Disappointed in Halo's Customer "No" Service

[johnboy00]

I started on a new bottle of Sub-Zero last night. It had steeped for a couple days. Filled a tank, started vaping, and ...? It isn't Sub-Zero.

First thing this morning, I sent an email to Halo via their web site. (That seems to be the only way to contact them, BTW. No phone number on web site, and the online chat thingy always says "offline." Very frustrating!) A couple hours later, I follow up with a hunch that it might be Mystic in my bottle of Sub-Zero (used it before). More than 12 hours later, no response at all from Halo. And I've spent hundreds of dollars on Halo juice and batteries. I really expected to have a new bottle of SUB-ZERO shipped to me today. Very disappointing.

Now I'm down to my little bottle that I kept at work (a few ml for topping off). This and a few other things (1: shipping used to be 2-3 days to NC, now it's 3-6; 2: new droppers are way too short and not graduated; 3: no more stainless steel cartos on web site) have me considering other suppliers.

 

[Cinder Ella]

Good morning,

Sorry to hear about the issue you are having with SubZero. I know Monday's are very busy for customer service, depending on how many emails and phone calls they had over the weekend they may not have gotten through all of Monday's emails as well. Customer service goes through emails in they order that they are received so while we greatly appreciate your business, the dollar amount you spent is of no relevance. Since it sounds like you are a returning customer you may recognize that it is not standard practice to just ignore emails or customers and I'm positive they will get back to you as soon as possible.

Also, our policy on shipping has always been that we try to get orders out within 1 business day if not the same day, this is still fairly quick compared to MANY other companies. We realize many people got used to us getting orders shipped within an hour of placing an order but we are a growing company, we are not open 24 hours a day and we do not believe an order getting shipped the day after an order is placed to be unreasonable. I do not know the details of your order but if you believe your ship time to be unreasonable then customer service is the best way to contact us and to find a solution to the problem. I have no access to your order history and I would have to go through customer service myself to be able to help you in any way. Also, and again since I do not know the details of your order, so I do not know if this applies in this instance but we have no control over how long USPS, UPS or FedEx takes to deliver your packages, we have multiple pick ups through out the day from each of these companies and once they leave our building in the possession of one of these companies, it is in their hands.

In regards to droppers and stainless steel cartos, while we do our best to keep everyone happy we do occasionally have to change things or discontinue items to keep up with demand, keep up with technology and make room for new products. When customer service responds to you, if you mention it to them, we may still have a few of these items in stock and they may be able to add them to your order.

We appreciate your patience, and again, I'm positive customer service will get back to you as soon as possible. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

 

[ckmeyers]

I started on a new bottle of Sub-Zero last night. It had steeped for a couple days. Filled a tank, started vaping, and ...? It isn't Sub-Zero.

First thing this morning, I sent an email to Halo via their web site. (That seems to be the only way to contact them, BTW. No phone number on web site, and the online chat thingy always says "offline." Very frustrating!) A couple hours later, I follow up with a hunch that it might be Mystic in my bottle of Sub-Zero (used it before). More than 12 hours later, no response at all from Halo. And I've spent hundreds of dollars on Halo juice and batteries. I really expected to have a new bottle of SUB-ZERO shipped to me today. Very disappointing.

Now I'm down to my little bottle that I kept at work (a few ml for topping off). This and a few other things (1: shipping used to be 2-3 days to NC, now it's 3-6; 2: new droppers are way too short and not graduated; 3: no more stainless steel cartos on web site) have me considering other suppliers.

If you still have the Packing List that was sent with your order, Halo's phone number is printed on that, if you need to call them.

 

[johnboy00]

Too busy? Understaffed? I guess you guys at Halo just don't get it. There are no good excuses for poor customer service.

I finally got a response at 12:30pm today. 28 hours later. They said there were no documented problems with the lot, but they would check it and get back to me tomorrow. No replacement bottle sent immediately, with return postage for the bad bottle, as I had foolishly imagined. Hmm, okay, it's not like I'm dependent on this juice. Oh, wait... I AM!

Anyway, I think I figured out what happened. I thought the juice tasted and smelled vaguely familiar, but I wasn't sure what it reminded me of. Later, I broke out an old bottle of Mystic to use instead. Bingo! The juice in my Sub-Zero bottle tastes and smells like Mystic. I vaped and smelled them side-by-side. Not exactly the same, but so close. Age is probably the only difference. Either the wrong recipe went into this lot, or I didn't get the lot on the label. Not terribly confidence inspiring either way.

 

[jiphone]

I had a similar issue with them once when a bottle of juice tasted like rotten carrots and minty funk, they said that the rest of the lot seemed fine and I could feel free to send mine back so they could see if it was ok.... I told them "don't worry about it, I'll just buy a replacement somewhere else", that was over a year ago so maybe they've gotten better... I'll never know though

 

[lasttango]

I've had great service for 3 years from them... once, there was a shipping error, and they replaced my order no questions asked... ...though on a recent order of mystic, I snagged a bottle of coolmist for fun... and it's unvapable... it tastes like burned rubber... it's so unpleasant - and I typically like coolmist - I emailed... got a response rather quickly... they checked the batch number... no one else complained... so I am stuck with it - it's unvapable... no offer for a return... so either my tastes buds changed - or I'm a liar... I dunno... what I do know is that I have a nearly full bottle of coolmist that sucks - and while I don't have any plans to give up on Halo... I am not happy about the $20 bottle of unvapable coolmist.

Quality control can slip from time to time... just not used to it happening with Halo... they are usually quite perfect.

 

[ilovehugehits]

I've only ordered a sampler pack.
It will be in my mailbox tomorrow.
Was planning on buying a Triton kit.
After reading this thread. I'll stick with my twist & spinner.

 

[JR 137]

I've only ordered a sampler pack.
It will be in my mailbox tomorrow.
Was planning on buying a Triton kit.
After reading this thread. I'll stick with my twist & spinner.

I'm no Halo fanboy. Hell, I haven't even gotten anything from them yet. But not ordering anything from them just because 2 people out of however many have ordered had problems is a bit harsh, don't you think?


That being said, just because no one else complained about the lot your juice came from is a pretty stupid reason to not help you out. If they get 5 more complaints, will they contact you and say "sorry, you were right?" 10 complaints? What's the magic number? While they can't replace ever bottle of juice that every customer doesn't like, they can make a better effort IMO. Take it back and keep track of the customer's complaint. If they're someone who's always saying odd things, it could be the customer trying to replace stuff he/she doesn't like. Extend the customer the benefit of the doubt once or twice is what I'm saying.

I know economic times are tough. But having dissatisfied customers makes it far tougher.

Not bashing Halo. Haven't heard any complaints other than a very few here. Just seems odd to me.

 

[Cinder Ella]

Hello again,

We're sorry that you consider us to have "poor" or "no" customer service, you say yourself that you got a response the next day. We are growing very rapidly right now due to the launch of the new website and new products, I now our customer service department has been working very long hours to be able to respond to as many people as possible within a day of contact. We are in the process of hiring for both the customer service and shipping departments so we can get back to the standards that many people have come to expect from us. Again, packages shipping and customer service responding within one day instead of the same day we do not believe to be an unreasonable delay. This very quick growth spurt was unanticipated.

I have confirmed with the owner of the company that there have been no mislabeled batches and no quality control issues. Unfortunately we cannot accept returns of every bottle that someone doesn't like or thinks is from a "bad batch". Taste is subjective and varies greatly. We do presteep our liquids but there is a range that we consider acceptable, sometimes a certain batch will be steeped a couple weeks longer than another batch before it is bottled depending on the demand, for that particular flavor. Therefore it may require you to then let it steep an additional few days when you receive it to get it to the exact flavor you are used to. We get hundreds of bottles out of each batch and they are bottled at the same time so there is no variation between bottles in the same batch. If one particular person thinks they got a bottle from a "bad batch" our initial suggestion is to let it steep for a few days for this exact reason. Also, temperature does play a big role in flavor, depending on where you are located, bottles may go through multiple temperature zones and then sit in hot or cold mailboxes and may need some time to return to the appropriate temperature.

We do take each and every issue very seriously and do the best we can to keep everyone happy. Customer service goes through the process that they go through to try and troubleshoot any issues (rather than just replace everything someone has a complaint about) because if there truly is something wrong with any of our products we need to know. Many, if not all times if you are patient and work with cs we are able to find a solution that both makes you happy as well as gets us the information we need to maintain our quality standards.

In regards to a "magic number". There is no magic number per say but if there was ever to be a bad batch we would get many more than one complaint and I am positive that if it was confirmed that there was indeed an issue with a batch, each and every bottle involved in that batch would be replaced.

It sounds like you are in the process of working with customer service to get this taken care of. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

 

[Lifewhacker]

I've never had any problems with Halo CS. Usually they're pretty quick on the reply and will always try and find me a solution.

(Only thing I wish they would do is offer me halo points or something since I have to return a couple defective parts and I have to pay shipping. Sure, shipping is only about $5, but $5 is $5.)

 

[killerb77]

28 hours turnaround is acceptable in my book. Halo CS has been nothing but awesome for me. Cinder did forward a request for me for my truepure order when CS got backed up. Top notch! No complaints here.

They are busy with the new launch so please be patient. They aren't ignoring anyone.

More people complain on forums than praise so it can make it appear a company is worse than they really are.

 

[azzaman]

The taste of juice is subjective.

 

[johnboy00]

Sorry, but I disagree with your statement that 28-hour CS response times are acceptable. Would you accept that from your cable/satellite tv company, your electric company, your wired/wireless telephone company, your PHARMACY? I'm dependent on the products you sell, so yes, I consider you to be in the same class as those providers.

Also, I know what I was shipped. It was Mystic in a Sub-Zero bottle. I know because I used Mystic for a long time. I didn't recognize it immediately because I had gotten used to Sub-Zero. I'm letting it go for now because I love Sub-Zero. And yes, I received a new bottle on Saturday. I appreciate Halo not waiting until they received the bottle of Mystic. If they had done that immediately (same day), I never would've complained about it here. FYI.

Case closed.

 

[Yinzer]

1st world problems abound!

In the next minute, around 15 people will die in the 3rd world due to starvation.

It's all relative.

Keep up the good work, Halo!

 

[ckmeyers]

Sorry, but I disagree with your statement that 28-hour CS response times are acceptable. Would you accept that from your cable/satellite tv company, your electric company, your wired/wireless telephone company, your PHARMACY? I'm dependent on the products you sell, so yes, I consider you to be in the same class as those providers.

Also, I know what I was shipped. It was Mystic in a Sub-Zero bottle. I know because I used Mystic for a long time. I didn't recognize it immediately because I had gotten used to Sub-Zero. I'm letting it go for now because I love Sub-Zero. And yes, I received a new bottle on Saturday. I appreciate Halo not waiting until they received the bottle of Mystic. If they had done that immediately (same day), I never would've complained about it here. FYI.

Case closed.

Are you saying that Halo sent you a replacement bottle? If so, why?

 

[PeteC2]

I've only ordered a sampler pack.
It will be in my mailbox tomorrow.
Was planning on buying a Triton kit.
After reading this thread. I'll stick with my twist & spinner.

Really? No offense but if that scared you off you have an incredibly low tolerance. Stuff happens...folks get frustrated. This would be an incredibly small sample to judge anything by.
As a matter of fact, I recently received my Halo Triton kit. Ordered on Sunday, got it Thursday. The order went out Monday. What was not to like about that? My previous order was handled with the exact same pace and accuracy. Will my next order be perfect as well? Hopefully yes, but perhaps not...stuff happens. This is not life and death...its just vaping! If a company consistently or even often got it wrong, yep, I'd switch, but anybody can have a bad day...EVEN YOU & ME! Overall, Halo has an enviable reputation for service and order fullfillment, one or two less than stellar experiences does not negate that.

 

[player30]

For over 2 1/2 years, I have never had a problem with Halo. As Cinder stated, they may be having some growing pains right now. But I have always had prompt and courteous service with any question or issue that I have had. I am sorry that you are not happy with your service. I hope you will give them another chance.

 

[Hereal]

With me being very new to vaping, only a month in, & ordering a kit with multiple accessories, good customer service would save me from a lot of frustration. I bought a Blu kit my 2nd day of vaping which was just April 13th, me knowing absolutely nothing about this stuff would have gave up on it & got my money back if it wasn't for their 24hour customer service (PHONE LINE) baby sitting me all times thru out the night when I was ready to break the device & flame up a real cig lol. They were their for me any & every second I needed them & thats why I hate their product wasnt good enough for me to stay. But now I've moved up to what I call a more advanced e-cig, the G6 kit with more advanced accessories that I got last Friday. Over this past week I have had a few questions that I felt needed to be answered right away in order to make sure I take proper upkeep in my investment. Waiting a day or 2 for a email reply is ok for minor questions, but no help if its a major problem. Other than that im totally satisfied with Halo as a product & trust that they C.S. will get better, Im also thinking about becoming an affiliate.

 

[Hereal]

Dealing with any customer service via email is kind of similar to texting someone back & forth on the phone for 2 or 3 hours, when u could have just talked & got the conversation over with in 5 or 10 minutes. Words cant describe how happy I am with the G6 product overall, but I think the company only needs more C.S. phone operators & thats the ONLY problem that I see. Congrats on good business & good luck on getting everything back on track, its nothing but love from me, thanks to the entire Halo staff...

 

[Political]

I've been a Halo customer since early in 2012. Of the 2-3 customer service issues I've had, all were resolved quickly enough, with good cheer from the rep (Val).

As for shipping, Halo is far better than most vape companies, and more often than not, you will get what you order on a very timely basis.

That said, any growing company will have issues. Doesn't mean you should stop ordering from them........a little patience goes a long way. A good company with good products is worth that patience, at least to a degree.