Bait & Switch Law w/SmokeStik? Is There A Lawyer In The House?

[bitey]

Originally Posted by Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah

Now, you're probably gonna jump down my throat, here - and I'm donning my flame-retardant suit as I type this for the battering I'm sure to get, but.........

I am glad that you describe yourself as not 'sue happy,' but when you ask this kind of question, you have been bitten by the 'sue bug,' so to speak...
The concept - of suing a company for 'emotional distress' is plain, dead wrong....invented by the trial lawyers for their profit, not the profit of the consumer.....
in short: If the concept of a monetary reward for your 'emotional anguish' is enough to get you through said anguish, then it's not that painful and you need to get over it....Shake your head, acknowledge ya got took, and accept that you learned something. Yes, expensive lessons suck, but they stick with you for a long time.

You may commence flaming, now........

No flaming here, just explaining. Usually, to sue for emotional harm, you need to be able to show physical harm. You would then also have to have months of bills from a therapist who was helping you deal with the "trauma" of the situation. You would also usually have to prove financial harm in a documented amount that is tied directly to the physical and emotional harm (after you prove them). No, the concept of emotional trauma is not "made up" by anyone, much less trial attorneys. It is a valid cause of action, but only in very specific, grievous situations.

In consumer matters it usually only occurs when a company knows that a product they are selling is horribly harming some users, but they choose not to fix the product because it is cheaper to just pay off the folks that are hurt by it or they just lie and try to cover up the defect. You should remember Pintos that Ford knew tended to turn your car into a fireball if you were rear-ended. Someone horribly disfigured for life, who endures months if not years of painful therapy, who now looks like a freak and has no use of their hands at all (or what is left of them) could also claim emotional damages. The callous actions of the company plus the person's horrible physical damage, plus the psychological depression and anxiety would all be taken into account. In this example, there would be little doubt in the minds of the jury members that the person suffered emotional pain because none of them could imagine going through the rest of life that messed up and not having emotional pain.

No offense, but lack of nicotine in a set of cartridges hardly rises to the level of harm necessary. Once again, this is not legal advise, but only explanation.

[RebelCat62]

Originally Posted by bitey

No flaming here, just explaining. Usually, to sue for emotional harm, you need to be able to show physical harm. You would then also have to have months of bills from a therapist who was helping you deal with the "trauma" of the situation. You would also usually have to prove financial harm in a documented amount that is tied directly to the physical and emotional harm (after you prove them). No, the concept of emotional trauma is not "made up" by anyone, much less trial attorneys. It is a valid cause of action, but only in very specific, grievous situations.

In consumer matters it usually only occurs when a company knows that a product they are selling is horribly harming some users, but they choose not to fix the product because it is cheaper to just pay off the folks that are hurt by it or they just lie and try to cover up the defect. You should remember Pintos that Ford knew tended to turn your car into a fireball if you were rear-ended. Someone horribly disfigured for life, who endures months if not years of painful therapy, who now looks like a freak and has no use of their hands at all (or what is left of them) could also claim emotional damages. The callous actions of the company plus the person's horrible physical damage, plus the psychological depression and anxiety would all be taken into account. In this example, there would be little doubt in the minds of the jury members that the person suffered emotional pain because none of them could imagine going through the rest of life that messed up and not having emotional pain.

No offense, but lack of nicotine in a set of cartridges hardly rises to the level of harm necessary. Once again, this is not legal advise, but only explanation.

Ok, now that does make a lot of sense. And I have calmed down considerably since this morning. I'm just so dang tired of feeling like I'm bent over and passing someone a bottle of Vaseline, yanno. And I hate (excuse the pun) having smoke blown up my butt! But ya'll are probably right and I should just let it go.
The only thing that's keeping me from giving it up 100% just yet, is the fact that I never got that call from their accounting dept today. So I'm still feelin smoke being blown. So I guess I call them again tomorrow and see what excuse they have this time.

But I do thank ya'll and appreciate and respect ALL the input ya'll have given me today. I'll post after I have any new info.

[MrKai]

...people...don't want the likes of the FDA involved?

Funny, that. This is EXACTLY their job. You realize that, right?

See my post (thissite/forum/law-e-cigarette/31565-email-i-got-fda-10.html#post572062) as to why this is exactly why this is beginning to happen.

And this forum software is buggy; it seems to believe a link to itself qualifies as "other sites" lol.

-K

[AngusATAT]

Originally Posted by MrKai

And this forum software is buggy; it seems to believe a link to itself qualifies as "other sites" lol.

-K

No, the forum isn't buggy. You're just not allowed to post links on the forum until after you reach 15 posts. Part of the anti-spam controls.

[RebelCat62]

I finally was able to get them on the phone and the CS girl told me she had spoken to the VP who offered to reimburse me for everything minus 15% for the time I was happy with the product. I thought that was fair, but they also wanted me to ship everything back. I also understood that, but since I'm wanting to try refilling the carts, I agreed to only get reimbursed for the 200 carts that I was never happy with and forget the rest of it. That way I can keep the batteries, etc. and try re-filling.

As for pursuing any possible legal action, ya'll have given me a lot of good sensible advice and I'm taking it. Besides, after a night of thinking about ALL the other garbage I have to deal with in my life, like a husband with medical issues just to name one, the last thing I really need is to start an uphill legal battle with anyone. So as someone here posted, I'm just chalking this up to lesson learned, and moving on.

But I do thank ya'll for responding to this thread and giving me your time and opinions.

[halfevildruid]

I have noticed many of these sites now only offering 0 nic that used to offer all levels. I wonder if they know something we don't?

[SudokuGal]

Rebel, glad you got a resolution that was agreeable to you. Half, I think they're just hedging their bets until the FDA/SE & Njoy case is settled.

[billster88]

Please message me in private and I will help to take care of anything you may need....this is a new horizon we are approaching as far as an industry goes...we definitely don't want unhappy customers ...I am not sure if I am allowed to post what our company is doing as far as new products are concerned ...so in keeping with that I shall ask that if anyone is unhappy to please let me know and I will help alleviate the issue as best I can...again ..sorry for the mixup...you should have been notified that we no longer sell nicotine in our products ...thanks

Bill

[TaketheRedPill]

"If you search their site (you have to dig because it's not out in the open), they now say that their product does NOT contain Nicotine! "
Under FAQ: How do the ingredients in a SmokeStik compare to a traditional tobacco cigarette? Answer
The SmokeStik contains: propylene glycol, tobacco flavoring, along with other natural and artificial flavorings.
Under Starter Kit description:
Starter Kit Key Features:
Looks, feels and tastes like a real cigarette
Delivers all the pleasures of smoking without the social restrictions, second-hand smoke, nicotine or carcinogens.


Was this not there when you ordered initially? can you prove it? Are you aware that the FDA is attempting to ban sales of nicotine-delivery devices? If you did take this to court, and a full-on ban is in effect while you're standing before the judge pleading your case, I'm sure you can imagine how fast your case would be tossed. If you are a part of this forum for any length of time, the coming/current ban should be no new news to you.

You did get customer service in that they did replace the carts, twice (three times?) so you have, what? 400 or 600 carts now?. I'd put the nic-free carts up on the swap page, find a supplier that is still willing to sell nicotine-based carts, (or simply buy nicotine e-juices and refill the carts you have already) and call it a day. Help yourself come to the realization that in a week, or two, or three, you will most likely not be able to purchase nicotine and Smokestik will not be the only company unable to sell nicotine to you without violating federal laws.

IMO asking for ALL your batteries and atomizers to be refunded also, is a going a bit overboard, since they were not the original complaint, you did use them, and you apparently intend to continue to use them.

It's true that stress can aggravate existing medical conditions, but it seems to me, if you can sell all the carts you got for free, you'll probably end up with the cost of your batteries, etc, covered anyway, and you'll have lot less stress in your life than try to convince a judge he should award you a monetary judgement just because you can't get a supplier to sell you an item banned/about-to-be-banned. JMO I am not a lawyer and I am not affiliated in any way with Smokestik, nor am I a customer of Smokestik. Feel better.

[SudokuGal]

Originally Posted by TaketheRedPill

You did get customer service in that they did replace the carts, twice (three times?) so you have, what? 400 or 600 carts now?. I'd put the nic-free carts up on the swap page, find a supplier that is still willing to sell nicotine-based carts, (or simply buy nicotine e-juices and refill the carts you have already) and call it a day. Help yourself come to the realization that in a week, or two, or three, you will most likely not be able to purchase nicotine and Smokestik will not be the only company unable to sell nicotine to you without violating federal laws.

Did you not read her last post? She reached a resolution she could live with.

You were quite condescending in your post and I don't get it, especially if you had read the whole thread. Smokestik USED to sell carts with nicotine...they changed to no-nic but didn't let current users know. I had to go to their website to verify the change. At one point, the FAQ still had a question regarding the nicotine.

So, are you a troll for ASH?????