Questionable Customer Service for VV???

[MadVapa86]

Hi all,

Sorry for the rant, but i have to post my "situation" here because i have yet to get a response from Virgin Vapors after multiple e-mails to them.

As mentioned in another thread, i have placed an order with Virgin Vapor since 6th Feb 2014 and have yet to receive my orders. I was informed that the parcel was lost. However after checking with my local postal company, i realized that the parcel that was sent to me was not a registered air mail, thus there will be no compensation for either parties.

I have informed Virgin Vapor's customer service of this, however i was just brushed aside and told to wait further as there is nothing they can do. Honestly, if you are going to ship internationally, please send your parcels via registered air mail to safe guard yourselves as well as the customers.

I have since contacted you multiple times and have yet to receive any response. As mentioned this is also the first time i placed an order with you guys after seeing all the positive reviews.

Instead of putting all your efforts towards marketing to new customers, perhaps you could take some time and look at how you can retain customers by providing some decent form of customer service instead of brushing people off. I am truly disappointed, please provide a response as to how we can come to a resolution for this issue.

 

[rosepetal]

I have always had excellent customer service from VV.

I do remember reading this on the VV website FAQ's :

"Do you ship to other countries?

Yes. We have shipped to many countries around the world including Canada, the U.K., Italy, France, Germany, Australia, the Philippines and many more. However, you must be responsible for knowing the laws in your country and whether or not electronic cigarettes are permitted. All international orders are shipped via USPS. You will receive a tracking number once your order ships, however, this will only track your package until it leaves the United States. Because there is no way for Virgin Vapor to verify delivery, we do not guarantee your order will arrive and you must order at your own risk. There are no refunds or replacements for orders lost after leaving the United States or confiscated by the customs department in your country. That said, there has only been a couple of packages out of many hundreds of international orders that the recipient claimed did not arrive. We have shipped to Canada, Australia, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, New Zealand, Sweden, Mexico, South Korea and dozens of other countries without any problems.

If you would like to have your package guaranteed, it must be sent via Global Express Guaranteed. This is significantly more expensive and generally starts at around $80, but I am happy to arrange this for you if you prefer. Global Express Guaranteed includes package tracking all the way to your destination and all packages are fully guaranteed and will be replaced if lost."

It seems shipping overseas is as it is in the USA, insurance is our choice as customers.

 

[MPage]

Excellent response, Rosepetal.



"""If you would like to have your package guaranteed, it must be sent via Global Express Guaranteed. This is significantly more expensive and generally starts at around $80, but I am happy to arrange this for you if you prefer. Global Express Guaranteed includes package tracking all the way to your destination and all packages are fully guaranteed and will be replaced if lost."""

It seems shipping overseas is as it is in the USA, insurance is our choice as customers.

 

[Dominique Hoogduin]

Cant u dispute the transaction? just wondering since most credit card company's allow this. U paid for something and it doesnt arrive.

 

[MPage]

If a customer does not comply with all the instructions I do not see how the vendor would be liable.

 

[rosepetal]

I agree with MPage. The website clearly states unless you insure your package, you order at your own risk. In a perfect world all orders would arrive safely. I understand your frustation, I have had a shipment damaged that I had not insured. All my shipments since have been insured.

 

[E Dub]

I bought the insurance and am still waiting to hear back about a "claim". Its been 10 days since I sent the photos they requested. My 2 emails requesting status updates have gone unanswered. My biggest concern with Virgin Vapor is that they don't seal the bottles. I recently received a package from them that was opened. My fear is the bottles were tampered with. Since they are not sealed there would be no way to tell. Other vendors have addressed the potential problem. Until Virgin Vapor does the same I won't buy their juice. In this day and age you can't buy much that doesn't have some form of tamper proofing or something that makes it evident it was tampered with. The poor customer service just adds insult to injury.

 

[erazzz]

Sealing bottles might be something they do in the future for online orders. I don't see why not. At the B&M where I buy virgin vapor my bottles are sealed, I can't remember if my online order had seals on the bottles or not.

 

[Angiebubs]

I bought the insurance and am still waiting to hear back about a "claim". Its been 10 days since I sent the photos they requested. My 2 emails requesting status updates have gone unanswered. My biggest concern with Virgin Vapor is that they don't seal the bottles. I recently received a package from them that was opened. My fear is the bottles were tampered with. Since they are not sealed there would be no way to tell. Other vendors have addressed the potential problem. Until Virgin Vapor does the same I won't buy their juice. In this day and age you can't buy much that doesn't have some form of tamper proofing or something that makes it evident it was tampered with. The poor customer service just adds insult to injury.

Virgin Vapor ALWAYS seals their bottles with the plastic sealing overlay???

 

[kittypie]

MadVapa86 - My apologies for the delay in response to your comment. I have been quite ill, still recovering, but much better.

I am showing that Elizabeth responded to you on 2/27, and Patti responded to you on March 9 as well. Unfortunately, as Patti and Elizabeth have both stated, and I will re-iterate, we cannot be responsible for lost international packages. This is clearly stated on our website, along with the statement that the only guaranteed method for international shipments is to use Global Express Guaranteed, which is quite costly. We clearly state that international orders are placed at the buyer's risk.

We love to be able to serve international customers as many other vendors do not even offer international shipments. We are very happy to serve our international customers as best we can, but again, the buyer must assume the risk unless the Global Express Guaranteed option is used. We are very sorry for the problem you're having with the order in your country, and we hope that your package reaches you soon. As Patti and Elizabeth both stated, if the package is returned to us by the customs in your country, we will gladly refund your money, or re-send it at your request.

All the best,
Kitty

 

[kittypie]

E Dub - It usually takes about 30 days for the USPS to process our insurance claims. I will check with Debbie to see what the current status is. Thanks.

ETA: If you will PM me the name on your order, it would be a big help! Thanks again.

 

[MadVapa86]

E Dub - It usually takes about 30 days for the USPS to process our insurance claims. I will check with Debbie to see what the current status is. Thanks.

ETA: If you will PM me the name on your order, it would be a big help! Thanks again.

Awesome customer service. I guess that is how you stand out, i know rules are rules and it is stated in your F.A.Q, but your customer service replies like a bot (as if you get your responses off some rigid template imo). Its just terrible.

On the receiving end of these replies if actually feels like i'm communicating with a brick wall. This type of customer service is sub-par and wont survive in this day and age. I run my own company as well, and trust me i'd love to have my competitors have your team as their customer service support =D

Registered mail only costs a few dollars more and it is something your company should STANDARDIZE having for International orders (to safeguard us customers and yourselves), so that cases like mine doesn't happen to other international customers.

To add-on, i must correct you to say that you are mistaken when you mention that you will have way to verify if the deliver was actually made, hence you are unable to give any compensation. Click on the link that you have provided to me for tracking and you will clearly see that the item was not delivered.

Anyway this is the first and last time i will ever be purchasing anything from your company. Judging from the e-mail responses i have received thus far from you, it is clear that your company has the mentality that once the customer's payment has gone through, nothing else matters. You shirk all responsibility and did not even attempt to reconcile this issue. Not 1 attempt was made to salvage your reputation.

Take my USD$159.95 as a donation, keep it.

 

[Annette Rogers]

I am sorry that you are unhappy with the the outcome but I need to make a few things clear here.

First, you state, “i have to post my "situation" here because i have yet to get a response from Virgin Vapors after multiple e-mails to them.” You also say, “I have since contacted you multiple times and have yet to receive any response.” These are completely false statements that are even contradicted by your own previous posts here on another thread. You received replies on the 27th, the 4th and again on the 9th.

Second, you are incorrect that registered mail only costs a few dollars more and that that would solve this problem. In order to have package tracking and insurance on international orders, they must be sent using Global Express Guaranteed and the cost is far more than a few dollars (the cost usually starts at $80). We are currently negotiating with FedEx to try to offer another, hopefully less costly option that offers the same protection and we hope to find other options for our international customers in the future but for now, that is the best we have.

Third, international packages sent using standard mail are only tracked until they leave the United States. Tracking stops once the package reaches the international destination country, they are not tracked onwards to their final destination. This is because the tracking link that you have is a function of the USPS and does not extend into Singapore. So, you are incorrect, there is no way for us to either verify that the package was delivered or that it was lost. That is, unless it is sent with full package tracking to the final destination using Global Express Guaranteed but you opted not to do that.

Lastly, the replies you received from customer service were courteous, helpful and understanding. You just didn’t like our terms and conditions, despite the fact that they are clearly stated. Since you first contacted us just three weeks after the package was mailed, customer service asked you to give the package some more time. We have had international packages take six weeks or more to arrive at times due to local conditions in various countries so, in many cases like this, a little patience resolves the issue. However, you were not willing to do that and demanded that customer service give you a full refund immediately. You then came on here to make false statements about the responses you claim you did not receive in what appears to be an attempt to force us to do what you wanted by hurting our reputation. While we do often go above and beyond our terms and conditions for our customers, that is something we do privately and at our discretion.

Again, I’m sorry that you are unhappy with the outcome.

 

[Angiebubs]

Well said Annette (and with a LOT of patience too!)

 

[Dominique Hoogduin]

Got my order today after a week (shipped march 11 delivered march 18.. tracked from start to delivery.. from us to netherlands) and no hassle from customs.. it was tracked all the way from departure to customs. Have a pile of other juice to use up first so i ill let em steep for a while i guess. No complaints here.

 

[Istand]

Yea


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[Coldrake]

Does everyone realize that e-cigarettes are illegal in Singapore? I'm sure the OP does. If the shipment is caught by customs it will be seized and the recipient can be fined.
Health Sciences Authority - Highlights : Prohibition on certain products
Singapore - E-cigarette laws