulty item, i think i will fight my case

OlliesDad

sue4formulaone wrote: »

or on the other hand, as a matter of principal, and due to the expense of the faulty item, i think i will fight my case

In that case you will, as mentioned above, have to prove that it is an inherent fault rather then misuse or fair wear and tear.

photome

I bought a tent at a similar time and erected it on my lawn and waited for it to rain so I could check.

I wouldnt have wanted to use a tent for the first time at an event without having checked it first, especially nearly 2 years after purchase.

Of course that is all hindsight.

Can a tent deteriate in its packaging after 2 years without use? I dont know the answer but I guess someone will, if so then you may have to just put sealant on it, if they dont then you could probably prove it was faulty at time of purchase

sue4formulaone

as we live in the middle of town, there is no way we could put it up and wait for it to rain, i couldve been sat in a field for days!!, and it is an 8 man massive tent, so trying to find sumwere to put it up b4 i went was virtually impossible;)

DCFC79

sue4formulaone wrote: »

as we live in the middle of town, there is no way we could put it up and wait for it to rain, i couldve been sat in a field for days!!, and it is an 8 man massive tent, so trying to find sumwere to put it up b4 i went was virtually impossible;)

Not really the retailers fault is it.

marlot

Tents are often sewn with thread that expands the first time it rains. So it can be normal for a tent to leak the first time its used, and then not again