Three times now I am having trouble getting the smallest and cheapest of accessories for my Coleman products.
Five or six years ago I bought this Sevylor motor mount for $82. Was just given a trolling motor for my inflatable and wanted to use it badly so no time to wait to look around and wait for a cheaper mount to ship.
As you can see, there are two arms on each side that join. The plastic clamps that hold them together were made from the flimsiest and cheapest plastic you can imagine. Sure enough they both broke as soon as I tightened them.
I called Coleman, which owns Sevylor, and asked them for replacement clamps. They said it was not possible. I said to them, "so for anyone that owns this product, and the clamps break, there is no way for them to replace through you?". Correct. Huge fail. They said they'd send me a brand new mount instead but to prove this wasn't fraud, they said I have to destroy the motor mount with a sledge hammer and take pics and send them first. Well even if I did do that, I would of course lose valuable fishing time while all this takes time to process and ship.
So I went to Le Barons, where I bought it from, and they were kind enough to replace them for me because they had a few lying around from previous models. They guy said he couldn't believe they were supplying those cheap thin plastic pieces. The ones he gave me were much thicker and that's how they used to be.
Those lasted a few years before they finally split. I since replaced them with metal couplings with screws from HD. A kind of DYI solution.
I have this pump:
Bought in 2008 from an Ohio Walmart for $15. Was retailing here for $40 for some reason.
I use it to blow up this boat:
Last week I accidentally lost the pinch valve adapter. I was pretty sure I dropped it at the cottage but wasn't going to be back for two weeks. That inflates the floor. Still went fishing twice without inflating the floor.
Previously I bought backup adapters in Sauga from Coleman's parts store partner. Well I must have lost those when I moved or they're in a box somewhere.
So I called Coleman Canada and asked how to get replacements. They directed me to that store again. Called them and they said they're on back order. Three weeks to get them and then another two weeks to send to me. Wow, five weeks to get two little plastic pieces. And mind you, these pumps are extremely popular used by tonnes of people for mattresses and boats. And Coleman Canada said they get calls for these things all the time.
So basically if you need those nozzles you are SOL unless you pay 5x the price from Amazon or buy the whole pump again.
However, just spoke to Coleman again for another issue and they just advised me there is another service partner that might have those right now. Would have been nice if they informed me of that beforehand.
Coincidentally, this past weekend after I found the valve at the cottage, I went to use the pump and it is finally dying after at least 200 uses. Great value. So I no longer need replacement nozzles since I will keep the existing ones as backups and buy a new pump.
Now they make a few variations of the pump. 12V , 120V, cordless battery operated and marine. Battery makes the most sense now because I can drop off all gear and boat right at the launch and blow up the boat there instead of blowing it up at car and walking it over. Very inconvenient for narrow launches where I have to get out of peoples' way and also bad on windy days when i'm carrying boat by myself from car to launch.
However, since it has a big battery in it, it is much heavier than the car pump. And the problem is that I simply attach the pump to the three different air valves in the boat and walk away and and let it pump for a few minutes as I set up other stuff. But when I do that, the pump is standing perpendicular. So it's standing up as in the nozzle is pointed down because the air valves on the boat are horizontal. Well I imagine with the heavier pump, it will fall over while I'm doing this. And as the boat blows up and starts taking shape, the pump goes from 90 degree angle to 45. And the pump is simply holding on by the connection of the nozzle to valve and with this weight, it could easily fall out as it is changing angles.
But then I noticed in their marine pump, also on their 12V, they have an extension hose.
Perfect! I buy the battery pump and then order the extension hose. NOPE! Coleman Canada says it's impossible for them to obtain just the hose and sell to me. Call Coleman USA and they have it and it's $2.50 for it and $2.50 to ship in US. But won't ship to Canada. I notify Coleman Canada of this and wonder if they can arrange to get it from US and then to me and I cover whatever cost. NOPE. They are two different companies and straight up said there is zero chance of them making this happen. So you lose or break the hose you are SOL. Have to buy a whole new pump again for $50.
So I call UPS store across the border. For such a light package it would be $5 to receive, then between $15 and $20 US to forward to a Canadian address. So I'm looking at $30 US if I choose this route.
Now I'm checking if any of my friends are going to US soon.
I've also tried some Amazon sellers and they said they don't have just the hose lying around.
Does all this sound unusual to you? Coleman, the biggest and iconic name for outdoors stuff can't fulfill these small little requests?
By the way, I said what if I were to lose the power cord that charges the battery, can that be replaced? Yup. But they can't replace an extension hose.
