Seeking new store with insured shipments?

[Tristin]

I have been vaping for 5 years now and using the same online store here in NY. Not going to mention their name as overall the service has been very good. The one issue I don't like is that when a shipment gets lost in the mail I get left holding the bag. Out of the 30 plus times I have ordered from them this has only happened twice. The first time I lost $55 bucks, that was a few years ago. Just this week a $100 shipment got lost in the mail. This is frustrating as I'm not made of money. I Know it's not the stores fault that the post office lost the package so I have no ill feeling towards the store. With that said If I order something on Amazon and the post office looses it I get a replacement shipped out that day. In fact this is how most online retailers that I deal with work. But for whatever reason vaping stores seem to play by different rules. Perhaps because they are small businesses and can't afford it, I don't know.

In anycase my question is simple, is there any stores out there that cover lost shipments in their shipping price? I'm looking for an all in one place where I can get juice, wicks, tanks, batteries, ect. I use the cutie single coil tanks and wicks but would consider switching to a comparable tank if it means piece of mind. So any suggestions?

 

[AzPlumber]

VapingZone has an insured package option (USPS) at checkout.

 

[Racehorse]

The one issue I don't like is that when a shipment gets lost in the mail I get left holding the bag.

Never heard of this, nor had it happen, in 4 years of vaping.

The times I did have a package get lost, the vendor filed with USPS, while sending me, their customer, my order the 2nd time around.

Even Ebay requires that sellers be responsible for packages until the buyer receives them.

NO WAY no how would I be dealing with a vendor and be "out" $150. Never heard of anything like this.

 

[Tristin]

VapingZone has an insured package option (USPS) at checkout.

Thanks, I will check them out.

 

[Tristin]

Never heard of this, nor had it happen, in 4 years of vaping.

The one time I did have a package get lost, they filed with USPS, while sending me, their customer, my order the 2nd time around.

Even Ebay requires that sellers be responsible for packages until the buyer receives them.

NO WAY no how would I be dealing with a vendor and be "out" $150. Never heard of anything like this.

Yea, I'm not use to it, but I checked on their website and it's clearly written in their TOS. I checked a few other sites randomly (1 or 2) and they had the same language so I assumed it was industry standard. Perhaps it was bad luck.

 

[Tristin]

Looks like I'm going to have to go with a new tank if I use VapingZone. Are the Kanger Clearomizers comparable to the cuite? Or maybe it's time to go balls out and upgrade to something midrange, like this Kanger TOPBOX Mini Kit - or this Eleaf iJust 2 Kit - Any suggestions?

 

[Racehorse]

I had somebody try to do that to me in the ECF classifieds once, and it didn't work out too well for them.

My credit card company, Paypal, etc. are always more than willing to do a charge back on merchandise I paid for and did not receive.

There are sellers on Ebay who have TOS that say they don't accept returns.... They are always in for a rude awakening when they find out that's not how it works. TOS can say whatever they want......that doesn't mean the consumer has no recourse.

I assume your vendor is putting tracking on the packages. Have they filed with USPS or shown you this?

Holy cow $150 !!! That is a lot of money to be "out".

 

[Tristin]

I had somebody try to do that to me in the ECF classifieds once, and it didn't work out too well for them.

My credit card company, Paypal, etc. are always more than willing to do a charge back on merchandise I paid for and did not receive.

There are sellers on Ebay who have TOS that say they don't accept returns.... They are always in for a rude awakening when they find out that's not how it works. TOS can say whatever they want......that doesn't mean the consumer has no recourse.

I assume your vendor is putting tracking on the packages. Have they filed with USPS or shown you this?

Holy cow $150 !!! That is a lot of money to be "out".

Yea I have the tracking number. It said out for Delivery, mail came but no package, next day the status changed to "Delivery status not updated" so i went to the post office and they told me they have no record of the package at all even thou I can login their tracking site and see it. Guy was so rude and seemed annoyed that I was even there asking for help. Clearly this screw up is on USPS. But the last time a package got lost like this I contacted the seller and they told me in no uncertain terms that they are not responsible for lost packages and it was now my problem. USPS don't insure things unless insurance is paid for and referred me back to the vendor. Like I said, I looked for other sites at the time and saw the same claims of not responsible and figured it was industry standard. At the end of the day it's kind of my fault for not making more of an effort to find a better vendor. Well lesson learned, never again.

EDIT: I did pay with my credit card so maybe I could try a charge back? I don't know if the law protects me against such things or not.

 

[Tristin]

So I did a google search and was surprised to find a new store 2 blocks from my house. Ended up buying a istick pico from eleaf and some in house juice. All came to $94 and I could not be happier. Big clouds and lots of flavor. But coming up from a low end pen I guess I would be easy to impress. No more mail orders for me from now on.

 

[Tristin]

LOL, You will never guess what just came in the mail! I guess the post office found my package. Now I have months worth of ejuice. I think I might give the ecig stuff away to one of my friends so they stop smoking. Or perhaps keep it as a back up, have not decided yet.

 

[Racehorse]

great news, but I still wouldn't deal with that vendor.

 

[HazyShades]

It said out for Delivery, mail came but no package, next day the status changed to "Delivery status not updated" so i went to the post office and they told me they have no record of the package at all even thou I can login their tracking site and see it. Guy was so rude and seemed annoyed that I was even there asking for help.

Next time that happens you get in contact with USPS Consumer's Affairs Office.
No, not USPS Customer Service, they're usually quite nice but you were treated rudely...
After 5 business days from when the package was supposed to arrive
you call USPS Customer Service and file a tracer.
You should get your stuff within a week and the rude USPS employee will be corrected.
They "get it" when Consumer Affairs corrects them..they don't want to lose their nice jobs.

What happens is that your carrier probably scans all packages on his list as delievered
b4 doing his/her route to save time..Big No-No.
Then he/she goes out with an out for delivery w/o an item that is possibly still in the bin
back at the station.

 

[Rickajho]

In any of these cases always check with your credit card. You may have extra protection as a cardmember service for "lost in mail" problems you aren't even aware of.

Beyond that, at the most basic consumer protection level you would be requesting a chargeback for "merchandise not received". The place you ordered from typically has 30 days to respond to a chargeback, which will be asking the company to show proof of delivery. In most cases if they cannot show proof that you received what you paid for the chargeback will stand. And it will definitely stand if the company doesn't respond to the chargeback request at all.

You get your money back - and you may get blacklisted from ordering from that place again. Can't see that as exactly a loss here.

Just because a place says "this is our policy" doesn't mean that's a policy based in consumer protection law. Don't be cowed into not filing a chargeback whenever merchandise isn't received. What do you have to lose?