Thought I would take the time to write up about my experience lately with amazing customer service from James Baroud USA/OK4wd.
First a little Background....
The decision by me to purchase a roof top tent was a long time in the making. Everyone I saw was the standard flip open ones, which I was not a fan off. Then from the recommendation from a friend, who knew what I was after, he pointed me in the direction of James Baroud. After some research, lots of questions/etc I settled in on a space grey Explorer version. The tent was purchased in Aug 2017 from Bomber Products and it was love at first site of the tent.
After purchasing to present.....
The tent was put to immediate use! That evening the back of my 2016 tacoma was slept in as I made my way back to the job site in Northern Canada. Unfortunately I didn't get to spend to many nights in it due to all the forest fires in Montana and southern Alberta. But I managed to squeak in two nights on the way back up, I took my time. I was instantly impressed with the ability to pop open the tent and be in bed in a matter of seconds. This would not only improve my camping, but also normal road trips as i no longer needed to stay in a hotel, the mind started instantly planning out weekend/extended trips as one does when he gets excited about a new piece of kit. Almost like a giddy school girl, who am i kidding I was just like that, ecstatic to say the least.
I quickly outfitted the tent with all the necessary sleeping equipment from a local outfitter store. JB comfort pad, mattress protector to keep it in good shape, bed sheets, comforter and two lovely pillows, all of which the tent swallowed up completely with ease. I managed to squeak out a few short road trips around the Alberta area using the tent (4-5 days on the forestry trunk road, few days camping in the Kamloops/Kelowna area), couple of cold winter night. By xmas I had racked up about 20 nights in the tent (not bad considering I work 6-7 days weeks, 12 hours a day) and was loving every minute of it. Unfortunately this is when things started to go south.
Issues with the tent......
Over the xmas break, I volunteered to take care of the camp while my crew was on break. During this time, I was busy planning out a trip to the SW USA, to do some exploring around my old stomping grounds in Arizona, California and Nevada. I cracked open the tent on one brisk night over the holidays too air it out and to test out a recently acquired -20 degree sleeping bag. Knowing it was going to be cold out and condensation is an issue in the winter, I turned on the fan. Which started to make this weird noise as if it was out of balance or something. I left it on as it wasn't completely horrendous and knew that I would more then likely need to make a warranty claim. Was kind of like a white noise drowning out the howling winds as I was on the high prairie in winter.
Next morning an email was sent to JB USA, and Rin was quick to send the fan out to Bomber products so I could pick it up on my way down to the SW USA on my trip and install it. Unfortunately the fan never arrived at Bomber products in time, and I was forced to continue on without it. Not a big deal, as I knew it was going to be warmer temps and chances were that I wouldn't need it.
After arriving in the SW USA, I spent about 12 nights in the tent cruising around Yuma, Joshua Tree, Mohave Preserve and Death Valley. I was thoroughly happy with the tent, or so i thought. Around the last few nights of the trip, I started to notice some wear on the outer fabric of the tent from the upper shell (there is a black gasket in here) and it was starting to stain the fabric, not a big deal, but I figured I would keep an eye on it and monitor it in case it was causing issues with the fabric. The next morning when i woke up I decided to give it a better once over, well, I noticed a wear mark in the fabric which could only be from a rivet holding in the fabric to the shell. A little concerning as this was may be 30 nights total in the tent since i got it in August.
Fast forward to that night and and this was the first time I was setting up or taking down the tent in the sunlight, I usually wait until it is dusk before setting it up, incase I need to move or go somewhere. Anyways, the light was just right so that it was shinning on the tent. The light on the truck, RTT and the mountains in the background was amazing. Unfortunately, while setting up the tent, I noticed a lot of light spots in the fabric, like beams of light coming through only to find stretch marks in the fabric and pin holes around the seams. The fabric was always tight around the doors and when putting the tent up. I was told this was normal at time of purchase.
Pictures of issues.......
Wear mark from rivet, on front side of tent, you can also see where the fabric is turning black from the gasket in the top shell
Stretch marks in fabric, this is almost all the way through, doesn't leak though
I don't have any pictures of the rusty latches, nor of the broken fan. If I can figure out how to post up a audio file in here I will so others can hear what a bad fan sounds like
Fantastic Customer Service....
Once i got back to civilization/cell service, I fired off an email to JB USA and had a response back very promptly. The response was that they would look into this and get back to me with a response ASAP as they knew I was on a trip and getting anywhere was going to be an issue. This was not a problem, as i had to be in Boise Idaho to pick up a storage system(this also failed miserably, that is another story, one that i may never tell), for a few days, so I wasn't overly concerned. After getting the storage system installed in the truck after much frustration/redesign on my part to try and make it work, we brought it out for some promo shoots for the company so they could use this for their brochures/ads. They asked if I could set up the RTT, and JB USA also asked me to check if the fabric was still waterproof. One leaked a bit at the front of the tent, the rest I didn't even get to, as I found a pile of other holes in the fabric as the light was hitting it in a different direction. Disappointment/rage at this point had set in, as you pay top dollar for a product only to have to start failing after a few months?
A quick email to JB USA, stating I was not happy and that I needed a decision immediately as I was on my way to continue my trip as best as I could, but I was worried about having more issues with the tent. A few back and forth and JB USA realized that I was not going to be anywhere near a dealer to get the tent back to them for sometime. We talked briefly and the decision was made to drop the tent off back at the Bomber Products, (sadly 2500kms out of my way). Once they found out the distance I was going to have to travel, and the logistical nightmare it would be to get the tent back to them if I was back in Canada, they authorized a full refund on the tent as the head office in Portugal hadn't gotten back to them, and we were under the gun with what to do.
Overall, I am thoroughly impressed with the professionalism I experienced by Rin and Craig with my RTT. I will continue to do business with them and I am currently in talks with them about a few other options I am working on.
Now that all being said, I will never buy another James abroad tent in my life. None of those issues should exist on a $4,000USD roof top tent, these are supposedly the leaders in the industry with RTT's. Not from what I had seen with all of the issues I had with the RTT (Failed fan, pinholes and stretch marks, doorways so deformed I could barely zip them up at times, rusty latches, wear marks from rivets, gaskets int he shell rubbing on the fabric, etc) all on a 30 day usage tent. I have plans to go to Costa Rica/Panama this winter or want to for a few months, I won't be taking one of these tents there, as I am not sure I could rely on it for the duration of the trip, let alone make it down there in one piece.
Anyways, I thought I would post up my amazing experience dealing with Rin and Craig at JB USA/OK4wd and also post up my experience with my former James Baroud Explorer RTT. There are a couple of threads out there where others have all experiences the same issue with the fabric. One is here on Expedition portal and I think I found one on Ih8mud, although it may have been the same guy?
I hope this provides a record of the outstanding customer service at Ok4wd/James Baroud USA and also as a reference for potential issues with the James Baroud Tents to other potential buyers. Although I am pretty confident mine was a Friday afternoon tent I will not be purchasing another Jb RTT, leaning towards the alucab Gen 3 at the moment or possible shifting to one of the OZtent Jet tents (cot with a tent on it)
So I am moving on from this experience with James Baroud with positive attitude and I know that when I make the decision on the next RTT, Rin and Craig will be the first ones i talk to about it.
Regards
Steve
First a little Background....
The decision by me to purchase a roof top tent was a long time in the making. Everyone I saw was the standard flip open ones, which I was not a fan off. Then from the recommendation from a friend, who knew what I was after, he pointed me in the direction of James Baroud. After some research, lots of questions/etc I settled in on a space grey Explorer version. The tent was purchased in Aug 2017 from Bomber Products and it was love at first site of the tent.
After purchasing to present.....
The tent was put to immediate use! That evening the back of my 2016 tacoma was slept in as I made my way back to the job site in Northern Canada. Unfortunately I didn't get to spend to many nights in it due to all the forest fires in Montana and southern Alberta. But I managed to squeak in two nights on the way back up, I took my time. I was instantly impressed with the ability to pop open the tent and be in bed in a matter of seconds. This would not only improve my camping, but also normal road trips as i no longer needed to stay in a hotel, the mind started instantly planning out weekend/extended trips as one does when he gets excited about a new piece of kit. Almost like a giddy school girl, who am i kidding I was just like that, ecstatic to say the least.
I quickly outfitted the tent with all the necessary sleeping equipment from a local outfitter store. JB comfort pad, mattress protector to keep it in good shape, bed sheets, comforter and two lovely pillows, all of which the tent swallowed up completely with ease. I managed to squeak out a few short road trips around the Alberta area using the tent (4-5 days on the forestry trunk road, few days camping in the Kamloops/Kelowna area), couple of cold winter night. By xmas I had racked up about 20 nights in the tent (not bad considering I work 6-7 days weeks, 12 hours a day) and was loving every minute of it. Unfortunately this is when things started to go south.
Issues with the tent......
Over the xmas break, I volunteered to take care of the camp while my crew was on break. During this time, I was busy planning out a trip to the SW USA, to do some exploring around my old stomping grounds in Arizona, California and Nevada. I cracked open the tent on one brisk night over the holidays too air it out and to test out a recently acquired -20 degree sleeping bag. Knowing it was going to be cold out and condensation is an issue in the winter, I turned on the fan. Which started to make this weird noise as if it was out of balance or something. I left it on as it wasn't completely horrendous and knew that I would more then likely need to make a warranty claim. Was kind of like a white noise drowning out the howling winds as I was on the high prairie in winter.
Next morning an email was sent to JB USA, and Rin was quick to send the fan out to Bomber products so I could pick it up on my way down to the SW USA on my trip and install it. Unfortunately the fan never arrived at Bomber products in time, and I was forced to continue on without it. Not a big deal, as I knew it was going to be warmer temps and chances were that I wouldn't need it.
After arriving in the SW USA, I spent about 12 nights in the tent cruising around Yuma, Joshua Tree, Mohave Preserve and Death Valley. I was thoroughly happy with the tent, or so i thought. Around the last few nights of the trip, I started to notice some wear on the outer fabric of the tent from the upper shell (there is a black gasket in here) and it was starting to stain the fabric, not a big deal, but I figured I would keep an eye on it and monitor it in case it was causing issues with the fabric. The next morning when i woke up I decided to give it a better once over, well, I noticed a wear mark in the fabric which could only be from a rivet holding in the fabric to the shell. A little concerning as this was may be 30 nights total in the tent since i got it in August.
Fast forward to that night and and this was the first time I was setting up or taking down the tent in the sunlight, I usually wait until it is dusk before setting it up, incase I need to move or go somewhere. Anyways, the light was just right so that it was shinning on the tent. The light on the truck, RTT and the mountains in the background was amazing. Unfortunately, while setting up the tent, I noticed a lot of light spots in the fabric, like beams of light coming through only to find stretch marks in the fabric and pin holes around the seams. The fabric was always tight around the doors and when putting the tent up. I was told this was normal at time of purchase.
Pictures of issues.......
Wear mark from rivet, on front side of tent, you can also see where the fabric is turning black from the gasket in the top shell
Stretch marks in fabric, this is almost all the way through, doesn't leak though
I don't have any pictures of the rusty latches, nor of the broken fan. If I can figure out how to post up a audio file in here I will so others can hear what a bad fan sounds like
Fantastic Customer Service....
Once i got back to civilization/cell service, I fired off an email to JB USA and had a response back very promptly. The response was that they would look into this and get back to me with a response ASAP as they knew I was on a trip and getting anywhere was going to be an issue. This was not a problem, as i had to be in Boise Idaho to pick up a storage system(this also failed miserably, that is another story, one that i may never tell), for a few days, so I wasn't overly concerned. After getting the storage system installed in the truck after much frustration/redesign on my part to try and make it work, we brought it out for some promo shoots for the company so they could use this for their brochures/ads. They asked if I could set up the RTT, and JB USA also asked me to check if the fabric was still waterproof. One leaked a bit at the front of the tent, the rest I didn't even get to, as I found a pile of other holes in the fabric as the light was hitting it in a different direction. Disappointment/rage at this point had set in, as you pay top dollar for a product only to have to start failing after a few months?
A quick email to JB USA, stating I was not happy and that I needed a decision immediately as I was on my way to continue my trip as best as I could, but I was worried about having more issues with the tent. A few back and forth and JB USA realized that I was not going to be anywhere near a dealer to get the tent back to them for sometime. We talked briefly and the decision was made to drop the tent off back at the Bomber Products, (sadly 2500kms out of my way). Once they found out the distance I was going to have to travel, and the logistical nightmare it would be to get the tent back to them if I was back in Canada, they authorized a full refund on the tent as the head office in Portugal hadn't gotten back to them, and we were under the gun with what to do.
Overall, I am thoroughly impressed with the professionalism I experienced by Rin and Craig with my RTT. I will continue to do business with them and I am currently in talks with them about a few other options I am working on.
Now that all being said, I will never buy another James abroad tent in my life. None of those issues should exist on a $4,000USD roof top tent, these are supposedly the leaders in the industry with RTT's. Not from what I had seen with all of the issues I had with the RTT (Failed fan, pinholes and stretch marks, doorways so deformed I could barely zip them up at times, rusty latches, wear marks from rivets, gaskets int he shell rubbing on the fabric, etc) all on a 30 day usage tent. I have plans to go to Costa Rica/Panama this winter or want to for a few months, I won't be taking one of these tents there, as I am not sure I could rely on it for the duration of the trip, let alone make it down there in one piece.
Anyways, I thought I would post up my amazing experience dealing with Rin and Craig at JB USA/OK4wd and also post up my experience with my former James Baroud Explorer RTT. There are a couple of threads out there where others have all experiences the same issue with the fabric. One is here on Expedition portal and I think I found one on Ih8mud, although it may have been the same guy?
I hope this provides a record of the outstanding customer service at Ok4wd/James Baroud USA and also as a reference for potential issues with the James Baroud Tents to other potential buyers. Although I am pretty confident mine was a Friday afternoon tent I will not be purchasing another Jb RTT, leaning towards the alucab Gen 3 at the moment or possible shifting to one of the OZtent Jet tents (cot with a tent on it)
So I am moving on from this experience with James Baroud with positive attitude and I know that when I make the decision on the next RTT, Rin and Craig will be the first ones i talk to about it.
Regards
Steve
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