Coleman Retro Rechargeable Full-Size

Absolute rubbish. Bought new in 2022. Never used but stored dry in my garage. Have charged it for emergency use during CYCLONE ALFRED and it’s RUBBISH. The same issues as everyone else - slight flicker when connected otherwise dead. No black colouring on bulb. No apparent issues - it’s shiny red, new and cost over $100. I wish I’d read the reviews… Read more

but it’s COLEMAN right. Supposed to be reliable. Do NOT buy. You are better off buying a $20 lamp from Bunnings. I will not be buying Coleman again because you must have reliability with these products

has lasted me for years – highly reccomended as long as you charge it after the batterys have been exhausted charge it straight away for 24 hours. i always keep it in a charged state and recharge every month regardless of use this keeps the battery from losing power and damage to the cells once a cell collapses from lack of charging it ruins the pack. i do this with all my… Read more

torches recharge 1 or 2 times a month regardless of use. i also recharge my mobile phone every day never drain the batterys completly. yes globes are hard to get try ebay there maybe a led eqivellent.

Great and not available no more – I’ve bought on and it wasn’t working do I’ve tryed yo fix it now I have a box full of tiny pieces and font think I’m ever going to reassemble this light again as I can’t buy any of the parts I’ve needed to fix this light so it’s a great light ad long as it works

Lemon – The light worked well for the first few months, then the battery/ light died however long you recharge it. High price for a dud. Let down by Coleman. Do not buy unless using it regularly. Show details

Don't bother!!! – Worst investment ever, wish I’d read these reviews before buying it. Mine is suffering all the ‘usual’ problems it seems-recharging/part replacements. Save yourself a lot of time and wasted effort by NOT buying one of these.

RUBBISH – The battery charge does not last for more than several hours: that is how it has been since we purchased it 8 years ago. What is more it is not possible to replace the battery anyway. Do not waste $$ purchasing this product.

Sorry, Coleman! Disappointed! – Our Retro Rechargeable is about 10 years old and worked great for a few years. As Hurricane Irma approached, I pulled it out charged it up for 24 hours. The main light flickers when plugged in & nightlight works (when plugged in) but nothing works when unplugged. I would buy a new battery, because I loved this lamp!, but instruction manual has… Read more

nothing on how to even access the battery compartment. That's the disappointment for me. Good thing our 20-plus-years-old fuel-fired Coleman lantern still fires up!

Don't buy for the long term – Bought this for camping and it worked well for two trips. After that the battery wouldn't charge up completely so went back to BCF to get a replacement battery, was advised that Coleman only do replacement parts on line, will not even supply their retailers. Coleman's on line catalogue shows no picture of the battery so you cannot be sure of what… Read more

you are buying, and even though I provided the model number they sent me a battery that does not fit. Too much hassle, too hard to deal with, will be looking for camping gear from now on that is not Coleman

Rubbish – I bought two of these units ,used them twice only for a couple of hours, I lost the receipt ... Tried to see if it was the charger , so used the other charger and no good ...! Let it go for a while and now the other one doesn't work $140 down the drain....

no problems at all – i take it camping and have used it during last storm no power for 3 days and it lasted no problem. i have owned mine for 18 months with no issues at all

Dont bother- a Dud! – Sadly hav to agree with the previous comments. I have already had ours replaced twice at Rays (who are very good, and I hang onto the recipt). Yesterday got it out to charge up, left it on all day/night... It's not charging up! Now from past experience I've done everything I'm supposed to from day 1. Even put it on charge after camping before… Read more

packing it away. It will be back to rays today for a refund! Not bothering to replace it! Very disappointing Coleman. You really need to get your act together with this!

7 years of lantern hell – --Real letter to the Coleman Product Manager--- Dear Coleman Product Manager, Seven years ago I bought one of your infamous red lanterns. First charge and use when camping was fine but on the second trip, however many months later, the main light didn't work—only the night light. Back to BCF for the first exchange. The second red lantern had… Read more

exactly the same problem (note these problems are only found out once you're a long way from home and you're left without a tent safe light for the entirely of the camping trip). Back to BCF for second exchange (3rd red lantern). Again the same thing happened. Back to BCF to tell them to stuff their red lantern where lanterns don't shine (when they work that is). The BCF sales guy admitted that the red lanterns do have an issue in regard to the main light packing in and only the night light working. I said give me anything but a Coleman, but against my better judgement the sales guy talked me into the 'green' Coleman lantern which apparently didn't suffer from the same problem and, this was the clincher, it had a regular battery pack as backup if the rechargeable one failed.

As expected on the next trip away the rechargeable battery failed, but no fear, I had the regular battery backup. We'll that was short lived because the battery container is so badly designed that the slightest knock causes it to jump open and/or fall out of the lantern—you do realise that you're supposed to be making equipment for camping and not an old aged home? We put up with this nonsense for a while until our latest trip to Morton Island a few weeks ago where even with the battery pack in (and treating it like a bone china cup), the bloody thing still didn't work. If you slapped it just right it might go on for a while until a mozzie landed on it and it went off again. It's now seven years since I bought that first red lantern and I've not had a single trip away without some kind of trouble with your lanterns and in most cases we simply didn't have tent light for duration of the trip.

After seven years I'm not interested in receipts and taking the thing back to BCF, I'm just putting it in the bin and will be buying some other brand—anything has to be better than one of your lanterns. I don't think I've ever come across such a poor product and it's the one you have embedded in your logo!

On a positive note—your North Star gas lantern is fantastic, bought at the same time, it has never skipped a beat. Perhaps you should give the North Star design team a crack at developing a decent electric lantern?

Didn't work x 4, Putting it in the bin

Useless – Paid top dollar for this lovely looking lantern. If, as all the reviews suggest it is meant to be on charge all the time, why is it not explained or written in the instructions. We have two of these and now cannot get a replacement globe and doubt that it will work if we find one. I would like my money back. I am disappointed that Coleman would… Read more

put their name on this as it is unreliable. Who goes camping every month??? Looks good Unreliable, won't hold a charge, globes impossible to source, wrong instructions