Customer Reviews

Bounce-Rite Big Bounce 14 Foot Trampoline with enclosure

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We got this about a week ago and even though the weather has not been very warm outside yet our four girls are on it every day. This is our families' first trampoline and I have to say that it's a pretty good one to start out with if you have little kids. I got the biggest one I could find because I wanted them to have plenty of room to bounce around without knocking heads. I know its best if only one at a time jumps but, come on, what's the fun in that? With the side netting and plenty of room to bounce around it's relatively safe.

I'm a big guy and pretty mechanically minded and I've put trampolines together before for my sister but it's really easy to do. It only took me a little more than an hour to do put this together by myself. I wanted to surprise the kids when they got back from school. Here are some tips:

WEAR GLOVES! There are a lot of pinch points you can get your hands really hurt on and the metal bars are really dirty. They've got some kind of metal grindings and oil all over them and if that gets into a cut you can forget about that ever healing up.

When putting the black bouncing pad on the frame only install 1 out of every 4 or 6 springs the first time around depending on how strong you are, and then slowly add more as you go around. So put one on and skip 3 to 5 spots than put another one on and do this all the way around first. This way you are not having the world's hardest tug of war with 50 springs as you go around to the other side. It does come with a hook tool for putting the springs on but if you do this than you really don't need to use it.

I wouldn't recommend this for older kids only because the frame is small and the joints don't look like they could handle too much lateral pressure from big kids jumping from one side of the tramp to the other. They are probably going to need to be spot welded in a few years. I'm about 250 lbs and the tramp will hold me but it sways a lot.

FIRST TIME TRAMPOLINE BUYERS I'm sure, like me, you've done some research online and probably have read or heard of some pretty negative things about trampolines and enquires. They are all true! I grew up around trampolines and have had and seen some really bad enquires. The worst are falling off the tramp or landing on the bar. With the netting on this one and the padding it limits that possibility. Could it happen? You bet'cha! So use your head. The other is back enquires from jumping. If your kids have not jumped on a trampoline much they probably don't have the core muscles needed. Let them bounce at their own pace before rocketing them into the stratosphere to build the support they need.

The health benefits for cardiovascular function have been well documented regarding rebounding on a trampoline. Plus you throw in the fun they can have while doing something. Bumps and bruises happen but it's a great way to learn in your Childs development.

I bought the 14' for my 9 year old 45# daughter 2 years ago. Withing 6 months the enclosure was coming off, the pad would not stay on and is rotted and falling apart and at 18 months the mat stitching is coming apart causing springs to fall off rendering the trampoline unusable. When I called in they simply stated that their performance was superior to others BUT for the price I paid I should not expect it to last as long as more expensive brands. Come on...18 months! They also said we must have exceeded the weight limit. WRONG!!! I should have spent more and bought one that would at least last more than a year. They could not even sell me a new mat! Now they won't even answer my emails. I am going to have to have one custom made because no one has one that exact size with the correct number of rings. It is going to cost me more to replace the broken parts than I originally paid. I guess we all know we get what we pay for.

Unfortunately we haven't been able to use this trampoline yet because of the weather....can't wait til spring! But I will say that the customer service for the trampoline has been great. It did take three attempts to get the trampoline here in one piece but Bounce Rite was way ahead of the game. Before I even knew that the first one had been damaged by Fed Ex they had already sent me a second one. When the second one was returned by Fed Ex because of damage in shipment two days before Christmas, Bounce Rite sent me a third trampoline shipped express air so that it would have a chance to arrive before Christmas. It did and my son got the gift that he wanted for Christmas. The trampoline arrived no worse for wear even though the boxes had seen better days. From my inspection of the components everything looks to be very well constructed and I can only hope that the performance of the product comes close to matching the performance of the company's customer service. If I can I will update this when we get everything set up.

Trampolines should be taken off the market

Trampoline manufacturers know their product is being used by most customers in an unsafe manner. Two weeks ago to this day an adult member of my family found out the hard way how dangerous this product, one that lurks in every wholesale club around the nation, can be. He almost lost his life. It will never be the same.

A 'face plant' fall resulted from re-bounce on the trampoline and he suffered a Central Cord Syndrome injury. Google that one and find out what he and I and the rest of our family, including his wife and children now know: Dad will never be the same and may never walk nor use his hands again. His C5 has been removed, a result of the accident, but while that surgery hit an artery and almost killed him outright, the herniated disk removal did not change the health of his spinal cord.

It all happened innocently. Children around the neighborhood can be seen jumping on trampolines. Three, four, five kids. They play a game called "popcorn" where all jump to bound a sitting child, seated in the center, into the air. A drive through the neighborhood made two things clear: 1) There are a growing number of trampolines, no doubt due to aggressive marketing; 2) Multiple children jump on them.

Yes, there are apparently fine print safety instructions worded just right... as in just right to keep the manufacturers away from liability in lawsuits. No, there is no system to keep more than one person off of a trampoline. Yes, my contention is that manufacturers are aware that their product is used customarily in an unsafe manner.

My family now has a handicapped person. A family man, he just lost his livelihood as a mechanic. One that may be incontinent, unable to walk or use his hands for the rest of his life because he did not know the danger posed by this product.

Trampolines are professional gym equipment that has no place in the hands of consumers. Like cigarette company executives, the makers know their product is unsafe. Almost 100,000 people find that out every year. Like my family member, sudden tragedy is only a moment away when one owns a trampoline.