Faulty e-cig - advised non returnable

Bugalugs

I purchased a Curve 2 e-cig/vape thingy for my OH on 6th May this year whilst working in Preston (I live in Edinburgh). He had 400 normal cigarettes to get through, so opened it for the first time three weeks ago and has been using it every since with great success. Until last night....
He noticed that it needed refilling, so as usual tried to unscrew the 'tank' bit but although the whole atomizer half would unscrew from the battery base he couldn't get the atomizer part unscrewed at all. I had a go too, but there was no give. Tense times! This morning it was an immediate visit to a local retailer to purchase a new model, however when I contacted 'The Electronic Cigarette Company' they advised that e-cigs are classed as a 'consumable' by law, so they only come with a 28 day guarantee. As such they will not replace the item;


"All our devices come with a 28 day warranty as electronic cigarettes are classed as consumables and will need replacing over a period of time. However we would expect the device to last between 6-10 months dependant on usage. It does sound like the device is working but the tank has been overtightened hence the reason for you to be unable to remove it from the base. We are happy to look at the tank/base and try to remove the base for you but we are unable to replace the whole tank on this occasion".


My OH doesn't feel that he has over-tightened it (although I appreciate this is open to interpretation) as he felt that it was fairly fragile so always tried to take care to ensure it was closed but not overly tightened. Can they honestly sell what I assumed was an 'electrical' item and only guarantee it for 1 month? I would have assumed (apart from the bits that need to be replaced (liquid and the element) that it should have a year?


Can anyone help/advise?

nomoneytoday

How much was it, and how long would a reasonable person expect it to last?

Bugalugs

It was a Curve 2 and cost £35. Looking at what was in the shop it was a 'mid range' one. The battery was much longer lasting (3-4 days) of use than the super-cheap ones. The advisor in the shop recommended it as it was the one they used - high quality, but not the 'top model' which was about £15-20 more expensive. From the look and feel of it, I would have expected that it had a year's guarantee. I'm not a smoker/vaper myself, but it felt heavy, substantial, had a good quality OLED display which fed into my assumption that it was like purchasing any other small electrical item.

Forwandert

If he's been able to unscrew it for the last 3 weeks and now can't chances are it has been over tightened it's just a screw cap so nothing else could had really gone wrong with the component.

Bugalugs

Thanks for the responses - I think it was in my wording - he has been refilling it every 4 days or so, it was just last night that it wouldn't open. Even holding the top bit with pliers and the bottom with a towel to get 'grip', there was no budging it. He must not be aware of his own strength. If it had been me using it I could have understood, as I'm prone to doing stuff like that, but he's a lot more careful than me! I'll need to post it off and hope that they perhaps fix or replace the top part.

stevemLS

It is the battery that is the greater part of the cost, this one seems to be a standard fitting, the tank is disposable, just buy a new tank.

wealdroam

Bugalugs wrote: »

Can anyone help/advise?

Do you realise that no seller or manufacturer is obliged to offer any guarantee/warranty?

A guarantee/warranty is in addition to your statutory rights.

To find out more about your statutory rights, maybe have a read of MSE's Consumer Rights guide.

Forwandert

The tanks are really cheap online I buy from one that usually has them for £1 including a coil. Which makes it pointless even replacing the coils.

Shalashashka

Firstly log a complaint with the retailer detailing what's gone wrong and what you expect them to do to put things right.

Then google Ombudsman services and on their website click "Retail" submit the information as they will be able to look into it.

bod1467

Do the twp parts screw together? If yes, is it likely that they've been put together cross-threaded?

mattyprice4004

Also, it's not a month in their eyes- you can't prove it hasn't been used for the whole time since it was bought.