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Camping equipment bargains or looming holiday disaster?
From time to time we see camping equipment bargains offered at prices which appear too good to be true when you look at the specs of the products that are on offer. Especially when the products are branded by a premium manufacturer/supplier.
A few years ago I received an supermarket brochure in my mailbox offering ‘special buys’ on camping equipment a few weeks before Easter.
The front page offered a Coleman branded Instant Cabin tent for only $179.00 What the brochure did not make clear was the fact this tent did not come with a water resistant cover (‘fly’) nor did it specify whether the tent had any water resistant qualities without a fly. It just mentioned that the tent featured Coleman’s exclusive ‘Weathertec’ system which means absolutely nothing if the tent is not supplied with a weatherproof fly.
Hundred of aspiring campers will happily buy this camping equipment bargain, thinking they’re saving hundreds of dollars yet getting a quality (Coleman) product.
But if they spend their Easter (or any other) holidays and the weather turns nasty, their camping experience will have been ruined and they’ll never go camping again. They will blame camping, not their cheap camping equipment bargain buys. As well, store refunds do not make up for a holiday cut short because of product failure.
The same applied to a camping refrigerator a few pages further into the brochure. It proudly mentioned that the fridge came with a two year warranty. What it did not tell the consumer was that if the fridge failed somewhere within the warranty period, all you could do was return the fridge to the nearest supermarket which sold it and get a refund. What that means is if you’re on the second day of a 2 week holiday and that fridge fails, you might as well go home.
Most buyers forget about the fact they’ll end up without anything to keep their food and drinks cold in while having to continue their camping trip. Lots of camping refrigerators, especially ones that are sold online only, have a back to base warranty, meaning you have to return it (at your expense) to the address it was dispatched from originally.
Quality branded refrigerators have a nationwide warranty network that can be fixed virtually anywhere in Australia. They also keep parts to keep the fridge running many years after the warranty has expired.
The golden rule is: before you buy, ask the retailer how warranties will be handled and whether this can be done away from the retail store, especially when you’re doing an extended trip.
Here in Camping plus we are happy to offer you the best advice and a massive selection of products at highly competitive prices, keeping you away from those dodgy camping equipment bargains that will make you go home earlier than expected.
Browse our catalogue and get in touch if you need more assistance! Happy Camping!
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