removed my critical reviews from their website!
I've bought several things from here, none worked properly; every time they refused a refund as items were used (but how would i know they didn't work if i didn't try them??). actually, this is unlawful, as trading standards means items have to be suitable for use.
SO- tadpole 23 north face tent. not waterproof. fine if the north face want to be weird and make crap tents- but you should warn customers of this pretty glaring flaw in something which is sold as s shelter, in a country where it rains. a lot.
i put a review of this on their website, which was removed. did it another couple of times, thinking id not clicked 'save' or whatever- then i twigged they remove anything critical. wow- free speech guys?? fleecing your customers is ok? imagine if someone used it miles from help and got hypothermia- nice attitude!!!
i also noticed that they'd charged me double (i checked my bank statement a while later, and saw the amount come up twice, the same day, at the shop)- but they refused to admit their mistake, saying i must have bought two tents; i lost the will to live and didn't pursue them for less than £100. life's too short but ill never, ever spend any money in there again.
they also have a price promise, to match any price in any bricks and mortar shop in the uk, but bellyached to me when I've got used this- why have a policy then be rude to customers when they use it?? both times, this was a manager being rude to me.
i asked for a head torch to read by, and was sold a £30 one which turned out to be about 3 lumens and was useless. its fine to sell crap, but don't hype it, and say its better than it is. admit its crap.
the tent farrago was the final straw, really. I'm sure some of the staff are great, but I've had the hard sell, had money stolen from me, had reviews warning other customers against buying a tent removed from their site; it just can't trust them.
i also get the feeling people shop there cos its seen as 'cool', like north face; and like north face, they're not that great after all (and in the case of NF tents, totally crap). read more