I need some help understanding something

[Njt07]

Sorry for the long post.

This isn’t a bash on Gotvapes. Ive been a customer of Gotvapes for almost 2 years, September 2011, pretty much the time the I have been vaping, mainly because gotvapes shipped overseas to me when I was stationed in Korea. I have had a few issues with orders that have been quickly worked out by Danno and Chris, but I just recently ran into my first DOA issue and am confused.

BTW I have read through the TOU and have already been authorized by Max to send the battery (that was DOA on arrival) back to Gotvapes.

I received it in the mail and immediately plugged it in to charge on an ego battery charger (had to take out the screws, push the battery connector so it sat flush in the plastic mount then reassembled it. It still works fine on my other batteries.) After connecting the battery to the charger, the battery didn’t flash and the led on the ego charger stayed green for about 2 hours. I didn’t know if it had been fully charged, so I took it off, connected on of my new nano visions that had been recommended (thanks Adrena) and was in the same order. I tried to turn the battery on, but no flash, clicked it the requisite 5 times as with most of the newer manual batteries. No flash and no output to the nano vision. I checked the connector posts on both the atty and the battery then reassembled. Nothing. I connected the nano vision to another ego battery, no problems there, it works great, might even get my wife to switch from her high maintenance aga-t to the nano vision. The battery doesn’t work, ie it was DOA.

What confuses me is this, I paid for a battery, the Manhattan battery, and I paid for the shipping of my full order. Now I have received authorization from max to ship it back to Gotvapes AT MY EXPENSE. This doesn’t make sense, or am I just wrong about how returns should operate if the product isn’t working out of the box? No other place I have shopped at works this way, including other ecig venders. I don’t mind sending it back, though it does delay me getting a working battery to replace my dying itaste batteries until it is received at Gotvapes and then the new one is sent out (my wife uses the ego batteries when she goes out so I can’t use those…).

Please help me understand because I would like to continue to shop at Gotvapes, my wife’s all day vape is pyramid fusion as well as my father in law if I can get him back into it.

 

[nathkiira]

I received it in the mail and immediately plugged it in to charge on an ego battery charger (had to take out the screws, push the battery connector so it sat flush in the plastic mount then reassembled it. It still works fine on my other batteries.) After connecting the battery to the charger, the battery didn’t flash and the led on the ego charger stayed green for about 2 hours.

what i'm gathering from your post, is you didn't use the supplied charger and used an ego battery charger which you had to dissasemble to make it fit..................is that correct?

 

[badkolo]

did you try the battery before using it on your rigged charger or did this happen after using the charger you had. It is very common dependning on the situation for the customer to be repsonsible for sending it back, if it arrived doa , or is a recall that is one thing but we cant tell that form your issue.

 

[rdsok]

The majority of the reseller's I deal with online... almost all have the same or similar return policy in the event of a dead/defective unit... It doesn't matter what type of reseller either... ecig, electronics or other. Also remember, the warranties are for the product itself and shipping isn't part of that product... it is a service provided by another company. If shipping were to be covered ( and some companies do this, but not a lot ) then the possibility of a failed parts shipping cost would also need to be factored into the final sale price which would further increase your original cost. By both you and the reseller taking on the liability of the shipping... it keeps the initial cost you pay down.

 

[cags]

what i'm gathering from your post, is you didn't use the supplied charger and used an ego battery charger which you had to dissasemble to make it fit..................is that correct?

I wasn't familiar with that battery so I went to the gotvapes site. they have in the description how to make an ego charger work.......

 

[dannoman]

What rdsok outlined is spot on. We stand behind our products but return shipping is the responsibility of the customer (whether it be doa or it failed during a warranty period) unless it is a case where we sent the customer the wrong item and we ask for the other item they received to be shipped back. This is the policy of almost all vendors. We do cover the cost of shipping a working/new unit back to you.

By the way we do have the modified eGo chargers that accomodate esmarts without jimmy-rigging your present charger here:

500mA 510 eGo Fast USB Charger for E-smart, EVOD & eGo Batteries [gv-EsmartEVODeGoUSBCharger] - $5.95 : GotVapes.com, E-cigarette Supplies - Atomizers Cartomizers Mods Juice and more

 

[dannoman]

Just another thing you have to consider from the vendors side: We often get items back that were claimed to be defective and weren't. It would be complicated to go back to the customer and tell them we need our postage reimbursed and we will have to charge you to ship this back.

 

[Njt07]

Again, please don't take this like I'm blaming gotvapes, and I appreciate you guys explaining this to me. What I have experienced, even just recently with a stereo we bought for my daughter that was DOA, was that the store, in this case I think Overstock, sent us a return shipment label via email then we sent it back. If it was determined that it wasn't DOA or defective then they charged us the shipping.

This is what I am used to, so it was a bit of a shock for me.

BTW I followed the directions on the website for the ego charger.

 

[rdsok]

What you experienced at that reseller is not the norm... that one is likely caused by the fact that Overstock isn't selling items they can warrant through the manufacturer since they are purchasing overstocked and discontinued items. I think that Overstock, while may have been just one example, wouldn't have been the greatest one for the reason I mentioned... There are some resellers that do add to the resale cost for the potential of a failure... usually that works in to their advantage since most parts won't fail. So you as a customer, in these cases, had to pay a higher price for that type of support.

I can't say more with the exception of some additional reasoning ( beyond increasing the resale cost I already mentioned ).

Resellers such as GotVapes are not selling products they made themselves... they are selling items from other companies. It isn't GV's fault that the manufacturer had a quality control/defective issue with a particular item they carry, but they do offer to handle the actual warranty as an additional customer service ( minus the return shipping ) otherwise it would be up to the customer to make a warranty claim with the manufacturer and return it to them for replacement. With a typical brick and mortar reseller, you would be required to return the product to the store you bought it from, taking up the time and gas to drive there, that store wouldn't compensate you for that time it took nor the gas to get to them. The obvious differences between a B&M vs an online reseller is in part one of distance... it wouldn't be cost effective for you to drive to them ( if they allowed that ) and it isn't the reseller's fault that you may live so far away.

 

[Njt07]

well the issue has been resolved. While I am still somewhat unsatisfied with the process it is what it is and I will still continue to be a customer at gotvapes.

To max, I apologize for my shortness, I didn't realize that people not turning on their batteries was a common cause of thinking the battery wasn't working.

Thanks for the explanations everyone, if you want to delete this thread you can.

 

[keelalagirl55]

Again, please don't take this like I'm blaming gotvapes, and I appreciate you guys explaining this to me. What I have experienced, even just recently with a stereo we bought for my daughter that was DOA, was that the store, in this case I think Overstock, sent us a return shipment label via email then we sent it back. If it was determined that it wasn't DOA or defective then they charged us the shipping.

This is what I am used to, so it was a bit of a shock for me.

BTW I followed the directions on the website for the ego charger.

One additional comment.....places like Overstock and Amazon can do this (the return shipment label and charge shipping if item wasn't DOA or defective) because they DO store CC/payment information. So if they find it necessary to charge the customer for the return shipping costs, they can easily do so. GV, along with MOST ecig vendors, do not in any way, shape, or form store payment information so they have no access to cc numbers in order to collect on those same shipping charges.

 

[dannoman]

Its ok- you approached this in a very respectful way and its educational : ) It gave us a chance to further expand on the whats, whys and wherefores! Shoot this might be good to sticky rather than delete - lol.

well the issue has been resolved. While I am still somewhat unsatisfied with the process it is what it is and I will still continue to be a customer at gotvapes.

To max, I apologize for my shortness, I didn't realize that people not turning on their batteries was a common cause of thinking the battery wasn't working.

Thanks for the explanations everyone, if you want to delete this thread you can.

 

[Train2]

Side note: Places like Amazon and Overstock also have IMMENSELY discounted negotiated flat rates with the delivery carriers!
One big electronics discounter I recall had a deal to get ANY package anywhere in the U.S. - NEXT DAY AIR, for $4.

One additional comment.....places like Overstock and Amazon can do this (the return shipment label and charge shipping if item wasn't DOA or defective) because they DO store CC/payment information. So if they find it necessary to charge the customer for the return shipping costs, they can easily do so. GV, along with MOST ecig vendors, do not in any way, shape, or form store payment information so they have no access to cc numbers in order to collect on those same shipping charges.

 

[keelalagirl55]

Very good point Train...that point had completely slipped by me (and I shop Amazon all the time )

 

[dannoman]

From my experience, working fairly high up at the USPS, I know that many of the biggies do almost everything but deliver the product. They presort and deliver straight to the local distribution center, so this is very true re:Train2. And here's the thing, the USPS is the HUB of alot of it. FedEx and UPS will use the USPS infrastructure on the last leg of the delivery. I have seen many a UPS truck at the USPS docks.