The horrors of ordering a $$$ piece online. Hey guys I just got my piece from HYDROPIPES aka CCG. I purchased the Dragon Steamroller Bubbler, msrp $199. When I saw the brown UPS truck pull in I got very excited. Prior to purchasing the piece I did as much research as I could on pot forums. I went ahead and visited all the local head shops in my area and checked out various web sites that seemed reputable. I finally decided on the Dragon Steamroller Bubbler. I opened up the box and what I saw wasn’t what they had advertised or anything like I had specified. You could clearly tell that the blower put little to no effort into making the bubbler. In front of me wasn’t a piece that you could brag about to your friends, it wasn’t a piece where when you saw it you were like “oh shit I gotta smoke out of that piece.” The color fuming was sloppy at best, the colors I had specified and they had agreed upon were ignored, they didn’t even bother molding the mouthpiece. It’s understandable that the piece I receive will vary slightly to the piece they advertise on the website but this wasn’t a small change. This was a totally different piece. About the only thing they got right was the size, 10”. As you might imagine I was disappointed and rather upset, my worst fears had come true. I got a crappy piece for nearly $200. So I took the next logical step and emailed CCG. This is where it gets bad. I email them with my problems and they tell me that they made 2 pieces and the one they have I would like more. >> start quote Two got made, one is better. The one I have you will like. -Rainy >> end qoute That right there already sounds bad. He then goes onto state that the piece he sent me he liked better and would send me the other piece he has if send the one I have back asap. The problem with this is I’d basically get the same piece with a slight variation in color, that’s not what I want. They also expect me to eat the shipping to and back, I don’t think so. I continue to email them explaining the situation and that I’d like a refund but he keeps asking why, despite telling him several times why. As if I really need to tell him, the piece he sent me sucks, the difference between the advertised and my piece was clear as night and day. I requested a refund with the 20% restocking fee waived and would be willing to pay the return shipping via UPS or FedEx. This is the response I got from the president of CCG: >> start quote We don't have the time for all of this, send it back and we will refund you the cost less the 20% restocking. That is final. J.P. President California Colorchangers Inc. >> end quote I was surprised by his response, I was really hoping to resolve this manner through communication but it seems as if they don’t care they’re ripping off people. It’s strange that he’d mention that he doesn’t have time for all this, when in fact he’s been wasting my time. None of this would have mattered if he had sold me the piece advertised to the specifications they had agreed upon. Why I’d have to pay the 20% restocking fee baffles me. They said that the piece they sent me they liked better so I don’t understand the problem. If they don't send me what I ordered I'm not legally bound to pay a restocking fee, no matter what they write in their information page. I’ve brought this up with the credit card company and plan on filing a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. In the mean time I think I’m just going to order a piece . These guys seem to know wtf they’re doing. You really have to appreciate the detailed pictures of their pieces. You know exactly what you’re going to get, unlike those other online head shops. I hope this is of some help to any you planning on purchasing an expensive piece online. The only $$$ glass head shop I can recommend You know what you're getting and that’s always a good thing. AHHH thanks to CCG my thanksgiving won't be as good. Here I was all pumped up to smoke out of my new piece thanksgiving week! Oh well back to vaporizer/ghetto bong :-(
one more thing, unlike many other fine glass blown pieces this one doesn't look better in person :-( In fact it looks worse...
I am sorry dude you got SCREWED! That is exactly why I can't bring myself to buy anything custom on the net. Don't know what to tell you, have you called them on the phone and yelled, it might not get you anywhere but it will make you feel better. btw thanks for the tip on the bad site Gtthrasher
You did what you should do if you get ripped off like that. Tell us. Honestly....there isn't a lot of "us" tokers on the market for those companies to sell their shit to, and there are SOO many sites that you can buy stuff off of. One bad review can SERIOUSLY damage the companies business because i know for a fact that if i hear one bad review about a company that sold a very expensive peice and it was trash, i most definately will not be buying ANYTHING from them. I've heard nothing but good reviews from grasscity's shop so i think when the time comes for me to get a new peice i'm gonna go with them. Molten glass is a good company too, from what i hear. CCG has fucked themselves over this time. If they were smart they would have done everything possible to make the customer happy instead of not "wasting their time". NEWS: If you are out to sell shitty peices and rip off your customers, YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE!
i wouldent bitch about that pipe.....if i payed 30$for it..... the only pipe place i have ordered from online is grasscity and they deff did me right...
Yeah dude SAME THING HAPPEND TO ME! I order the color concert spoon! Nothing like on the website. I ordered yellow thinking it would be bright and vibrant. It comes with a poop yellow color, and it doest even change good colors, just dark yellow/orange. and there was a chip on the bottom about the diameter of a bb that I had to paint in. All in all they kind of suck. Californiacolorchangers that is. Well, we learn as we live.
wow that's nice, I'll have to look into your services! At first you had a picture of your tools, but now I see the light. Molten Glass has this nasty piece I think I might buy. But now I'll have to put your skills into consideration! I especially like your no hassle policy.
Those are all nice! One day I would love to own a bubbler. But that would probably be in about 2 years. I can not go out and spend 290 dollars(About 90%) of the B-day money I get though on a Marijuana tool. Know what I mean? But when I get a better job maybe. BTW, those look nice Buttermilk, so do the ones at the molten glass website. How come you didn't just order from Molten Glass in the first place, you advertise for them in your avatar and stuff... Just wondering.
yeah, my friend and her bro both ordered glass pipes off the net. one was 40$ and the other was like 60-70$ (american). well after all the shipping and crossing the border and exchange rate, they both came to well over 100$. Both sucked ass. They were SOOOOO tiny. Like 4 inches long, they thought they'd be huge. When they opened them when they first came you could totally tell they were dissapointed as fuck, but pretended they were happy. neither even hit any good either!!
hey man. i live in ithaca too. i'm a student in C (ya know). if your studio is near, i'd love to see you at work, perhaps learn the trade myself. oh, and i like designing websites, so if the current designer isn't doing well, i can put one up quick. all i have is a crabby homemade brass pipe that i never got to paint. i was planning on painting it or engraving some design on it. it's got a large chamber so it has a bongy effect. small enough for the pocket, with stash capabilities, a simple "dropin filter" design, and washer inserts near the mouthpiece that act as mufflers, for ash-free slow-flow inhalation. guess how much it costs to make one. blah. bored. i'm studying friggen AI, as you can tell from the pix.
Things like this simply highlight my theory "e-Commerce bites" sure there are some good places out there, and no offense to buttermilk (Some killer peices you got there) but I fall into the "See it before I buy it" market. The only thing I've ordered off the net is a few books and movies that are impossible to find in local stores.
ever tried ebay? newegg? i've bought a whole snowboard set, a whole computer set, and other various items online. er, some legal drugs too. i've never been 'burned', rather i know i've saved at least a thousand bucks by buying stuff online. of course before purchases come diligent research.
I definitely did my research, I buy everything online. I was too trusting of CCG because they were in High Times and several of their headies were pieces of the month. I'm glad I'm getting the word out though, this company doesn't deserve any of your business, especially considering the way they treat their customers. Their pipes suck to boot too. I think this really pissed them off. >> start quote me: It's not just that the colors are different, but the piece looks hardly like the one advertised (except for the dragon). I want the piece advertised, not the piece you sent me in a different color. I think that it's unfair that you sent me a piece that looks nothing like the one advertised, and that you want me to pay for both shipping and the restocking fee. In the end, if I return it, I'll be paying 48$ for some piece that is not what I ordered. I'd really like to resolve this issue, but as you mentioned earlier, you're not going to budge on the 20% restocking fee. So unless this piece you have is shaped like the one advertised, I don't want it, and I'm going to have to file a Buyer Protection Report to Visa (dispute the charge) about this whole ordeal to see what they can do for me. I had even stated in my first email that if there were any problems with my request, then I'd like to be emailed back with what the problems were. I got no such email. And now you're saying that you have this piece that fits the criteria of what I had ordered and you want me to play this game of ship and wait with you. >> end quote CCG Response >> start quote We don't have the time for all of this, send it back and we will refund you the cost less the 20% restocking. That is final. J.P. President California Colorchangers Inc. >> end qoute The guy doesn't even bother to say anything else, what can he say? They are liars and cheaters. I'm glad I didn't spend the original $300 I was planning to. newegg is a good place to get computer parts online and they usually have the cheapest prices on the net, except for CRT & LCD's.
what's a good place to get lcd's then? oh, and it'd be cool if you replied saying that the company's half assed responses were pasted all over one of earth's largest weed smoking forums. =) dont say it's grass city or we'll start getting spam ads.
yeesh 200 bucks for that? I wouldent spent that much on a bong, much less a bubbler. Althogh, i never saw what you really intended to buy... still
haha, obviously I wouldn't spend $200 on that. That isn't what I was suppose to get! That's the whole point
Educational thread. Thanks- heres a bubbler I got from a local shop- $60 total. Not too fancy but it packs a whollop.