PURPLE LEAFPatio Umbrella Base SBL4150 Water &Sand Filled Weighted Base Outdoor Umbrella Base 330Lbs

I purchased the large purple leaf umbrella and wanted to make sure the base was solid and durable to keep the umbrella out of my neighbor's yard :). Just emptied out the water and stored it in the shed so the water would not freeze over the winter months.

This umbrella combo is well made and attractive looking. We made the mistake of buying the umbrella and then the stand that was included under "Often Purchased With.." on Amazon. After shipping the umbrella, Purple Leaf contacted us to tell us they had cancelled our order for the stand as it was not compatible with the umbrella purchased. This was a colossal pain as we had to research which stand would work and there was no phone number given in contacts.Enter Kate, Purple Leaf's customer service rep. I emailed with her back and forth for literally three weeks, initially to order the right stand and then lastly to get it set up correctly as all videos pointed to the stand we initially purchased. Kate was nothing short of AMAZING! I hope her management gives her a bonus. They need employees like her on the front end.Note to Purple Leaf or Amazon, please sell these as a set. It is unfair to customers to spend the time researching a purchase that you recommended, only to have the rug pulled out after one part has been shipped. We would have gone with a different option and vendor.

Great customer service unfortunately they can correct obvious design mistakes. The biggest mistake that many have pointed out that it impossible to fill it with 150 lbs no matter what funnel you use. The sand (if it is dry as a bone) will quickly fill up the hole preventing more sand coming in. A bigger hole would help, but not solve the problem. In stead of reinventing the wheel, why not go into the kitchen? When you want to add a potato to the pot, is there a small opening where you feed the potato into hot water? No you just lift the lid. Why not have such a lid held on with attached clips on the base? It does not have to be water proof, the base is not going anywhere.On to another problem. The base does not appear to be strong enough to hold a 12’ umbrella. Since I could not add the necessary 150 lbs. of sand, I added as much as I could and have sandbags on top. Not nice, but it does the trick. The bigger problem that it appears that the bolts are not strong to hold the umbrella and it started to tilt. I added guy wire to prevent it from toppling.As mentioned, customer service is very responsive, but what could they say? Remove the umbrella from the stand and see whether the crossbars are intact. This is easier said than done. I cannot remove the umbrella myself, but need to get two men to do so. So the unsightly guy wire and sand bags need to.All in all, it is a great umbrella and I enjoy using it. It is very well made and I would buy it again. But what to do about the base? Anybody have any suggestions?

Base is very nicely constructed. Very easy to assemble and easy to fill. Worked extremely well with our 10 x 13 umbrella even in decent winds. Also easy to drain and disassemble for winter storage.

Terrible. I was told to buy this base because the base I was initially looking to purchase was apparently not the correct base for the umbrella I bought. I followed the suggestion and as it turns out this base is not compatible. It is incredibly difficult to understand the base needed for Purple Umbrella products and I recommend not working with them.

The umbrella and stand were delivered promptly and the set up is simple. The quality of the product is exceptional. It is very sturdy and provides a large amount of shade and protection from rain as well. I highly recommend it.

Does the job. Easy fill and empty with water. Takes up a lot of space but good in the wind.

It would be much easier to fill if each side had 2 fill holes, 1 at each end instead stead of just 1. Each side holds 150lbs of sand so filling on your own can be very difficult.