I went pretty crazy, buying new things to try, different models, juices, cartos and cartridges. My wife doesn't know whether to laugh, cry, cut up the credit cards or take away (gasp!) my vaping priviledges.
Throughout many little purchases, and some not so little, I've dealt with good suppliers...and a few who were not so good. Here's the report card so far, including reasons for the grade given.
A
* Freedom Smoke U.S.A. Unbelievably good communication, fast shipping and delicious juices. They might get a small minus on their A, just because their prices are to me, a bit steep
* Johnson Creek Smokejuice: Whether or not you like their juices, no one can complain about the high level of customer service and ecellent communication offered by the J.C. team. A presentation tin was damaged during shipment of my original sample kits and Welcome kit, and they replaced it without hassle. I in fact do like some of the juices they produce, so I'll probably order from them again. I really like the way they do business.
* Kic Bass Vapor - BoB is doing a kickass job so far. My order arrived within three business days of placing my order. Packaging was excellent, everything arrived in top shape, and he even threw in a 5 ml. freebie
*
LeCig
These guys are awesome. First of all, they have a telephone which they answer. They are happy to answer dumb newbie questions. I placed two different small orders with them, and both were delivered in just a couple business days. When I needed an adaptor, they generously provided me a couple for free (I would have gotten it free had I requested it at the time I bought my CigPig from them, so they didn't mind sending me a couple "on the house" ) along with some KR808D-2/Green Smoke/E9 cartos I ordered from them. Nice folks!
* Lightcigusa: Fantastic fast service, although I don't much like their website. Products were described accurately, everything they sold me works great. This is definitely a quality company, and I'll do business with them again.
* Gourmet Vapor: Juices were delivered quickly and very carefully packaged. Packaging makes a huge difference; good packaging means no spilled bottles, etc. They're pretty darn fast, especially considering that each bottle of juice is formulated for each customer order.
B
** bigboxstore. com just moved up. They handled a complaint for me politely, even though it was my fault (see below). Their selection is huge, so like dealextreme and healthcabin, you had better know what you're looking for. Chinese airmail is slow... but that's not their fault.
* Vapor4Life. While they are very willing to correct small mistakes on orders, I don't like their Customer Service ticket system. Yes, they take care of complaints quickly, but I just don't care for the process. They have made small errors on three of the five orders I've placed with them since Thanksgiving. I didn't complain about one of the errors, and the other two (missing merchandise and a problem with a discount) were promptly handled. Their packaging is adequate, and delivery is average.
* Cignot.com. I missed free shipping by being short on a minimum order by less than two dollars. The reply to my polite complaint/inquiry was all business and totally lacking in warmth. I'm probably nit-picking here; they delivered quickly, packaging was fine and everything was as ordered. Maybe they could be a hair friendlier?
* ecig.com - I have no gripe with this Chinese company, other than the minimum order to qualify for free shipping is pretty high (although not nearly as high as healthcabin.net ). I am also mad at myself for choosing the E9 and an E8 for my wife; both are fairly useless, neither produces very much vapor, and the chargers/batteries are tempermental at best. I won't do business with them again, because they sell nothing I am likely to want in the future. They still get a B.
* Vapor Kings. The only reason they don't get an A is that I don't like their website. Their products and service are fine, shipping is reasonably fast - not the fastest I've encountered, but fast enough. I just have trouble navigating their website (see below).
C/D
I won't again deal with any company that gets a C or lower here. There are too many really good suppliers around, so it's really not necessary to support businesses which are weak in either product, price, customer service or shipping.
Companies that have failed in my opinion:
V2Cigs: Sudden success has apparently ruined this fledgeling company from Miami, FL. Their product, essentially a KR808D-1 is very good (it was the first e-cigarette I ever tried), and their cartos are fine. However, I cancelled an order after a month of waiting without communication from them, and a friend of mine who lives in Florida is still waiting since November 3, 2010! This is unacceptable. In fact, they just shipped her order, after having received her permission to substitute cartos which are (still) backordered. You'll find better prices, certainly better service and maybe even better products elsewhere.
Note: My friend finally received her cartomizer sampler packs. They were in fact not exactly oas ordered, but she did give them permission to substitute. I still will not do business with them again.
*** The jury is still out on:
Vapor Bomb - I just placed an order today
Note: Michelle just called me this morning to clarify an order. I had failed to list a nicotine strength on one of the juices I ordered. Her friendly call ensures that I'll get the strength I want. Tanks VB!
healthcabin - I placed an order on behalf of a small group of buyers, in order to get the free shipping. They were sold out of several products that we really wanted.
Backwoods Brew: Don communicates quickly and politely. In fact, he can be downright friendly! The only reason the jury is still out is that I'm waiting for my first juice order from him; I would have ordered sooner, but I was waiting for Malty to come back in stock. Everything looks great so far; I hope that the juices are as good as Don's customer service.
Throughout many little purchases, and some not so little, I've dealt with good suppliers...and a few who were not so good. Here's the report card so far, including reasons for the grade given.
A
* Freedom Smoke U.S.A. Unbelievably good communication, fast shipping and delicious juices. They might get a small minus on their A, just because their prices are to me, a bit steep
* Johnson Creek Smokejuice: Whether or not you like their juices, no one can complain about the high level of customer service and ecellent communication offered by the J.C. team. A presentation tin was damaged during shipment of my original sample kits and Welcome kit, and they replaced it without hassle. I in fact do like some of the juices they produce, so I'll probably order from them again. I really like the way they do business.
* Kic Bass Vapor - BoB is doing a kickass job so far. My order arrived within three business days of placing my order. Packaging was excellent, everything arrived in top shape, and he even threw in a 5 ml. freebie
*
LeCig
These guys are awesome. First of all, they have a telephone which they answer. They are happy to answer dumb newbie questions. I placed two different small orders with them, and both were delivered in just a couple business days. When I needed an adaptor, they generously provided me a couple for free (I would have gotten it free had I requested it at the time I bought my CigPig from them, so they didn't mind sending me a couple "on the house" ) along with some KR808D-2/Green Smoke/E9 cartos I ordered from them. Nice folks!
* Lightcigusa: Fantastic fast service, although I don't much like their website. Products were described accurately, everything they sold me works great. This is definitely a quality company, and I'll do business with them again.
* Gourmet Vapor: Juices were delivered quickly and very carefully packaged. Packaging makes a huge difference; good packaging means no spilled bottles, etc. They're pretty darn fast, especially considering that each bottle of juice is formulated for each customer order.
B
** bigboxstore. com just moved up. They handled a complaint for me politely, even though it was my fault (see below). Their selection is huge, so like dealextreme and healthcabin, you had better know what you're looking for. Chinese airmail is slow... but that's not their fault.
* Vapor4Life. While they are very willing to correct small mistakes on orders, I don't like their Customer Service ticket system. Yes, they take care of complaints quickly, but I just don't care for the process. They have made small errors on three of the five orders I've placed with them since Thanksgiving. I didn't complain about one of the errors, and the other two (missing merchandise and a problem with a discount) were promptly handled. Their packaging is adequate, and delivery is average.
* Cignot.com. I missed free shipping by being short on a minimum order by less than two dollars. The reply to my polite complaint/inquiry was all business and totally lacking in warmth. I'm probably nit-picking here; they delivered quickly, packaging was fine and everything was as ordered. Maybe they could be a hair friendlier?
* ecig.com - I have no gripe with this Chinese company, other than the minimum order to qualify for free shipping is pretty high (although not nearly as high as healthcabin.net ). I am also mad at myself for choosing the E9 and an E8 for my wife; both are fairly useless, neither produces very much vapor, and the chargers/batteries are tempermental at best. I won't do business with them again, because they sell nothing I am likely to want in the future. They still get a B.
* Vapor Kings. The only reason they don't get an A is that I don't like their website. Their products and service are fine, shipping is reasonably fast - not the fastest I've encountered, but fast enough. I just have trouble navigating their website (see below).
C/D
I won't again deal with any company that gets a C or lower here. There are too many really good suppliers around, so it's really not necessary to support businesses which are weak in either product, price, customer service or shipping.
Companies that have failed in my opinion:
V2Cigs: Sudden success has apparently ruined this fledgeling company from Miami, FL. Their product, essentially a KR808D-1 is very good (it was the first e-cigarette I ever tried), and their cartos are fine. However, I cancelled an order after a month of waiting without communication from them, and a friend of mine who lives in Florida is still waiting since November 3, 2010! This is unacceptable. In fact, they just shipped her order, after having received her permission to substitute cartos which are (still) backordered. You'll find better prices, certainly better service and maybe even better products elsewhere.
Note: My friend finally received her cartomizer sampler packs. They were in fact not exactly oas ordered, but she did give them permission to substitute. I still will not do business with them again.
*** The jury is still out on:
Vapor Bomb - I just placed an order today
Note: Michelle just called me this morning to clarify an order. I had failed to list a nicotine strength on one of the juices I ordered. Her friendly call ensures that I'll get the strength I want. Tanks VB!
healthcabin - I placed an order on behalf of a small group of buyers, in order to get the free shipping. They were sold out of several products that we really wanted.
Backwoods Brew: Don communicates quickly and politely. In fact, he can be downright friendly! The only reason the jury is still out is that I'm waiting for my first juice order from him; I would have ordered sooner, but I was waiting for Malty to come back in stock. Everything looks great so far; I hope that the juices are as good as Don's customer service.
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