Expensive tent from Snowys has small hole in it after only 6 months

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I bought a Coleman 6man Northstar tent in July last year. As I live in Melbourne I was only able to first use it in Summer of this year. January to be exact, I used it for 2 nights only & on the last night it rained which meant another setup when I got home to dry the tent out.Upon my return I setup the tent next day and once up I noticed a small hole in the tent. I wrote an email to Snowy’s along with a photo.
Their warranty states the following;
You’ll be able to find the warranty timeframe on each product page, under the Details & Specs tab. As a minimum, you’ll be covered for at least 12 months from date of purchase.

I then receive this email rejecting my claim;

After 6 months, that hole looks to be due to wear and tear. Compliments of Snowys Outdoors, I am sending you a complimentary pack of Gear Aid Tenacious Tape Round Repair Patches that you can use to repair that hole and any other holes that you tent might develop along the way.

I have tried to explain that their excuse of wear and tear is ridiculous as I’ve only used the tent once for 2 nights. Surely that’s not enough time for something to wear and tear?
I escalated my complaint and then get this;

Hi Lisa,

My name is Lee, I am the Customer Support Manager here at Snowys.

I have reviewed your claim information and the evidence that you have supplied.

I do agree with the assessment of our Warranty Team Member that the hole in the tent is not a manufacturing defect and I do not believe that the warranty of the tent does cover this.

I can see the Mark has arranged to send you Repair Patches. If your tent was covered under a warranty, it would be assessed as minor damage and the requirement of the business would be to provide a free repair, and these patches would satisfy that requirement.

This is the final decision from Snowys and I appreciate this in not the response that you were hoping for. You are welcome to contact Coleman directly, should you wish to escalate further.

Why do I need to contact Coleman’s when I bought the tent from Snowy’s, aren’t Snowy’s responsible for replacing my tent?
These tents are very expensive and I expected it to be replaced not send a patch kit.
I also rang them today and mentioned my ACL rights and they said they are well aware and they are not breaking any laws and feel free to contact the ACCC.
I am involved in a lot of social media camping groups and i will be making sure I recommend to people not to buy from Snowy’s.

What do you suggest as a next step and are they breaking laws here by not agreeing to replace the tent?

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The ACL categorises major and minor faults among other things, and a hole that can be repairable likely falls under a minor fault. While I am offering only personal opinion two points to make:

First, you are correct Snowy’s ‘owns’ your problem but it is common for retailers to hand it off to manufacturers and try to get out of the way. Whether a consumer allows this to happen or keeps the issue with the retailer can be challenging. Harvey Norman franchisees have had 6 figure fines for misrepresenting their responsibility. You could send a formal ‘Letter of Complaint’ to Snowy’s but prior to doing that please read on.

Secondly a small hole is repairable. Whether receiving a repair kit and be told (not asked) to do it yourself, or whether Snowy’s should organise it be done for you likely satisfies their responsibility under the ACL. Pushing it beyond that will likely be frustration, citing two relevant extracts:

Major problem with a product

What makes a problem major

A major problem means the product:

  • is unsafe
  • is very different from the description or sample
  • has either one serious problem or several smaller problems that would stop someone buying the product if they knew about them beforehand
  • can’t be used for its normal purpose, or another purpose the consumer told the seller about before they bought it, and can’t easily be fixed within a reasonable time.

Solutions

When a business sells a product with a major problem, or a product that later develops a major problem, it must give the consumer the choice of a refund or a replacement of the same type of product.
…

Minor problem with a product or service

Solutions

When a product or service has a minor problem, the business must fix the problem or repair the product for free.

The business does not have to offer a replacement or refund for a minor problem, although it can choose to do this.
…
When the business can’t or won’t fix a minor problem

If the business can’t or won’t repair or fix the problem within a reasonable amount of time, or at all, a consumer is entitled to:

  • get it done somewhere else, with the business paying the consumer back for the reasonable cost of the fix or repair
  • get a refund or replacement instead
  • keep the product or cancel the service contract, and be compensated for the drop in value caused by the problem.

…

While you may feel this is unjust neither Snowy’s nor Coleman’s is responsible for your lack of use and depending on the fabric and storage when canvas or other materials are folded and stored in situ for long periods they sometimes can weaken along the fold lines, sometimes leading to holes.

While not what you hope for, my opinion is they have done what they are required to (arguable as to who should do the patch but consider the possible argument to get agreement to do and whether a salesperson or any staff would be experienced in patching and do a top job if taken to Snowy’s, or the time and effort to send it off ).

Other’s opinions?

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Do you have a photograph of the hole?

I suspect that Snowy/Coleman are saying that the hole was caused by ‘misuse’ as the ACCC state:

Consumers are not entitled to a repair, replacement or refund under the consumer guarantees if:
…

  • the problem with the product was caused by the consumer misusing it

The challenged faced may be knowing how the hole appeared. It appears that the hole wasn’t there after the first use and appeared on or after opening for the tent’s second use. This seems to suggest that something may have happened to the tent. While it may have been a manufacturing fault, it could have also been due to the tent catching on something or something else causing the hole (such as ember from a fire). A photo would be useful as it might provide better indication of what may have caused the hole.

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A small hole in a tent is not a major defect. Easily patched.

Surprised this hole wasn’t noticed when actually camping. It is usually very obvious when some water is getting into the tent.

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You don’t expect a hole in your tent after only 6 months and after 2 nights of use. I also paid a lot of money for it.

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I’m a single mum of 5 year old twins so doing a thorough check of the fabric was the least thing I expected or had time to do let along putting the tent up with 2 kids running around. Wasn’t sure how to upload photo’s on this page.

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tent hole
tent hole960×1280 393 KB

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Thanks for the photo.

It doesn’t look like a material fault which I was hoping it would be. It appears to be damage from something as you can see threads extending into and out of the hole. It looks like something has torn the hole in the fabric.

The challenge is proving when the damage occurred. This is where your difficulty lies. As it wasn’t noticed at first use of the tent but only after second night, it makes proving the hole was there at purchase even more difficult. Being 6 months since purchase also doesn’t assist you as some time has passed since purchase.

I can see why the retailer has indicated that the damage isn’t covered by warranty as they would argue if it was a manufacturer/product fault, it would have been seen on first erecting the tent. As the photo isn’t a fabric fault but shows a tear causing a small hole, this would support their view/decision.

Was there a tear in the tent bag as well. If there was, the tear could (may most likely?) occurred after its manufacture. Whether it occurred in transit from factory to retailer, by the retailer or after purchase will be impossible to prove. A tear in the bag is however likely to be noticed at purchased.

If there is no tear in the tent bag, and the tent was still factory rolled (neatly) in the bag at purchase, this might support the view of the retailer that damage most likely occurred post purchase.

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I don’t see how anyone can say for sure what caused the hole. I would take the offered patch, apply it, and move on. For a small thing that can be fixed it isn’t worth expending more effort on it.

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Not surprising at all given there is an annexe covering the tent in the spot where the hole is the entire time the tent is up.

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There is also an annexe which covers the tent, the hole is located at head height on the tent and the annexe covers the spot where the hole is so if it was raining the rain wouldn’t get in unless the hole got bigger which could easily happen. Because there is an annexe covering the tent the whole time you have the tent up then its not obvious that there is a hole. The only time you could see a hole is if you only had the tent up without the annexe. This is what happened, I just had the tent up when I returned from my trip as it rained the last night whilst I was away and I was drying the tent out.

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Have any of the tent poles got burrs or poorly machined edges which may have caused the tear, either when handled in the bag or when erecting. If it does, you may be able to use this saying it was the quality of the poles that caused the tear.

Also, was anything happening at the camping grounds when you were there, such as mowing grass (which could propel objects at high speed) or kids playing around throwing things. Both these could also be source of the damage as well. These would fall outside the Australian Consumer Law.

As outlined above, it is challenging to know when the tear occurred. Not seeing it as soon as the tent was first opened and erected makes it very difficult to determine where responsibilities lie.

If it can be proven the hole was there at purchase, you could rightfully ask for a replacement as one has an expectation (which is supported by the ACL under acceptable quality) that a new product will be fault free when purchased.

Another thought is does Coleman make any claims the material is tear resistant through normal use. If they do, you might be able to argue the tent wasn’t misused and the hole appeared under normal use. While this may be an avenue to pursue if such claims are made, the outcome may be the same where they would offer a repair kit to patch the hole.

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The tent material will be ripstop weave type, the small hole will stay a small hole and easily patched.

It is a minor defect, and in no way affects the functionality of the tent as there is a fly to go over the top to keep the rain off.

The retailer is entitled to offer you a repair remedy in the case of a minor defect, and they have done just that.

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Not a great picture of the hole, but the threads appear to be poking outwards (if we’re seeing the outside) so my conclusion would be that hole was poked from the inside. That’s unless it was a display item in the store and had people playing inside. In that case I’d expect the sale to be discounted “as is”. If so, not due to e.g. a forklift mishap pre-sale.

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The hole is located higher than my actual height and as my kids are only 5 its impossible that either myself or my twins poked a hole in it. There was no lawn mowing going on and the kids were mainly in the pool.

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It remains clear the consensus is that how the hole ‘happened’ has no bearing on the situation because it appears to be a minor failure, the cause of which cannot be authoritatively known.

As Coleman’s have provided a patch kit they have upheld their (actually Snowy’s) responsibility to ‘make good’ a minor defect under the ACL.

Regardless of anything further our consensus seems that reality is the ‘end of the road’ regardless of how or when the hole was made or happened or who/what was responsible for making it.

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As a bushwalker and camper for over 50 years it was expected that a tent in my early days to be supplied with a canvass patch or similar material, along with a tube of suitable glue and an instruction sheet on how to carry out the repairs.
I learnt quite quickly that any camping and any outdoor activity caused wear and tear on the equipment as well as myself. It was considered a challenge to make and mend with the limited resources you carried, with the proud feeling of a successful repair that lasted for years and years.
My tents usually lasted until the canvass eventually wore out or the frame fell to pieces, knowing that they gave stirling service with timely and sturdy repairs. That is part of the joy of camping, being able to diagnose a problem and getting the job done by fixing it yourself.

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The adhesive end of a Band-Aid (cut away from the padded middle section) can make an excellent and long-lasting repair patch for a small hole in a tent. Be sure to clean the area with methylated spirits first.

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So you’d be happy mending the hole in your very expensive camping boots on your 2nd day of hiking and 2nd day of every using them?

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I use bandaids on my 5 year old twins all the time and they stay on for one day so nah give that ‘tip’ a miss thanks