Do Not Order "Free Trials"!!!

[Lau517]

I am SOOOO glad I discovered this forum before making a purchase. My friend paid $230.00 at a mall kiosk for an inferior product! 8-o

 

[redrhino]

To all new members that are thinking about getting into the world of PV's (e-cigs)...

Do not order "free trial" offers. Most of these companies offering so-called free trials are thought of as scams by most members of this forum.
I use the word 'scam' loosely, as they are operating under all the policies and conditions laid out in the fine print of their contract, so they are a legal operation. However, the shady practices they use qualify them as scams to me.

They will suck you in with the offer of free goods. Then, once they have your credit card number, you're hooked. After the 'trial period' expires they will charge your card for the device. Usually charging way more than the device is selling for elsewhere.

They will also start you on a plan to send you a supply of prefilled carts each month and automatically charge your account.

Many of these are selling inferior models at triple (or more) the cost that they can be purchased from one of the many suppliers listed on this forum. Do some research on this forum, and determine what model suits your needs best. Then make an informed purchase from a reputable supplier.

If you have already purchased and received one of these 'free-trial' offers, return it immediately! The trial period typically starts when they ship the product not when you receive it, so you don't have much time to act once it's in your hands.

Moderators: Can we get a sticky on this subject? It doesn't have to be this post, but this warning should be one of the first things prospective new users see. These scammers are giving the whole industry a bad name.

Edit Note: To anyone wishing to reply to this post and share their experiences, that will be helpful to others as well. However, please refrain from calling out any company by name. I would hate to see this much needed information have to be taken down due to posts that break any forum rules. I think just mentioning a company as a "free-trial supplier" is enough to cover all such companies. There are many of these companies out there now, and some even seem to change their name on a regular basis. The one that advertises on my local radio station has altered their name twice in the last 6-8 months, yet have the exact same script in their commercial (with just the name changed).

 

[thevapor]

I AGREE!! DO NOT ORDER!!

I found starter kits at a referral site from a friend, zenvape . com and the prices are great!

do not get suckered into giving your info for these free trials. nothing in life is free.

 

[RestrictedAccess]

I have a family member who was sucked into one of these scams, and ended up returning the product and canceling the service once he figured out what was going on. They offered a free trial and set him up on a sort of subscription plan. His cartridges were supposed to last for a certain amount of time. Each one he got lasted less longer than the one before, so there were long periods of time he had to wait before the next one.

My advice to anyone who's looking into trying e-cigs is to never buy from a company that puts you on a subscription plan, and never buy a product from a company that you can't contact by phone, or has no contact information at all. In my experience, these are almost always situations that never go well.

 

[Juicebox]

I fell for one of these a while ago. No fun and a big waste of time.

 

[awegner18]

I fell for this one too when i first got started

 

[precious_gal429]

That is good to know. I've heard them and wondered. Thanks for sharing !!

 

[Plantgirl]

To all new members that are thinking about getting into the world of PV's (e-cigs)...

Do not order "free trial" offers. Most of these companies offering so-called free trials are thought of as scams by most members of this forum.
I use the word 'scam' loosely, as they are operating under all the policies and conditions laid out in the fine print of their contract, so they are a legal operation. However, the shady practices they use qualify them as scams to me.

I was talking to a clerk at a local convenience store where I used to buy my packs of cigs from. He asked why I didnt buy them anymore and I tild him about my Ecig. He told me he had done one of those "free" trials and it had ended up costing him a bit of $$. And on top of that they keep calling him endlessly. He was not impressed with the ecig, said it worked for an hour then died permantly. I tild him about my vendor (MFS) and about this forum so hopefully he will give it another shot.
But...yes Stay away from those free trials!!!!!

 

[Zippo]

As the saying goes, there is no free lunch!!!. Most items marked as free in advertising whether on radio or TV usually are subscription services which end up charging your credit card monthly and sending something you either did not request or want. Always read the terms of service and do a little reasearch before you make a purchase.

 

[Jay123]

Great info - I read this post first, then I ordered my 510 based on its popularity among all the forum members.

 

[Paraflier]

I am one of the 'pitfall avoided; ones. I heard ads for an outfit... and checked out their web site. When I googled ecig, this forum came up. So I took a peek and the first thread was "Do Not Order "Free Trials"!!!" Interesting, I thought. So I looked deeper, and learned the truth about these mall and radio ads. Ordered from a company here, and should be getting my goodies soon!

Thank you!

 

[TobaccoNoMore]

I also heard the ad for the free e-cigarette and I have been waiting to hear it again so I could call them. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Kate S]

I think most people are weary of anything "free" and savvy enough to go the google route, like I did. But if it wasn't for the free trial scam email I never would have heard of ecigs, so I say, yeah scam emails! I think these scam offers do more good than harm by telling people ecigs exist, even if a few people go for it and get turned off by an inferior ecig and crazy charges.

 

[Seabrook]

Excellent. Nowadays, companies cheat their way into your bank account by this method. Not just e-cig free trials, but expecially cosmetic lines. It's just too hard to find it in the small print. Good post. Thank you.

 

[gordonb50]

And they continue to advertise. Heard 2 ads yesterday.

 

[Duke Striter]

Well I think I have a different view from the rest of you. My job is selling what is called "soft offers". Which is what the free trial adds are. We do this for a lot of different companies and am one of the best around at it. Out of about 150 of us in my company I am in the top 5 of performers. The biggest problem with people getting "scammed" is not listening. Make sure you always listen to the offer in full never assume anything!! All these offers are honest maybe not the best deals but honest. Everything is fully disclosed.Actually we have to disclose at least twice with all the details and give you every little bit of info possible.

 

[Paraflier]

Easy there, Duke. Trying to turn the tide on the opinion of trial offers for E-cigs is like getting people to like attorneys.

 

[Vadim]

Hey Duke,
I have one for you, while driving with a buddy of mine we heard a radio commercial which specifically stated "call now for your free e-cig package".
So I did right there and then (I have been exposed to E-Cigs and new what's what at time of the call, just wanted some free stuff).
Operator answered and we started the phone conversation, she tried to sell me this and that but I just kept on saying "ship me the free trial kit". Back and forth for about 10 minutes neither one of us would give in. She kept on trying to tell me that it is $80, I kept on saying just mail me the free trial kit. Then I said lets not get the attorneys involved because your radio add clearly advertised "call now for a free trial Kit". At this point she said "are you going to buy or not".

I am not trying to make you feel bad, maybe what you do is a bit more honest since you must clearly read the fine print to the person on the other side of the phone.

I bet lots of folks fall of these kinds of scams, but they also help in the sense that people now know about E-Cigs.

Thank you,

 

[Knapweed]

Well I think I have a different view from the rest of you. My job is selling what is called "soft offers". Which is what the free trial adds are. We do this for a lot of different companies and am one of the best around at it. Out of about 150 of us in my company I am in the top 5 of performers. The biggest problem with people getting "scammed" is not listening. Make sure you always listen to the offer in full never assume anything!! All these offers are honest maybe not the best deals but honest. Everything is fully disclosed.Actually we have to disclose at least twice with all the details and give you every little bit of info possible.

It's not about 'not listening', it's about deliberately conning people with the choice of words, e.g.

1; "Made from 100% pure beef" implies that the product is 100% pure beef but, of course it may only be 10% pure beef and 90% crap and it would still hold true that it was MADE from 100% pure beef.

2; "Nothing is stronger than Tylenol" implies that Tylenol is the strongest thing around and worth paying twice the price of the generic brand. The truth is, of course, that they are all the same. 500 mg of generic is exactly the same as 500 mg of Tylenol but it still holds true that nothing is stronger than Tylenol - it also holds true that nothing is weaker than Tylenol.

However you justify it, it is dishonest and a con job. The fact that you tell people twice and can play the lawyer game with words doesn't make it any less dishonest, it just means you can't be prosecuted. It does not mean you have integrity.

And, No, I wouldn't buy anything off you, you're clearly proud of what you do.

 

[Solster]

Warning: I have A.D.D. and it shows here.

I have been trying to vape for some time (first e-cig was not cheap for new carts and didn't know about juice) now i found that the first place i ordered from was not that bad. But it was still a Bad choice for a first time e-cig. turns out that an old friend of mine was into the e-cigs and sent me here.

So with that said on with the matter.

i have found alot of one time use e-cigs on the market. most around $10
and from what i hear they can be a good place to start. If your just looking to Try the e-Cig.

now for the "free trials" out there i would just go get a Pre-Paid Visa card and order one. sure it CRAP and you Pay shipping but it's a Pre-Paid card. charge it, use it, throw it away. and now you don't have to worry about getting charged from them again the cards empty and throwen away.