HOSELINK Automatic Retractable Garden Hose Reel with 8-Pattern Spray Nozzle, Wall Mounted Complete Watering Solution for Backyard, Garden, and Outdoor, 9/16" x 82-feet

UPDATED: Adding photos of bracket dimensions. This is a (hopefully) quick two-part review. Customer Service and Product. 1. Customer Service is awesome!! I read about Hoselink about 6 months ago online. Amazon has not had stock for a long time so I emailed Hoselink in Australia. Natasha (customer service lead) replied quickly apologizing for the lack of stock due to switching warehouses. She offered to keep me posted on stock availability in the US so I didn't have to keep checking Amazon. I received an email every few days with an update which I LOVED! Within a couple of weeks Natasha emailed me that Amazon had a limited stock so I jumped on and ordered it. Overall I think Natasha went above and beyond communicating with me. Customer Service is something that has been lost by a lot of companies in recent years so I very much appreciated feeling important. I didn't ask for anything other than an update, but she took the initiative to give back more than I ask for. 2. The product arrived as scheduled. The packaging is solid and well thought out. It is actually a bit heavier than I expected, but I didn't actually look at the product weight prior to ordering. The instructions for installation and use are clear and concise. The installation was a breeze. I was up and running within 15 minutes of un-boxing the product. In terms of usage it has only been in use for a few days, but it performs very well. Quick connect/disconnect components are solid. No drips or leaking (which was a huge reason I bought the product). I'll update this review after a few months of using the product. Concerns: - Although you can remove the hose reel from the mounting bracket it is pretty heavy. Not so heavy you don't want to walk around with it, but I doubt my wife can or would want to relocate the hose reel from the front to the back yard. - Theft potential. Yes, you can add a lock through the post that goes into the mounting bracket, but I still fear my shiny new Hoselink will get stolen. I use it 99% for the front yard and the mounting instructions state it performs best when the bracket is mounted at 36 inches from the ground. Well, that makes the whole thing pretty exposed so I've been carrying it back to the garage after usage. I'm sure my fear will fade, but it's still exists during the first week of usage.

I installed it a couple of weeks ago and am happy with it. My wife likes it, so it must be great. Everything works as expected and it does not leak. The hose is a better quality than I anticipated and the case more attractive than it appeared in the add pictures. The hose locks with a slight tug and retracts easily when you walk it back. The spray gun is solid and has a nice selection of sprays. My biggest concern was where to mount it, but I found a good spot. Mine came through with metric sizes in the directions for the drill bit and fasteners but 5/16 and 2” deep worked. I sent an e-mail to HOSELINK after installing and got a quick reply from Beau. The correct dimensions should be in future units. Communicating with this thoughtful company is a pleasant experience. I am a shopper who likes to read all the reviews and investigate all the pro sand cons. HOSELINK looked to me like the best bet. It was not the cheapest but considering all that is included and the eighty-two feet of hose, it is less than buying a quality manual real, hose and sprayer.

After trying many versions of the expandable hoses and ordinary hoses I was very tired of the expandable hose failures and mess and effort of trying to store the ordinary hoses. I finally got fed up and bought this self-retracting hose from Hoselink. I bought the product in Feb of 2018 and now it's been over 6 years later and the hose and mechanism still work fine. I replaced the feed hose from the faucet last year because the Arizona sun ate it up as it does with most everything, and it looked terrible but it still worked. The case of the hose still looks good after 6 years in the sun. I paid $169 for this hose in 2018 and I noticed now it's $249, so there's that. It does need some good effort to pull the hose all the way out but the self-retraction is worth the effort. I don't really have a problem with the water flow although the hose is 9/16" instead of 5/8" or 3/4" as some reviewers have mentioned. It's a good product but I hesitate to buy another one at the modern price of $249. I'm hoping this one lasts a least a few more years.

This is an update after being shipped a replacement. the first unit suffered a problem with the retraction mechanism shortly after I installed it. The replacement worked perfectly, though it's only been 2 weeks so far (but seems OK). It took some time to get a replacement due to their production delay. The support staff kept in contact continuously during this process (great). There are some advantages of this hose reel vs. others.. Primary advantages: the hose size and quality (thicker, reinforced connections) and the quick-connectors that are made of heavy duty metal and the included nice-quality 7-option trigger. The quick connectors make connecting and disconnecting easier though if you are like me, you'll just hook this up and never want to disconnect it. The mounting system and the handle at the top makes it quite easy to mount (this was no problem). That said, the retraction mechanism still seems potentially a bit finicky and subject to abrupt movements. This is probably why the product box says "DO NOT DROP". Be careful when moving the package from Amazon because there is no external marking on the shipping box from AMAZON about this. The markings on the INSIDE of the shipping (on the product box only). I have had other hose reels that suffer retraction problems too, so the moral of the story is treat this product with some respect, per the instructions; it will likely serve you well. Also, if you need support, because of the time difference, the best way is email with the excellent support crew in Australia who reached out multiple times to make sure my replacement hose reel was functional and up to their rigorous standards. I did not use the phone support, but the support team did reach out via telephone also which was generous given the time difference. The unit is made in China ; I don't have any data to say if there is any persistent quality control issue or not. I think the best bet here is to try out this unit and if you find something wrong in the warranty period, just report it and the company will definitively rectify it.

I bought and installed this hose reel in Australia a few years back and it has outlasted several other designs - even in the Aussie sun it is doing great! I have installed 4 different models in the U.S. and Australia and this brand was by far the best quality and has lasted the longest. The relative ease for install was also great. I have to admit, the build, quality and install impressed me so much that I sent an email to the owners to see if they sold them in the U.S. - unfortunately at the time they did not. However, this year they corrected that shortfall and as such, I bought one to make sure it is the same quality as what they sell in Oz - it is! As such, I will be equipping the house with several of these. Pros: - Quality (long life external housing and smooth internal mechanisms that outlast competition) - Length of hose (recommend you get the longest hose possible - you never know when you may need it) - Ease of install (choose your location carefully - like other models it pivots so make sure when it pivots that the reel and hose are not wearing a hole in something you care about) - Fittings (if you don't have these fittings then I recommend you go buy them right now - top quality and quick disconnects - no more screwing nozzles on and off (I haven't tried them in cold weather though)) - Unit has handle in case you want to remove the unit and bring in for the winter etc (It just lifts out of the wall mount) Cons: - More expensive than others - but you get what you pay for - I would prefer to pay for something to last then having to waste time replacing every couple years Update: Just ordered the second one here in the U.S. Great unit - just like the ones installed in Oz.

No more pushing behind the shrubs, no more hose lying around, no more leaks. This is the best investment I've made in outdoor gardening. Hose storage is much easier - no longer fighting the shrubbery to reel and unreel the hose. Super convenient, easy to use, and well made. I waited a season before buying a second one to make sure I was happy with the first. Needless to say, we now have one in the front as well as the back of the house. One tip (included in the instructions, but I didn't read them carefully) - It's easier to retract ALL of the hose if the pressure is let off. If the hose is still under pressure, it's more difficult to retract all the way. The last couple of feet may not feed back easily. If you release the pressure, problem solved. Although the instructions tell you to turn off the sill cock and release the pressure, I've found that just allowing the water to run through the hose while retracting works also, so if you're not done for the day, that's an option.

Easy to assemble and wonderful to use. I put it on a 4by4 that is a solid part of a sturdy fence. The unit is heavy and warrants a firm mounting. It is well calibrated and set on the safe side, that is it generally stops retracting with a foot or two of hose hanging down. The hose also has to be pretty well lined up with the unit to come out or go back in. I wet the hose a bit and drag it back into a good line up position and let it slide freely through a very loose micro cloth, which keeps the whole interior free of ground dirt. This unit is so nice, I want to keep it as a treasured tool.

We have a fairly large yard, and have a couple of faucets spaced about 40 yards apart. We had a 50 foot hose in a reel with a carry-handle. The reel contained an integrated rechargeable battery, which facilitated rewinding the hose when needed. My wife could easily carry the hose / reel / battery between the faucets, allowing her to water the entire yard. But the hose began to leak, so we looked for a replacement. When we bought this Hoselink item, we knew that even the long hose (82 ft) wouldn't reach the entire area. So, our plan was to install it and, if my wife & I liked it, to buy another wall bracket, and install it in a different area of the yard, and then to move the hose between brackets as required. However, as soon as the Hoselink arrived we realized that it was far too heavy for my wife to carry around - and that was without any water in the hose. So, we didn't even try to install it; it's been returned without unpacking it. We've bought a couple of light hoses instead. Unhappily, I had to pay myself to the return the Hoselink by UPS ground, which wasn't cheap. Another weight-related issue is where to mount the bracket. I am sure that it would work well when screwed into solid bricks, or into a wide wooden post (which is what quite a few of their users seem to do). However, in California, many houses have walls that are made of stucco (NOT stucco over cinder blocks - just a thin coat of stucco over a wire + paper lath), and I was reluctant to attach such a heavy item to thin stucco (especially as we'd be pulling at it when we were using the hose). I could have tried to find a wooden stud behind the stucco, but the holes in the hoselink bracket are far enough apart horizontally that we could only have attached one "side" of the bracket to a stud - the two remaining holes on the other side of the bracket would have been attached directly in the stucco. I'm aware of connectors that can be used with stucco, and have used them previously for small items - but I'm hesitant to use them for something this weight. Yes, I'm sure I could have come up with a way to do it, but given that my wife couldn't carry it, there was no point. I think that the advertising should make it MUCH clearer that it's really quite heavy. When I bought this, the Amazon page described the reel as "easy to lift and carry around for easy storage or relocation with an additional bracket". That may be true for a healthy young man; but it's not the case for a significant number of users. I have since seen that on some of the company's they do refer to the weight, and they even responded to a user's question by answering that "you may not want to try to move the hose if the two wall brackets are far apart". When I returned this item, I was contacted by a Hoselink employee, Beau, who wanted to know why I had returned it. He acknowledged that the water-filled hose would be hard for some people to move, and he wrote that, in his experience, people who buy two wall brackets intending to carry the hose between them often end up buying a second Hoselink (because it's too cumbersome to move, and because they like the product). Apparently the company is also developing videos to help with post-mounting; and they're developing a mounting post for the product. EDIT: Beau chose to comment, stating that my "negative" review is "unfair", I am editing my original review to respond to his comment. Note that a couple of days later, his comment was removed. I didn't know that was even possible! FIRST, in our communications Beau wrote "I really appreciate the feedback." Seemingly he doesn't appreciate it so much when it becomes public. NOTE that I told Beau, ahead of time, that I was going to post my comments on Amazon; here are my exact words "I'll be posting a review to Amazon soon, to alert others to the weight". SECOND, in his comment Beau says that "We don't want to make any assumptions about the physical ability of our customers.". Seriously? The page on Amazon states that is it "easy to lift and carry around". It's blindingly obvious that that statement makes assumptions about the physical ability of the customer. THIRD, Beau says that "Heavy is subjective". True enough. And so is "Easy to lift". FOURTH, Beau says that "we have stated the product weight clearly". Really? As I type this, it's not mentioned on the product description on the Amazon page. You have to read the "reader questions" to find out the weight (45 pounds). And if Beau's claim is true, why did he tell me that, as as result of my comments, he "will make some adjustments to ensure that perspective buyers know that using the reel in multiple locations may not be suitable for everyone. We don't want to make assumptions about the abilities of people, but if we can state the weight (with water) it will help others make an informed decision."?? That indicates to me that he acknowledges that the weight is NOT clearly stated on your Amazon page. BTW, Beau, it's "prospective" not "perspective". FIFTH, with regard to mounting the unit, Beau wrote that "we have thousands of customers who have had no issue mounting it to a wall, or cementing in a post to mount it to". Um, yes, I mentioned both possibilities in my review. My comment was regarding mounting on stucco. And if mounting is so easy, why did Beau tell me (exact words): "Mounting it does pose a challenge and we will be producing some videos on how to cement in a post for people who would like to go that route. In addition, we will be coming out with a post made for the reel which will make the process that much easier"? SIXTH, Beau wrote that "It's unreasonable to leave a negative review based for a product you haven't used". The ability to easily carry the hose around is part of its "usage". I determined that the hose is too heavy to be easily carried around. That was sufficient to show me that it could not be used as intended (and as advertised). SEVENTH, Beau wrote that "it's fair that you had to pay for the return postage". I disagree. NONE of the issues that I identified were mentioned on the product page. FINALLY - IMO Beau's Amazon comments, and the discrepancy between those comments and his comments to me directly, may be informative regarding customer service. EDIT August 2018. A couple of people have commented on my review. I am having trouble posting replies to those comments, so instead I am addressing those comments by editing my review. Bottom line, everything that the two commenters wrote was already addressed in my review. A. Dai said that "it should be obvious that this thing with 50 feet of hose is not going to be easy to carry around". As I wrote - we already HAD a 50 foot hose in a carrier, and MY WIFE COULD EASILY CARRY IT AROUND. So "it should be obvious" ?? Maybe to A Dai, but not in reality. That's why I said that the weight should be clearly stated; and BTW, it's actually close to 50 lbs, when filled with water - still not shown in the seller's info as of August 2018. Second, A. Dai wrote that: "f you don't like to mount it onto the wall, as you described, then you can put up a 4x4 post near the faucet and mount the unit onto it. That would work too". And the other commenter (Labets) basically repeated that. Again, I had said as much in my original review: " I am sure that it would work well when screwed into solid bricks, or into a wide wooden post (which is what quite a few of their users seem to do).".

Mild use, winter storage and lasted two years before the spring gave up. Zero useful customer service. Might as well have burned the $300+.