# Otter coustomer service



## hawgeye (Mar 3, 2011)

canyard said:


> You must have bought it at northwoods,that big ticket item would be different if you bought it at Franks...... Lmao...... Kyle the midget would have came with the shanty if you got it at Franks and he would stand underneath the curved end and test it on top of his head,now that's customer service.


What did he do? Steal your old lady our something? You married to Marty? Are you Marty? Kyle kick your butt and your embarrassed? I never seen someone cry about a business some much! Lol


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## scooter_trasher (Sep 19, 2005)

I would hardly call a major , unsafe flaw in design a minus side or quirk and if the company markets it as room for two and comfortably seats two, how far past reasonable would it be to expect it to be within it's limitations in safely seating two


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## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

scooter_trasher said:


> No if I would have wanted a larger shanty I would have bought one, I had a clam voyager and it did not flip , your telling me that when one person stands up at the square end your shanty flips and you accept that as being safe?


You mentioned wanting them to credit you the next size up to resolve the problem. I have sat 2 people in my cabin. Both hooked up to sled and not. If the nose guy sits all the way to the very front and the tail guy stands it will flip. If you come in just a hair and he stands up it won't flip and you can both still fish comfortably with out flipping. It's just something we are mindful of. Without that baby, she doesn't pull over the snow as well as it does. Just something to be mindful of. Would not describe it as a fatal flaw. And most would not as it is a very well selling product and described by many as the best flip over out there.


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## scooter_trasher (Sep 19, 2005)

SWMbruiser said:


> You mentioned wanting them to credit you the next size up to resolve the problem. I have sat 2 people in my cabin. Both hooked up to sled and not. If the nose guy sits all the way to the very front and the tail guy stands it will flip. If you come in just a hair and he stands up it won't flip and you can both still fish comfortably with out flipping. It's just something we are mindful of. Without that baby, she doesn't pull over the snow as well as it does. Just something to be mindful of. Would not describe it as a fatal flaw. And most would not as it is a very well selling product and described by many as the best flip over out there.


The problem with the cottage is that if you move the seat toward the nose enough to fit a second seat you are at the tip point, should have most likely not have been described as having room for two or comfortably seating two, although at 54" wide it it is 6" narrower than other shanties and 18" narrower than three man flips, it is wide enough for two, save for the nose sweep that comes too far under and toward the middle to allow for it to be operated safely with two seats, the two man thing came from the product description on their website, I did not make that up in my head, the cottage simply does not preform as they claimed ( seats Two)in a safe manner(Without Flipping), and their answer is to simply tell me it was designed for one and if I add a second seat it's at my own risk, it wasn't designed for that, that is simply Outrageous


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## 2508speed (Jan 6, 2011)

I have an older Lodge with the green canvas. IMO it's the perfect size for two. Athough I wish I had the individual bucket seats instead of the bench. Not very comfortable after a few hours IMO.
Are the bucket seats comfortable?


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## canyard (Jan 10, 2010)

storman said:


> I had the same thing happen at Jay's when I slid the seat to one side with was on my butt. Ended up with the larger otter and I love it mostly cause of the sled design pulls great in deep snow as others have said the sled design is the reason it tips over on that model but also as said pulls way better in seeps snow behind my machine with out filling with snow. No way I would consider this a two man shanty. Would cause a hell of a mess if it flipped with all the gear in it.


That is what I had happen to me ,it does make a mess


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

Over 15 years ago, I addressed Otter on the shape of their sleds. Both ends of their sleds "taper up", essentially decreasing your elbow room if you have two people in the shack. The taper forces both anglers into the middle to avoid tipping over, if one of you stands up. 

Their customer service does appear to be lacking severely. Over the last 15 years having sent countless emails and posts on their FB, I've received literally 1 or 2 replies.


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## quick406 (Aug 1, 2007)

Major...unsafe flaw???? Hmm mm isn't it common sense to not sit on the tapered end! If your going to, make a flip jig to keep from flipping! Simple!


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## johnnie555 (Jan 25, 2005)

No offense but I wouldn't consider the Otter Cottage a 2 man whatsoever. I had the cabin for roughly 3 years before I sold it. It was a giant oversized 1 man IMO but i also fished 2 people out of it comfortably even with the sportsmans caddy in the middle. I now have the lodge which is by far my favorite size. All that aside did you sit inside a cottage before buying one?? Not trying to be a dink so don't take offense but you can't be mad at Otter for it flipping on you. As with any product, you have to know the limitations before using said item. The only thing I could fault them for was claiming it could fish two people. That would be quite a stretch. But I know personally I'd try it out and sit two people in one before buying. I guess it's a lesson learned. Don't think you should be mad at Otter.


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## jimbo (Dec 29, 2007)

16 sq from? That even sounds small.
That's 2 guys fishing on a half sheet of plywood


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## Martian (Apr 28, 2011)

hey S T, regardless of everything , sure am sorry for the bad luck and your knee,and your sled, get well, get back


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## Olibob (Apr 5, 2015)

Sorry for your situation with your Otter I have the cottage also with and bought a extra seat so I would have 2 a little snug but doable fortunately I tried it on the showroom floor and found the tipping problem. To remedy this I took the cheap shooting leg that attaches to my turkey hunting shotgun barrel and attached it to the front it adjusts and folds out of the way when not needed works great just like a kick stand in addition I attached a ice anchor to the back lip. Hope this helps


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## BlackRhino (Feb 21, 2005)

Buy a Frabill pop up, they don't flip (when anchored haha) plus plenty of room.


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## TheLionsFan (Dec 20, 2011)

This thread title got my attention as I am having horrible luck with their customer service. I emailed them a week ago with a couple questions regarding my XT1200 Cabin tipping forward when reaching down to the hole and also the front bar sitting about 4" from the ice instead of sitting right on it. I STILL havent heard back. I emailed them again and still NOTHING. Due to my work schedule lately, being on nights I havent had opportunity to call. But so far I give their customer service an F.


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## scooter_trasher (Sep 19, 2005)

Olibob said:


> Sorry for your situation with your Otter I have the cottage also with and bought a extra seat so I would have 2 a little snug but doable fortunately I tried it on the showroom floor and found the tipping problem. To remedy this I took the cheap shooting leg that attaches to my turkey hunting shotgun barrel and attached it to the front it adjusts and folds out of the way when not needed works great just like a kick stand in addition I attached a ice anchor to the back lip. Hope this helps


At almost 900 bucks with cover, hyfax, towbar & tax, you shouldn't have to modify your Otter to safely do what they claim it will do, they won't even admit they have a problem,not even a heads up in the directions, a wheel chock with a rope & bungee cord to hold the chock from slipping away fixed it, a one dollar bolt & nut would keep people from sliding the seat over too far, Otter will never see another nickle from me, when someone gets seriously hurt or burnt in one of their shanties and they wind up in court & have the CPSC on their A** and wind up with a recall ,maybe they then will listen.

12 years or so ago I washed the tent on my clam scout in the washing machine, the blackout came off the inside, turned out it was water based paint, one call, sent a new tent and a ppd return box, had it in two days , no problem and it was a three or four year old scout,
that's customer service


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## toppm (Dec 30, 2010)

Shappel


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## kevin1 (Dec 26, 2012)

TheLionsFan said:


> This thread title got my attention as I am having horrible luck with their customer service. I emailed them a week ago with a couple questions regarding my XT1200 Cabin tipping forward when reaching down to the hole and also the front bar sitting about 4" from the ice instead of sitting right on it. I STILL havent heard back. I emailed them again and still NOTHING. Due to my work schedule lately, being on nights I havent had opportunity to call. But so far I give their customer service an F.


Had the same problem with my lodge, front bar was too high. Ended up being a warped sled, even a little off will cause the problem. Troy at otter worked with me for many weeks trying to figure this out, we went through two tents and many phone calls, and finally a new sled and as well.
has been great ever since
You have to keep bugging them almost daily and document this
Remember this is their busy season


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## TheLionsFan (Dec 20, 2011)

kevin1 said:


> Had the same problem with my lodge, front bar was too high. Ended up being a warped sled, even a little off will cause the problem. Troy at otter worked with me for many weeks trying to figure this out, we went through two tents and many phone calls, and finally a new sled and as well.
> has been great ever since
> You have to keep bugging them almost daily and document this
> Remember this is their busy season


Busy season or not, it shouldn't take a week to reply back after sending 2 emails.


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## rlister (Jan 9, 2013)

I broke the hinge on one of my 3 year old out of warranty otter seats. Called Friday and was told to email pictures of break, so I did that. This morning UPS emailed me saying a roto molded seat will be delivered tomorrow. Now that's top notch service in my book! Everyone might want to talk a little nicer to customer service people the end results are usually much better.


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## agbuckhunter (Oct 12, 2011)

I own the Cabin Pro flipovet and have no tipping issue. I tried it yesterday because I often fish with the kid. Went to Cabelas and the XT was tippy as described in this thread. 

Customer service for me was great.
I bought an Otter Cabin hub on clearance last year and the first time I used it I forcefully made the hub close out of frustration of my lack of practice before using. Nothing broke but the pressed fitting pole popped out of the hub and I couldn't get it back in no matter how hard I tried. I called Otter and they asked me to take and send them pics and fill out the warranty claim form online. So I did and about a week later I had a brand new hub with instructions and shipping label to send the old back. UPS even picked it up off my doorstep. That was during prime time ice season. For the record I practiced with my new hub in the garage and now find it very easy to pack up...lol


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