sMrt Design "The Wind Charmer Umbrella - Windproof Strong Double Canopy Construction - Compact Portable Lightweight for Easy Travelling - Auto Open Close Button [Life-time Warranty]

I used this twice, and one of the ribs broke. I went to Amazon to return it, and I missed the return window by four days. So now I'm stuck with this stupid broken umbrella. Ugh. Also, be aware that it's very heavy. It made my purse weigh a ton and the extra weight made my neck hurt. I'm sure the open/close mechanism is heavier than that of most small umbrellas, which makes sense, but just keep in mind that it's very heavy.UPDATE: I contacted the sMrt Design people ([email protected]) and they issued a refund for the broken umbrella. I thought that was nice. BUT they also contacted me the same day and asked me to take down my "negative" review here on Amazon, which is not only against Amazon policy, it's really friggin' uncool.

Failed Open/Close Mechanism - I've had only a few opportunities to use this umbrella. When I first received it I was impressed with the quick opening feature as well as the quick collapse closing feature (retracting it is still a manual task). It was raining today so I brought this with me in the car. On my first stop, I opened the umbrella as expected, but when I went to close it, it would stay collapsed, it kept wanting to expand again.I thought after opening and closing it again while in the store, it may have gotten back in functioning shape, this was not the case.It popped open on its own and I walked back to my car, I got in and pressed the close button, it collapsed the umbrella, but when I slid the unit closed it tried to pop back open on me in the car. This was a shear disappointment as I would have expected this from a $4.00 umbrella purchased in the Walgreen's, but this unit came with a premium price.I gave it the unceremonious treatment of the $4.00 umbrella it was behaving like and tossed it to the trash.Time to find a better umbrella.

Many of the people who's reviews I just read, are lucky with this umbrella. I purchased this on Oct. 31, 2016 and just today, Sept. 7, 2017 I tried to open for the FIRST time. The shaft extended, the umbrella did not open and would not lock open when manually attempted. Tried to get shaft to collapse to original compact size, didn't work either. If you bought this and got 10-20 uses out of it, I guess you're lucky. This is by far the most useless item I have ever found on Amazon. What a waste of money. There should be a rating lower than 1 star, maybe a Stop Sign!

This umbrella is fantastic, it's sturdy, built to last and does an excellent job of keeping me dry. My only complaint is that when you go to close it, it's really hard and I've had it pop back open a few times. You have to press it really hard to connect to the piece and for that reason alone I knocked off a star. I did like the little surprise of there being an extra casing for the umbrella. I would for sure order this again in a heartbeat, but I also know that it's a struggle to close. It's also very compact but not where it's very flimsy.

I have owned this umbrella for exactly a year. I have used it about 20 times and as of now it won't retract and the joints are rusted. I attempted to contact the company with the only email provided to discuss the "life time warranty" but my emails keep getting returned. When this product worked, it worked well initially but began to get harder to close and now is in a permanently open position. I would not purchase another product from this company. I gave one star for initial functionality and one star for the fact it stood up to high winds. Customer service is yet to be seen so I can not give any stars for that or give any stars for longevity of product.

The umbrella isn't even a year old and it stopped function properly. The umbrella worked nicely for a few times, but the last time I used it, the umbrella wouldn't fully retract and close. I went to their website and contacted them, but I still haven't heard back from them, so don't be surprised if they don't honor their "Lifetime Warranty". 2 stars: 1 for it blocking the rain, 1 for it not flipping inside out as designed. Minus 3 stars for longevity of product and bad customer support.

It was excellent for a few rains (we don't get alot of rain in San Diego). After 4 months and a few uses, the spring broke and the umbrella shot off into the air when we pushed the release button. To replace the umbrella now for $25+ seems a bit steep for an umbrella. I am disappointed that there is not a better warranty for this "quality" of an umbrella. I wish it would have stayed in one piece :(

When it comes to umbrellas, I believe it's either a 1 star product or a 5 star product. You can claim "Certified Windproof" with blue arrows all around the product in the picture. You can boast about a double canopy construction, which is not a new and/or unique design. Though this is all irrelevant if the umbrella lacks the quality. After 1 year from purchasing this umbrella and using it twice, it has failed. One of the pockets which holds the rib of the umbrella has torn. This does happen with umbrellas, but not after a couple of uses during light showers. Sure, it will still keep those under the umbrella dry. However, this is not a quality product and would not recommend.