The perils of ordering from china; absouletleyecigs

[entropic]

So with an eye for a good deal, and after reading the review on here, I ordered myself an m401 from absolutelyecigs. After taking 3 days for shipping it was eventually sent out. When it finally arrived in Britain it underwent a standard customs search and was released without issue.

A few days later, last Friday, I checked the online tracking only to discover it said that they tried to deliver it and the addressee refused, odd I thought since I was in all day. So I went back and checked the address on the tracking information and it was wrong; it didn't match up with the address I entered on their website or my paypal one.

So first thing on Saturday I phoned up parcelforce and asked them to amend the address, which they agreed to do - guaranteeing it would be with me on Tuesday (after the Bank holiday weekend). So I waited in all day Tuesday only to discover that they tried to deliver it once more to the wrong address. Phoned up again asked them to amend the address and was hung up on twice by the depot, finally I spoke to a manager who told me it would definitely be corrected and would be here on Wednesday. Wednesday came and I phoned up to confirm it would be, only to discover that the package had 'gone missing'.

So here I am nearly 3 weeks after the initial order with no M401, hours of wasted time on the phone, and a big question mark as to whether its ever going to turn up.

I've ordered a starter kit from e-cigs.co.uk who I've always found to be reliable, and will live in hope that this item will show up. If its not here soon I will contest the misaddressing leading to the items loss on paypal and hope they will refund the item. And all to save about £5, worth it? hardly.

 

[ejfan1977]

I would have been jumping out of my skin over a screw up like that! I was stressing out just reading your ordeal. Good luck!

 

[cyberwolf]

Bummer. I have placed a couple of successful orders with absolutelyecigs and have had good luck every time. I always worry about ordering from China, though. Right now I'm waiting on an bestecig order that has read "Despatch from Sorting Center" for three days now...

 

[Catanonia]

mess ups happen.

I tend to order from the UK. Either ECigs or Totally Wicked. I know

1. They speak good english
2. The stuff is already in the UK
3. No Customs
4. Stuff arrives the next day.
5. I can call them


So yes it cost a little more, but worth it for the service. I happily pay for the service.

 

[entropic]

In the interest of customer relations, whilst denying any responsibility, absolutely has refunded the full amount; which was nice.

Though it doesn't really make up for the hours of phone calls and wasted days.

 

[ccure]

Sorry but I think it is unfair to say that ordering from China is not good at all because a single mistake. Mistakes happen everywhere.

As far as I have been reading absolutelycig has fulfill every order as best as they can.

Now, It is true that they make a mistake and mess up the address, but they were not the ones that misplace your parcel. It was the post service and abosolutelycig give you a full refund! That has to say something good about Chinese companies.

I do know that there are crooks in China, but also all around the world, so why a lot of people in this forum keep talking against Chinese people?

Remember, they were the ones who bring us the e-cig. Thank you China!!

Just to let you know: I am not from China, I am from Colombia ..... maybe even worst than China for some of you as well??

 

[Fedor]

I agree with ccure. Among the Chinese suppliers in the forums, Absolutelyecigs has had the least number of complaints and possibly the most praises.

Their customer service is astounding. I remember a fellow member who had USPS messed up his order. Absolutelyecigs sent him a scanned copy of the consignment note and it showed that they had written the correct address but USPS screwed up instead. Bear in mind that USPS denied their mistakes all the way. He got his ecigs in the end though. I did not make this up. Its documented in the forums.

I don't think you are able to check the shipping address based on a tracking number. And if you you check with Parcel Force, of course they're gonna deny they screwed up. They had sent to the wrong address AGAIN, even after you called them! This tells you a little about how efficient they are, right? This leads me to believe that absolutely denied responsibility because it probably really isn't their fault.

And they refunded you anyway, right? Possibly with no way of getting their stuff back as it is lost. And promptly too....since you only posted this yesterday and probably contacted them today.

Just sayin...

 

[entropic]

This thread was never intended to attack the company, but rather exemplify the perils of ordering from abroad. Sure someone screwed up and we'll probably never know who, they refunded it and rightly so. But the thing about ordering from abroad is that there is far more scope for these screw ups, that's why it's perilous.

 

[kinabaloo]

As nobody would be retyping the address, it's hard to understand what happened. Perhaps once in the UK someone reads the label to make a barcode and that was the source of the error?

 

[midian]

Wow, entropic you have my sympathies and I too know the brunt of having an overseas package getting lost; however in this case I have to side with absolutelyeCigs being a customer, I've ordered a few times from them (and others in my circle of friends) and we've not had any problems. Sure there's been some delays because of demand, but other than that, their customer service has been really good (their English is butchered, but understandable).

Again, note that I'm with you 100% with the spirit of trying to find multiple reliable sources to buy from. I personally am going to be trying to order from a UK source as well as yet another Chinese source, simply so that I can compare their products, compatibility, and overall product quality. I'll try to make sure that I keep you in the loop with what happens. Cheers!

 

[geeker]

Remember, they were the ones who bring us the e-cig. Thank you China!!

Hellz yeah! THANK YOU CHINA! Woohoo!

 

[Fedor]

(their English is butchered, but understandable).

Are you kidding me? Sometimes i think their English is better than mine! Definitely the best english i've gotten from any Chinese based websites.

 

[Rexa]

This thread was never intended to attack the company, but rather exemplify the perils of ordering from abroad. Sure someone screwed up and we'll probably never know who, they refunded it and rightly so. But the thing about ordering from abroad is that there is far more scope for these screw ups, that's why it's perilous.

I wouldn't say there are far more screw ups but rather issues that are harder to fix than dealing locally.

It's a pain in the buttox both on the shipper and receiver's part to try and correct or re-route packages that have been sent to a wrong location or being held at a local shipping facility and I say this as someone who works for an online company which also ships internationally on an as-per-requested basis. I have made errors sometimes when shipping packages out. Very rarely though but they do happen.

I try to avoid dealing abroad (even though I have received some of the most excellent service) mainly because of such things. In my personal opinion, it is always worth paying extra to buy from a closer source,