Round About Place

If you read our versus post* about Green Smoke, then you’ll know how we feel about this one. The mere mention of “Green Smoke” leaves a sour, vomit-like taste in our mouth, especially since it’s actually made our top 5 best-sellers list.

Green Smoke has made our top 5 best-sellers list, and we have an inkling as to how they’ve managed to stay in the game and compete in this cutthroat industry with their preposterous prices: their “lifetime limited warranty”.

See, they offer a one-year warranty on their units, assuming the units are not abused, altered, or manipulated in any way and usage is in accordance with their guidelines. They need to charge the prices they do ($89.99 for their Express Kit, $159.99 for their Ultimate Kit) to offset the costs of having to provide replacements to their customers.

Oh, but it doesn’t end there.

Most, if not all, Chinese suppliers/manufacturers offer a one-year warranty on the units they provide, as long as they’re returned to their facility and all shipping costs are covered. Green Smoke requires all defective units to be sent back first and inspected by their team. First, an email needs to be sent so they can issue a RMA number. On their site, it states a response can take up to two days. Once they receive the unit after X amount of days it takes for the carrier to deliver said item, they will email a confirmation indicating a delivery time for the replacement. The total wait time to receive a new replacement can take up to two weeks.

Looking at this realistically, most smokers would go bat %!#$ crazy by the time they received a replacement. While it certainly isn’t financially feasible and realistic to overnight replacement parts, waiting up to two weeks is a far cry from one week and finding a company that will send out units without needing the broken part returned.

As if things couldn’t get any worse for Green Smoke, check out the prices for their replacement batteries. Yes, you’re reading it right: $35 for a single battery. Single, as in one. ONE. They also offer a 3-pack of batteries at $69.99.

The verdict? Don’t get suckered in by the one-year warranty. You may go through trial and error during the first week or two while using the e-cigarettes, thereby increasing the risk of causing damage and needing a replacement.

Sorry, Green Smoke… while the one-year warranty certainly sounds enticing, all it is is a false sense of security.

If you want to purchase an e-cigarette from a company with an overall good reputation and want the one year warranty to back it up, you can purchase Blu e-cigarettes instead. Now, we need to fully disclose that Blu’s replacement/warranty system works the same way as Green Smoke: the broken part needs to be returned first before receiving the replacement unit. But, given the prices between the two companies, we are much more partial to Blu. To check out Blu’s offerings, you can click on the banner below.

If you insist on purchasing from Green Smoke anyway for whatever reason, then, by all means, don’t let our rant stop you

* To read our Green Smoke versus Eluma post, click here: http://roundaboutplace.com/2012/05/green-smoke-pro-kit-vs-eluma-complete-2-0

Hmm, can’t say we’ve heard about these two companies at all. Then again, it’s a dog-eat-dog industry, and it’s easier being buried in the rubble of competition than coming out at the forefront of the game.

Century 21 Smoking seems a pretty legit company, but we’re not crazy about their prices. Their Blackjack Mega, for example, runs at $134.95 and only has two batteries, two packs of cartridges, and two chargers. Their Mini kit offering is practically abysmal at $69.95, which includes just one battery, one cartridge pack, and one wall charger. By far their most expensive offering is the Blackjack Ultimate at $259.95, and this includes two batteries, one Mini, three cartridge boxes, a charging carrying case, another carrying case, and the following chargers: Wall, car, USB, and USB passthrough.

Currently, they have a clearance section that features 10 milliliter vials of e-liquid at $5.98. It’s a decent (at best) price for small sample bottles, but there are plenty of other websites that offer more for the same price.

Revolver offers a Sample kit that is actually a really good deal (in fact, all of their kits are excellently priced). For $17.99, you get a battery, five cartomizers, and a USB charger. Not a bad price at all for the amount of goodies you get. Revolver also offers the G2, Talon Tank, and Magnum Volt models. All feature a series . All models feature one  or more in a series of kits: Sample, Starter, Deluxe, MEGA Standard, and MEGA Deluxe.

Revolver’s 1-year warranty is limited to portable charger cases (PCC), battery chargers, and AC adapters. The rest of their units have a 30 day warranty. Their full warranty coverage and replacement process is quite extensive and may be considered a bit strict, but we commend them for being direct and detailed with their procedure. What we don’t exactly commend them for is the big 1-year limited warranty ad posted in big red letters on their site… as if replacing just chargers and PCCs is anything to gloat about.

Aside from starter kits, Revolver also offers a pretty good line-up of e-liquids, t-shirts, caps, and even chocolate-covered espresso beans for caffeine addicts, aptly named “Crack Heads”.

Winner? Definitely Revolver

ePuffer is a company that has been around since 2007 and is still going strong. They offer minis, classic pen-styles, cigars, and even pipes. Though their website screams “Alibaba supplier”, has an awful, crowded format, and leaves a lot to be desired, they’ve got a good selection…. although we can’t say we’re too thrilled about ePuffer because their prices are steep.

Need some help choosing? For newcomers, opt for the Eaze Magnum, a two-piece e-cigarette. The Rev-2 kit contains two batteries (one high and one low capacity), two cartomizers, and two chargers. Between the Eaze Magnum and NJOY’s Traditional Deluxe, though, we choose NJOY because of the extra cartridges and lower price. For “veterans”, the Phantom T1, which boasts a 750 mah battery, is a good option and gives the user a handle on their usage. Featuring an LCD window, the Phantom T1 indicates the e-cig’s status, charge, and number of puffs taken.

ePuffer also offers e-cigars at $24.95 apiece, but we suggest purchasing the actual cigar starter kit for $79. Vaping long-term means needing units that can be recharged and reused. We believe using a disposable is good for trips, a night out, or for very short-term use, certainly not for the long haul.

We did a comparison before between NJOY’s Deluxe kit and Choice 7′s Two Kit. If interested, you can check out the article here: http://roundaboutplace.com/2012/04/njoy-deluxe-kit-vs-choice-7s-two-kit