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An experience yesterday inspired me to type up this gripe / product review.

Last year, I finally solved my IG transporting woes with the purchase of a dedicated transport solution, the aluminum KR Multicase. I got the double sized model which holds (in my configuration) 160 foot troops, numerous large models suck as heavy weapon teams and 3-4 vehicles in absolute comfort. The price wasn't bad, it included shipping and the UPS man brought it to my door, so all was well for a while. On the surface, the product seems to live up to the hype, everything inside is well insulated from casual knocking around, and with the lid sealed, I could flip the case around without any damage to the contents. On the annoyance side, it turned out that the case was extremely prone to scratching, and the black-coated thin aluminum panels show each and every blemish as a bright metallic scratch. These quickly added up producing a very untidy and unappealing appearance. In other complaints, the hinges turned out to be very flimsy and the locks a complete joke, even by suitcase-lock standards

What broke the camel's back for me, though, was what happened yesterday. Following a game, I packed up my minis and caught the bus. I didn't even notice that anything was wrong until I sat down, which is when I discovered this: http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s319/agamemnon667/krmulticase.jpg

Somehow, without being dropped or otherwise grossly mishandled, one of the thin plastic corner pieces had shattered. Since the sides of the case aren't actually glued to the corner supports (as it turns out), this was enough to knock out an entire side and spill some of the contents (guardsmen, in this case). Maybe if I'd dropped it, this kind of damage would be explicable, but the worst that could have happened yesterday was some random passer-by absent-mindedly kicking it. Had I actually dropped the case, I'm certain the broken section would have given way in a much more dramatic fashion, to the sorrow of my collection.

Frankly, I expected better from a 90€ product, especially one that's advertised by throwing it out of moving vehicles.

Looks like you had some poor luck. I own two KR cases (single and double) and both of them are solid and have taken a battering without complaint. I would contact the owner and see about getting a replacement if you've had it a very short time and it's fallen to pieces like that.

It feels like a short time, but it's actually been over a year, so no point in contacting KR. Besides, I wouldn't trust the safety of my collection on another one of their products ever again.

First up contact KR. They are a small business and will be more inclined to deal with problems like this. If they don't play ball then there is the first and foremost way of getting you own way - kick up a stink, piss and moan till you get your own way then say you will do the same thing in a public forum i.e what you are already doing.

Finally Agee you may find that you do have recourse against KR if they have sold you a product that is not fit for purpose, which as you describe it it wasn't.

Under the UK Sale of Goods Act 1979 you have recourse with the retailer (not manufacturer unless it was they that sold it to you directly) after any limited warranty that was offered up to and including 6 years. (this is also backed up by EU directives but the UK Law is strongest in this case [please excuse the pun]). This entitlement extends so far as to allow you to demand repair or replacement of faulty goods if they do not stand a reasonable test of time.

I am very interested in the outcome of this as I just got one of these myself and thought it was rather good, looks of course can be deceptive.

Worst case, if you write them or email them and tell them of your problem, they do nothing, so nothing has changed, however, they just MIGHT be cool guys who would want to know about a serious flaw in their product. So, best case, they might send you a freebie, that even if YOU cant use it, you could sell for cheap to someone, all for notifying someone about a defect.

I know if I were putting out a product, I would DEF. want to know about any problems people are having.

If KR dont replace the case I would suggest http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/carry-tool-boxes/17-3-4-quarter-inch-x-12-3-4-quarter-inch-x-5-3-4-quarter-inch-aluminum-case-35777.html probably not guaranteed for anything but, hey! its only 20 bucks

Sorry to hear about your case and figures. Yea BF is pricey, you get what you pay for.

Agamemnon2 wrote:It feels like a short time, but it's actually been over a year, so no point in contacting KR.

You've had it long enough that you don't feel they should be replacing it in when it breaks.
Yet you feel it was also still too new to be breaking.

?

If you feel that a year is a suitable lifespan for the item then why be complaining about it? If you feel it should have lasted longer then ask them to make it right.

Either way, common courtesy says you raise the issue with KM and give them a chance to make it right before you come on here and complain about it.

Scott-S6 wrote:

Agamemnon2 wrote:It feels like a short time, but it's actually been over a year, so no point in contacting KR.

You've had it long enough that you don't feel they should be replacing it in when it breaks.
Yet you feel it was also still too new to be breaking.

?

If you feel that a year is a suitable lifespan for the item then why be complaining about it? If you feel it should have lasted longer then ask them to make it right.

Either way, common courtesy says you raise the issue with KM and give them a chance to make it right before you come on here and complain about it.

I agree. It's unfair to complain about someone without first consulting them to rectify the situation.

Popsicle wrote:I agree. It's unfair to complain about someone without first consulting them to rectify the situation.

If this a design flaw common to their entire product line, replacing this specific case does not rectify the situation. It is not unfair to allow others to make an informed decision whether to buy the product.

True.

However, their response to the problem and willingness or otherwise to rectify it has the potential to cast the situation in a very different light.

If the problem is comparatively common but they provide a replacement then it's less of an issue than if the problem is rare but they refuse to do anything about it.

All good points.

I've never used their metal boxes, but I use their cardboard ones. When one of the hinge areas had a small tear, and looked a bit more frayed, they just sent me a new one for free. No arguments, no problems. And let me keep the existing one, which I 'mended' with tape and use for vehicle storage.

Now, this was after a couple of weeks rather than a year, but they were very helpful. Is it possible that your case HAS taken a big bump in the past, and some minor thing yesterday knocked off something that was already loose?

I'd contact KR - they've been very helpful to me before - and see what they say...

These Pelican guys make bruddy good cases but they are not cheap.

http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail_storm.php?Case=iM2500

It's sad to see how this worked out: I had looked at these products based upon your recommendation in a different thread, but went with Sabol instead for now. The picture of the broken corner really shows a different, flimsier construction then the external shots their website implies.

I also am saving up for Battlefoam.

Got ten of the KR cases and not had any issues. They are used weekly to go to the club.

I would contact them myself, they are generally very good at helping out.

Seems a tad unfair to complain and tarnish their reputation without doing so and seeing what they say.

Yeah, I've had no problems with my case. It does seem like an unusually shoddy job, so call the company up - can't hurt to try.

AlexHolker wrote:

Popsicle wrote:I agree. It's unfair to complain about someone without first consulting them to rectify the situation.

If this a design flaw common to their entire product line, replacing this specific case does not rectify the situation. It is not unfair to allow others to make an informed decision whether to buy the product.

Yeah except he doesn't really know why it happened........

Big P wrote:Seems a tad unfair to complain and tarnish their reputation without doing so and seeing what they say.

I hardly see how buying a product that turns out to be of shoddy construction puts an onus on the customer to do followups prior to pointing out said shoddy construction.

Ouze wrote:

Big P wrote:Seems a tad unfair to complain and tarnish their reputation without doing so and seeing what they say.

I hardly see how buying a product that turns out to be of shoddy construction puts an onus on the customer to do followups prior to pointing out said shoddy construction.

Have you seen the test videos of these things being thrown out of a moving vehicle? I would hardly call them shoddy construction. Having owned a few of these I would say this is not the case. Hell guys at our gaming club have tested these by throwing them out of a 2nd storey window.

One off manufacturing faults do happen. If it really was a broke for no reason then why would you NOT go to the manufacturer to try and rectify it first???

Ouze wrote:

Big P wrote:Seems a tad unfair to complain and tarnish their reputation without doing so and seeing what they say.

I hardly see how buying a product that turns out to be of shoddy construction puts an onus on the customer to do followups prior to pointing out said shoddy construction.

So if your car broke down after a year, you wouldnt go back to the garage... Just post on a forum?

How do you know all of them are 'shoddy'? Has he examined the entire production run to find a manufacturers fault?

We do not also know what else has happened to the case, or how it has been treated over the year he has had it.

Personally, I think people winge too much on forums, especially when they dont think they have a chance of getting a consumer issue resolved, whether rightly or wrongly.

I work in consumer affairs. First piece of advice in ANY consumer issue is to talk to the company who supplied you if you have a problem.

Sadly the onus is on the customer to follow it up, I dont know many companies that are able to predict faults and contact you.

The whole item would be of more value if he had the companies reply to his concerns, as it is, all this is just heresay and rumour. How do you not know that this is being done to tarnish a competitors product?

I have dropped an email to KR with a link to the thread to see what their response would be.

Big P wrote:So if your car broke down after a year, you wouldnt go back to the garage... Just post on a forum?

As my car costs substantially more then a army man case, I have a different expectation for support, yes?

Big P wrote:How do you know all of them are 'shoddy'?

I don't know - nor did I say - any such thing.

Big P wrote:Has he examined the entire production run to find a manufacturers fault?

Would doing so change the base fact his case fell apart with normal use due after about a year, due to poor manufacturing?

Big P wrote:We do not also know what else has happened to the case, or how it has been treated over the year he has had it.

Of course we do, because he posted what kind of treatment it received. Read the post.

Big P wrote:Personally, I think people winge too much on forums, especially when they dont think they have a chance of getting a consumer issue resolved, whether rightly or wrongly.

I work in consumer affairs. First piece of advice in ANY consumer issue is to talk to the company who supplied you if you have a problem.

Sadly the onus is on the customer to follow it up, I dont know many companies that are able to predict faults and contact you.

The whole item would be of more value if he had the companies reply to his concerns, as it is, all this is just heresay and rumour. How do you not know that this is being done to tarnish a competitors product?

Because the person doing so has recommended the product prior to it's early failure, and has pictures showing that a load-bearing bracket is actually made of plastic?

Big P wrote:I have dropped an email to KR with a link to the thread to see what their response would be.

Good on you. I hope they make it right. And I am not blind to what you are saying - it's a good practice to follow up with a company in this sort of a situation to see how good their post-product support is. However, as the case pictured does not seem to be well assembled, it's not on the customer to follow up with them.

You say you bought 10 of them, so obviously you have a personal investment to defend here, and I understand that. But the fact his case broke, perhaps more easily then it should, doesn't take anything away from you.

Big P wrote:So if your car broke down after a year, you wouldnt go back to the garage... Just post on a forum?

There's nothing stopping him doing both.

How do you know all of them are 'shoddy'? Has he examined the entire production run to find a manufacturers fault?

It's not a manufacturing fault, it's a design fault: the way the case was designed makes the plastic corner pieces all that holds the case together. By definition, it exists in the entire production run.

The whole item would be of more value if he had the companies reply to his concerns, as it is, all this is just heresay and rumour. How do you not know that this is being done to tarnish a competitors product?

If somebody posts about a product failure with photographic evidence to back up their claim, your first assumption should not be that he is a competitor conducting a false-flag operation with a fake KR Multicase fabricated with specific design flaws in order to tarnish their good name. That's conspiracy theory level crazy.

Ouze wrote:

Big P wrote:So if your car broke down after a year, you wouldnt go back to the garage... Just post on a forum?

As my car costs substantially more then a army man case, I have a different expectation for support, yes?

So because you don't expect good support on the case you don't think it's worth asking?

Argh!!! Enough multi-quoting in this thread, guys! Just respond all at once, nobody wants to read things broken out line by line, as it also generally leads to things being taken out of context and starting flame wars...

On-topic, it is a shame to see what happened to that case, and quite shocking. I am glad to know about it, but I do think you might get a replacement if you contact them, or at least some sort of consideration for what seems to be a manufacturing defect.

I highly doubt that KR cases are anything but rebranded $5 Chinese ****.

.... wait, what? We're not supposed to multiquote? That just seems like you're going to have a post with 2 pages of replies stacked with replies before getting to a 2 sentence post which requires you skim the wall of text above it to see what they meant. You say "nobody wants to read things broken down line by line" but that seems to me to be the best way, even the ONLY way, to effectively to break down any post with more then one concept.

Is this your personal preference, or the stance of DakkaDakka moderation?

Scott-S6 wrote:

Agamemnon2 wrote:It feels like a short time, but it's actually been over a year, so no point in contacting KR.

You've had it long enough that you don't feel they should be replacing it in when it breaks.
Yet you feel it was also still too new to be breaking.

Because I have no evidence, for one thing. For all KR knows, I deliberately broke the thing and am now angling for some kind of handout. I mean, putting myself in their shoes, I wouldn't offer any compensation based on the kind of evidence put forth here.

I would definately speak to them. Daryl is a stand up guy. If he feels that the breakage you had is out of the ordinary then I'm sure he'll sort you out.

I had a rivet fail on one of their soft cases and the replacement was with me next day.

ETA, the fact that it's just over a year is neither here nor there. UK consumer law is all about the expectation of quality. I would say that anyone reasonable would expect a case like that to last more than a year.

Ah well. I sent them a quick email linking to the photo and telling the story in brief.

MunkeyKungFu wrote:

One off manufacturing faults do happen. If it really was a broke for no reason then why would you NOT go to the manufacturer to try and rectify it first???

This, I dont doubt that you had a issue with the case but it could have been something that slipped through quality control, or one of the line workers had too much Rice beer the night before, who knows but these things happen all the time.

The biggest factor is not "do you have manufacturing issues from time to time" its "how do you respond to said issues"

edit fixed quotes