Hi! How can we help you today?
10:19 AM
I have a Kelty Camp Hauler 3 with a limited lifetime warranty. It has been well cared for. The fabric of the carrying strap has disintigrated and the strap has broken in two under a very light load. When I tried to use the handle on the end that broke off too. Same fabric, same disintigration. I bought this at Target for $39.95 plus tax.
10:21 AM
I'd be happy to assist you!
10:23 AM
I am sorry to hear about this. When did you purchase the item?
10:24 AM
I believe it was about 10 years ago. It ws just before it disappeared from the shelves. You have records of when it was last produced.
10:25 AM
Is this a known defect?
10:26 AM
With the item being 10 years old that is typical wear and tear. We expect the materials to break down over time.
10:28 AM
You did not say that when I bought it. The nylon parts are still good. Your response is not very satisfactory.
10:29 AM
It is obvious that you chose a bad material for the strap and handle and you should take responsibility.
10:30 AM
I am sorry the handle broke on you. The item no longer has a manufacturers warranty with it being 10 years old. I'd be happy to send you a %25 off coupon for the Kelty website.
10:32 AM
It was sold with a limited lifetime warranty. A 25% coupon does me no good, that is just an ordinary sale price. Why would I want to buy from a company that denies it's own waaranties.
10:33 AM
I have my father's old gear from the Second World War in 1945 and the straps are still good on it. It is obvious your strap should not have disintegrated.
10:36 AM
I;d be happy to take a look at the warranty information you have for them item! Our warranty is stated on the website. Limited lifetime warranty is for the lifetime of the product.
10:37 AM
That is a circular definition. It says it is warranted until it fails. That is ridiculous. Can you send me a strap?
10:38 AM
I'd be happy to take a look at the limited lifetime warranty information that came with your Kelty Hauler to see what else I can do for you! Unfortunately since we no longer manufacture this item we do not have replacement parts available.
10:41 AM
I probably didn't save the tag because It was a lifetime warranty. We are agreed that it was a limited lifetime warranty. We do not agree about what the normal life of the product is. I will be sure to tell my internet forum that Kelty thinks that a normal lifetime for it's camping products is under 10 years.
10:45 AM
We do have a repair facility! I can take a look at the damage and see if the repair facility can sew the strap back on for you.
10:49 AM
You don't understand, the fabric of the strap is disintegrating. If you sew it, it will just break somewhere else.
10:50 AM
My question still is, "is this a known defect"
10:51 AM
Well, I guess this is so over.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2018 10:38AM by andypie48.

I always found the term "Limited Lifetime Warranty" very suspicious.

What is Limited? they could come up with all sort of crazy definitions to what is limited and what is not. For example, they could say that exposure to humidity, Sun light, dust, etc. will deteriorate the product. In other words, they only guarantee the product if you store it in the original box, out of Sunlight, in low humidity, at controlled temperature. They can always find an excuse to say the defect was caused by normal wear-and-tear.

Then what is Lifetime? Whose lifetime? for as long as I live? my children? the company? Some companies are clear about that. For example, Fluke defines lifetime warranty on their DMM as 7 years after the model was discontinued. So if you buy one of the first units, and they produce that model for 10 years, you have 17 year warranty. if you buy it when it was discontinued, it is only 7 years. But at least they are clear about that, Still, you have to read the fine-print to find out these details. And note that not all Fluke DMM have lifetime warranty, I believe only the high end models. Many other companies are vague about what lifetime means.

I bought a Pentax binoculars, a lower end model that was normally $100 or so, on sale for $30. It was one those RYF deals, many many years ago. The lifetime warranty means I need to send to back, and pay $19.95 S&H for a replacement. In other words, I pay 2/3 of what I pay for the unit in the first place. Still should it break, I could get a new one (probably a different model) for a low price, probably better than any deal I could find.

I have a Filson wool jacket that had multiple repairs done for free, after wearing it for about 15 years. It's now about thirty years old and needs more work but I'm confident they would repair it again (would now need to ship it to them).

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Northern California Coast

limited lifetime warranty means pretty much whatever a manufacturer wants it to mean

even a full warranty doesn't always mean what you might expect it to

they all fall into the 'depends on what "is" is' category of obsfucation

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You think that's bad, they also license their name. We had a Kelty tent that had some issues so we contacted them. They said it wasn't their product, but that they licensed their name to other companies to use.

This isn't our product, but it gives you an example of how this is done


It say "by Kelty" but really it's just got the name, it's not by Kelty at all.

Also, your strap probably wasn't kept clean. I know, camping gear and clean doesn't make a lot of sense. Straps like that will disintegrate pretty quickly if it's stored dirty.

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I prefer products that say "Ironclad Lifetime Warranty". More strong. More better.

Andy, you are being unreasonable, they did offer to fix it.
"10:45 AM
We do have a repair facility! I can take a look at the damage and see if the repair facility can sew the strap back on for you. "

Most warranties do state that it is manufacturer's option on the specific way meeting it.
Fixing a product does meet the criteria....

I would suggest you look into Osprey with their "All Mighty Guarantee" for your next purchase [www.osprey.com]

I do have an Osprey backpack and I'm happy with it.

A few observations:

• You could have been more diplomatic in how you presented your issue. Displaying aggressive tendencies or even frustration in exchanges like this one tends to make the person on the other end not want to help you.
• If you are going to threaten to use the Internet to vocalize your displeasure to the world, you should reference well-known social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, not "my internet forum."
• As soon as you realized you were not going to make any headway with this person, you should have asked to be put in touch with his/her supervisor.

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It is what it is.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2018 12:53PM by N-OS X-tasy!.

I'll have to give Osprey a look.

I'm in the 'reasonable wear and tear' camp.... Dad's LL Bean tent suffered seam tape failure. It's 25 years old. I called them... they said "Well, it's served you well, right ? ". I agreed. I bought some replacement seam tape.

Andy,

When it comes to luggage, companies that offer a limited lifetime warranty will always factor overall age and wear and tear into the equation. I love how Defy describes their warranty:

[defybags.com]

Ten years for a duffle in itself is a fair considering it isn't a higher end brand such as Defy and/or designed to take a beating. If you had the issue in six months, one year or even two years, I'd definitely complain. Not after a decade, though.

I think you're being unreasonable especially considering they offered you a 25% off coupon towards a replacement _and_ to see if they could repair it.

You got 10 years out of the bag. You should've taken the 25% off coupon and ran with it and/or let them try to fix it.

Who knows, they may have looked at it and given you a bigger discount on a replacement or maybe even given you a brand-new current model as a replacement. That's what I would've done. That and N-OS is right... There are definitely better ways of handling the conversation.

Robert

File a claim in small claims court for the cost plus tax. I doubt they'll send a lawyer and you'll win.

Quote
max
Andy, you are being unreasonable, they did offer to fix it.
"10:45 AM
We do have a repair facility! I can take a look at the damage and see if the repair facility can sew the strap back on for you. "

Most warranties do state that it is manufacturer's option on the specific way meeting it.
Fixing a product does meet the criteria....

I missed that part. Great point.

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Quote
N-OS X-tasy!
You could have been more diplomatic in how you presented your issue. Displaying aggressive tendencies or even frustration in exchanges like this one tends to make the person on the other end not want to help you.

I thought the same. I had a buddy of mine who was REALLY good at talking to customer support. (He later became a politician.) I remember one time he had a pirated version of Windows that had locked him out. He called up Microsoft and was really nice. They gave him a legit license key for free. That was common practice for him.

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Mac,

Even if he won in small claims court, he still has to go after the, for the money itself. Good luck with that!

Robert

I just had wonderful experience re a "limited lifetime warranty."

Years ago I bought binoculars for Mavis, because her old pair were falling apart. Because she really enjoys bird watching, I picked a top notch pair for her. She loved those binoculars and used them a lot more than other more powerful binoculars that I bought for us, over the years.

The other day, Mavis handed me her binoculars with a vey sad expression on her face. She had dropped them and there were serious fractures to the body. No repair could be possible!

I contacted the manufacturer, told them our story and the customer service representative told me that they were covered by a limited lifetime warranty. He sent me an email with the information that I needed to send in the broken binoculars. No need for a proof of purchase!

A few weeks later, a package arrived and in it...

... a brand new pair of binoculars! Mavis was ecstatic!

The brand, NIKON!

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gl @ Dana Point, CA

Hi Gene!

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It is what it is.

Talk about scripted responses, that chat log seemed like he was talking to a bot.

Not that he was, the responses seem so lifeless.

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I had a totally different response from Timberland when the foam soles of a pair of oxford shoes disintegrated at an inopportune time. They were pretty old. Timberland let me pick out a new pair of shoes. Maybe that got me spoiled.

My experience with Kelty was the opposite.
I sent in my rainfly to fix the windows that we're coming off. They stitched the windows back on and seam taped them. They also repaired a tear in the fly that was not on the repair ticket and obviously wasn't covered by the warranty.

Edit: 6-7 year old tent at time of repair.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2018 10:10PM by Pat.

Quote
GeneL
I just had wonderful experience re a "limited lifetime warranty."

Years ago I bought binoculars for Mavis, because her old pair were falling apart. Because she really enjoys bird watching, I picked a top notch pair for her. She loved those binoculars and used them a lot more than other more powerful binoculars that I bought for us, over the years.

The other day, Mavis handed me her binoculars with a vey sad expression on her face. She had dropped them and there were serious fractures to the body. No repair could be possible!

I contacted the manufacturer, told them our story and the customer service representative told me that they were covered by a limited lifetime warranty. He sent me an email with the information that I needed to send in the broken binoculars. No need for a proof of purchase!

A few weeks later, a package arrived and in it...

... a brand new pair of binoculars! Mavis was ecstatic!

The brand, NIKON!

Those polymer-bodied Nikons sure are a joy to use. Same with Fujinon Mariners.

Agreed, Racer X.

Hi Dan!

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gl @ Dana Point, CA