The E-Cig and the automobile?

[Major]

Most people are like myself in that when you get a bad product (cart, carto, battery, etc.) you get any thing from mildy upset to down right angry. Now granted, I am an old goat by most any standard but there is one thing that I try to remember.

This industry is not yet 3 full years old. In some aspects such as technology, that is an eternity. But when it comes to things like quality control, customer service and many other aspects, like the automobile, only time is going to weed out the "wanna-be's" from the serious contenders.

In the first 10-15 years of the commercial sales of the automobile, there were hundreds of manufacturers in the USA alone (estimates vary but Google it for an idea). The actual number isn't known but it is analogous to the e-cig. We have everything from small shops in China to major manufacturers there to hand machined custom and semi-custom mods from all over the world.

Whether we like to refer to ourselves as that, we as consumers are beta testers. Hopefully, it wont be a decade before the Henry Ford of the e-cig industry appears and makes an affordable, reliable and enduring e-cig. But again, much like the automobile, as we sit right now, we are in a very similar position.

History does repeat itself and I feel like that long after I'm just a name on a marble marker, that future vapers will have a choice of a dozen or so major manufacturers and many individualized custom options or makes. I don't think any of us can do anything but guess who that one true innovator will be or even if they are in the industry at all right now.

So in the end, all that chatter I just typed doesn't help it when the 70 dollar kit you just bought turns out to be crap. It is worth noting though that every time a vendor sells some junk and continues to do so after being made aware of it, They are only making themselves that much closer to becoming the Pierce-Arrow or Tucker of the e-cig world.

And just like most early adopters of the automobile found, with all its headaches and growing pains, it really was worth the hassle. As it relates to our e-cigs, I know for me I can't put a price tag on the hassles and growing pains of a product that has doubtless contributed to my personally more healthy life style.

 

[hairball]

Major S. I love your post and how true it is. I would love to see a company spring up right here in the USA that makes a proprietary ecig kit(s). Something that is reliable, lasts longer than a month, with a great warranty. Downside, knowing how us American's are with wages and such, they would be over priced. No one here is going to pay $100 for a 510 type kit or $150 for an eGo type kit when you can get them at a fraction of the price out of China. I would love to see a manufacturer come about but make it realistic in price.

 

[Major]

That's exactly what Ford did: He created a product that took the best of available technology at the time and sold it in quantity. There are many business models but 2 competing ones are charge a lower price and sell many more versus the charge a higher price and sell fewer to make the same profit. I know there are proper names for the different business models.

But you are 100% on target Hairball. We need someone with vision to take a page from the long deceased Henry Ford - Make it affordable and you'll sell a ton of them. As to wages and such, you are again right on target but using the mass numbers approach, the extra paid to have a product that has more than a DOA or 7 day warranty on it would make some increase acceptable.

For me, I would love to see a USA maker do this but even if it is in Asia or elsewhere, someone will find that having offices on the different continents to honor their warranties will lead to many more sales. Right now for example, Joyetech and Kanger offer anywhere from 6 months to a year on major components like batteries. Trouble is, most vendors are small 1-3 person operations and they can't afford to send an item back to them they paid 6-8 bucks for at a shipping cost twice that.

That's why I say/think that whichever of the multitude that do make returns realistic will only then make the "warranty" they offer mean anything

 

[CraigHB]

Yeah, like the post.

Another thing to consider, we're kind of in the glory days of e-cigs with all these makers. When it gets down to a handful, our choices are more limited, but we'll also be reaping the benefit of a mature industry. There's good and bad in both. Right now, I'm enjoying all the new products that are popping up.

The way it is now, anything electronic comes out of Asia. In the days of radio, consumer electronics where designed and manufactured in the US. After WWII, the Japanese had the monopoly, but their labor force got too expensive so production eventually moved to China. Capitolism at its best.

Engineering has always followed a length behind. For example, the first home computers where Engineered in the US, but manufactured overseas. Now, after a few decades, both engineering and manufacturing are mainly done overseas. The same can be said for cell phones.

I feel American engineering is superior in many areas (after all, has anyone else put a man on the moon?) and at the least, wish it had not gone the same way as production. We just can't touch the cheap labor of the Chinese so we lose. It amazes me sometimes how inexpensively they make stuff over there.

 

[hairball]

Yes, the biggest issue with me would be what kind of warranty would be provided if made here. I wouldn't mind paying more for USA made but would the company have a decent enough warranty to see the higher pricing. I hope someday it happens. I'm really surprised that a small company has popped up yet just to make us some decent atomizers and cartomizers. I would think a person could make a killing on just spare parts. Look at what Isaac at Ikenvape does. He basically makes his own but sends everything to China to be made by his specs for his atty's and carto's. They send them back, he sells them a tad higher priced but the end result is a fantastic vape, great customer service, a small warranty (however if you had a problem, Isaac would work with you), and the longevity far exceeds any other type of carto that I've bought. Same as the older 70's cars/trucks (the ones you can work on yourself). They lasted longer, had a good warranty, car company actually treated you decent and did routine followups on how your vehicle was doing. That's the one thing that American companies of any type have forgotten...how to treat their customers if they had a problem under warranty (I just got a taste of this with my daughter's 2007 Aveo). I was treated terrible and the car was still under warranty. Corporate got a phone call from me standing right there in the dealership. Needless, it was resolved and a mechanic fired. I didn't intend for the firing to happen but the car was under warranty and the dealership should have stood behind it (which they did after the phone call). It's sad but true. We're a greedy country...new car warranties prove this. I just hope that someone starts an ecig factory, large or small, sells decent equipment, has a good warranty, doesn't overprice themselves out of business, and treats every customer as if they are a pot of gold.