Should dealers make you aware they are out of stock on a product, or sell it to you anyway?

[HighlanderNorth]

So far my experience with buying e-cig products has worked out well, although actually liking the taste of many of the flavors hasnt been great. But most of the dealers I have bought products from, which is probably about 15 by now, have mailed my order the very next work day! Only maybe 2-3 times have my orders not been sent the very next business day, but if not, they are sent within 2-3 days at most.

Also, most online stores will not allow you to make an order if they are out of something without at least making you aware that they dont have it in stock before you order it, or by preventing you from ordering it at that time.

But last week I needed to order a new Vivi Nova mini, and instead of dealing with the first dealers I found and the most well known, I decided to deal with the only fairly local dealer so that I would receive the Vivi Nova sooner, which should have been within 1 day because the online dealer is only about 20 miles from my house!

So I ordered it last Thursday morning thinking they'd send it Friday, and I'd get it Saturday. There was no mention of it being out of stock. Well, its now 5 days later, and they havent even mailed it yet! Now, the night I ordered it I followed up with an email question, and the very next day I got a response to my question, so it seems they are dealing with business, but not mailing my order. Maybe there is some other reason, and I havent emailed them asking whats up yet, so I cant say for sure whats going on, but I assume they are out of stock. The other 3 times I ordered stuff from them it went out the next day.


So, should e-cig businesses sell you something online if they know they dont have it in stock or should they do what most businesses do and let you know beforehand, or even prevent you from making the order til they get it in? What if you needed a piece of hardware or some e-liquid because you were just about to run out, so you placed an "emergency order", but it didnt come in when you expected it, so you end up going back to smoking again? That wont happen to me because I have back-ups for everything, but it certainly could happen to a newbie.....

 

[recidivus]

Totally let you know ahead of time. I don't know where you ordered from, but all my regular onlines either list "OUT OF STOCK" in big bold red, have a smaller yet visible note, or a pop up preventing them from being added. I would hate to place an order only to find out a few days later they're out. In fact, I ordered some moustache wax around 2 weeks ago, got an email 2 days later that they were out and waiting on their shipment, and have yet to receive any further correspondence. Thanks for reminding me!

It is totally possible that they are a bit backed up and working through the list, you should get in touch and see what's up. Judging by their quick reply last time you'll probably know by tomorrow!

 

[tearose50]

I'd say most ECF approved vendors do very well on not selling what is out of stock. On occasion, like any store, the computer inventory figures and the stock room inventory get out of sinc. And, most are great at informing you when the glitches happen. Most.

However, I can't say that with the WWW e-cig vendors. I had horror stories when my first e-cig was dying and the order wasn't even sent.......for 2 weeks.

My experience has varied widely on other Web purchases.

 

[Orobas]

Not letting you order something that's out of stock is a universal good idea, IMHO.

Some sites, like health cabin, actually display a running and more-or-less realtime count how many of what they have in stock.

I've been peeking at it now and again looking for 4ohm vivi nova heads, actually.

But they really should specify. "Notify me" should work per individual items, or even "preorder this" with an ETA on their next shipment.

 

[Butters78]

They should definitely let you know.. It's
common courtesy.


Considering they are 20 miles away you could always show up. I suggest holding up a radio like John Cusack did in that movie. You could play sister Christian or I think we're alonenow (Tiffany version). I think they will hand you over their personal vivi novas..

.

 

[erictho]

i have had this issue with online ordering in general lately. all the pv sites i have tried have automatic notifications stating the availability of a particular item. if there is some problem or discrepancy, they have always let me know if they don't have an item/enough of a particular flavor pretty quickly. further, they have offered several easy solutions to the problem and are generally apologetic and laid back.
on the other hand, i have had a couple different experiences online outside of the vaping community. i had to wait a month for the shipping of my hair dye. my favored brand was out of stock locally from may until august. i chose a local store to order dye from, and the order was successfully placed. i waited 5 days while the status of my order did not change. i decided to email the store to find out what was up. they only had 2/7 colors i had ordered in stock. they gave me a lengthy time estimate and offered a refund. ya. there was no follow up during the month i had to wait rather than the 2-3 weeks i was quoted before my order shipped. once they received their order, a color never came. (in their defense to an extent= a local shop also carrying the dye claims this particular shade was only available jan-may during any year.) these were two very different experiences, this store in comparison seemed indifferent.
i have had a couple mishaps similar to the one above, but you get the idea. so far i have been pretty lucky shopping online for all my vaping stuff.

 

[KuroCz]

Stock notification , I'd expect that from anyone I'd buy from. Juice is different, I've seen stock counts and had a order shipped same day, and I see shops that explain clearly before you buy anything, that it won't be mixed till you buy. Both works for me. But to take money and then say 'oh uh yeh it's out of stock at the moment', says to me, cashflow problems and I'd be wary of shopping there again. Of course popularity of a particular item, low 'instock' numbers etc, that all can affect things too.

 

[Daniel13]

it would also be nice if when they are out of stock, also say somewhere when a shipment would come in, i'd like to see that, but i'd usually just forget about it or order somewhere else if something was out of stock, but if they were getting a shipment the next day then i would just wait

 

[Rickajho]

The good vendors have their inventory so closely tied to their web site that it won't allow you to order anything that is out of stock. The two examples I deal with off the top of my head are: Cignot, whose web site won't even display items that are temporarily or permanently out of stock. And Liberty Flights whose site will not allow you to place anything in your cart if there is zero stock on hand. Liberty Flights also shows you exactly how many of an item they have. The site won't allow you to place 5 boxes of "X" in your cart if they only show they have 4 of them.

Beyond that the superior vendors provide an e-mail notification system to let you know when an item is back in stock and available again for purchase. SmokTek does that and does it very well.

There is no good reason for any place to take your money for an item they cannot deliver. Even if you agree to some type of terms of a back order it is against Consumer Protection law in most States to charge your credit card until the item is available and can actually be processed for shipment.

 

[Senoufo]

I fully agree with the above, especially on the charge to your credit card while the part is not available.