Sincere question regards warranties

[Major]

Like the title says, this question is very sincere and isn't a rant. Newer vendors simply cannot afford to offer full warranties on product and most, as a result, offer their goods at a reasonable markup. The reason I post this in the eGo type models thread is most of the new, non-mod products are "eGo type" (large batteries and big cartos or cartridges).

This isn't in the Suppliers forum as I am seeking the thoughts of the consumers, not the suppliers. If a vendor has been in business long enough to make trips to China or hire representatives to oversee QC there, shouldn't they pass along some of the warranty the factories give them?

Most of the newer big battery/big carto units come with a 6 month to 1 year warranty. Problem is, that's only good for the vendor, not the consumers. This industry is only 2 years old but as vendors reach a level of success, to keep it, they are going to have to pass along some of the warranty they receive.

Case in point: Liberty Flights. They offer 3-6 month warranties on their batteries and 2 months on standard resistence atomizers. I do business there whenever I can because I know if a unit craps out in 2 weeks, I get it replaced.

Again, this isn't about newer vendors just getting started but is it just me? What good is a 1 year warranty from a manufacturer if the vendor only offers 7-14 days? Yes, I know warranty work is a pain in the behind and is a wild card as to business costs.

At some point though, established vendors are going to have to bite the bullet. Nothing is more irritating than to see some vendors trip to China on YouTube while I have a 30 dollar battery that crapped out in a month with no recourse.

Am I alone in this thinking? And please, no flames. I think most vendors are reputable, sincere people. If we as consumers however don't ever speak up on the topic, I don't forsee many vendors taking Liberty Flights model on. Maybe it's just an old guys thinking but I would appreciate any honest feedback.

Thanks!

 

[Scottitude]

My recommendation is to move away from mass-market imported devices and find an American-made mod that suits your vaping needs. Warranty periods will vary from brand to brand but you'll have a better chance of getting legitimate support should you need it because you'll be buying directly from the actual manufacturer and not a second or third tier middle-man.

I found my mods of choice based on four criteria:

• Performance
• Durability
• Ergonomics
• A Lifetime warranty that follows the device whether it's brand new or previously owned.

The fact that they look nothing like a nasty stink-stick is a nice bonus.

Just my

 

[ancient puffer]

I tend to agree with you, Major S. But I also think that now that the shadow of the FDA hanging over it all has passed (at least for the short term), favoring vendors with a decent warranty will have a beneficial effect on which vendors do well, and which don't.

 

[Major]

Thanks for the 2 responses. I simply can't afford a decent mod so that isn't an option for me. Hopefully as time moves on we will see some of the better vendors offering some warranty. For a lot of people I know personally that are vaping, they can't afford to spend a hundred bucks and consider it disposable.

If vendors don't avail themselves of the factory warranties, there is little feedback to the manufacturers on whether their product is satisfactory or not. Kanger is the one that comes to mind. Their production seems to get worse instead of better with every new wave of product to the vendors.

 

[OMG!]

Smoking cigs for two weeks was $100 that was disposed of with nothing to show for money spent. I'm all for a warranty as well because I feel like I've been ripped off a few times - but - I have the choice not to give those particular people another dime of my money. With cigs the money was all going to the same place, BT and BG.

Warranties will come with competition. The vendors who service their customers honestly and fairly will stay alive. Right now all consumers have as tools to protect them is the BBB and similar agencies. I always do a quick BBB search before purchasing anything online to see if there are complaints. Take Liberty Flights for example (since they were mentioned above)... they have a BBB presence with zero complaints.

This forum also plays a very important roll because of the exchange of information. Its sad to see that some people are attacked when they express frustration with favored vendors. Giving people who don't back up their product protection just perpetuates bad business practices.

 

[thehangdude]

I use a 1100mAh kGo kit I got from hoosierecigsupply (new supplier in April). I had a battery go bad after a month or so. He not only replaced it, but he sent me a bunch of other stuff for my trouble.

Also, I had a screw missing from the RIVA charger from Liberty Flights. When I pulled the charger from the outlet the first time, it came apart. They offered to replace it (but I just put it back together and used a computer screw).

I think most of the small, new companies know that repeat customers are their bread and butter. They will treat customers as good as they can, because of PR. If you have a good experience, you might tell one person. But if you have a bad experience, you tell everybody you know.

 

[Major]

There's an old saying along the lines of you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Maybe I should have made the post about sharing good service from vendors. I know for a fact there are others that live in this sub-forum as I do that have some bad luck products and poor luck with vendors beyond a week or two.

It is refreshing to hear about other vendors like Hoosiers. LF I have had only one need to report a product issue and even though I live on the East side of the continent and they in San Diego, my replacement was in my hand in 3 days.

If government intervention doesn't choke this industry to literal death, I suspect we'll see the smarter vendors taking a "Wal-Mart" approach. They sell too much Chinese product in my humble opinion but if you get a bad pair of socks, they'll make it right.

In the mean time, if anyone has good results with a problem product being handled well, it is refreshing if folks would drop a line about it. While I m ecstatic about the e-cig in general, to this point I haven't saved a dime in 3 months and others go in the hole. From a "believed to be a healthier product" perspective, saving money isn't the point really.

In that regard, thank goodness for it! If it were not for it I would be watching a game with a lip full of Copenhagen and puffing on a Marlboro instead of here right now!

 

[dspin]

Only batteries I know of that have a lifetime guarantee are from Smoketip - they are KR808's, they now have a bigger one also. When they quit working, call them up, they ship right away if called before 10 am, then you send back the defective one. I use to use them and know people that still do. Only one I know of

 

[toto1013]

This isn't in the Suppliers forum as I am seeking the thoughts of the consumers, not the suppliers. If a vendor has been in business long enough to make trips to China or hire representatives to oversee QC there, shouldn't they pass along some of the warranty the factories give them?

Most of the newer big battery/big carto units come with a 6 month to 1 year warranty. Problem is, that's only good for the vendor, not the consumers. This industry is only 2 years old but as vendors reach a level of success, to keep it, they are going to have to pass along some of the warranty they receive.

IMHO where the vendors receive a 6 month to a year warranty from the Manufacturer on a product, it would only make good business sense to me to offer better warranties to the consumers then what is advertised by so many vendors which would result in more repeat business, free advertising, etc. In addition putting more pressure via the return of the warrantied product from the vendor to the manufacturers to produce quality products and improving quality control. Thereby resulting in less time spent via the vendors with disgruntled consumers due to better products. To me, a win win for all-consumer, vendor, manufacturer.

It is a new industry will have growing pains, but as consumers we are taking what we can get and settling for it. Kind of like me blaming BT for the condition I am in when they didn't make me buy their product in the first place.

Disclaimer-I am more than happy with every vendor that I have done business with in regards to e-cigarettes. Just observation.

 

[six]

I've done business with the majority of the forum vendors. I've had very little trouble with anything I've purchased as far as premature failures or unexpected behavior of a device is concerned. Most of the vendors that support ECF will bend over backwards for a customer. There are a few exceptions and I've seen a little bit of bad behavior from a couple of them... but as a general rule, if you stick to vendors who care about their reputation, they'll back their products.

As to not being able to get a mod... I can think of at least a couple of decent mods that are the same or even lower price than most starter kits. The rough stack from madvapes is $40 plus a couple of batteries and a charger is still under $50. It's almost indestructible and the only thing that could ever go wrong is the switch - and the switch is user replaceable (and simple to replace too). The Sparkplug from sparkplugforsmokers is $30, has been getting good reviews, and people have reported excellent customer service. And, there are a plethora of box mods and juice boxes out there around 30 bucks. If you want a really really good deal, look here I bought one and it works great... A bottom feeder for 30 bucks shipped is hard to beat, and Old Goat backs his products and will fix anything you can break.

Stick to the forum vendors. Read reviews in the reviews section of the forum. Then check the vendor reviews before doing business with anyone you haven't bought from before. And, report any serious problems with suppliers if you encounter them.

 

[Major]

Thanks for your informative response regards mods. The rough stack looks interesting and at a reasonable price. I have had the opportunity to try a botom feeder and just as some aren't into tube mods or cartos, I am definitely not a botom feeder type of guy.

As I posted originally though, when a vendor is getting a 6 month to 1 year warranty on what they sell and even after they have made enough sales to be considered established financially, most are still offering the DOA or 2 week or less warranty. My thrust was that the price of becoming successful should at some point in a vendors success, equate to offering some of that warranty they receive to the consumer they sell to.

As it is now, you are correct that many will do their best to accomodate a customer but legally, they are covered if they elect not to since the law covers their posted terms of service. I may have had a run of bad luck but I started with the biggest vendor of 808 type kits and juices. One battery was DOA and after 2 weeks, the other was failing. I filed a ticket with them and in 2 weeks, I received 2 batteries that were both obviously used and neither worked. At all. They still haven't addressed that and I have moved on.

Before I found LF, I bought an eGo 900mah kit that had a faulty switch (would not turn back on after being "5 clicked" off). This happened about 3.5 weeks after receiving it. The vendor was genuinely polite in response but I was directed to the "warranty" period of 14 days. This again is a respected, well established vendor. I contacted the maker who pointed me to thier 1 year warranty in response to a mini-order price quote.

My only thrust is once vendors get established and are making a living off their sales, consumers will at some point realize that they are the ones bearing the burden of being on the "bleeding edge" of the e-cig technology. No one in thier right mind expects a perfect product in a 18-22 USD kit that is sold for 60-70 USD but when the maker offers a warranty and the vendor doesn't want to be bothered by it beyond a DOA, something is wrong.

I just hate to see a situation where consumers will gravitate to the handful that offer a good part of the warranty the maker offers. That will kill off healthy competition of the newest technology being brought to the market. I realize it is a pain to the vendors but when they are making a respectable markup (many are not by the way - the Echo vendors for example have them very reasonably priced), they are going to have to offer better warranties.

I am thankful there haven't been any personal flames in this thread but I have ben careful to avoid naming names. I would bet the farm that if I or anyone else did, the thread would be locked, censored or a fan boy war. With all the good these products are doing so many, no one wants that. I know I don't

 

[six]

Just out of curiosity, did you try putting that battery back on the charger? The ego-t batts are designed to reset the circuit no matter if they are on or off when put on the charger. If the circuit won't reset, then the MOFSET is probably blown.

And just a "by the way", a dead eGo batt is a handy tool to keep around, so don't throw it away if you haven't already. I've used dead eGo batts for a range of things from removing stuck adapters to installing and pulling CE2s for my MAP tanks to removing burrs on shoddily cut threads on attys and cartos.

 

[Major]

Thanks for the tip as I was unaware but I have tried it on 2 different chargers and it never flashes, just stays dark. And I wouldn't toss it, no way. AS you say, there are a number of useful things it can be used for.

 

[oldjoe]

My $.02
I have only been vaping for about 6 months and I spread my business around to the vendors that seemed to be the most popular on this forum. I have had a few issues but my experience for warranty and support on failed/problematic products has been quite satisfactory with all of them but a couple and I simply don't do any more business with them.
There is no reason for any business not to make every effort to satisfy every individual customer to the best of their ability to help insure repeat business.
If you experience a legitimate problem with a vendor post about it in the Review of Suppliers thread to let others knowso they can avoid that vendor.