Vapor Flask V3 DNA40 Clone thread

[Tpat591]

Re: return shipping.
FT uses a place in Florida that you ship your returns to. My friend shipped an item there and never got the replacement. After inquiring about it they said they never received it so "signature conformation" is a must, not sure if that comes with tracking or not.

Delivery confirmation is a must & is cheaper than full tracking but a tracking printout showing delivery to fasttech address would be tough for them to argue with. They could still claim you did not include all original packaging or instructions and refuse to credit your return if you did not video the contents of the package and sealing the labeled return shipment.

 

[Tpat591]

Just checked out fasttech (for giggles) to see if they finally told their customers whether or not the 4 new V4 flasks they listed had temperature control or not & ALL the Vapor Flask items are gone from the site.

 

[TheBloke]

Delivery confirmation is a must & is cheaper than full tracking but a tracking printout showing delivery to fasttech address would be tough for them to argue with. They could still claim you did not include all original packaging or instructions and refuse to credit your return if you did not video the contents of the package and sealing the labeled return shipment.

So are FastTech dodgy then, like Cigabuy? I had got the impression that they were legitimate, albeit slow (in both dispatch and in customer service) and perhaps unhelpful (like not providing important product information as you've just posted about re the VFs)?

dwcraig's friend's story does sound bad but could (perhaps) be legitimate, in that they either didn't receive it at all or received it then it got lost internally, ie. incompetent but not malicious. But your saying that video proof of contents might be required does rather suggest that they'll defraud if they get a chance?

I hadn't thought to buy from them because I gathered that Focal were the company to use after 3F, just interested to know the general perception of them?

 

[Flt Simulation]

Well from 3FVape I managed to beat you both, yet lose at the same time! 8 days from order to delivery, and that was crossing the 4 day Easter weekend; might have been 5-6 days without that.

I am wanting to order the Waidea / Sunlay Vapor Flask V3 in the silver color. I see that most people are ordering either from either Focalcig or 3FVape.
___________________________

Looking at the photos on these two website, I notice:

1. The Waidea from Focalcig costs $ 64.95 and has "VAPORFLASK - MADE IN U.S.A." inscribed in the battery cap end of the device.

2. The Waidea from 3FVape costs $ 76.99 and has nothing inscribed in the battery cap end of the device.


Anyone know what's up with that? ... These obviously are 2 different versions of this clone

One last question ... I will be flying to the Philippines in about 15 days. I guess if I was to order from 3FVape, I should get the Waidea here in Florida before my departure if I order it within the next day or two (as "TheBloke" mentioned in his post) ?

 

[TheBloke]

The photos on the 3F site are wrong, they're stock photos of an older clone or something. Not sure why they have that, but it's definitely the right clone - I have mine from 3F already, and I think AnsonJames got his there as well.

So the $76.99 clone on the 3F is the Waidea and is identical to the $64.95 from Focalcig. To see better pics of it, read Nicole Lea's review of it on Vaping Cheap.

Regarding delivery times, there's no guarantee at all. Mine shipped after 24 hours and arrived 8 days from that point, 9 total. That seems to be the fastest that anyone has received theirs so far. 15 days is certainly possible, but by no means guaranteed.

Bear in mind I'm in the UK, and there's reason to believe that might generally be a faster delivery time than to the US.

If you're thinking of ordering from 3F, please make sure you've read about my customer service issues with them over the last few pages. If yours is DOA you will have to ship it back to them at your up-front cost, for which they won't authorise more than $15 in cost (I'm now authorised to $18, but that still precludes getting fulll tracking.) You won't therefore have a working unit back with you for a further 5-7 weeks from that point, the length depending on 2 x further shipping times, and however long it takes them to look at it (I was assuming one week.)

Obviously the most likely outcome is that the flask will arrive working, as it has for the other Waidea owners on this thread. But you need to be aware of the risk, which it appears is particularly bad at 3F at the moment because of how Waidea are dealing with them.

We don't know how Focal handle the same situation, but the ideal outcome you're hoping for is that if it is DOA they will ship another as soon as you have shown them tracking indicating yours is in transit back to them, thus reducing the extra delay to another 2 weeks or so, instead of 5-7.

One thing I will say for 3F is that they are now claiming to QC every DNA 40 clone device before shipping them out. That didn't help me all that much (though my problem did turn out to be easily fixable), but it should certainly greatly reduce the overall DOA rate. Maybe Focal does the same thing, I don't know, but with 3F we know that they at least claim to do so - and that claim is believable given the large number of returns they've had to handle.

 

[Croak]

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[Flt Simulation]

Bloke ... Thanks for the response

I just read your problems with 3F after making my post above. I am not going to be ordering from them now.

Unless I was to order a Waidea from some company right here in the US, I doubt that I would receive it before my flight to the Philippines.

I am kinda surprised that there are not many companies right here selling this mod, but I don't see any ... By now, you would think that some retailer right here in the US would have bought a bunch of these for resale.

If I were to find someone here selling them (maybe on Ebay), my bet is they would be marked up in price close to the $100 range.

 

[Croak]

One last question ... I will be flying to the Philippines in about 15 days. I guess if I was to order from 3FVape, I should get the Waidea here in Florida before my departure if I order it within the next day or two (as "TheBloke" mentioned in his post) ?

My replacement Waidea was processed on the 28th and left 3FVape on the 1st of April, left the Shenzhen sorting center on the 3rd. Today it made it out of Customs to the Flushing NY sorting center. Should get it here in Florida on Tuesday, or tomorrow if they're really on the ball. And I feel fortunate that it moved that fast.

You'll be cutting it close getting it before you leave for the PI, if it's possible at all.

And didn't somebody mention that Fasttech was stocking some in their US warehouse now? Which, if memory serves, is in Florida.

 

[Flt Simulation]

Croak ... I think I will just wait till I get to the PI and then make an attempt in ordering one from there. With the mail system as bad as it is in the Philippines, I just worry if I ever would even get it.

Does FastTech also sell the exact same Waidea V3 that Focal sells?

So, your in Florida too .... I am in the Fort Myers / Cape Coral area (SW Florida)

 

[KenD]

Just checked out FastTech (for giggles) to see if they finally told their customers whether or not the 4 new V4 flasks they listed had temperature control or not & ALL the Vapor Flask items are gone from the site.

Yes, just saw that myself. Happened earlier with all Hana clones, right? Seems that ft had real problems getting the flasks in stock.

 

[KenD]

So are FastTech dodgy then, like Cigabuy? I had got the impression that they were legitimate, albeit slow (in both dispatch and in customer service) and perhaps unhelpful (like not providing important product information as you've just posted about re the VFs)?

dwcraig's friend's story does sound bad but could (perhaps) be legitimate, in that they either didn't receive it at all or received it then it got lost internally, ie. incompetent but not malicious. But your saying that video proof of contents might be required does rather suggest that they'll defraud if they get a chance?

I hadn't thought to buy from them because I gathered that Focal were the company to use after 3F, just interested to know the general perception of them?

I sent back a broken Vamo, without tracking, and was refunded. It took a long while though (possibly because I had to send it all the way to China).

 

[Croak]

So, your in Florida too .... I am in the Fort Myers / Cape Coral area (SW Florida)

I'm just outside Lakeland.

 

[Phone Guy]

Yes, just saw that myself. Happened earlier with all Hana clones, right? Seems that ft had real problems getting the flasks in stock.

"berry intervesting"

 

[Tpat591]

Bloke ... Thanks for the response

I just read your problems with 3F after making my post above. I am not going to be ordering from them now.

Unless I was to order a Waidea from some company right here in the US, I doubt that I would receive it before my flight to the Philippines.

I am kinda surprised that there are not many companies right here selling this mod, but I don't see any ... By now, you would think that some retailer right here in the US would have bought a bunch of these for resale.

If I were to find someone here selling them (maybe on Ebay), my bet is they would be marked up in price close to the $100 range.

I believe Focal is stocking these in USA after 4/11 & was adding a $2 upcharge to the price if you ordered from their USA Warehouse. I'm sure you would probably get it in time if they are not backordered there. They will offer you tracking for $1.50 but I'm pretty sure their policy is to provide tracking on all orders over $45 but you should check on that when you confirm stock on your choice of color at the USA warehouse.

3F photo shopped the pics to avoid any possible litigation.

 

[Tpat591]

So are FastTech dodgy then, like Cigabuy? I had got the impression that they were legitimate, albeit slow (in both dispatch and in customer service) and perhaps unhelpful (like not providing important product information as you've just posted about re the VFs)?

dwcraig's friend's story does sound bad but could (perhaps) be legitimate, in that they either didn't receive it at all or received it then it got lost internally, ie. incompetent but not malicious. But your saying that video proof of contents might be required does rather suggest that they'll defraud if they get a chance?

I hadn't thought to buy from them because I gathered that Focal were the company to use after 3F, just interested to know the general perception of them?

I don't think Fasttech is dodgy. They can be very regimented, inflexible, & downright incompetent at times, not dodgy per se. I just try to drum into peoples heads that taking the time to video packing it up gives you something to fall back on should the need arise. Never hurts to be cautious.

Fasttech is probably the cheapest place around to buy anything vape related, they have the best selection of equipment, but they don't seem to be as cheap as they used to be especially with name brand mods & they literally deface the serial numbers of authentic equipment and as such void the original manufacturers warranty but they give you a 6 month warranty themselves. I by a lot of stuff from them. The forums and review pages are awesome feedback tools that can't be beat & you can buy safely there with a little research. They are anything but fast, but sometimes they can pleasantly surprise you on that front.

I had 2 coil masters I ordered from there on 1/28 that got lost in the mail & they refuse to ship replacements until the postal service declares them officially lost on 5/11 even though I reported the lost package on 3/11. That is the biggest Issue I have had with them.

 

[TheBloke]

This is why we can't have nice things.

What're you referring to?

I am kinda surprised that there are not many companies right here selling this mod, but I don't see any ... By now, you would think that some retailer right here in the US would have bought a bunch of these for resale.

If I were to find someone here selling them (maybe on Ebay), my bet is they would be marked up in price close to the $100 range.

There was one guy in the UK selling the latest Kangxin clone for £105 / $153, and one other company that sells the non-TC clone that goes to 50W (Infinite I think it is) for £80 / $120. But yeah that's a tiny number, given how many hundreds of atomizer/tank clones are sold on UK eBay by dozens or hundreds of sellers.

That first seller I mentioned is not listed now when I just checked. He had 10 listed / 2 sold when I first saw him two weeks ago, so I presume he sold them all. Pretty good business for him, given that they're obtainable from Alibaba for $65 (£44) each including all fees and shipping - 125% margin after eBay seller fees are accounted for.

I wonder if companies, particularly US companies, are worried about the trademark violation. I saw on a RIP Trippers video, from 6+ months ago I believe, that Hana sued some US company that had clones with their name/logo on it.

Then again, certainly in the UK, it's probably mostly just that importing from China takes some time, and it's only been somewhat recently that they've been established to be working well, and also available in good quantities. The first UK Youtube review of the (Kangxin) clones appeared only 10 days ago, and he had received his direct from China - having first been contacted by a Chinese supplier in December, and then finally received it in March.

I wouldn't be surprised if the coming weeks/months sees a sudden flood of them, at least in the UK where the trademark issue is probably not applicable.

 

[cobalt327]

Yes, just saw that myself. Happened earlier with all Hana clones, right? Seems that ft had real problems getting the flasks in stock.

Or was it because of their outright dismal (mis?)understanding of things vape-related, including but certainly not limited to some of the worst product descriptions ever generated? Or was it related to their propensity to take photos from wherever they can rip them from and include said photos w/the product- even when they have no relation to the product the photos are linked to? One example is showing a photo of a mod w/the screen display clearly showing the device to be TP, when the actual device was NOT TP.

Not a hater. I have bought from them and have had no problems. But then again, I tend to research things a lot before hitting the "BUY" button.

 

[Croak]

I was referring to the fact that people have appeared to have taken...advantage...of 3FVape's liberal replacement policy, to the extent that said policy was no longer viable for 3FVape.

Personally, I regret mentioning how they treated me now, but I was so pleased with their service I felt I should share it, and reward the company for taking care of me with positive word of mouth.

Now I'm sure my postings played a part in people deciding they could abuse the policy, so instead of helping 3FVape, my posts had the opposite effect in the long run, eventually turning people against 3FVape due to raised expectations.

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[funkyrudi]

Trademark was applied for Vaporflask 12.13.2014 for the countries USA, Canada, Australia, European Union and China. In the mid of march all Hana boxes were deleted on FT. At the same time Doris from Focal renamed the Vapor Flask into VF and Focal got new old pictures . 3FVape renamed into VF last week AFAIK, but FT missed the right time to rename the flask. I guess FT had to sign a paper from Hana and stopped selling Hana style boxes. Maybe FT has to sign a paper for the VF issue again, maybe the VF pops up again with a different name.

VAPORFLASK - Reviews & Brand Information - SE Box Mods, LLC Atlanta, GA - Serial Number: 86479748

 

[cobalt327]

I was referring to the fact that people have appeared to have taken...advantage...of 3FVape's liberal replacement policy, to the extent that said policy was no longer viable for 3FVape.

Personally, I regret mentioning how they treated me now, but I was so pleased with their service I felt I should share it, and reward the company for taking care of me with positive word of mouth.

Now I'm sure my postings played a part in people deciding they could abuse the policy, so instead of helping 3FVape, my posts had the opposite effect in the long run, eventually turning people against 3FVape due to raised expectations.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Meh. You did nothing wrong. I could have brought attention to the return policy, too, by saying the "comp'ed" mods probably couldn't last- but unethical people don't need our help- they saw the loophole all by themselves- bank on it!!! And besides, if anyone based their purchase solely on what you posted, then they didn't do an especially good job of researching prior to buying.

Personally, there were (and still are) just too many unanswered questions regarding which clone to buy, let alone any possible ramifications resulting from a warranty claim with whichever vendor it was purchased from, so I decided to give this 6 months (closer to 5 months now) before I laid out anything on one.