Ripped Off!

[CrazyTerrie11]

I just wanted to tell you all here what I experienced doing business with Totally Wicked in FLORIDA USA.
First off I live in ARIZONA USA. I ordered a new Tornado and some extra batteries for it. I had been a loyal customer at this point, getting all my kits and supplies for my TITAN MEGA 510 from them. So when my order arrived I did the usual, which is to check everything out and make sure things arrived in working order. Out of my 5pack of batteries for the Tornado there were 2 that werent working right. One had a sticky button and went off when ever it felt like it, not everytime I pushed the button. And the other batt was DOA. I asked them if they would replace my defective batts even though they came without a warranty because of the "value pack" pricing. Granted there is no warranty but one would expect a product to arrive in WORKING ORDER. All this took place within 24 hours of receiving my order. They not only refused to send me working parts they charged me a "foreign transaction fee" that I knew nothing about, was never told about, and wasnt even on my invoice but they sure charged my bank. When I contacted them and told them that I am in the USA and I ordered from FLORIDA USA (also on the invoice) they refused to credit me THAT!!! Who do they think they are???? I contacted the atty general in florida and they seemed very interested in this so called "business" practice. Way to go!! They not only lost a customer but they lost a customer who isnt going to take this laying down. I can get 510 parts in plenty of other places that Im sure have better policies than this. I dont think this was fair and apparently they dont either since now I have noticed that they have added a clause to cover items if they arrive DOA. Even so, I am still stuck with batteries that are dead and a foreign transaction fee that I paid for a business thats in the same country that I am. This is just WRONG

 

[Quick1]

Was the foreign transaction fee charged by your bank? I buy stuff from a Canadian company or one in New Zealand and my credit card company charges a foreign transaction fee. TW is UK based. Obviously they have a contact/presence and/or distributor here. Seems that it's more a wharehouse and the transactions are through the UK? Just saying I suspect it's your credit card company (like all of them) that charged you the transaction feel. I think I might be miffed also if that wasn't clear.

Haha, I'd definitely be miffed if they didn't cover product that arrived DOA.

 

[CrazyTerrie11]

Was the foreign transaction fee charged by your bank? I buy stuff from a Canadian company or one in New Zealand and my credit card company charges a foreign transaction fee. TW is UK based. Obviously they have a contact/presence and/or distributor here. Seems that it's more a wharehouse and the transactions are through the UK? Just saying I suspect it's your credit card company (like all of them) that charged you the transaction feel. I think I might be miffed also if that wasn't clear.

Haha, I'd definitely be miffed if they didn't cover product that arrived DOA.

I have never been charged a foreign transaction fee before and I have ordered a bunch of times in the past. If they changed policy I think that as a customer they would tell me at some point that they are running the show a little differently.

 

[gixer]

My co-worker had a pretty bad experience with tw back when the tornado first came out, and only tw and janty were selling them. He was charged a 50$ brokerage fee by ups as the package was shipped from the us to canada. He contacted them to ask for help, but they said no as they are not responsible for charges by the shipping company. Fair enough. He ended up paying more for shipping than the tornado kit itself. He then asked them to put this information regarding the brokerage fee on their website for future customers, but they did not reply back.

 

[sanfordf]

Did you order from the UK site by accident? They may have routed the order to FLA. to ship to you.

Did you try to charge the batteries first?

On 4/2 I got two Tornado batts/cone, mega atties/carts, mega charger. The first thing I did was to put the batts on the charger even though they had some charge in them. The one you got with the sticky button/on off issue is probably a true defect though. It still sucks to get less than absolute satisfaction.

 

[NatureBoy]

My co-worker had a pretty bad experience with tw back when the tornado first came out, and only tw and janty were selling them. He was charged a 50$ brokerage fee by ups as the package was shipped from the us to canada. He contacted them to ask for help, but they said no as they are not responsible for charges by the shipping company. Fair enough. He ended up paying more for shipping than the tornado kit itself. He then asked them to put this information regarding the brokerage fee on their website for future customers, but they did not reply back.

When in Canada I always insist on ordering from places that DO NOT use UPS. They are flat out CROOKS.

OP, this isn't the first time TW has sent DOA batteries to people and refused to replace them. There have been a few incidents already posted on here. Shame you missed them, as you could have avoided such frustration.

Personally, I think it's absolutely despicable they think it's actually ok to send people dead products.

As soon as I saw the 'no warranty' disclaimer, my spidey senses started tingling and I knew there was something just not right about it. They could easily be sending people dead products straight from the factory, even though they ought to be tested before even being shipped from the manufacturer. Something just doesn't smell right, if you get what I'm saying.

 

[KuiHiggins]

I haven't had any bad experiences with them yet thankfully. Sorry to hear about what happened with your batts. I don't think it should make a difference whether they send you 1 battery or 500... as paying customers we should be entitled to products that are fully tested to be in proper working condition before these companies send them out to us. Pretty lame policy, Totally Wicked. I think I'll be buying eGo batts and atty's from Janty from now on. Mark it up as one more loyal customer lost...

 

[KonaNeil]

I had to push them to do the right thing when an improperly packed shipment had damage. Their attitude wasn't great but their products are pretty good and I would at least buy when they have a good sale. If they treated customers as well as they market their products, I would buy more.

There are laws in most, possibly all states on product merchantability, meaning the s*it has to work when you get it. Your credit card company will help too if you push their buttons right.

 

[scrappy]

<----Takes TW off of his shopping list.

 

[AlexTM]

It's one thing to say "No warranty" and another to say "We can send you whatever we like, we got your money and the rest is your problem!". I can live with a DOA-only warranty of 24 hours, but no insurance against DOA is simply not acceptable.

The foreign transaction fee you have to, AFAIK, thank Paypal for - Paypal USA refuses anything that might have to do with vaping, thanks to ASH USA. Hence TW re-routes Paypal via England. But of course TW should tell people that, so they can choose a different payment method if they want.

 

[raqball]

I gave up on TW long ago...Customer service is HORRID... I really don't know how they even stay in business with the number of customers they run off....

I'd say everyone should avoid them like they have the plague... When they are close to going out of bizz because of a lack of orders maybe then will they make the changes needed....

If you want horrid customer service, no help after the sale, and faulty products then order from them, if not, there are plenty of reputable dealers out there to get gear from..

My .02

Kris

 

[Kimmy]

I don't get how they can still be an "approved" supplier...I've seen a lot of threads like these lately. Anyone who has a problem with totally wicked I urge you to alert the mods--companies like this shouldn't be aloud to get away with this

 

[doots]

After hearing this, they are off my list of suppliers..

 

[Yankee802]

Ok, my 2¢:

I ordered from TW UK because TW US didn't have what I wanted (this), and was charged £63.13 ($96.35). However I have not found any exttra charges on PayPal or my credit card. I NEVER got replies from my emails to them, nor did I ever get a tracking # (someone here told me how to get the tracking #), even though I have received add emails from them. Now it's friggin stuck in NYC at customs!

I did just now create a duplicate order on TW US to compare (now that they have the items I was looking for) and $83.66, $13 less that what I paid. I guess that's the difference between shipping from US and UK.

All in all, not happy with TW, and in light of reading this thread, probably wont order from them again.

 

[mianker]

I had been thinking about ordering from TW....glad I read this. I will go elsewhere.

 

[Gammi]

I have never orderd from them because when I first was checking out suppliers I saw a thread where someone was not happy with their customer service. Plus.....I thought the little devil that they put on all the products was something I didn't want to advertise.....I wanted a good experience, not bad.

Hope they read some of these threads and clean up their act otherwise it sounds like they will be losing lots of loyal customers.

 

[Sammie]

I got my Tornado kit this past Monday from TW, and while everything worked, one of my batts looked as though it'd been dropped on pavement on its end. The silver tip where the logo is was slightly bent, and scratched/pitted. It worked, but I contacted TW anyway and told them about it. Three days later, I had a brand new battery with a return envelope included. I was fairly satisfied.

That said, the lack of QC that allowed such a thing to happen in the first place is what concerns me. I mean, it seems to me that somebody must know what's up, and I can't help but think they're tossing some used batts into their kits to cut a few corners, not to mention the problems people have with buying spare batteries.

At any rate, I'm happy with my TW Tornado, but I don't think I'll be buying from them again. Cignot will be carrying eGo batteries soon enough, so if I need a spare, I know where I'll order from. It's just a matter of good business practices/policies in the first place.

 

[Wench]

TW has horrible rep of DOA's in those value packs...
...not such a value after all if your stuck with non-working stuff.

 

[Drozd]

I'm astounded that they can still remain an approved supplier here as well..
This isn't the first time I've heard this same story and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last...
I know I won't ever be buying anything from them ever..
The thing about that is unless people complain to The ECF admin with proof and facts about their orders and what happened they arent willing to do anything about it..I won't order from TW so I can't complain to admin about TW...

I do know this TW is straight out ignoring and breaking the law when they don't cover DOA products... both the UK's far distance selling act (I think thats what it's called) and lemon laws in several states (including Cali and flordia) state that small electronics and such must arrive in an as intended working order or the vendor must replace the item at their cost..

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

I also had a charge from my Bank credit card due to a "foreign account" payment. When I contacted TW about it, they gave me a big run around and made it the bank card's problem. I told them they need to inform customers that this can happen on their website. She said she'd bring it to their attention (this was after their December sale). Obviously, they haven't fixed it, nor put up a notice. If they are running a business in the US, there shouldn't be a fee. I spent $300 with them... think they could have offered me some compensation? Nah....

Obvious, they aren't a US company... just a drop ship presence here in the states. Phooey!!

Their fees and DOA policy will probably keep me from ordering anymore. Too bad, as I love their penstyle attys.

Idiots....