Once again, I'm impressed beyond belief with the customer service I recently received from an e-cig vendor. It's not the first time, and I'm beginning to wonder why the media spends so much effort on demonizing e-cigs when the real story is that the concept of customer service in America has been given new life by the e-cig industry.
This is the most recent example, and what prompted me to write this blog:
The other night I was filling my kayfun clone and dropped the fill screw. It's tiny, and my apartment is a mess, so even after two hours on my hands and knees with a flashlight, I couldn't find it. It's gone. I was depressed and kind of panicky about it. So I went online and sent a message to SureVapes, the vendor I got the KFL+ clone from. I told them what happened and asked if there was any way I could get a replacement. I figured they might have an extra one they would offer to sell me for a couple bucks, and that would have made my day. Instead, I reveived a message back from them within an hour (!). This is what it said:
Very sorry to hear that you lost the filler screw for your kayfun. We don't currently have any extra screws but we would be happy to
take one from one of the new units that we have on hand. We can send it you on Monday, free of charge as we can simply place it
in a business envelope and with a stamp and send it with the regular stamped mail. If you would prefer USPS 1st class mail w/ tracking
or Priority Mail with tracking, please let me know and I can quote you a price for those. Typically 1st class is a minimum of $1.99 and
Priority is $5.35
I will await your response before creating the invoice for you so that I know which shipping option to include.
I was in shock. I replied that the freebie was welcome and appreciated but I felt a little guilty hobbling a new unit just because of my carelessness. They replied that it was no problem, and by Sunday morning I had an invoice in my email letting me know that it would be in the mail on Monday, wrapped in a piece of cardboard to protect it.
These good folks not only got back to me way after business hours on a Friday night, but then offered to destroy a complete unit (which I hope they can return for a refund or something) to send me a replacement part. Not something that was broken or defective, mind you, but something I lost because I'm a clumsy slob. And then not even charge me a penny for their effort. I would have been thrilled if they had offered the part and charged me a couple bucks. But free? Not even the price of a stamp? That's just WOW. I'm not even a regular customer of theirs. I've only ever ordered from them twice. Less than fifty bucks total in purchases, so I know it's not because I have a gold star next to my name.
I've had similar experiences with a couple other vendors since I started vaping. The worst experience I've had with an e-cig company was one time I bought an authentic iTaste SVD and it broke after a month, after it fell off my table. I sent a note to the vendor and asked them nicely to take down my review, which they did immediately. But that was the product, not the vendor. I made no effort to ask them to fix or replace it, I just asked them to take down my review because I knew the warranty had run out and I was gonna have to eat it. So, no complaint about that vendor either. They didn't have to take down my review but they did, and every other experience I had with them was great.
Maybe it's just because e-cigs are still kind of new and in a growing market it's wise to do business like this. Or perhaps, and this is what I presume to be the case, it's just that many of these vape shops are run by people who vape, so they bring a level of care to their transactions that most businesses can't because they don't see themselves in every customer. Whatever the reason, the e-cig industry may someday be credited with not only saving millions of lives, but bringing back a new standard of customer care to American business.
This is the most recent example, and what prompted me to write this blog:
The other night I was filling my kayfun clone and dropped the fill screw. It's tiny, and my apartment is a mess, so even after two hours on my hands and knees with a flashlight, I couldn't find it. It's gone. I was depressed and kind of panicky about it. So I went online and sent a message to SureVapes, the vendor I got the KFL+ clone from. I told them what happened and asked if there was any way I could get a replacement. I figured they might have an extra one they would offer to sell me for a couple bucks, and that would have made my day. Instead, I reveived a message back from them within an hour (!). This is what it said:
Very sorry to hear that you lost the filler screw for your kayfun. We don't currently have any extra screws but we would be happy to
take one from one of the new units that we have on hand. We can send it you on Monday, free of charge as we can simply place it
in a business envelope and with a stamp and send it with the regular stamped mail. If you would prefer USPS 1st class mail w/ tracking
or Priority Mail with tracking, please let me know and I can quote you a price for those. Typically 1st class is a minimum of $1.99 and
Priority is $5.35
I will await your response before creating the invoice for you so that I know which shipping option to include.
I was in shock. I replied that the freebie was welcome and appreciated but I felt a little guilty hobbling a new unit just because of my carelessness. They replied that it was no problem, and by Sunday morning I had an invoice in my email letting me know that it would be in the mail on Monday, wrapped in a piece of cardboard to protect it.
These good folks not only got back to me way after business hours on a Friday night, but then offered to destroy a complete unit (which I hope they can return for a refund or something) to send me a replacement part. Not something that was broken or defective, mind you, but something I lost because I'm a clumsy slob. And then not even charge me a penny for their effort. I would have been thrilled if they had offered the part and charged me a couple bucks. But free? Not even the price of a stamp? That's just WOW. I'm not even a regular customer of theirs. I've only ever ordered from them twice. Less than fifty bucks total in purchases, so I know it's not because I have a gold star next to my name.
I've had similar experiences with a couple other vendors since I started vaping. The worst experience I've had with an e-cig company was one time I bought an authentic iTaste SVD and it broke after a month, after it fell off my table. I sent a note to the vendor and asked them nicely to take down my review, which they did immediately. But that was the product, not the vendor. I made no effort to ask them to fix or replace it, I just asked them to take down my review because I knew the warranty had run out and I was gonna have to eat it. So, no complaint about that vendor either. They didn't have to take down my review but they did, and every other experience I had with them was great.
Maybe it's just because e-cigs are still kind of new and in a growing market it's wise to do business like this. Or perhaps, and this is what I presume to be the case, it's just that many of these vape shops are run by people who vape, so they bring a level of care to their transactions that most businesses can't because they don't see themselves in every customer. Whatever the reason, the e-cig industry may someday be credited with not only saving millions of lives, but bringing back a new standard of customer care to American business.
