Bad Customer service, rude manager, and no return policy?

[the vaporizer]

I have been smoking e cigarettes for about 4 years now and that has been long enough to spend literally thousands on e cigarette supplies. I have been a member here on the forum for a pretty long time and out of the probably 500 various purchases I have made I have had MAYBE 15-20 problems with orders. Well, one of those problems happened recently with vaporkings so I contacted customer service and told them what had happened through email. Basically, I was sent a faulty Ego 18650 mod that arrived with scratches and a small ding in it. Now normally those things dont really bother me but it was the fact that it arrived with them so I told them. I also was disappointed to find out that the 18650 mod was not the V2 version with variable voltage but infact the plain jane V1 and I explained that for the price I could have got a V2 from numerous other places but wanted to give my business to them. So I waited and 3-4 days later I received a call from them that I missed while at work so I called them back the next day and talked to the manager. Honestly im not a complainer but he was very rude and condescending and nothing at all how I would imagine a proper manager would talk to a customer. He told me that " they dont do refunds". I asked him " What do you mean you dont do refunds, that seems kind of stupid dont you think?" And his response for everything was "I just work here". I explained to him that I felt he should have the 18650 mod labelled as VERSION 1 on the website so it doesnt confuse people and he basically told me I was stupid for assuming it was a version 2. I responded by explained that for $20 one could go 5-10 other places and get the version 2 so I just assumed that they had competitive pricing and were offering similar items for similar prices. Now mind you, I never used this thing once yet, it was taken out of the package and I saw the scratches and it has been sitting on my desk ever since. I have 6 other egos, a provari, a Buzz and probably 15 510 batteries so I have plenty of options. He refused to let me return the product, he made me feel stupid for wanting a refund and overall seemed to care less about my business. With the 30,000 other e cigarette shops on the internet I thought I would have been treated a little better. I wasn't looking for free hand outs or money, I just wanted my money back. Needless to say, I dont think I will be going back to them anymore. I get treated like a proper customer at other places and they appreciate my business so that is where I will take it. It has nothing to do with the money because I make plenty, it is the principal. Anyways, I could have gotten more in depth but I just wanted people to know how they treat their customers here and also inform the fellow e-cigarette-furm members that they "DONT DO RETURNS" straight out of the managers mouth. And also his other favorite quote " I JUST WORK HERE".

 

[the vaporizer]

Let me reiterate, I dont care about the $20. It was how I was treated and how I was spoken to that made me want to share my experience. If I had been treated well and spoken to decently I would not have cared and would have just thrown the V1 18650 mod in my "old" e cig bin and moved on.

 

[SSRob]

Hi vaporizer,

I am sorry you aren't happy with our policies or how we handled the issue. We strive to do our best to serve our customers and handle their issues within the scope of our company policies and procedures.

We understand you are posting here because you are upset with us. We honestly respect that and will not delete your post just because we don't see eye to eye.

Please accept this response as our apology for your frustrations and a short explanation of our side of the story.

No where in the description does it say the 18650 mod is variable voltage or version 2. You assumed this without contacting us to clarify first. We stock over 1000 items on our website and it's sometimes near impossible to update the descriptions on everything. I will make sure the description is changed to state that it is a V1 mod and not a V2 to avoid any further potential confusion.

You were told several times that we would happily replace the scratched tube. You insisted in a refund only. Our policy is all sales are final. Our employees are instructed to follow our policies. We hold them responsible to follow the rules.

The person you spoke with never told you he was the manager. He did say he was in charge at the moment because the manager was unavailable. As far as the "I just work here" statement, he was simply trying to explain to you that he doesn't make the rules but he is held responsible for following them.

If I can help you with anything else please let me know.

Thanks
Rob

 

[the vaporizer]

He absolutely DID tell me he was the manager!!! If there is one thing i learned throughout my life it is that I have a great memory which is why I made it through my masters degree. I know for a fact that he told me he was a manager because at the end of the conversation I asked him if there was a "higher up" manager on duty that I could talk to. If he is telling you otherwise then he is lying to you sir and at this point I benefit nothing from this conversation because I have already accepted that I will not be getting what I want which is a return. However, if you want to send me a tube to replace the scratched one, well, I wont refuse it.

Before putting myself through school I worked in customer service for a long time. I worked in sales, front end restaurant work(serving and bartending), and general customer service and I can tell you honestly that it wasn't the policy or me not getting my way, it was the way he talked to me that upset me the most. I started off the conversation friendly and ended it friendly but the entire time I couldnt help but wonder how the person on the other end of the phone was in customer service and a manager to top it off!!! You say he's not a manager but he told me otherwise and so that was what I was thinking at the time. I dont believe that old saying " the customer is always right" because if there is one thing i learned in all my years it is that the customer is usually WRONG! And in our case I WAS partially wrong for assuming that the item was a V2 but thats besides the point. The point is, at the time I had talked to him this item was still brand new and other than the scratch that was there upon shipping the item it was in perfect working order. So, your company would have lost nothing other than shipping and handling and a new tube to make me truly happy, which, I would guess would have been less than $8 at cost. This $8 would have made me happy and probably would have made me try again with another order sometime in the near future. Now me in particular, I spend a LOT of money on these things and have done so for a couple years. So if my second order went well and I didnt make anymore dumb assumptions( Like the whole V1 vs V2 thing) I would have probably spend at least another $100-500 at your store over the next year or two which would have definately brought in more than the $8 you saved by NOT giving me what I had wanted, a refund. I was in a management position at one point and I always gave certain people, including myself, the ability to go "outside" the scope of the "policy" and do what needed to be done to retain customers and i know for a fact many other companies do this as well. I see that you dont and that is your choice but from a financial prospective I urge you to reconsider because a happy customer brings in a lot more money than a mad one. I thank you for your response and hope you enjoyed mine.