Do Not Order "Free Trials"!!!
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Thanks for the info. Hubby wanted me to quit analogs and was thinking about the free trials, but waited. I ended up with a starter kit from Vapor4Life as a gift for Christmas. I am very pleased. I have been analog free since Dec. 27, 2010. Yea me, 30 days and counting. 
I fell for a free trial. Just got it this past Friday. After a friend here scolded me (not too bad), I have emailed the company letting them know to cancel my account or whatever else they have subscribed me to, and I will be calling my bank tomorrow. Fun times! Now I just need to find the shipping address and return this thing, it's crap anyway, and order something of a higher quality that I will be happy with.
Thank god for ECF, I almost fell for one of these. Dispicable, and gives the whole community a bad rap.
Sayvil, Welcome to the forum and congrats on 30 days. What a thoughtful Xmas gift!
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The free trial thing is a good lesson for buying anything out there on the net. Always....always...always look at the terms and conditions, first.
Great thread! This is *such* an important warning.
I've only been using e-cigarettes since December, but what I've already seen on the internet has me really worried about people falling for e-cig scams - and the collateral damage this will do to the reputations of the good, honest e-cig companies we depend on.
Even if you are generally one to read the fine print, you could still fall prey, because some are not showing the details of their so-called "FREE!" offers until after you've already entered your email address and shipping info.
My 'husband accidentally bought me a 10-pack of cartridges that don't fit my e-cig battery, so I went online to see what battery did fit. This company advertised their starter kit as free, so I thought, great! - this won't be good money wasted on useless cartridges, after all.
I read the FreeStarter Kit order page top-to-bottom for the the strings-attached - there were none listed - so entered my shipping info. Wasn't until the next page where you review your order before submitting it that the details were revealed - but *way* down at the bottom in tiny print - and on a dark background color - where most people would totally miss it. (that's very obviously what they're counting on.)
Suddenly the starter kit wasn't "FREE!" anymore - the fine print said it was a free *trial* and that, in a certain number of days after the *shipping* date (not the date I received it), I'd be charged $99.99 (twice the cost of a starter kit from my current e-cig company!), *and* that my credit card would automatically be charged on a regular basis for repeated auto-shipments of refills.
...so I stopped right there - never clicked on "submit order" - left that page immediately.
But, guess what? They gathered & used my personal information via this never-completed order, anyway. I starting receiving junk email from them right away (in light of that, I wouldn't be surprised if they were also in the business of sharing/selling the personal info they collect this way.)
Deceptive "free offer" e-cig companies have also created websites that very closely imitate familiar health websites and newspapers -- you can barely tell they're not the real thing until you click on any link on it and it takes you directly to their "free" e-cig ad.
Some are obviously inserting the names of reputable companies into their websites' meta tags - or purchasing "sponsored results" from search engine companies - so that when you do a search by name for your favorite e-cig company or a reputable one you want to learn more about, the first search results listed are their fake health/news article sites (instead of the specific company you searched for.)
I'm a stickler for reading ever corner of a web page before buying anything, so if they can almost fool me, then they can fool just about anyone. Please do be careful! ("FREE!" is rarely free.)
I've only been using e-cigarettes since December, but what I've already seen on the internet has me really worried about people falling for e-cig scams - and the collateral damage this will do to the reputations of the good, honest e-cig companies we depend on.
Even if you are generally one to read the fine print, you could still fall prey, because some are not showing the details of their so-called "FREE!" offers until after you've already entered your email address and shipping info.
My 'husband accidentally bought me a 10-pack of cartridges that don't fit my e-cig battery, so I went online to see what battery did fit. This company advertised their starter kit as free, so I thought, great! - this won't be good money wasted on useless cartridges, after all.
I read the FreeStarter Kit order page top-to-bottom for the the strings-attached - there were none listed - so entered my shipping info. Wasn't until the next page where you review your order before submitting it that the details were revealed - but *way* down at the bottom in tiny print - and on a dark background color - where most people would totally miss it. (that's very obviously what they're counting on.)
Suddenly the starter kit wasn't "FREE!" anymore - the fine print said it was a free *trial* and that, in a certain number of days after the *shipping* date (not the date I received it), I'd be charged $99.99 (twice the cost of a starter kit from my current e-cig company!), *and* that my credit card would automatically be charged on a regular basis for repeated auto-shipments of refills.
...so I stopped right there - never clicked on "submit order" - left that page immediately.
But, guess what? They gathered & used my personal information via this never-completed order, anyway. I starting receiving junk email from them right away (in light of that, I wouldn't be surprised if they were also in the business of sharing/selling the personal info they collect this way.)
Deceptive "free offer" e-cig companies have also created websites that very closely imitate familiar health websites and newspapers -- you can barely tell they're not the real thing until you click on any link on it and it takes you directly to their "free" e-cig ad.
Some are obviously inserting the names of reputable companies into their websites' meta tags - or purchasing "sponsored results" from search engine companies - so that when you do a search by name for your favorite e-cig company or a reputable one you want to learn more about, the first search results listed are their fake health/news article sites (instead of the specific company you searched for.)
I'm a stickler for reading ever corner of a web page before buying anything, so if they can almost fool me, then they can fool just about anyone. Please do be careful! ("FREE!" is rarely free.)
Odd coincidence... I have the same theory, but theory is, of course, the key word. I'll do some research on the subject, and repost if I can find anything.
I did fall for one of these offers. Sounds like the exact one mentioned above, really.
The end result was that I paid almost 4 times the money that I would have paid had I found this forum first. sob, sob ... live and learn. The good thing is, of-course, that all of this did lead me here. And that I have now purchased another complete kit from a Supplier member and some juice samples from yet another Supplier member. And both of these companies have been first rate !!! They are AquaVapor and NHaler and they have a new customer forever !!!
So ... please do not fall for the "free" offers. Check out the Supplier pages here instead.
The end result was that I paid almost 4 times the money that I would have paid had I found this forum first. sob, sob ... live and learn. The good thing is, of-course, that all of this did lead me here. And that I have now purchased another complete kit from a Supplier member and some juice samples from yet another Supplier member. And both of these companies have been first rate !!! They are AquaVapor and NHaler and they have a new customer forever !!!
So ... please do not fall for the "free" offers. Check out the Supplier pages here instead.
Hi im new to e cigs i heard the "free trial things and said nope ill wait till i find somewhere that sells them and i found out a buddy of mine from highschool is selling them for a company he works for so i got mine today its just a cheap starter one i spent 80$ and i havn't had a smoke since 1pm
the model name is 401d
the model name is 401d
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" ... and i haven't had a smoke since 1pm "
drtyshwa420,
Speaking as an old woman who had smoked for nearly 46 years ... and who has the ravaged lungs and damaged heart because of it ... all I want to say is good for you and go, team, go !!!! Stopping now, at your age, your body will cleanse and repair itself and smoking tobacco may not claim yet another life. I am so thankful for the e-cig.
drtyshwa420,
Speaking as an old woman who had smoked for nearly 46 years ... and who has the ravaged lungs and damaged heart because of it ... all I want to say is good for you and go, team, go !!!! Stopping now, at your age, your body will cleanse and repair itself and smoking tobacco may not claim yet another life. I am so thankful for the e-cig.
Also to be watched for is complicated return methods. The trial I got suckered into requires a RMA to return it and I'm having a devil of a time finding out how to get it before it is too late. Glad I ordered on my Paypal account so I can contest the charge if it happens.
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