Clam Qulity Control Questionable

[hartly]

Guys have you noticed that Clam's quality control has fallen by the way side . I bought a Jason Mitchell 5000 Thermal last week. Ive used it once. Theres not one panel on the tent that matches up sewing wise. Some of the seams are half an inch below where they should be. When I asked Clam they told me that was within tolerance. I found that strange.  Ive also broken two zipper handles so far. One from the door and one off of the carrying bag. The metal the zipper handles are made of ,are like tin. They bend very easily. I sure miss when products were made in the good old United States . Not China!!!
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[VTMatt]

Yukon X thermal here...broke a zipper and two straps around the bar have torn off the poles. Warrantied the first cover, second cover has done the same thing...have to keep tightening the seat bolts too. Will probably need to loctite them.

[crappie55409]

Clam is junk and has been fore years. 

[hartly]

Im soo disappointed in Clam. They use to be one of the best made shelters..Today I went to a couple of outdoors sports stores. The display models all had the horrible offset panels as mine. The Eskimo that was right beside it ,was way better built ,and a hell of alot less money. Go figure .

[ran7ger]

 wouldn't take a clam product for free if they offered it.

[Royalwapiti]

I have a Nanook Thermal, and am not impressed with the quality or the design.  Would not buy another. 

[BackCountry Kyle]

I would put my clan up against my Eskimo shelter any day and take my clam every time. The Eskimo auger bag I have is absolute garbage too. Comparing the two the way I use them I would take clam without looking back. I do appreciate both customer service departments though as they have been more than accommodating any time I've needed anything and I'm not talking to some tech from India

[wyoutdoors]

I've owned a number of shacks and the only one I had an issue with was a Pro TC flipover where the some of the bolts broke when tightened, maybe overly tightened? But Clam customer service had two new bags of bolts out the next day and I had them in hand in a few days. I currently own a Jason Mitchell 5000 Thermal hub and a Kenai Pro Thermal Stealth. Both of which are outstanding shacks and used both of them this weekend for an ice fishing event. I use their Lift Suit and again no issues. I do know they put a lot of R&D into their product line, and would never knowingly ship inferior products out the door. I also like their tungsten jigs and the Leech Flutter spoon has iced northerns, lakers, smallies, perch, and rainbows just this weekend. Great stuff! Even their bag for the JM 5000 is plenty big enough to get the hub back into it easily with excess room for a jacket or two. No rips, tears or busted zippers like I've seen on other hub bags. 

[jethro]

I LOVE my Bigfoot XL4000T hub. I know it was made by sweat shop labor in China but the quality is WAY more than what I paid for. It was cheap, I am on my 4th year HARD fishing with it and it's still awesome.

[justafisherman]

Hello all. Id like to share with every one here my experience with Clam. For years Ive bought Clam ice shelters. Ive never had a problem. Here in Canada , Clam is noted  as the Mecca company of Ice Shelters. I purchased a Jason Mitchell 5000 Thermal. After using it for one season I noticed the material in the roof coming apart. I contacted Clam and they were kind   enough to ship a replacement shelter to me. When I unboxed the shelter and set it up , the first thing that caught my eye was the black band that encompasses the tent wasn't joint together properly. I had approximately half a inch to three quarter of a inch difference in alignment of shelter panels. I was shocked. On the inside , one of the window covers was half sewn on and one of the rings to attach the roof net was missing. I then contacted Clam and sent them pictures of what I had.Thayne the customer service manager help me and told me he would have a shelter  inspected first before shipping one out to me. I was totally happy with that. Its expensive to ship to Canada. Well to make a long story short . I received my new Shelter . It was just as bad and even maybe a little worst than the one they were replacing. I sent them another email. Thayne called me and told me they were done sending tents out. At that point I stopped him, and told him , I was done with Clam. Its pretty bad when the customer service manager and another Clam team member inspect a product , see the problems and still send out subquality workmanship to good loyal customers. I was told I have O.C.D. I have nothing against Thayne nor Clam. But when you tell a customer that time to time you get batches of shelters  in like this, and still sell it to the public . Something isn't right. I tried to sell the new unused tent this past weekend on Kijji . Out of the 6 people that came to see it 5 asked if I had repair work done to the shelter because of the mismatched panels of the tent. IF THEIR IS ANY "ICE TEAM MEMBERS "OR "CLAM PRO TEAM MEMBERS" OUT THERE, PLEASE TELL CLAM WHAT IS GOING ON . THEY ARE IN DENILE. No one would buy the tent either. Now I'm stuck with a substandard, supposed top of the line Jason Mitchell endorsed Clam product.

[mjk67]

Too bad, the Clam HQ is right up the road from me.  Kind of sad.  I think Eskimo has them beat in both pricing and quality....  I'd put their insulated Flip over shelters up against Clam any day of the week (exception - Jason Mitchell series).

[bowski76]

I bought my first shelter this year, an Eskimo Fatfish 949. We used it 5X and I love it. Great zippers, ice anchors and no blow ins with high winds. The windows are at a perfect height while sitting.
I read in the past about the bag being junk, Eskimo improved the bag along with a heavy duty zipper, the shelter easily fits in the bag, one one thing that could be improved is the Velcro straps could be a little longer.

[Ice Scratcher]

I'd like to see them turn things around and start focusing more on quality of the things they make.. I've been using Clam products since 1984.. I was pretty disappointed when they went Chinese...

I'm willing to pay more for quality, especially if it's made in the USA..

<°)))>{

[UFCreel]

I have a old Scout and an older Trap Pro. I changed out all the nuts and bolts to USA made. They do not come loose no more. No problems with tent material or stitching.

[havejigwilltravel]

 i have a fish trapII that is over 20 yrs old. have a scout that is 15 yrs old. also a fish trap pro that is 12 yrs old. no problems with any of them other than normal wear and tear.

[oleike]

CLAM..... thumbs down.....NUFF SAID

[justafisherman]

The part that  really saddens me, is no one will buy this shelter  from me . They think Its has been repaired do to the way the sewn mismatched panels look. Clam made me feel its all my fault by accusing me of being O.C.D. Even on the interior where the 600 danier fabric was sonic welded together has bits and pieces stuck between them. Very visible when theres light on the shelter . Its not fair . I'm the victim . Just a loyal paying Clam Customer.

[hartly]

Wow guys , thank you for all the input. Justfisherman ,it looks like your going through what I am. Isnt it a shame when a company is so brow beaten they lay the blame on the customer .I feel your pain brother.

[BackCountry Kyle]

The part that  really saddens me, is no one will buy this shelter  from me . They think Its has been repaired do to the way the sewn mismatched panels look. Clam made me feel its all my fault by accusing me of being O.C.D. Even on the interior where the 600 danier fabric was sonic welded together has bits and pieces stuck between them. Very visible when theres light on the shelter . Its not fair . I'm the victim . Just a loyal paying Clam Customer.

How much you asking?.... free shipping too, right?  Just kidding. That does suck Justa you spend that kinda $ it should be what they advertise it to be. Sad fact is.. it's all Chinese now. Maybe polar bird and trophy strike will pay some attention and keep it local even when they make it to the big time!  I'll give my $ to a North American company anytime I can as long as it's still made in North America but when your choices are China or China... what is a guy to do?

[justafisherman]

After reading this thread I decided to go to my neighbourhood cabelas. They had 3 Clam shelters on display. Can you believe 2 of the 3 had the same problems that mine and hartlys shelter have. The shelter wall panels were sewn uneven. It looked awe full . A few people looking at the shelters beside me made mention immediately at the horrible quality. The vistalink tent on display was the worst. When i questioned the sales associate about the quality of the tent he just shrugged his shoulders. He told me if I want a high quality tent just go buy an Otter. He also mention for every 10 Clam tents sold 5 are returned . He blames it on poor quality control from China.

[3300]

i used to buy clam products. i didn't know better back then.

the ice armor bibs snaps fall off. the brand new ice armor water proof gloves fell apart and leak. the watchmen's cap stretched out and won't stay tight and now are made way too big unless your head is the size of a basketball. reading about the gear box and their newest plate issues and now their tents being junk and won't stand behind is terrible. selling over priced jigs with paint in the eyes sounds like they are doomed too.

After reading this thread I decided to go to my neighbourhood cabelas. They had 3 Clam shelters on display. Can you believe 2 of the 3 had the same problems that mine and hartlys shelter have. The shelter wall panels were sewn uneven. It looked awe full . A few people looking at the shelters beside me made mention immediately at the horrible quality. The vistalink tent on display was the worst. When i questioned the sales associate about the quality of the tent he just shrugged his shoulders. He told me if I want a high quality tent just go buy an Otter. He also mention for every 10 Clam tents sold 5 are returned . He blames it on poor quality control from China.

he is right. i had issues with another brand and after speaking with the owner of the brand he told me qc is out of their hands. they have to deal with the wrath from being made in china. the designs are made here, but built in china.

when you see one flaw in assembly, it should follow the rest of the production code. meaning they ran so many thousands units thru manufacturing, it is too late to change the mistake(s). qc isn't going to eat those costs of flaws in manufacturing like they might here. those are contracts that have to be filled is how it is looked at.
so what is comes down to, is how long is that manufacturer hold the contract before it can be changed.

shappells contract runs out in 2017 and big changes are in the works for when that happens. they have a new insulated material already to deploy and design changes in their frames. they have been locked into contract for years and eagle claw had to assume the same manufacturer in order to be able to buy shappell.
it seems to be difficult if not impossible to change those plants who assemble over there and so the company you buy from have their hands tied and hope for the best. their name carries them, but only for so long.

frabill had the same issues with their zippers. china all but ruined their name too.

 if these companies bring it back to the states, these issues would be resolved.

[hawg]

I'm not sure how far away you are but I would go throw it through their window! They are hands down the scum of the industry in my book. 100% low bid manufacturer  junk!

[ice dawg]

I have no idea how QC could be out of the hands of a company having a product manufactured for them to sell. Don't accept an inferior product from the manufacturer. They will learn when their products are left sitting in the stores and warehouses. I have a two person flip and two hub shelters which have been trouble free for me. None of them is a Clam product, but possibly could have been if I had gone with Clam. Unfortunately nearly everything is manufactured overseas these days and our other choices are few. My two person flip is about 13 years old and still in excellent condition since I'm careful with my equipment.

[hawg]

Yes, most everything is manufactured oversees but it's to the ordering companies specs. They order junk they get junk.

[DTro]

You can have the best customer service in the world and it will only take so long before people get tired of having their old turd replaced with a new turd.  Hopefully the China thing will start to swing back our way and we start getting some quality back into the game here in the US.  Most people I know would gladly spend 20% more to get 20% better performance and life out of a product.  For some reason there is a sector of people that think they are getting a better deal when they buy 3 of something for $20 each instead of paying $40 once.

[oleike]

I've owned a number of shacks and the only one I had an issue with was a Pro TC flipover where the some of the bolts broke when tightened, maybe overly tightened? But Clam customer service had two new bags of bolts out the next day and I had them in hand in a few days. I currently own a Jason Mitchell 5000 Thermal hub and a Kenai Pro Thermal Stealth. Both of which are outstanding shacks and used both of them this weekend for an ice fishing event. I use their Lift Suit and again no issues. I do know they put a lot of R&D into their product line, and would never knowingly ship inferior products out the door. I also like their tungsten jigs and the Leech Flutter spoon has iced northerns, lakers, smallies, perch, and rainbows just this weekend. Great stuff! Even their bag for the JM 5000 is plenty big enough to get the hub back into it easily with excess room for a jacket or two. No rips, tears or busted zippers like I've seen on other hub bags. 

Jason who?

[justafisherman]

This is the response Clam Customer Service gave out for the misaligned shelter panels :

Thank you for your email.  As stated in a previous email along with the photos provided we are unable to warranty your shelter as the “defects” that you are stating are within our mfg sewing tolerances and the black bands not lining up perfectly will ultimately not affect the functionality of this shelter.  While  we understand that these slight imperfections can be bothersome we can not justify replacement as they are still within our mfg tolerance.  We appreciate your cooperation and understanding and as always value you as a Loyal Clam Outdoors Customer.
 
Sincerely,
 

Product Support Manager
Customer Service
Clam Outdoors
12135 Brockton Lane N.
Rogers, MN 55369

[vanhln]

wow, this would make me really question whether another dollar of mine goes to Clam.

[bearnoob]

This is the response Clam Customer Service gave out for the misaligned shelter panels :

Thank you for your email.  As stated in a previous email along with the photos provided we are unable to warranty your shelter as the “defects” that you are stating are within our mfg sewing tolerances and the black bands not lining up perfectly will ultimately not affect the functionality of this shelter.  While  we understand that these slight imperfections can be bothersome we can not justify replacement as they are still within our mfg tolerance.  We appreciate your cooperation and understanding and as always value you as a Loyal Clam Outdoors Customer.
 
Sincerely,
 
Thayne
Product Support Manager
Customer Service
Clam Outdoors
12135 Brockton Lane N.
Rogers, MN 55369

I would return it. You are never going to have peace of mind that it won't fail as soon as the warranty expires.

[gutshot_again]

Not to pile on, but not real impressed with Clam's jigs lately either.  Busted more than one trying to get the epoxy out of the hook eyes.  Rather than check the jigs to see if the eyes are open before buying, I just don't buy their stuff anymore.  Too bad as a drill plate & gear box would be nice.  But after seeing the fiasco with the gear box I'll likely not get one.  Sure someone else will come out with a better model this fall anyway.