Complaint Review: The Travel Hammock - Grand Trunk I

(from my website : http://sites.google.com/site/travelhammocksucks/)

Hammocks are a great product for relaxation and recently have become a hot product in the camping world. A handful of companies now manufacture and sell parachute material hammocks especially for camping or backpacking. A nice list of hammock companies are included in SGT Rock's informative site here. I began researching camping hammocks with attached insect netting for the places I would be using it. I finally settled on the Travel Hammock Skeeter Beeter Pro, a double person, parachute nylon hammock with an attached mosquito net. I opted to the double person so I could use a sleeping bag and use my sleeping pad inside for additional insulation. The specifications according to the manufacturer are listed on the product page.
As any shopper does, he or she looks for the best deal. This hammock's MSRP was 80 dollars and I found it for 49.95 on Outdoors4Less.net. Even though I questioned the low price, I found out that Outdoors4Less was a BBB accredited business, based out of the Chicago area. (driving directions).
I ordered this hammock the 22 June but due to the product being out of stock, I was notified by Outdoors4less that the product was delayed and I would not receive it until 11 July. Turns out I received the product on the 10 July and I hardly used it until my backpacking trip in the Teton/Yellowstone area in late Aug. I used the hammock almost every weekend since then and began to notice a tear between the mosquito net and the parachute nylon, according to The Travel Hammock, this area was "triple stitched" to ensure that it would not rip. I weigh 150 lbs, I followed the directions from The Travel Hammock regarding proper setup, therefore the rip was a result of faulty manufacturing at The Travel Hammock's factory in China. (yes, the hammock manufacturing has been outsourced to China.)
This link is an account of all the emails exchanges between me and The Travel Hammock, even though I do not have much respect for the employees there, I still removed thier last names and removed my name and address to protect my identity.

To clear up the emails, I will write a basic summary of what occured.
I emailed the company in September, they offered to send me a replacement and the I was supposed to send them my defected Skeeter Beeter Pro. After the company finally received the photos of the damage and a copy of my receipt, they told me they could not warranty my hammock since I did not buy it directly from them. Their warranty does not state that they will not service products bought from other retailers, and since my Outdoors4Less ordered hammock was new, and bought from a reputable retailer, then The Travel Hammock should have no problem covering THEIR defect. I waited even longer and finally Michelle offered to send me a replacement (13 Nov). A few days later , I received a replacement but it was the basic blue, single person hammock, in other words, it was not the Skeeter Beeter Pro. I emailed Michelle (22 Nov) about it and she apologized saying I could keep this one as a gift and the correct hammock would be sent out the next day, but I should not expect it until after thanksgiving due to slower sipping times. So I waited until the 6th of December to ask her what was going on, she said it had been send out and delivered the 17th of November. I didn't make the connection that the tracking number she gave me was actually for the incorrect hammock that she sent me. For a few days I had believed that this package had been lost or stolen in the mail. When I finally made the connection that she had given me the wrong tracking number, even though the dates were very far off I had enough. I felt manipulated, and scammed. After all, the company had a horrible email system which apparently didn't receive many of my messages, they originally refused to repair/replace my hammock since I did not buy it from them. Not to mention the sending of the incorrect hammock and then the wrong tracking number along with being somewhat ignored until the last email I sent urging that I speak to someone else. I also called their 800 number and left a message, I called them scamming idiots and demanded that my case be fixed and fixed correctly. The next day, I received a call from "Kevin Kaiser", the company "owner". First he lectured me on my lack of "unprofessionalism" and how my treatment of his employees was very insulting and that it would "come back to haunt me" when I graduate from college. Apparently Michelle covers thousands of calls a day and is a very busy person and I had no right to call her an idiot. Whatever, Kevin asked me a to give him the site of the retailer Outdoors4Less several times, then later explained that he had "never heard of this company" AND that he had tried to contact them because they were offering Travel Hammock. He said that this company was an unauthorized vendor and he was working on trying to get them shut down since they were offering the products lower than the MSRP. (didn't know that was illegal!) He bragged that he was 30years old and his company made over 3 million a year. He also confessed that my hammock model had about 40 returns for the same tearing issue. In the call at one point he wanted me to send both hammocks back, later just the incorrect one, and finally he decided I could keep both and he told me to repair my defective one. I told him I would ship both hammocks back if I was reimbursed for the shipping as per company policy. He said they had already lost over 160 dollars with my ordeal. I told him his company shouldn't have made bad products and should have handled this problem right the first time. He kept reminding me of my insulting his employees and that I didn't buy the hammock from an authorized company. He also stated that they had sent out a replacement Skeeter Beeter Pro last week but they had no record of the shipment since the USPS apparently reset their tracking numbers. I don't understand why his company has no record of this nor shippers insurance to cover such issues. Our call ended after he suggesting that I instead go ahead and sew the hole in my hammock (mosquito netting and nylon, IMPOSSIBLE) back together and just deal with it. Kevin Kaiser was nothing more than a p***k who felt that he didn't have to do anything since didn't give my money for my hammock purchase directly to him and that I "insulted" his employee. I don't care, Michelle couldn't get this ordeal right SEVERAL times, it is clear that her and this company are indeed incapable of doing their jobs and therefore are deserving of my "insults". I honestly didn't appreciate the lession from Kevin on my treatment of people and how it would haunt me in the future.
As of January, I have not received the hammock they apparently sent out. On 21 December, my complaint to the BBB of Chicago was approved and sent out to The Travel Hammock, I am awaiting a response and solution. I requested that my Skeeter Beeter Pro be replaced and that I would keep the other hammock as a gift while sending the defective Skeeter Beeter Pro back to Travel Hammock and they will pay for the shipping as stated in thier company policy.

Fjl
Laramie, Wyoming
U.S.A.