BEWARE of this company

On Facebook Eastmall, whoever is running that, wrote they were updating the website this weekend. That probably had something to do with the web access too.

I have my own business. I know the importance of communication. Here in AZ, we have canyons, mountains, and desert - all of them make phone communications hard if not impossible in CerTain AreAs. When I do get the message and return the call (sometimes several days later) I can hear the frustration - even anger - in some of my customers voices. When I explain where I was, what I was doing and WHY I could not return their calls right away...then they settle down. I learned lessons from those experiences.

I learned to post on my website, facebook, blog, and newsletters Before / During / After to keep my customers updated on happenings. Yes, I am an internet based business too. I have an automated email message system I use when I am not available.

Are you picking up a tone or thread here? Communication. Communication. Communication. Communication. Keeps customers happy. Sounds pretty simple, almost too simple. Simple is good. Simple works.

Eastmall has a Facebook page and I joined it. I want to be informed. They should use it and use it often.

They have a website they use primarily for selling. Selling is NOT communicating. Listing products and prices, putting up a shopping cart, etc is not communication. In this case, they depend on live chat or customer service for communication. Sometimes live chat is not available. Sometimes the email link on the website for customer service is wrong and messages do not go through properly or sit too long in the database. That is not the fault of the customer who is trying to communicate. It is a communication failure on the part of a company.

Di spends way too much time here dealing with "Failure to Communicate" issues. Eastmall probably processes thousands of orders each month. I believe there are thousands of happy customers each month because of Eastmall. That is great.

There seems to be a hole in the system. I do business all over the world and communication plays a vital role in those transactions. I believe Eastmall needs to do an internal review of communications and get whatever is broken fixed; teach their employees how to use Facebook Business Page; think about an UPDATES & Happenings page in their website; get the order pages updated from Processing to Shipped with EMS numbers; double check all those email address links; learn to use automated email messages If Need be...in short DO whatever it Takes to get the communication breakdown fixed.

Communication is the key. Failure to Communicate is the problem that seems to be the issue in most of these cases.

I do not blame a frustrated customer for bringing the issue here to this forum. In almost, if not every case, the customer has tried to communicate to Eastmall. In almost, if not every case, the customer comes here as a frustrated - last resort.

Eastmall can stop this. They are the only one that can stop these types of posting here in the forum.

There. Now I have done it. I said something I've been thinking for quite awhile. If I get banned from this group. So be it. If I get kicked of Eastmall Facebook, then so be it. I did not write this for a fight or retribution from anyone or any business. I wrote this because I see it as a problem within the Eastmall system. They are a big business and they are successful. But it only takes a handful of vocal and unhappy customers to turn that tide. These are my opinions and don't amount to a hill of beans.

Thank you,
Paula in Arizona

PS: This is waaayyy tooo long and reads like a lecture. Sorry about that. Hopefully it is food for thought and some good comes from it.

 

I have ordered from Eastmall many times for the past few months and i am happy with the product. I do agree that communication is vital in order to avoid frustrations when customers do have a problem. I seldom use the live chat or email to CS but was lucky enough to get in touch with David on live chat the few times i had a problem and problem solved. So Eastmall will still be my only supplier for e-cig hardware.

 

Been with East Mall a year and have placed a lot of orders from them during that time. I have never had a problem except for 2 x LR801 atties and my older Indulgence button unit that wouldn't work with the new v2 end caps. These items were included n/c on my last order. It was handled efficiently and expeditiously. Thanks! They are my primary supplier and will continue to be so. I'm sorry to hear that some are having problems.

 

From Paula ----

What we have here is a - Failure to Communicate


I agree with this 100%

it should be,
it must be fixed if Eastmall is to remain a good supplier , and retain it's happy customers.

I hope it will be addressed and fixed really soon.

You will not be banned or even chastized, Paula,
we all agree with you --

the culture is different,
and sometimes getting the message accross so it is understood,
can be difficult to say the least ---

 

To the members of this community,
I say thank you for understanding my message and accepting my posting.
I look forward to a long and successful relationship with Eastmall.

Di, please feel free to pass my message along to the powers that be if you think it will help resolve some of the communication problems.

Paula

 

I have had these discussions before, and i thought we had it fixed,
I will do it again,
and i will use your post as a marker - thankyou Paula --

 

I've ordered from them before, and it said processing past the time I actually received the item. I blew it off, but I can see how that would be concerning.

 

I made a big mistake. The post I had here belonged in another thread.
Sorry about that.

I had waaayyyy toooo many tabs open on this computer for one old woman to handle.

Please accept my apologies.
Thank you,
Paula

 

Deleted by me.

 

Thanks for your concerns, Paula. We do like hearing suggestions from customers as to what they would like to see in the way of improving customer service. While it isn't my job to handle customer service, I am the one who runs the Facebook page. The Facebook page is really not intended to be a customer service tool - if we were to do that, then we would be just as well to do it here. Even when the website is down, the customer support email should always be available (as far as I know).

The primary purpose for the Facebook page is for keeping customers updated on new products, deals, promotions, contests, reviews, and demonstrations - my role with the company is in product promotions. I am never informed about technical issues with the site, or issues with inventory or shipping. That's what Selina does, and that's why I don't post every possible detail about website or shipping problems on Facebook.

Please bear in mind that Selina is new to the company and she is still in training, as she just started about 2 weeks ago. Since she is still learning about the company, the products, the website, and the other systems and processes, it might be difficult for her to keep up with every inquiry as quickly as Joy could until she gets accustomed.

The forum is here mainly for questions about products, and that's definitely what Di does best. I don't think she's kept updated on various issues, either. Each of the Eastmall staff has a role: if you want to know whether or not LR 510 attys will work on 6 volts, ask Di; if you have a problem with your order, use the chat on the website during business hours, or email Selina at ********************; the Facebook page and YouTube channels are strictly for promotional purposes, and both are run by me.

Thanks again for your suggestions though, and I might run the suggestion by David to use Facebook for updates on technical or other issues. Just be aware that while I'm certainly not trying to come across as chastising, I do want everyone to be aware of the roles of staff as well as the purposes of various public forums (ECF, FB, YT).

- Chris

 

In a time when EastMall’s credibility has come into question resulting from disseminating incorrect, untimely and even a lack of information (coupled with “that guy” masquerading as an EastMall representative), comments made by any representative should be check, re-checked, and checked once again before posting.

Of particular interest is your comment:

"Please bear in mind that Selina is new to the company and she is still in training, as she just started about 2 weeks ago."

The reason for questioning your statement is that I’ve been working with Selina for at least 6-weeks now. Whether it’s been 2-weeks, 6-weeks, or even 20 weeks is irrelevant. What’s relevant here is getting the facts correctly stated the first time.

I realize it’s a minor point Chris but it’s worth noting; especially if EastMall is intent on restoring their credibility.

 

Excuse me? I'm "masquerading as an EastMall representative"? That's a pretty strong accusation which implies fraud, yet I'm the one who needs to get my facts straight before making statements? Selina's official start date with Eastmall was October 9th of this year, after Joy's last day on September 30th, regardless of whether or not you had any prior contact with her, which wouldn't be a surprise since she is David Yang's fiance.

Sorry, but displaying a complete intolerance to the fact that employees who are in training and learning a new job are prone to making some mistakes is ignorance. While I'm certainly not saying that a customer service representative in training should be an automatic pass on poor customer service, many have stated that they believe Selina is doing a great job, and considering the number of orders processed every day, one or two isolated reports alleging unanswered emails also should not mean automatic condemnation.

Please take your trolling elsewhere.

 

Chris, I wasn't referring to you!!! I’m aware you’re legit and working in an official capacity for EastMall. After all, I shipped my defunct atomizers to you. My reference to “that guy” was from another EastMall thread in which an ECF member (mwa) was masquerading around as an EastMall representative telling people what to do and how insignificant ECF was to EastMall’s business. Sorry for the confusion and I apologize for inadvertently hitting a nerve.

Now back to my primary point... So we agree Selina has worked for EastMall around a month and not around 2-weeks? That’s all I was simply pointing out. And like I said, even though it’s a minor point. IMO it's a valid one considering what's transpired over the recent past. And BTW, I've had nothing but kind interactions in working with Selina during this whole fiasco. My statement had NOTHING to do with her newness but EVERYTHING to do with disseminating incorrect, untimely and even a lack of information by EastMall as a whole. Again it goes back to Paula's POV.

 

Ah, ok, I apologize for the confusion as well. And yes, you did ship your atomizers to me (I understand they weren't working for your juicer, but I'm loving having them around for my Indulgence ). I wasn't aware of this mwa person, I just started about a month ago myself and admittedly I don't come on the forums as much as I probably should.

As far as Selina's time with the company, I was taking into account the date of the original post, October 24th, which would have been 15 days after her "official" start date, though I do agree that it doesn't really matter, but sometimes new jobs can be difficult at first. I've been there.

I used to be the shipping guy/customer service rep/web developer/writer/video product demonstration guy for Vapor4Life when Steve first started out back in April 2008. I was their first employee, and it was very hard - I had to pack and ship orders, track shipments, track inventory, keep up with the forum, the private messages, the emails, answer phone calls, design the website, write the website content (the website wasn't even up yet when I started, I had to go into Steve's email to see when orders came through, and take the order from the PayPal note the customers left), plus more. I'm not asking for a pat on the back or sympathy or anything, I'm just saying, it was very hard, and I did have a few customer service complaints come through even after spending almost every waking moment working 7 days per week. And I'm sure V4L's sales volume at that time was nowhere NEAR what Eastmall is doing right now. I'm not trying to make excuses for Selina and David, I'm just throwing it out there.

Maybe David needs to add a second or even third CS rep if things like this become a regular thing. Maybe the company is outgrowing the staffing. I started doing product promotions, and started seeing more reports of stuff being out of stock. They may or may not be related, so I'm not trying to give myself any undue credit, but something needs to be done about keeping stock as well. Sometimes I feel like I'm promoting a product that isn't even going to be in stock when people go to the site to order it anyway haha. I understand David recently purchased a factory of his own, so that could be his way of trying to alleviate these inventory issues.

Anyway, enough of my rambling, I should just stick to product promotions and stop trying to do CS for a while haha. Thanks for clearing that misunderstanding up though.

 

Welcome back Deficit!!!!

David still got any hardware for those old EM901's with the reverse threads kickin' around?
You sold me a couple of those sets(Vapor Vipers was it?)

Still wondrin' why, whenever I asked about you on V4L, no-one ever took the time to answer.
Anyway, good to see you around again

 

Thanks! Someone actually remembers me lol... I've been good, I actually haven't talked to Steve since I left the company and took all his stock back to his home in Chicago, that's probably why no one answered

I never knew Mark or any of the others he has or had working for him. I was the first and only employee for the whole duration of the time I worked there.

As for the EM901's, yep it was the Vapor Viper! Good memory! I'll definitely ask David about it. Looks like not long after I was gone, Steve decided to cut the 901, 801, and pipe and stick to those KR808's. I still say he should have gone with the 510 instead of the KR808, and I told him that back then, too. Regardless, he seems to be doing fairly well with business for the time being anyway.

I'll talk to David and see if he's still got any of those lying around for you!

 

What sup w/ this company ? i gifted my brother a em-riva 510 and put shipping address as his address which is in texas, and they end up sent the ecig to my address ?. I also have a dead battery and atty which is dead which i believe i still have warranty on them. I email both customer service email eastmallcs@gmail.com / support@eastmall.net but no reply.

 

I always try to order USA and keep most of my biz with locals....but I have ordered from East Mall on 3 different occasions and never had a problem....keep in mind that my last order was damn near 5 months ago though. I just wouldn't be too uptight about 2 weeks from China right yet.

 

this is the correct email for Customer service, --

contact Selina here -----

Customer Service email :- support@eastmall.net