Tarptent customer service

Not made many contributions to the forum...but was wondering what users experience of Henry Shires and Tarptent is recently.

I owned 2 of his tents and was in the Facebook Tarptent Owners Group. I happened to agree with a poster that the quality of the tent that he bought from the company was an issue and that Tarptent should rectify the problem. Similar to a Scarp 1 I bought, there were noticeable holes in the corners of the fly. The response the poster got from Tarptent was condescending and poor. I called out the company response along with 5 or 6 other posters who had experienced similar issues, and the agreed concensus was that the response from the company was not great.

I got kicked out the group probably along with the other users who made reasonable comments regarding their customer service and poor response to the poster.

It seems Tarptent won't counter any criticism of their products. Seems a shame as the design and function of the tents is great, if not the execution and quality.

I admit I'm likely in the minority in regards to Tarptent and many will sing it's praises, but it is a bug bear of mine when company's refuse to acknowledge users concerns.

Just had a nosy. Looks like they have deleted your comments from the post. There are people referring to you/tag as a reply but your replies removed.

I disagree with this totalitarian approach. I had a similar experience with the Hilleberg owners group but have since rejoined.

Unless a comment posted has rude, offensive or aggressive content, I don't understand why interaction is not used instead of simply deleting the posts which in turn can cause more of an issue than simply saying, please send us a DM.

The Hilleberg group now seem to embrace criticism and issues rather than delete posts. Something other groups and manufacturers could learn from.

Bruce said:

Not made many contributions to the forum...but was wondering what users experience of Henry Shires and Tarptent is recently.

I owned 2 of his tents and was in the Facebook Tarptent Owners Group. I happened to agree with a poster that the quality of the tent that he bought from the company was an issue and that Tarptent should rectify the problem. Similar to a Scarp 1 I bought, there were noticeable holes in the corners of the fly. The response the poster got from Tarptent was condescending and poor. I called out the company response along with 5 or 6 other posters who had experienced similar issues, and the agreed concensus was that the response from the company was not great.

I got kicked out the group probably along with the other users who made reasonable comments regarding their customer service and poor response to the poster.

It seems Tarptent won't counter any criticism of their products. Seems a shame as the design and function of the tents is great, if not the execution and quality.

I admit I'm likely in the minority in regards to Tarptent and many will sing it's praises, but it is a bug bear of mine when company's refuse to acknowledge users concerns.

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What is being done about your Scarp?

ADz said:

Just had a nosy. Looks like they have deleted your comments from the post. There are people referring to you/tag as a reply but your replies removed.

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Hey ADz It was the first one TOPOG. if I had went over the top or was offensive then absolutely. I'm all for small cottage companies and using their products, but when their customer service is poor it should be highlighted and they should be able to take criticism. It is a shame as their tents are well designed.

Dave V said:

I disagree with this totalitarian approach. I had a similar experience with the Hilleberg owners group but have since rejoined.

Unless a comment posted has rude, offensive or aggressive content, I don't understand why interaction is not used instead of simply deleting the posts which in turn can cause more of an issue than simply saying, please send us a DM.

The Hilleberg group now seem to embrace criticism and issues rather than delete posts. Something other groups and manufacturers could learn from.

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Hey Dave

That's interesting I'm in the same group. I wonder if they moved the admin over to group members instead of someone from the company. You've right, I've seen quite a bit of debate and criticism on the hilleberg page. I would say in general that most posts regarding hilleberg customer service are positive. Noticed from time to time Petra will sometimes reply to queries as well, that isn't to say they don't get it wrong sometimes.

I had an issue with a nam2, had the tent a few months and in its first major storm water was being pushed through the door seams...their response was great sent a courier, it went back to Sweden and got it back in just over 2 weeks.

It's a shame Hille's now so expensive, another £100 or so on top after Brexit. ☹☹

Boozawooza said:

What is being done about your Scarp?

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Hi

As far as the poster who complained about his scarp I think they eventually agreed to send some seam sealer.

The scarp I bought was some years ago. When I contacted Tarptent I felt the response I got was poor. I gave up in the end and chalked it up as a one off bad experience as my other tent the strat 2 was great.

Can I just add, I have had the exact same experience.

I got my Scarp 1 seam-sealed by Tarptent, on the 2nd night out in the tent I had water ingress from a few places. I emailed them about it and the response I got was "I’m guessing we missed one of the crossing pole attachments" (It was definitely more that one spot) And then nothing.

After chasing them, the best they came up with was "We can send you a free large seam seal kit to apply to any areas you are experiencing leaking, will that work for you, what address it good?"

Not even an apology, or an offer to refund the seam-sealing charge. Quite frankly after hearing all the glories of Tarptent I was very disappointed. Not just with the customer service but also the workmanship of the tent, I don't think it lives up to all the hype.

I've now ordered a trailstar, we'll see what that's like.

Pretty sad to hear - I remember the good old days when Henry himself replied to any queries or issues. Not even all that long ago ...

Problem with seam sealing is that it needs testing.

There's nearly always a spot or 2 where the odd drip gets through on any brands shelter, and follow up sealing is needed. Especially on tents with tapes stitched in to the seams which can wick water through.

I imagine that it's not viable to do a wet test and second sealing for the amount they charge. They should definitely explain that the odd leak is still possible.

If it was me I'd not offer the seam sealing service, and just give instructions.


Re the stitch holes in groundsheets. That's been a perennial "feature" with their products. We have 4 Tarptents, 2 have it. It's never been a problem. I seal the holes with neat Silnett the holes never get bigger. A couple friends have similar and found it wasn't a problem once sealed apart from aesthetically displeasing.



My last MLD shelter had worse build flaws than any of our Tarptent models (IMO), and the 2 Six Moons Designs shelters I've had here (mine and another members) were positively shocking in the poor quality build ( and failure) of some parts.
My Terra Nova tent had poorly reinforced peg points too.

Not that I'm excusing dismissive responses from a company.
I've had similar experience from MLD's owner years ago, and someone from SMD via email.

I have emailed Tarptent recently and got 2 replies from Henry. Early morning in Nevada

Scottk said:

I have emailed Tarptent recently and got 2 replies from Henry. Early morning in Nevada

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Good to hear...

tom said:

Pretty sad to hear - I remember the good old days when Henry himself replied to any queries or issues. Not even all that long ago ...

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He still does, often within minutes.