ePuffer Trying to Redeem Themselves?

[Deficit]

Hey all, some of you may know about the recent problems I've been having with ePuffer, especially if you have seen my video review. I went back and forth with them through their ticketing system several times about the slow shipping, messed up cartridge MG (they gave me zero mg, I wanted 8 mg), battery trouble after less than a week and carts burning up after 50 or so puffs.

They wanted me to ship the kit back, and charge me a 20% restocking fee if the units weren't resellable. I told them no was not incurring all those extra charges for faulty equipment that wasn't my fault. I linked them to my video review in which they could see clear evidence that the kit was not functioning on par if they thought I was trying to scam a refund out of them. I told them to pay for shipping with my refund if they wanted it back.

I received a phone call today from a manager or possibly the owner of ePuffer (I think he said his name was Mike, but the call caught me offguard) wanting to apologize for the issues I have had and gave me two choices:

1.) Full refund on the kit, don't worry about shipping it back and paying restocking fees, or
2.) They would send me the new Magnum they are releasing in April, which features extended battery life, better switch performance, and 2 small holes in the battery for better draw... I believe this MAY end up actually being the LTv11 that is so highly anticipated. I have to wait until April for this one though.

He also said he will send right now a prototype kit of another brand new 2 piece design e-cig similar to the Magnum but smaller, with carts, free of charge to test and review. He called it the "Echo", or it might be spelled "ECO" or "ECCO" or some other variant, it's not on their site yet so I don't know.

I told him heck, I'll take option 2! The new LTv11 (possibly) Magnum plus a free prototype kit of another e-cig that's not even on the market yet? Hells yeah! Sounds good to me! I'll review the stuff and give ePuffer a chance to redeem themselves, but I still will never recommend their current Magnum and I hope I see them start stepping up their customer service, or else at the very least their overall score in the review will still take a hit for those things at the very least.

Will keep you all updated on how it goes.

 

[Deficit]

His name was Shawn, I just got an email update confirming what we had talked about on the phone. He said he just got done watching my review, and he did seem a little bit upset, but I had what I had to review and I will always remain honest and unbiased with no sugar coating in my reviews. I will tell it like it is, believe that. I calls 'em like I sees 'em

 

[Elle]

wow! interesting.

i think you should give shawn another ring and give him the link to all the angry epuffer threads here.

glad they are coming through for you D

 

[Jhamer]

I'm still supposedly back-ordered from my original purchase date of march 2nd. My visa was also charged on the 3rd. Well your story at least gives me some hope that I may end up receiving my product or some notification soon. I'm happy to hear something positive may come out of this for you, especially after all they have put you through! Proper thing!

 

[Vapor]

Well i finally got my 2 e-juices' i ordered from them about 3 weeks ago. I ordered the low Mint and medium European mix tobacco flavors. It came in a box instead of the usual manilla envelope that many suppliers use. So the contents were very safe. The box was labeled as "air freshener" so im guessing thats a pretty smart way of getting around customs.

As for the liquids....they are a little thick for my taste. I cannot just drip directly into the white foam of the cartridges because otherwise all the liquid just stays on the top. I have to take out the foam and fill up the cart that way. Im lazy that way

As for the taste i would say that they are not bad at all and vapor production is decent.

If they would fix their costumer service and shipping times i would recommend them for people who live close by to Canada or live in Canada obviously.

But it took FOREVER ( I live in USA west coast) to get the liquid so until they fix all their problems...i still cannot recommend them.

I had sent an email to them after a week of ordering (and them taking my money) and did not receive a reply until after they shipped my items. According to them, one of the liquids was out of stock, but they shouldnt be selling things that are out of stock in the first place and no where in their website did they say that the item was out of stock. Boy im i lucky i did not order any hardware from them.

 

[Deficit]

Thanks for the replies. I feel that ePuffer needed to see that video because as a major supplier they need that feedback in order to improve upon their business model. I have been thinking the same thing about linking them to threads here, Elle. They need to see how people feel about their products and customer service so that they can improve. I do sincerely hope they work hard to improve these areas.

Before my order had been shipped a week late, they could have sent me a quick email to let me know what was going on. That would have gone a long way in the area of service. They also should have payed attention to my message about the carts at the time I placed my order. These things would DEFINITELY have made me be more understanding about the defective products - hey, defective products can happen with ANYTHING you buy from any company, whether it be an e-cig, TV, computer, cell phone, whatever. I understand that.

Also, when you submit a support ticket, you get an auto reply saying someone will respond in 12 - 24 hours. Don't wait a week to respond if you tell people 12 - 24 hours. If they know they can't usually commit to getting to it that quick, they need to change it to say 24 - 48 hours or whatever and stick to it.

If they are sending out a high volume of defective products which, judging by what I've seen here in the forums from other users they do, they know it. They need to get on their manufacturer about quality standards, start testing products when they come in from the manufacturer, test again before it gets shipped to the customer. Find another manufacturer if the failure rate is so high, or lower your prices to compensate for the chance of failure.

I did tell ePuffer about these forums and I hope they start reading through some of this stuff. I hope that the fact that my video got them upset gets them motivated to turn things around. Shawn told me in his follow-up email after our phone conversation that he watched my video and feels like I mis represented his company - I beg to differ. I tell it like it is, period, and if Shawn looks at my order he will see I accurately reported ordering date, shipping date, the fact that I sent a message that fell on deaf ears about the accidental ordering of 0mg carts, and a clear demonstration that both batteries were in fact defective (one being dead and the other having different issues). I did not mis represent anything, I gave the facts plain and simple.

He also stated that ePuffer "pioneered electronic smoking in North America" and indicated that because of them and their feedback and ideas, electronic cigarettes have improved significantly. That may or may not be true, but it doesn't change the fact that I had bad customer service experiences with them and they still seem to be shipping a large number of faulty devices.

I do however appreciate the fact that they called me on the phone and tried to talk things out with me, and are making an attempt to make it right with me again. That shows a sign that maybe they are trying to improve customer service, and the fact that they are taking steps toward releasing a new and supposedly improved product design says something for them as well.

ePuffer, if you read this post, please don't be offended by my review, as it was a fair and 100% honest review of my experience. Take heed to what I and others in this forum are saying, learn from it and grow. This is a new market and everyone is new to this business, mistakes will be made. I hope I can give you a better review when I receive your new products so that you can reclaim some of the customers you've lost.

 

[fishhawk]

It's fair to say you got faulty equipment and it's good they are taking an extra step to make things right. They have a ways to go when it comes to customer service though. Two days turnaround for a response to their online ticket system is unacceptable.

My equipment is going back to them right now at my expense. I don't care paying for it, I do care about paying and already overinflated $150 for shoddy equipment and fully expect money back.

 

[Nuck]

There are tons of great suppliers now. Why the hell would anyone buy from a company that is grossly overpriced, uses currency scams to inflate prices, has a long history of HORRIBLE customer service and some of the worst, most unreliable gear on the market.

It's great you are getting some replacement gear but damn buddy, you are one cheap date.

Buyer beware.

 

[ChainSmkr]

I received a phone call today from a manager or possibly the owner of ePuffer...wanting to apologize for the issues I have had and gave me two choices

Congrats Deficit! Gutsy move taking option 2; I'd have jumped on the full refund and run for the freakin' hills rather than be locked into dealing with them for maintenance parts. BUT ya never know, you may very well be on a VIP list now lol. Best of luck with your new e-cig and prototype next month.

 

[Deficit]

There are tons of great suppliers now. Why the hell would anyone buy from a company that is grossly overpriced, uses currency scams to inflate prices, has a long history of HORRIBLE customer service and some of the worst, most unreliable gear on the market.

It's great you are getting some replacement gear but damn buddy, you are one cheap date.

Buyer beware.

Hehe

Like I said before though, it's certainly not going to help their review if that's what they are trying to do. And the idea of having a long anticipated LTv11 (possibly) in my hands as a prototype BEFORE it hits the market plus some other unknown kit... kinda made me wonder if I wanted a refund or if I wanted be the first kid on the block to try out the new stuff and give everyone here a sneak peak at what is probably the LTv11.

I just HAD to take the offer It's like the show Deal or No Deal... you got $1 on the board and $1 million on the board... 50/50 at the million or $1 and the banker offers you $500k... *in Howie Mandel's voice* Deal.... or No Deal?

 

[Nuck]

I'm going to write a nice long email to EPuffer tonight documenting my wonderful 400 dollar experience. Should be interesting to see the reply.

 

[Deficit]

EDIT: I just looked at the LTv11, and it's definitely not that. Might be an LTv10 though, not sure exactly. When asked, the guy I talked to from ePuffer declined to comment on it, saying they "do not buy from Loongtotem". This might be a proprietary design.

 

[Deficit]

I'm going to write a nice long email to EPuffer tonight documenting my wonderful 400 dollar experience. Should be interesting to see the reply.

Go for it

Hopefully at least you can get a refund. I resorted to a lot of profanity, caps lock, and threats of chargebacks and reporting to the BBB.

 

[Nuck]

Go for it

Hopefully at least you can get a refund. I resorted to a lot of profanity, caps lock, and threats of chargebacks and reporting to the BBB.

I'm glad it worked for you but definitely not my style

I will make a report to the BBB if it can't be resolved and I will make inquiries about a credit card charge back but I want to give them a chance to respond and resolve a factual, polite complaint first.

In 25 years with my credit card company I have only had to resort to a charge back on a single occasion. It was also an internet company.

 

[Deficit]

I'm glad it worked for you but definitely not my style

I will make a report to the BBB if it can't be resolved and I will make inquiries about a credit card charge back but I want to give them a chance to respond and resolve a factual, polite complaint first.

In 25 years with my credit card company I have only had to resort to a charge back on a single occasion. It was also an internet company.

Yeah, I tried the calm and factual approach first with them... lemme know how that works out for ya lol because after 5 days with no response, capslock, profanity and (non-violent) threats finally woke 'em up.

I've never actually had to do a charge back yet, usually threatening the charge back is enough to convince them you are playing around. They were REALLY upset about my review it seemed, because he got pretty defensive about it. Maybe it was the wakeup call they needed.

As for making recommendations of overpriced stuff, in my reviews I always factor in "Value vs. Price" which plays a heavy role in overall score. So does customer service.

 

[Jhamer]

Got a full refund for my order from Epuffer last night. No explanation, oh well, it's resolved.

 

[Nuck]

I haven't heard back yet..40 hours and counting

 

[first2di3]

Can any of you guys give me a heads up on what I need to do at the post office to get this across to Canada from Oklahoma? I told them I had batteries when they asked if I had hazardous materials, and wanted to know what kind..... I said Lithium Ion, but he asked if it was Solid Core or liquid core...

I got my RMA number from them on Wednesday night and I was shipping them out today (Friday), Im shipping back 2 complete Starter Kits (with 2 full carts in each kit) and a seperate battery not in a starter kit.

I just want to know what I should do to make this go as smooth as possible...

Thanks..

 

[MisterPuck]

solid core lithium ion batteries. If you are not shipping juice or filled carts you shouldn't have any issues at all.

 

[first2di3]

solid core lithium ion batteries. If you are not shipping juice or filled carts you shouldn't have any issues at all.

Well, I didnt say anything about the carts, but I did have 4 unused carts, so I put them in with the starter kits so that they are complete starter kits...

Im trying to keep them from being able to claim the 20% restocking fee because I don't have a webcam and a willingness to do a review..

Should I crack open the box and keep the carts so they cant say anything at customs or what should I do?

Thanks MisterPuck for the reply...