Otter outdoors experience

So I had a bad experience with Otter Outdoors and a Otter Pro Cabin shack. I have owned Eskimo and Frabil shacks for years and have one that is about 15 years old and in perfect shape so I take care of my stuff. I received the Otter as a gift over a year ago and was excited mainly because of things I heard on this site. I fished with it a couple times last ice season and always kept it covered with the otter cover. I loved the shack. Late this spring I noticed one of the zipper pulls was corroded really bad. I took pictures and sent them to Otter and was told it is from salt to use rubbing alcohol and a brush. I tried that twice and nothing worked. I called Otter again and was told to ship the canvas to them as they need to see the zipper. I was hesitant as they already told me they couldn’t do anything once. I was reassured that they would do something for me. I still felt uneasy so I had a seamstress replace the zipper. She had to cut it out it was so corroded. The other zipper pull on the shack is in great shape. I called otter and they wanted to see the zipper and made it sound like they would work with me.I paid to send them the zipper and waited a couple weeks. After not hearing anything I sent her an email wondering if they received it. Two weeks pass and no response so today I call and asked her and all I got was attitude from the beginning. She transferred me to someone else and he said it isn’t their fault and that salt got on the zipper. My response was I live in Wisconsin so there is salt in the winter. Also the other zipper pull is perfect and the shack is always covered. In the end I was told there is nothing they can do.I will never buy a otter product again and will go back to the Eskimo or Frabil shacks that never had an issue. I know Otter is a sponsor and I don’t want to upset anyone but I had to vent.

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There’s probably a little more going on there than salt. Maybe a defective coating on the metal (which Otter wouldn’t manufacture themselves, but should still vouch for). I’ve fished a lot of Otters, and have never seen this before. If that were a typical reaction to salt, I probably would’ve seen it by now.

Definitely not a good look for Otter with that customer service. All of those years developing that rock solid reputation can be gone pretty quick. Nothing will make me drop a brand faster than a bad customer service rep. Nothing will make me loyal to a brand faster than a great one.

They hate when things like this get made public. Wont surprise me if someone sees this and reaches out in the future to make things right.

Brad, that looks more like battery corrosion!

I had some questions and issues with my Otter 1200XT lodge. If it is the same girl answering the phone that I had she has an attitude that is not right for the position. I went over her head and got to a higher up and that guy was great!

I did not have your problem. My personal experience is the cover is OK for keeping dry fluffy snow off but once it becomes wet forget it it leaks water into the sled. I put a waterproof tarp on top of my cover to keep things dry.

I store mine out side on a trailer with my SxS so it ready to go at a moments notice. I also have a battery tender hooked up to the battery for the Lodge and one hooked up to the SxS. The tarp keeps things dry when the snow falls or when Im trailering down the road.

Previous to the tarp I could not figure whay I had water on the bottom of my sled. Then it dawned on me that the cover lets the wet snow and water through. Maybe your cover is not keeping things dry and thus your hardware is exposed to moisture and salt.

Yeah I was pretty disappointed in how things panned out and the lack of customer service. I have never seen something corrode like this before and I have a 15 year old Eskimo shelter stored with this one that is in perfect shape. Bk it definitely looks like battery corrosion. Yeah the reason they gave me being salt really irritated me. Oh well time to move on on my end! They have lost my business for sure.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Brad, that looks more like battery corrosion!

I thought the same thing as well. Put some baking soda on it and see what happens. Or even pour coke on it.

I paid a seamstress $35 to cut it out and put a new zipper on it. She had to add some material also.

They offered to examine/fix this for you and told you to send it in. Instead you opted to have someone else replace the zipper. Then you sent in just the bad zipper and asked for what, to be reimbursed for the work?

It sucks when customer service reps don’t treat customers with respect and I feel for you on that end, but it looks to me like you took the matter into your hands and I’m not surprised they’re unwilling to pay for that.

Yeah I asked them to either pay for the repair or replace the canvas. They knew I repaired it before I sent them the zipper but still wanted me to send it in so I did. I really didn’t think they would do anything even after they told me they would because they also told me they wouldn’t before that. Since they had to cut the zipper out she also had to repair the hole. Oh well it is somewhat fixed. Next shack will be the Eskimo Grizzly.I have a Eskimo insulated pop up that had a small tear in the roof. Eskimo replaced it no questions asked. Every manufacture runs into defects but it is how they handle them that matters. Otter said I spilled something on the zipper zipper also but when I got pissed and said absolutely not they said it was the salt again.

Brad Dostal wrote:

Yeah I was pretty disappointed in how things panned out and the lack of customer service. I have never seen something corrode like this before and I have a 15 year old Eskimo shelter stored with this one that is in perfect shape. Bk it definitely looks like battery corrosion. Yeah the reason they gave me being salt really irritated me. Oh well time to move on on my end! They have lost my business for sure.

And now… the rest of the story.

Product opinions can be shared here freely but we do expect those experiences to be shared in an honest manner.

Zippers don’t spontaneously corrode. End of story. A foreign substance had to be introduced and Otter isn’t responsible for the “stuff” customers get on their ice houses. But that’s besides the point. Despite your issue being outside of Otter’s responsibility they took the time to provide you with care instructions to get you back out on the ice. Here’s what was sent:

“Brad,

The warranty team reviewed this claim and sent the below information:

Zipper corrosion occurs when the metal parts of a zipper are exposed to salt water or other elements, causing the metal to corrode and break down. This problem can affect other metal parts such as snaps and fastener hardware too. … Rinse zippers with fresh water after being exposed to salt water or salt air.

Use a soft toothbrush and vinegar. Pour white vinegar into a bowl or container. Wet a soft-bristled toothbrush in the vinegar. Rub the zipper gently but thoroughly with the toothbrush, on both sides of the zipper.”

And what did you do? [From your initial post] You used…”rubbing alcohol and a brush. I tried that twice and nothing worked.”

Hello?

Then you cut the zipper off and sent it to Otter. Please see the attached photos to show you the before and after achieved in three minutes using the care instructions sent to you.

Allow me to summarize… you had an out of warranty issue with your Otter. Otter provide care instructions to get you back out on the ice. You didn’t follow the care instructions and then you cut the “offending” part off your Otter and sent it to them where they were able to solve the issue using the care instructions provided. Otter let you down how?

This thread is a perfect example of how the internet can be used irresponsibly by consumers. The old adage “there’s two sides to every story” should guide the response of those reading threads like this.

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And James dropped the mic, lol

Oh that sucks to hear.

James Holst wrote:

End of story.

Charles wrote:

And James dropped the mic, lol

yyyyup.

This thread is a perfect example of how the internet can be used irresponsibly by consumers. The old adage “there’s two sides to every story” should guide the response of those reading threads like this.
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spot on

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James makes some rock solid points. We definitely did not get the whole story. I mean, pictures even.

But, still doesn’t really let them off the hook for poor customer service (rude, attitude, no response) that was corroborated by another poster.

There are dogs in the fight on both sides of this argument (disgruntled user vs guy paid by Otter). I’m thinking we’re really falling somewhere in between, here.

End of the day, I use Otter and will continue to do so. I’ve had nothing but good experiences with their products and have yet had to deal with any cranky customer service ladies. Hopefully they get that cleaned up.

First of all I don’t know brad and have never formally met him.

In all fairness I decided to look back on brads activity here and found nearly all of his posts extremely respectful.

Bashing companies unfairly I do look down upon but I do believe that brad made a poor judgement on this one.

Unfortunately there’s a culture here and in all other types of forums and social media for instant retribution when one feels they were wronged. It feels so good to “get back” by typing it up and getting justification from others that you did the right thing.

Let’s not go climb on our high horse and leave brad in the dust. I feel bad for brad because this is the one rare instance where the other side of the story was actually told. Many times this is not true so many bashers get justified only because there was one side to the story.

Maybe this should be a lesson to think twice about public bashing.

What does dan barreiro call it? Pitchfork nation? It’s already started ^^^^^^

I did make an error with stating that I used rubbing alcohol it was white vinegar. I also used a toothbrush on the zipper! I did do try it twice and nothing worked. I wrote about what I used based on my recollection from the summer. Looking back at my emails it was white vinegar that they recommended and what I used. That is my error but I absolutley did not make a dishonest post I did make a mistake on that. I did try the white vinegar twice and for several minutes each time and it did nothing absolutely nothing. I can believe that salt may have gotten on the zipper we do live in the North where salt is used. Don’t zippers have a coating on them to protect from this? I stand behind what I posted on here other than I made a mistake with the rubbing alcohol and white vinegar. I am not a dishonest person and don’t appreciate someone saying I am. Also were they able to get the zipper to move? It wouldn’t budge for me at all and you can’t brush the inside of the zipper pull. I didn’t not just all of a sudden cut off the zipper when the white vinegar did not work there was more communication between those times. Otter also wanted me to send them the cut off zipper which I did at my cost. If salt water will do this to Otter shacks I will stick with a different brand that I own and have never had an issue with corrosion. I have no hard feeling towards James or anyone on here for questioning me especially since I made an error stating I used rubbing alcohol but I printed the instructions and followed them. I stand behind what I said and yes there are always two sides to ever story.

biggill wrote:

Maybe this should be a lesson to think twice about public bashing.

Agreed, and no reason for everyone to jump on the Mic Drop bandwagon either. At the end of the day Brad was just sharing his perspective, and his brand new piece of equipment is not what he wanted it to be which sucks. A little better handling from Otter and Brad could have prevented it, but a little less side choosing, finger pointing and more understanding from the peanut gallery would be appropriate too imo.

I also know that people have different experience with different companies. Some people probably have had bad experiences with Eskimo, clam, etc. I also know that a lot of people love Otter and have had great luck with them. I have friends that love otter products. My experience has just been negative so I wanted to share my experience. Sorry for that.

Geeze…. I just called Otter today about a zipper issue as well on my resort hub. The lady sounded delightful. Matter of fact that’s the third time I’ve dealt with her and I’ve never had a bad experience. I knew my problem was out of warranty, such is life. I just needed to know who fixes their products. Myself and my kids are hard on equipment. We pay a premium to look cool like James and crew. Sucks when it lets you down.

When I assembled mine the seat brackets were not welded square preventing them from swiveling. I sent them a picture and they shipped entire bases as well as a cover for the seat. No charge. No complaints on warranty. Price and weight? Well that’s a different thread. Can’t have everything.

My Otter Lodge has been rock solid. Takes a beating and still works perfect.

I kind of laugh at this. There are two sides of the coin and there is also the fact the well respected James is getting paid to represent and promote these products.

Sometimes that can happen from ice being in the zipper when it is run up or down. It spreads the guides that line stuff up and put it together. I have fixed them by using a needle nose pliers to squeeze the guides back closer together. Remember just a little, it does not take much.

You can also rub a bar of soap on zipper to lubricate it.

Had a bad experience with zippers on clams about 12 years ago. Good customer service though gave me a new house when the zipper ripped on my 2000. Have an otter lodge flipover never use the zippers if their iced up.hate messing with em since dealing with the ones ripping on clams. The otters are built well but heavy and expensive. Still ticking with otter regarding heavy I pull it with a snowmobile or a truck. For price they all are a bargain compared to what you used to get. The portables we have now made homemade portables obsolete.

I used Sil-Glyde on zippers/zipper pulls.Also works great for pole slides that scream at you.Dielectric grease works also.Don’t need much,just a dab will do ya.

I’ve owned a frabil trekker, an eskimo, and fished out of some buddies clams. I now own an otter. Go ahead and switch. You’ll be back, otter is better made hands down EVERY DAY. Tubs, seats, shelter, all of it. One and done if you take care of your gear.

every ice shack i’ve ever owned has been an Otter, it’s all i’ll ever own…I plan on keeping my ProXT Cabin until they come out with a gamechanger..not exactly sure what else they could do to improve it though?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

every ice shack i’ve ever owned has been an Otter, it’s all i’ll ever own…I plan on keeping my ProXT Cabin until they come out with a gamechanger..not exactly sure what else they could do to improve it though?

Draft beer, stripper pole… Possibilities are endless. I think the improvements will be in new fabrics, and composites to shed weight. There is a huge market for a one man flip over that is light weight. Money seems to be a non factor as I see $120 rods, $800 shanties, $750 flashers, $8k quads… I too own a ProXT Cabin and it is amazing compared to what I started with. With proper care this gear will last many seasons of hard use. Always ask a guide which gear to use. They put 5 years of wear on the gear in one season.

Wait a second, people actually use the zippers on flip-over shacks? I’ve been doing it all wrong for years…