I was a faithful totes umbrella purchaser until this year. In the past 6 or so years I, I have purchased Totes umbrellas for myself and my family members as gifts. Quite naturally I told them never throw them away because they're guaranteed for life. Much to my dismay a few of the umbrellas broke after about a year. Since they were gifts, the gift bearer did not know the process for returning. Consequently, they gave me the umbrella and asked me to send for the replacement. I did this on several occasions. You can imagine how appalled I was to receive a letter stating I had received too many replacements in a two-year period. I felt very insulted by that letter. As of now, I no longer encourage or purchase Totes umbrellas myself. So if you are a Gift Giver of totes, please be conscious of how many times you do this. I wouldn't want you to get a letter like I did. I was very pleased with the totes service, response time , and the replacement. It was just that the letter offended me.