I bought a ultimate turnout last year- the kind with the 10 year guarantee. Well, it was holding up really well - unsure if I should blame my guy or his new turn-out buddy… but it is pretty badly damaged. I would say it’s fixable, but I know how this goes from years of experience - if I’m lucky the repair will last a week. Has anyone turned in their damaged turnout? Does it need to be totally destroyed or just badly damaged? The website doesn’t have many details.
I have used the warranty twice. Both times a pasture mate tore the turnout. They were very good about replacing it. It being damaged was enough to get it replaced. This is the ONLY reason I am still buying blankets from them. I believe I contacted them and they sent me a return label. Then mailed me out a new one.
I have always been lucky that the size was in stock. Not sure how they would handle it if they don’t have your needed size.
I had the front buckles on one break.
I contacted Smartpak and they said the replacement buckle straps were back ordered at the time so I had two choices. I could wait for them to come in or I could take it somewhere and have it fixed and they would pay for it (by crediting my next order for that amount, I have monthly Smartpaks). I chose to wait for the back ordered buckles.
I believe the blanket has to be cleaned before it is mailed back. Best to just contact SmartPak and they will tell you how to go about replacing it.
Oh lordy…getting that clean after it was ripped off in the field :no:
also just checked and they don’t have the same one in the right size right now. Craptastic.
@awaywego I have had really good luck with them replacing these blankets. Twice for rips, and once for a waterproofing issue. All three times they were fabulous. The first was a broken buckel on a blanket I did not even buy myself, it came with the pony I purchased. She busted the chest buckle the day before a terribly wet cold spell. They overnighted me a whole new blanket and told me to donate the broken one to a rescue as it was easily repaired.
The second time, they were also out of the exact blanket I had. They offered me a replacement of a different color which was fine with me. I did have to do a paid exchange to get it quicker though. I purchased the new one, and they refunded that purchase price when the ripped one arrived with their return label.
The third time I had to wait out a replacement for the return to be complete. It took about 3 weeks total. A bit long in my opinion, as we typically need these blankets when they break. If I need to do it again, I will do the paid exchange route for sure.
I know some people have been having bad luck with smartpak as a whole lately, but I have always had great luck calling their 1800 number to get any issues straightened out.
I was leasing a horse who had one of them and tore the lining somehow. I sent them an email explaining that it was a lease and that I didn’t have purchase info, etc and they just asked for the owners name, looked it up to confirm it was a legit purchase, and sent me a new one. Even personalized like the original was.
I did ship the old one back to them, but I don’t recall having to clean it first.
I was so impressed with this transaction that when it came time to buy my mare a new midweight, I bought it from them 
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From This Page it says to wash it before returning it (you have to scroll down to the Horse Blanket option and hit it to see this).
If you’re returning a used blanket due to damage or defect, please wash it before sending it back – we cannot process returns on unwashed blankets.
Checking back in to say I called Smartpak - I had posted originally because I was unsure just how DESTROYED it would need to be to qualify for replacement. It was fairly easy - I explained the issue, he confirmed what I suspected about not having a same model & size replacement available - he actually made reference to the problems discussed at length in the other thread about their recent inventory issues. They were nice enough to “upgrade” me at no cost to the new model since they won’t be getting more winter inventory now.
As the owner of countless damaged & destroyed Rambos, I will now 10000x recommend the Smartpak ultimate with guarantee over paying 2-3x as much for a Rambo 
At least it’s going to be warm enough next week to get it washed. Grrr.
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They recognize that their stock is low right now and were very accommodating with me in letting me exchange my damaged blankets out for models that are slightly different. Unfortunately their hoods are almost completely sold out, so I did end up with hoods that don’t match the blankets.
Yes, they will stand behind their guarantee. I returned an ultimate sheet to them 3x (horse wasn’t dominant & didn’t care if his buddy found the sheet a convenient handle to drag with, but the third one survived) & they replaced it no problem. It was definitely worth it with that horse to spend the $ ONCE. you can usually use any return label from a sp order to send things back, it doesn’t have to be the one that came with the sheet. They just asked me to clean it “the best I could” - since it’s not like a damaged blanket has much resale value.
I do not think the policy to clean it has anything to do with resale but more to do with them not having to open a package of a mud and manure covered mess.
I have to assume they actually look at them when they get them back, or they would not bother paying for the shipping to send them back.
I work at Dover. Yes, we definitely look at the blankets that come back under guarantee. Some of them come back completely caked with manure. It’s not very pleasant. Right after working with a blanket, we then have to examine your nice white show shirt that you never even tried on, so it can go back to stock…oops.
Nasty! I feel bad washing them because I don’t want to destroy the waterproofing more! I wish there was a way to just submit pics of it on the horse and leaking so I could just trash it without shipping it back. What a waste of money to do that. Maybe someday?
i did return a Smartpak Uktimate twice and while they stood by it, I was in the lurch without the blanket for a few weeks. I switched back to Rambos. I dont want to have to have 6 blankets per horse! I wash Rambos once a year. They hold up great.
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I feel the same way about washing blankets - I actually don’t even use rug wash on the outside of mine anymore, I just scrub the caked-on mud off and only use a mild detergent on the inside - I figure they will only get dirty again so as long as they are clean enough to put away, I call it good. I’m sure people at the barn think of me and my horse as Pig Pen :sadsmile:
I hope that the returned turnouts are donated (for a tax deduction of course!) to rescues who may be able to use with repairs or sell for fundraising.
Both of my horses have repeatedly ripped the front closure off the Rambos (either the original style or the snaps - I haven’t tried the disc closure). I don’t know if now that they’ve been ripped off once that they are just never sewn back on strong enough again or that they have learned it’s fun and easy to do but I am pretty much giving up with those unless they have something on over top of it which of course is not always do-able. I feel like I should just get them repaired and sell all of them at this point - they are completely unusable as soon as the front closure is ripped. They’re all in perfect condition since I so rarely get to use them 
