Official ProVari Radius Thread - Part 2

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BreSha6869

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I remember in the 70's the bread took up 4 feet of aisle space at the supermarket and your choice was white or wheat in two brands. Now bread takes up a full aisle at a supermarket and the choices make your head spin.
It is getting ridiculous. Why do I need quinoa in my bread, anyways? :eek:
 

Bronze

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It is getting ridiculous. Why do I need quinoa in my bread, anyways? :eek:
Remember that scene from Moscow on the Hudson when Robin Williams was sent to the store to pick up some coffee? He gets there and the choices are so overwhelming that he nearly has a breakdown in the store. Coming from Moscow, coffee is coffee. In America, coffee can be many things.
 

BreSha6869

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Remember that scene from Moscow on the Hudson when Robin Williams was sent to the store to pick up some coffee? He gets there and the choices are so overwhelming that he nearly has a breakdown in the store. Coming from Moscow, coffee is coffee. In America, coffee can be many things.
People are nuts, but what do I know? There is a brand new olive oil store that just opened near me and they seem to be very busy. OLIVE OIL. A whole store of olive oil.
 

Bronze

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People are nuts, but what do I know? There is a brand new olive oil store that just opened near me and they seem to be very busy. OLIVE OIL. A whole store of olive oil.
th
 

stanleybb50

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People are nuts, but what do I know? There is a brand new olive oil store that just opened near me and they seem to be very busy. OLIVE OIL. A whole store of olive oil.
Lol I think I passed one of those in our mall yesterday....!

- Sent from my Note 5 via Tapatalk
 

rbrylawski

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All of you complaining about the lack of phone support should open a ticket with Provape.
:banana:

But in all reality, have any of you stopped to think about the amount of staff needed to support even a DECENT call center?
I once worked at a Home Depot, in the Call Center...and for just that ONE location, we had 12 people...TWELVE! And we weren't a flagship store, or a main hub for the call center. Each store had its own!
Imagine, every ticket opened with Provape CS was a phone call instead...simply because it COULD be.
It would take at LEAST 20-30 phone operators to handle the workload.
But Provape probably doesn't want to get to that point.
ENAUD said it up there, in bold. And that's a true statement. I think Provape puts their focus where it counts...on their product.

Their "half of one percent" (is that right?)figure is based on their own calculations, but even if it's 50% accurate, they don't need to have anything more than their ticket system.
Have any of you received less-than-satisfactory service or resolution for any issue you've ever had with a Provape product?
I highly doubt it. Otherwise you'd wouldn't be hanging out in Provape's forum so often.

Not trying to stand on a soap box here, or start a battle, war, or argument...but c'mon people...
Think about every positive experience you've had with Provape CS...think about all the good things they do, services, extras, freebies and other things they do...which go beyond the majority of the rest of the industry. How many returns, repairs, replacements have they done, no questions asked? How many times have you been told there'd be no charge for something you KNEW would cost you some cash?
Then ask yourself if all of that is worth trading, just so some not-so-good experience in the past, could have been a little more smooth with the aid of a phone call. Would it be worth it? Can you imagine the workload they'd be under with all the people abusing the phone system?

Their CS is the best in the industry because they focus on their product so intensely, that they hardly need a CS presence at all. And what few issues arise, are handled post-haste.

Rant over.

P.S. I'm not knocking any of you for having a voice or opinion on the matter.
Just trying to challenge you to focus on the good experiences you've had with the company, and realize that they do what they do because that's what makes them who they are.

Good Post HBManOfTheCorpseDude!!

I have always hated the fact that Provape DOES NOT OFFER PHONE SUPPORT, They are like little girls hiding behind a sign that sais "talk to the hand". Even though I love their products, their customer relations stance is frankly appalling in my eyes. Talk to the hand! We'll get to you when we have time :nah::nah::nah::nah::nah:

You do like the "little girls" reference! LOL

But I'll ask you guys. Given that in 99.99999% of the time Provape Customer Service is simply fantastic, I would ask those who are suggesting Provape hire people to take your calls this simple question:

How many of you are willing to pay more for your devices to fund the added cost of building a call center? Being realistic, to be able to do what you seem to think they should would come with a high price tag. So, if you're willing to pay more to have the opportunity to speak to a real person in the off chance you actually need to to begin with at Provape, put your money where your mouth is and let Provape know you'd be happy to help pay for the service.

You can't just have someone who sold shoes last week at the mall answering the phone. You need people who have some technical training speaking with customers. I'm a headhunter. My office often helps companies like Verizon staff their technical call center. The average salary for a call center employee is $45,000/year. Provape would need at least 3 (prolly more) full time call center technicians. They'd need the equipment and software to handle and track trouble tickets. This would have to cost no less than a couple hundred thousand $$ a year.

Who's gonna put their name on this list?:

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Dr. Tranny

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Good Post HBManOfTheCorpseDude!!



You do like the "little girls" reference! LOL

But I'll ask you guys. Given that in 99.99999% of the time Provape Customer Service is simply fantastic, I would ask those who are suggesting Provape hire people to take your calls this simple question:

How many of you are willing to pay more for your devices to fund the added cost of building a call center? Being realistic, to be able to do what you seem to think they should would come with a high price tag. So, if you're willing to pay more to have the opportunity to speak to a real person in the off chance you actually need to to begin with at Provape, put your money where your mouth is and let Provape know you'd be happy to help pay for the service.

You can't just have someone who sold shoes last week at the mall answering the phone. You need people who have some technical training speaking with customers. I'm a headhunter. My office often helps companies like Verizon staff their technical call center. The average salary for a call center employee is $45,000/year. Provape would need at least 3 (prolly more) full time call center technicians. They'd need the equipment and software to handle and track trouble tickets. This would have to cost no less than a couple hundred thousand $$ a year.

Who's gonna put their name on this list?:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9
10.

Another thing to consider: with a telephone conversation, the guy or gal on the other end can promise you the sun, moon, and the stars. They can tell you anything they think you want to hear, with absolutely no intention of actually following through on any of their promises. All they have to do is claim they never said what they said. They can't do that with emails. If you have a written record, particularly one that can be saved, you have proof that promises and assurances were made, and by whom. Even with that "this call may be monitored for customer assurance and training purposes" nonsense, unless you keep a log of your call with the time, date, and name of the cube dweller you talked to, the chances of getting verification of the conversation you had are somewhere between Slim and None, and I just saw Slim getting on a Greyhound to Dallas.

Now, I'm not saying that Provape would make shady promises to their customers over the phone. I would fully expect them to deliver the same level of reliable service over the phone that they do through their ticket system and email. But there are definite and very tangible advantages to not utilizing telephone customer service.
 

Elyptic

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No you didn't. You paid for a product with a profit margin that didn't include additional services. So you want them to lower their profit margin for you?

False. They paid for a product with a certain level of support. They deserve that level of support. For some, email may be just fine. For others who may have purchased their product at a brick and mortar, or have no email access, they are unable to receive the desired level of support.

Why are you so against people who feel that there should be phone support? I don't understand. You make it sound like it's a ludicrous desire for people to be able to call and talk to someone.

Provari are premium products, with a premium price tag. That's okay by me, but some people feel that they could improve their premium product by offering phone support. Accept that and move on.
 

ENAUD

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No you didn't. You paid for a product with a profit margin that didn't include additional services. So you want them to lower their profit margin for you?
We, you and I, disagree on this...
 

rbrylawski

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False. They paid for a product with a certain level of support. They deserve that level of support. For some, email may be just fine. For others who may have purchased their product at a brick and mortar, or have no email access, they are unable to receive the desired level of support.

Why are you so against people who feel that there should be phone support? I don't understand. You make it sound like it's a ludicrous desire for people to be able to call and talk to someone.

Provari are premium products, with a premium price tag. That's okay by me, but some people feel that they could improve their premium product by offering phone support. Accept that and move on.

I'm not against phone support in any sense of the word. I'm just suggesting it would increase Provape's cost to do business and that would likely necessitate increasing the cost of their products.

I don't personally feel they offer anything less than excellent support on their premium product as it is. But if people feel they really need the extra support of live human conversation, it must come with a price tag. And that is either they reduce their profit margin, or we pay more.
 

Elyptic

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I'm not against phone support in any sense of the word. I'm just suggesting it would increase Provape's cost to do business and that would likely necessitate increasing the cost of their products.

I don't personally feel they offer anything less than excellent support on their premium product as it is. But if people feel they really need the extra support of live human conversation, it must come with a price tag. And that is either they reduce their profit margin, or we pay more.

Then I believe we pretty much agree that phone support would provide even better support but it would most likely come at a cost to the customer.

In a less :pop: topic, I'm still on the fence about ordering a Radius. I just can't figure out how it would work well with a variety of tanks / drippers without an adjustable 510. Do people use drippers? I'm not really worried about my KFMv3, or my KFv4. But what about my Hobo dripper, or my Erlk tank? Will these fit, or will there be a gap. And if there's a gap, how does one resolve it?
 

ENAUD

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Then I believe we pretty much agree that phone support would provide even better support but it would most likely come at a cost to the customer.

In a less :pop: topic, I'm still on the fence about ordering a Radius. I just can't figure out how it would work well with a variety of tanks / drippers without an adjustable 510. Do people use drippers? I'm not really worried about my KFMv3, or my KFv4. But what about my Hobo dripper, or my Erlk tank? Will these fit, or will there be a gap. And if there's a gap, how does one resolve it?
I resolve gaps like I always have with my fixed pin ProVari's :


full


I make up shims.
 

rbrylawski

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Then I believe we pretty much agree that phone support would provide even better support but it would most likely come at a cost to the customer.

In a less :pop: topic, I'm still on the fence about ordering a Radius. I just can't figure out how it would work well with a variety of tanks / drippers without an adjustable 510. Do people use drippers? I'm not really worried about my KFMv3, or my KFv4. But what about my Hobo dripper, or my Erlk tank? Will these fit, or will there be a gap. And if there's a gap, how does one resolve it?

I would say we do agree. But.......I'm not going to add my name to the list of people saying I want to pay more for my Provari's. Nope, not going to do that. I'm not unhappy with the level of service I've gotten from any transaction or issue I've had. But if Provape believes enough of their customers would pay more to increase the level of support offered, I will pay the added cost because I am a Provarinati and I'm staying that way. Yes I am!

I can't speak to your question about the different drippers. The pin in the Radius is adjustable to a limited degree as it does float on an o-ring that provides some self-leveling adjustability. Hopefully someone who owns one of the drippers you mentioned will chime in.
 

Elyptic

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I resolve gaps like I always have with my fixed pin ProVari's :


full


I make up shims.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a functional solution. But it seems a bit, um..., I don't know, stupid, that we have to shim atty's to make them fit?

Maybe it's not as bad it as it sounds... Perhaps there's enough give to the pin that it's not the issue I'm imagining.
 

ENAUD

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Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a functional solution. But it seems a bit, um..., I don't know, stupid, that we have to shim atty's to make them fit?

Maybe it's not as bad it as it sounds... Perhaps there's enough give to the pin that it's not the issue I'm imagining.
That attie pictured is a Cerotank, has a rather long pin far a clearo. The shims help protect both the atties insulator, and the Radius center pin O-ring. I've been using them shims for a couple years now. There already has been one thread whereby a customer sheared his center pins O-ring with a dripper that had an exceptionally long 510 thread. Center Pin O-Ring Radius

I'd imaging that it's near impossible to decide what depth to make a 510 receptor on a mod, to accommodate the entire range of variances that exist in the toppers out there. Without being truly spring loaded, I just accept it as, it is what it is.
 

serenity21899

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Just use their Smart Phone browser? Or tablet? :lol:

Re the Bun coffee maker. After getting tired of replacing machines all too regularly for my business, I picked up a Bun. (I was attracted at is was smaller/cheaper version of what I'd used in restaurants in my waitress days.)

It must have been about 10 years before it started to leak. I went out and bought another Bun that day.

Anyone have a suggestion for a toaster? Now they only last months.....o_O

Buy Cuisinart® Metal Classic 4-Slice Toaster from Bed Bath & Beyond

I have had this for at least 10 years now, and hopefully, the quality hasn't changes, like some other products by them have.
 

HBcorpse

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I resolve gaps like I always have with my fixed pin ProVari's :


full


I make up shims.
Duane...
If you're crafty enough to make those shims, perhaps you'd be interested in a resolution for the Kayfun-fixed-pin problem, and be done using the shims?

Check this out:
How to close the gap under the Kayfun Lite
(This didn't involve grinding the pin. It was much easier than that!)

As of finishing the steps listed there, I can now use my KFLs on my non-flat cap v2.5's, without having to put a shim of blue painter's tape under my beauty rings.

97cf715aff74383fcc2f23acf408611e.jpg

b2880fd170f73a827730682b09466a0e.jpg

I had always wondered if I'd get ALL my v2.5's converted, and I did. Except these two...because they have color matching slanty top caps. The black one is an authentic VaporForce Stealth Mini (from before they married into Provape), with matching custom Cerakote'd KFL+v2.
The green one is my original Bronze Mini, which I rescued from an abuser. The coating was in very bad shape. So I tore her down, custom coated her OD Green, matched a KFL+v2...and sent her home to the Mothership for a paid spa treatment (reassembly). While they scolded me for taking her apart (had to clip the wire between cap and board), they also marveled at how awesome she looked in this color combo. (All handled without phone support by the way... :banana: :pop: :but not banana popcorn cuz eww: )
I dubbed her the Soldier (cuz she's been through so much, and cuz she's Army green)...I think she makes a great compliment to a Stealth!
 
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