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Element vape online retailer, don't do it!

So this is not the first time this has happened and as it will be my last time purchasing I have decided to share my latest experience. I placed an order on the 13th of january knowing that their free deliver is 5 to 7 days. This would have had my new liquid arriving before I ran out. I checked on my shipment today expecting it would be here tomorrow at the latest. Well, that was not the case, USPS shows that the label was created on the 14th but the shipment was never sent. I contacted them via email (the only way to reach them) and the reply I received was as follows:
Hi,

Thanks for choosing Element Vape as your vaping destination.

As a growing company, we are striving to perfect our inventory. However, there are occasional out of stock items that we did not account for during the restocking process, such as damaged packaging or broken bottles. We are only able to find out which orders have an out of stock item once the shipping team fulfills all orders after the shipping labels are created. Instead of refunding the out of stock items and shipping out the rest of the order, we try to notify our customers and ask if they would like a replacement or a cancellation of the out-of-stock item.

Due to high volume of orders, we’re currently out of

Product: 2 x Graham Slam – The Mamasan – 100mL – 3mg

Would you consider other choices such as any other 100mL E-Liquids of equal or lesser value?

You may let us know your preference in a reply to this email

Once again, we are sorry for any inconvenience and we will do our best to improve our inventory in the future. Please let us know your preference and we will be glad to process your order as soon as possible.

--

I then replied and admittedly was a bit peeved and only after re reading did I realize how gruff this came across:

First, who am I talking to? It would be nice to know who my customer representative is.

second, are you telling me that my order did not ship because you were out of stock on an item that showed in stock on your website? If so, why was the difference not refunded and the order filled?
So in essence, I will now have to go to a local vape shop to purchase liquid because my order was not filled due to an inventory issue on your end, is that correct and do you find that acceptable? I have been shopping exclusively with you guys for about a year now and have been happy with service so I am really hoping you will make this right and get what is left of my order out to me and expedite the shipping.

after about 3 hours of no communication from them I sent a follow up email:
To whom it may concern,

Could someone please let me know what is happening with my order.

5 hours in and I receive a very similar email to the first, still, no name or identifier for the customer service representative I am communicating with.
Hello Ethan,

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Apologies for the confusion as the shipping confirmation provides a tracking number the moment the label has been created in our system.

Our team fulfills a high volume of orders every single day and in a rare occurence in which an item is Out-of-Stock, the Customer Service team prioritizes communication and will send an email regarding this issue immediately. In some cases, we do provide an alternative colorway or substitute option to assist with this matter. If no replies are sent to us, the item is subject to cancellation and refund and the rest of the order will be sent out for delivery. Please note that the whole order is subject to full cancel and refund as well in some cases.

While we would like to offer overnight or a quicker option unfortunately we currently exclusively ship through USPS and our fastest shipping option is Priority 2-4 Business Days. Unfortunately, shipping fees are non- refundable through us as this is processed with the shipping carrier once the order has been processed through our system.

**Due to high volume of orders, we’re currently out of

Product: 2 x Graham Slam – The Mamasan – 100mL – 3mg

Would you consider other choices such as any other 100mL E-Liquids of equal or lesser value, or would you like for us to cancel the out of stock items, and ship out the remainder of your order?**

to which I replied:

Dear customer service representative,

As mentioned in my earlier reply to the same canned response to my original request for information on my order, I would appreciate knowing who I am communicating with so that I could reference who I have spoken to instead of an unknown person in a room with any number of people replying to these messages. Please refund the amount for the items not in stock and send the rest of my order.

Now I know I am coming across harsh, but this is not the first time this has happened where they have run out of a purchased liquid, the difference was that I had immediately received an email explaining the issue and were able to get things straightened out. This time, I did not get a heads up, just a long lingering wait for my order that required me to contact them. As a customer, this should not have happened, they should have refunded the difference as that was my prior preferences and mailed out the remainder of the order, not let me sit unknowingly in limbo. There have been other issues with my orders but since I decided that it was not important enough to go through a lengthy email exchange with them over I will not get into specifics, but I will say that if you intend to purchase from this company, buyer beware. Pay a little more someone else and get proper customer service, this company does not care enough about its customers and may wind up being more trouble than what it is worth. I hope this helps and/or allows you to go into any purchase though them with your eyes wide open.
 

JuicyLucy

My name is Lucy and I am a squonkaholic
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I would have sent a simple answer in the first line - then the rant

Many people in customer service do not have the skills to read through all your answer to find out how you want them to proceed

Don't blame you for being extremely pissed, but it was not easy to find that you wanted them to send you what they do have in stock and cancel (not substitute) what is out of stock
 
I have to grudgingly agree that I could have been clearer, but on the other side of that, how do you hold an order up for a week simply because you ran out of stock. If I had received an email a week ago letting me know that they were out I would have responded but that didn't happen. I had to email them, you would think that after a day or so they would have simply refunded for what was not in stock and sent the rest of the order. I also found it funny that not more than an hour after posting on this forum I got an email from them saying that the liquid was now in stock, my order was being filled, would be sent and they were going to give me a five dollar credit. Seriously? So now it will be another 5 to 7 days before I receive my order? No expedited shipping? I worked in the vape industry for avail and vapor world and can tell you that had any of my sales or customer service reps sent a reply without identifying themselves I would have fired them. Had a customer had their order fall into a black hole for a week, I would have fired someone over it. This is not good customer service period. I will not shop with them again, I would rather pay more and get the customer service I deserve as a paying customer than what I got here.
 

JuicyLucy

My name is Lucy and I am a squonkaholic
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
ECF Refugee
VU Challenge Team
Member For 5 Years
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I have to grudgingly agree that I could have been clearer, but on the other side of that, how do you hold an order up for a week simply because you ran out of stock

Believe me, I don't blame you for being super pissed off :mad:
 

obijuan77

Silver Contributor
Member For 2 Years
Yes, unfortunately this is becoming more of a trend with some vendors I've noticed, not just Element.


So now it will be another 5 to 7 days before I receive my order? No expedited shipping?
you should at the very least get priority shipping which in most cases should be 2 or 3.
 

Looper51

Member For 3 Years
Yeah man Element Vape is garbage..I received my order about a week ago and there was items missing.i emailed them immediately after the order was delivered and about 10 times since then but they haven't responded at all.i will never order anything from them ever again.im on disability and have limited my budget for vaping,every dollar counts for me cause I really don't have much.i just wish they would at least have the decency to email me back.its called customer service and they obviously couldn't care any less about their customers. I guess live and learn , but this will end up biting them in the ass if this is how they're going to conduct business... Sorry to hear you also had problems with them.
 

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