Not happy with Volcano

[Tank]

I am usually pretty patient and understanding with vendors when it comes to ecigs, liquid and mods...

However, a poor product and poor customer service is unacceptable. I ordered a lavatube (black) and it was defective. Understandardly, one problably gets by without a QA check and gets sent out to the purchaser.

We have received your defective item as of 9-12-12 and ran some tests on your
item. We deemed your item defective. Your replacement will be sent out with the
following USPS tracking number:

I ordered a black one, and got back a silver one, no apologies, not a word of explaination - it actually looks like a used one with the scratches on it. Extremely poor packaging and the silver one I received has a crack in the bottom of it. I didnt want a silver one, I wanted a black one. Thats not the big issue here. The point is they never explained what the problem was nor offered a plausable solution. I already have a silver one and dont need another, I wanted a black unit. I asked for a refund and they did not provide it. Now I have one silver volcano lavatube that is "ok" and a "new" silver one that has a crack in the bottom of it. Im not sending it back, its a waste of my time. I will probably receive another used or defective unit.

The fact that Volcano for the past 4 weeks have not explained why the 2.0 has not come out in their weekly wed night chat is unacceptable. You can only blame china for so long and no updates in the chat is not acceptable.

LT 2.0
No new news.... just waiting on China to get their butts in gear and get them to us.

Yes I will probably get flamed by the Volcano fanboys, but seriously....would you accept this type of service from any vendor?

tank/Dave

 

[JoeInferno]

Aloha tank,

I am sorry to hear this. Please contact our CS department and allow us to get you the correct color Lavatube. I am also sorry to hear that the one was sent to you had scratches in the finish and the end cap was cracked. I promise you we would never send a customer a used or refurbished device. We only send out new devices as replacements.

I am sorry that there has been no updates about the Lavatube 2.0 in the weekly chats, but there is no new info to release about it. Our first shipment we received has flaws in the paint and we sent them all back minus a couple to test the final production version. We found a few other flaws that needed to be tended to, and they are fixing them as well. The only update we can give is there is no new updates. The factory is fixing the issues and we are waiting on them to finish up and get them shipped out.

Here is a quote from our CS Manager to your post on our forum:

Hello Tank

I am sorry you have had to experience this. This seems to be a mistake made by the RMA department. As a human and one of the CS Managers I can honestly say that mistakes do happen in any department and as minor or major as it can be, it does suck. I cannot offer you an explanation as to why you received the incorrect replacement other than it was a simple matter of the wrong item being placed into the wrong envelope. It is not common or something we have an issue with generally, but it can happen. Should something be done about it? Absolutely, and that is precisely what I intend to do. This would certainly never be done on purpose and that would be why an explanation was not provided as to why. Until this moment, no one was aware that it took place, I know I certainly did not. I have personally just finished every CS ticket that came into the company until 11:00PM CST (my time zone) and I as of that time have not heard from you regarding this matter. I would not say that the CS is poor at all, I work night and day to ensure this and make sure I do not rest until everyone is taken care of. However, companies are made up of many different departments and each of these departments have a handful of people and mistakes can happen, we do everything by hand one by one and the volume is high. This is not an excuse, but an explanation since you are of course entitled to one with such an experience. You are also entitled to having it fixed. Please contact me through the ticket system so I may have this taken care of for you immediately. I will have the proper device sent to you and enclose a prepaid shipping envelope so you can send the other one back to us. I do not want you to waste your time, so I want to make it as easy as quick as possible for you. I cannot make things better and fix mistakes if I do not know about them; at the same time, a company cannot fix areas that need fixing or know about mistakes if they are not contacted in a reasonable fashion. I ca truly understand your frustration and for that I am sorry. I would be more than happy to help you and offer you the customer service you deserve, but I cannot help you if you do not come to me and let me help you. So please, allow me to do so.

Once again I am sorry to hear of the mistake and we hope to hear from you soon so we can get this matter resolved for you.

 

[Tank]

You know Joe, you have let me down twice now. It will take a LOT to make me trust Volcano again. Two units defective sent to my home. CS is only as good as its product and the product has not fullfilled its promise. I dont care about the shipping charges to send items back, I just want a quality product. Problems happen, and defects occur, but not two out of two. I expected more.

 

[nitrojuga]

Tank, I know it really sucks that you got two defective units. I'd be pretty bummed too. But I've never had a problem with anything I've ordered. Hope you can get this sorted out. Volcano will take care of this if you let them.

 

[UnHoly453]

Wow Tank, that really is terrible, currently the only units I own are two inferno's (from the starter kit) I'm pleased with them, but definitely wish I had gotten the lavatube. After reading this though, I'm not so sure I feel that way!

Joe, I appreciate that you took the time to address your customer here, but truth be told, your customer service department should have been on top of getting Tank's RMA replaced with a Brand New device, let alone one of the correct color. It's understandable for mistakes to happen, but perhaps there should be some QA on the Volcano end instead of relying on China's (infamously) unreliable QA.

I'm not saying that I will never purchase from Volcano again, but man this certainly sounds like one crappy experience.

 

[ericoahu]

You know Joe, you have let me down twice now. It will take a LOT to make me trust Volcano again. Two units defective sent to my home. CS is only as good as its product and the product has not fullfilled its promise. I dont care about the shipping charges to send items back, I just want a quality product. Problems happen, and defects occur, but not two out of two. I expected more.

I don't get the timing of that post. I completely understand why you were disappointed after receiving a faulty item and I empathize even more when the replacement item turned out to be the incorrect model too.

You are the victim of A) A defective product manufactured in China - so has everyone else on the planet, and B) an administrative error - they shipped you the wrong item.

I don't blame you for complaining publicly in your first post. Being on the receiving end of problems like these seemingly twice in a row must be frustrating to the extreme.

But I completely fail to understand the tone and content of your following post.

Someone from Volcano responded less than two hours later. They did not make excuses. They did not beg you to buy more stuff from them, they just explained to the best of their ability what went wrong, took responsibility for the problems, apologized profusely, and explained how they were going to make it right.

At this point, if you sit there in a funk with a LT you claim you don't like its entirely your fault, not Volcano's.

Edit: I am in no way affiliated with Volcano. I'm just a moderately satisfied sometimes customer.

 

[Tank]

Ericoahu, I can appreciate your post. However, when you receive two defective items from a vendor, you lose faith in them. I am an avid purchaser of new and improved vaporizors, doesnt matter who the vendor is. The lavatube has been around for quite some time and when you receive 2 defective units, it becomes hard to trust the vendor again. I believe it is a QA issue as mentioned above.

I sincerely believed that Volcano products were the cornerstone of the vaping industry. When let down, twice even, it becomes very frustrating, no matter how many times the vendor sais "I will make it right"

Bottom line, its a product and a service. Product I received twice was bad, service was ok. However I do not attend the Wed night chats anymore and doubt I will purchase the LT2.0 specifically due to the problems I have had. Its not a supply and demand issue, its a product and satisfaction issue.

Dave