Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsDisappointed
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 27, 2019
This is advertised as "4 way - 360 degree rotation." This is misleading! I have a small balcony and I tried regular patio umbrellas but they're just too big. So I decided to try a sports umbrella that I could clamp to my wooden deck chair.
I have mobility issues, so certain tasks are difficult for me. I tried clamping it to the chair arm so that it would be easy for me to access the buttons while sitting. However the pole is not very tall and unless you are a child or have dwarfism, there is no way that an average size adult would be able get under the umbrella to sit in the chair.
I next tried the back of the chair. My chair sits close to a wall, so I wanted to clamp it so that the knob was at the front of the chair instead of the back. This is not possible. I managed to get the clamp so that it was facing downward in a position to attach to the back of the chair. But when I tried putting the knob at the front the canopy ended up backwards. The long side was against the wall and it would be impossible to open the umbrella.
The pole near the clamp has a button to adjust the angle of the pole. However it doesn't turn the pole along the x-axis. It only tilts the pole left or right. Basically it's like looking at a clock face and moving the hands back and forth between 9 and 3.
I tried the button in the middle of the pole and that only moved the pole backwards and forwards at that joint.
My chair is on 3-inch risers to elevate it because I have a lame hip. Once the chair is on the risers, it's immobile. However I managed to pull it out about an inch so that I could clamp it with the knob behind the chair, and have the short part of the umbrella towards the wall.
In order to open the umbrella the whole pole has to be tilted forward about 20 to 30 degrees to allow room for the short part of the umbrella to open. This poses a problem accessing the opening mechanism at the top of the pole inside the umbrella. Because the canopy is elongated on one side (the front side the way it is clamped to my chair), you can't just reach in and open it. You have to put your whole upper body inside the closed umbrella so you can reach the opening mechanism. The mechanism isn't automatic/spring loaded. You have to push it right up until it locks. Closing it is a little easier because you can readily access the the mechanism. But again, your upper body ends up inside the umbrella as its closing.
The PDF on this page for the operation of the umbrella indicates that the canopy can be swiveled 360 degrees. It says that if you twist the top of the canopy that the canopy shaft will turn. This is not so. At least on the umbrella that I was sent.
So in summary, when the clamp is facing downwards and attached to the back of a chair the pole will tilt left and right and the top hinge will rotate back and forth. There is no 360 degree rotation.
The workmanship seems flimsy. You have to be careful how far you open the clamp because there's nothing to stop the small nut that's on the threaded bolt from unscrewing completely and falling off.
The material on the canopy seems on the thick side which hopefully means it's durable.
On a side note, I am a member of Prime. I placed my order for the umbrella and 2 other small ordered items (a travel cup and a small bottle of a cooking spice) on June 18th. All items were marked "Prime."
The spice an travel mug arrived by courier 2 days later on the 20th. They arrived by Courier.
The umbrella, despite the email stating "Prime 2 day shipping" indicated that my parcel would not be arriving until June 25th and that it was being delivered by Canada Post. It in fact did not arrive until June 26th. That is a far cry from a promised "2 day shipping."
The Box the umbrella came in was large compared to the size of the umbrella. It was a gross waste of Packaging. The umbrella was in a box and that box was in another larger box along with brown packing paper. The larger outer box could have fit 4 or 5 umbrella boxes.
I will be contacting Amazon and asking them why I am paying for a Prime Membership so that I can get two day shipping and my items are not being shipped according to their two day shipping policy.
