Hey Folks...just wanted to chirp in here and comment on today's news that everyone is reading about with the FDA's Letters to certain suppliers..
While I do feel for the fellow suppliers that received the letter from the FDA...I must also say that I in most part agree with what they are trying to do in "theory"...where that will lead us to...I have no idea...but..it needs to be done..We can't keep having the current state be the norm...
Now to explain a little more on why I do agree to an extent that these letters needed to be sent... 1. Warning labels:....they should be clear and make the consumer aware of what he/she are purchasing without leading them to believe that they are buying an approved smoking cessation device...this is not the case in many of the labels I have come across.
2. Flavors: We have had a fair amount of flack for the last so many months from people saying "why don't you carry Cherry, Vanilla..etc. flavors and why not sell us the juice??" ..well ..I can say that firstly we were warned by our legal representation a long time ago that this would become a source of contention within the ranks of "Haters" to try and knock the whole industry..and guess what?...they are using just that argument now on the whole industry because of the stigma that it will entice kids to use e-cigs in general...while I feel that argument is a reach...it still can resonate with the non-smoking public to some degree...and for that reason we have chosen not to offer anything but menthol as a "Flavor" in our products.
3. Claims: although anecdotal and possibly true...the fact is ..until we get more trials done..we (as an industry)can't make any such claims ...we have ourselves already done one study and are working on others to be done with the results to be hopefully submitted to help our cause...but the fact is that until the whole thing is done...making claims of the product working as a smoking cessation device needs to be held in check...does it help to say things that you may not have 100% proof of that you know full well may be true?...in this case..NO...because outside of citing a study in its proper context...your just giving the "groups" more ammo to shoot you down with..
4. Quality Control: That seems to be forgotten in many cases...it needs to be there..it needs to be done and done well...that is one reason why your average e-cig can range from $20-$100+ ..some companies actually care about what they sell...some do not..many Chinese suppliers just want to make one sale...then they move on to the next victim...that is one reason why we have our OWN facility making OUR products only...no OEM no separate branding for special dealers...we just make ours and ours alone...this helps us to keep control of the whole product line and not depend on some other factory that makes for 100's of other brands and just puts a stamp on the different products...
This is something I feel passionate about..and so do all of the people that are part of our team...are we perfect?..far from it...nobody is...but..that doesn't mean we can't strive to be perfect...and give great products and customer service as well...I am very proud of how hard our team works to make sure everything is run smoothly and with as few hiccups as possible and give the what I consider the best customer service in the industry...and in saying that...I must also point out that it costs real money to do so...that would explain our products not being in the lower end of the price spectrum...but the old adage of "You get what you pay for" is very relevant in this burgeoning industry..lets hope new people that come on the e-cig train have more positive experiences than negative..no matter who the supplier is...there is plenty of pie to go around..and no need to knock our fellow suppliers...
I hope this post is not taken as a "holier than thou" type of grandstanding...it was more for me to point out what we as an industry should be aiming to do in the future..and weed out the bad apples that are not here for the long term...We hope to be around for a long time if our customers are happy to keep us in business...so far...it's working out well for both customer and supplier in our case...thanks for taking the time to read this long post...Cheers!!
While I do feel for the fellow suppliers that received the letter from the FDA...I must also say that I in most part agree with what they are trying to do in "theory"...where that will lead us to...I have no idea...but..it needs to be done..We can't keep having the current state be the norm...
Now to explain a little more on why I do agree to an extent that these letters needed to be sent... 1. Warning labels:....they should be clear and make the consumer aware of what he/she are purchasing without leading them to believe that they are buying an approved smoking cessation device...this is not the case in many of the labels I have come across.
2. Flavors: We have had a fair amount of flack for the last so many months from people saying "why don't you carry Cherry, Vanilla..etc. flavors and why not sell us the juice??" ..well ..I can say that firstly we were warned by our legal representation a long time ago that this would become a source of contention within the ranks of "Haters" to try and knock the whole industry..and guess what?...they are using just that argument now on the whole industry because of the stigma that it will entice kids to use e-cigs in general...while I feel that argument is a reach...it still can resonate with the non-smoking public to some degree...and for that reason we have chosen not to offer anything but menthol as a "Flavor" in our products.
3. Claims: although anecdotal and possibly true...the fact is ..until we get more trials done..we (as an industry)can't make any such claims ...we have ourselves already done one study and are working on others to be done with the results to be hopefully submitted to help our cause...but the fact is that until the whole thing is done...making claims of the product working as a smoking cessation device needs to be held in check...does it help to say things that you may not have 100% proof of that you know full well may be true?...in this case..NO...because outside of citing a study in its proper context...your just giving the "groups" more ammo to shoot you down with..
4. Quality Control: That seems to be forgotten in many cases...it needs to be there..it needs to be done and done well...that is one reason why your average e-cig can range from $20-$100+ ..some companies actually care about what they sell...some do not..many Chinese suppliers just want to make one sale...then they move on to the next victim...that is one reason why we have our OWN facility making OUR products only...no OEM no separate branding for special dealers...we just make ours and ours alone...this helps us to keep control of the whole product line and not depend on some other factory that makes for 100's of other brands and just puts a stamp on the different products...
This is something I feel passionate about..and so do all of the people that are part of our team...are we perfect?..far from it...nobody is...but..that doesn't mean we can't strive to be perfect...and give great products and customer service as well...I am very proud of how hard our team works to make sure everything is run smoothly and with as few hiccups as possible and give the what I consider the best customer service in the industry...and in saying that...I must also point out that it costs real money to do so...that would explain our products not being in the lower end of the price spectrum...but the old adage of "You get what you pay for" is very relevant in this burgeoning industry..lets hope new people that come on the e-cig train have more positive experiences than negative..no matter who the supplier is...there is plenty of pie to go around..and no need to knock our fellow suppliers...
I hope this post is not taken as a "holier than thou" type of grandstanding...it was more for me to point out what we as an industry should be aiming to do in the future..and weed out the bad apples that are not here for the long term...We hope to be around for a long time if our customers are happy to keep us in business...so far...it's working out well for both customer and supplier in our case...thanks for taking the time to read this long post...Cheers!!
And we also have a site in the UK run by a lady who works even harder than I do. I don't know her too well yet but I hear she's nicer than me too. LOL.
