The Unbreakable Umbrella - my experience

Just recently had to deal with Real-Self-Defense customer service and wanted folks to know how it went.

About 4-1/2 years ago I bought one of the premium model unbreakable umbrellas. They have a 5-year warranty.

I gave it to my wife and it has had plenty of use as we live in the Pacific Northwest - a place where it is rumored to rain every now and then.

In the time she used it, unlike the promotional videos, she never: 1) beat any heavy bags with it. 2) mauled any pumpkins. 3) cut any watermelons in half. 4) stood on it while stretched between a couple of chairs. 5) subjected it to gale force winds. 6) abused it in any manner other than normal use.

Last week when she was deploying it, the section that holds all of the moving mechanism came loose and the umbrella could neither be fully opened or closed. And such is the construction of the umbrella that no fix appeared possible.

Not being too happy about having my spendy umbrella giving up like this (even after 4+ years) I emailed the company - and here's where I was impressed far beyond my expectations.

I told them what happened and asked what they wanted to do about it. They responded in less than 12 hours. At their request I emailed a couple of pics of the situation and they very promptly wrote back and asked if I wanted a refund or a replacement. No hassle, muss or fuss - just an immediate offer to completely stand behind their product and warranty.

Well, fair-minded fellow that I am, I told them that since I had actually had over 4 years good service from their product and I realize that nothing lasts forever - I would be satisfied with a price adjustment on another umbrella. Heck, when you buy a set of tires, they never give you give you back full credit for something with 40,000 miles or so on it.

They responded with essentially, "Nope. Thanks for the offer, but we're standing 100% behind our product."

They then shipped me another umbrella Priority Mail, and they paid shipping too.

Amazing. This kind of customer service impresses me so much I just had to share it.

In fact, I was so impressed I bought one of their new telescopic unbreakable models to go in the package they sent me. Everything is due here this Thursday. The entire turnaround from the time I first emailed them will be 6 days - and it would have been less than that except I was a bit slow in a couple of my emails to them. They were even responding on the weekend.

So there you have it. If you've ever considered getting one of these things, you couldn't be dealing with a better company, IMO. If you break it, or it should happen to break, you will be completely taken care of faster than many places even ship new orders.

Madcap_Magician re: the telescoping umbrella.

It looks awesome, but I haven't had the money to make good on my promise. You'll have to let us know how it is.

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You can bet on it. I'd been thinking about getting one for a while, but this experience pushed me over the decision line.

I fully expect it to be everything they claim. I know I always liked my wife's full-size one. I think that the concept of a compact one is a great innovation.

I will definitely be posting an opinion soon. And there's still plenty of rain left in this season (unfortunately) to put it to the test.

Well.... they're here.



I have to admit that I had some concern about springing for the telescoping model because it certainly wasn't cheap, and I didn't know if I could justify the "want it" factor.

Now that it's here - I'd do it again in a heartbeat. High quality piece of equipment and it even comes with a spare canopy, I guess that's in case you manage to damage the original one beating down a horde of zombies. I think you'd get quite a few of them before installing the new part would be needed.

A couple of observations:

Both of these are very inconspicuous as potential weapons, although I suppose members of the "Unbreakable Umbrella Club" might pretty quickly spot the regular size model.

But the telescoping umbrella is just invisible for all practical purposes. It looks like anything but a weapon (more like a compact umbrella, for example...)

Walking around in sunny weather with the full-size one "might" make folks wonder why you're carrying an umbrella in July. Not so much so with the compact one. I just can't imagine it drawing attention pretty much anyplace. It's less noticeable than a completely healthy-looking person carrying a cane.

And after careful self-testing with it - I can assure you that you would not want to get hit on any part of your body with this thing!

Summary:

I like having things that can go hit/poke/jab handy for use for self defense. And these will even keep the rain off in the meantime.

True, but we don't do it (stand behind our warranty) because it pays. That would be the merchant mentality. We do it because we said we would.

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And that right there is the philosophy for a successful and honorable life in general.

If more people/companies subscribed to it, the world would be a better place.