Caravansarai Imports

[mushrat]

This is for posting your PERSONAL experiences with Caravansarai Imports. Please restrict your comments to what you ordered, customer service, delivery, and over all satisfaction.

If you had a problem, was it resolved in a satisfactory way?

Please post here only AFTER your transaction is complete.
Comments and questions by others will be restricted to the regular discussion forum and deleted from this topic if posted here.

[speel]

I baught my first hookah from them on ebay for about 25$ it was a 17 inch egyptian. The hookah came with tongs,gromets, screen , hose, a plastice little brief case, and a free 50g of lyalina guava. The one problem I had was contacting them other then that their pretty good. 3/3

[The fabulous Ian]

I just bought a pack of Easy Lite Japanese coals and a hookah-tip keychain from Caravan Trading Group, and I was pretty satisfied. They shipped quickly, packaged it well, more or less. They were out of the blue keychains that I wanted, so I had to settle for a red, and it only came in a little ziplock which was kind of sketchy, but overall I'm pretty satisfied. If I wasn't dead set on getting a Mya for my next hookah, I'd definitely consider ordering from them. They need a better selection though.

[kornkitten42]

i placed an order from them on ebay once. Very Sketchy. Just didn't have a calm relaxed feeling about my order getting to me in a timely and safe mannor.

I ordered four mini hookahs (like smileys 15.00 hookahs) for friends and such that kept bugging to borrow mine.

it was about a year or so ago. maybe a little longer.

They were just very sketchy and took a little while to get my products. I also ordered cleaning brushes but they came all bent and mishappened and they way over charged for shipping , it was outrageous... Just like now for priority mail they want to charge me 26.00 to send one 20 inch hookah....... if i were to actually purchase from them again Oh yeah and they dont combine shipping i remember now .



I dont think I would use them again.

edited for spelling errors. Edited May 14, 2007 by kornkitten42

[D-szlos]

i just purchaised a pack of easy-lite charcoals from this shop. they contacted me quickly and shipped it out pretty fast (considering i purchaised it on the 3rd of july around 7pm) i received a shipping and tracking number as soon as it was shipped, and it arrived a day before it was schedualed. to my suprise it was shipped 3 day select as well which i did not pay extra for.

• as far as large ebay stores go they were with the majority of them when it came to physical contact with the buyer (all automated).
• shipping was somewhat on the high side but was 3 day select so im not complaining

i would probably do buisness with them again if i could not find what i wanted at my local store.

[Dunkel!]

I bought a hookah package, and an accessories package from them off of E bay (this was before I found the forum). Shipping was pricey $21 and change for UPS 3 day Select (that BTW was half priced shipping according to them ). The package was cushioned nicely with bubble wrap and peanuts. Nothing was broken in shipping.

I discovered that only one piece of the accessory kit was included and no charcoal screens were included ( I was supposed to get 3 with the hookah and 3 with the accessory kit.) I contacted their customer service department the same day I received the package and was told it must have been the teenagers or high school students in the shipping departments fault for not sending the entire order. I was told they would send it out later that day or the next day and they will e mail me a tracking number. A week goes by and no tracking number was sent and no package came. I called customer service again and the lady there said "Oh, I didn't send you a tracking number and neither did UPS? I'm sorry about that let me get the tracking number for you." I was given a tracking number and then she said "It won't be in the system yet, because your package is on our dock to be picked up today." Of course meaning it wasn't processed or shipped at all the week before when I notified them of the missing items. So the following day I track the package to discover that it was sent by UPS Ground (when initially I paid for everything to be sent 3 day Select)! The package came today (2 weeks after my initial order was delivered) and there is still a charcoal screen missing.

The only thing I can say positive about them is they package things well to prevent breakage and the hookah I got from them is air tight. Other than that shipping charges are outrageous and customer service is sub par. Buy at your own risk.

[OMGWTFBBQ]

I just received my first hookah, it's a 2 hose stargazer from cavernsarai imports, I don't have any complaints other than the shipping costs.
The vase was bubble wrapped and it was packed nicely with peanuts. They even gave me free 50g of cherry flavor from soex which was not on the description which I thought was awesome.

So again, other than the shipping costs, all was well.

[bkag]

I bought a pack of soex (What can you do with girls these days haha) Caravan where very quick to deliver, had good packaging and a good price. I thought they where very good all round

[HookahCulture]

I bought perhaps the smallest thing they offer last year....
The mouthpiece keychain! Awesome for the lounges.
Anyway it was the only thing I've ever ordered from Caravansarai, as all my hookah needs are solved at local shops,
but Ali was very nice over the phone and excited to have my business. Tops for service and speed of shipping.
DEFINITELY a recommended retailer, the best-kept secret on the net, check out those prices!

[wuonice]

i actually went down to this guys warehouse in anaheim to buy a couple things. real cool guy. i was there for almost an hour just talking to him.
btw guys he sells brass and brass cored hookahs. you just have to call him and ask, ask for ali if you do.
yeah have no complaints. 10/10

[gr!m]

Order Placed 1/14/08:

22" Red Luxor two hose - Emailed them to change order to 29" Nirvana Blue (Pharoh's) less than 5 minutes after placement. I accidentally placed my "Buy it Now" on the wrong tab I had opened.
5 Metal Screens
Rubber Base Holder

Order Total: ~$55.00 (The hookah was on sale 20% off)
*place held for updated reveiw coming tomorrow* Edited January 26, 2008 by gr!m

[D00M]

I placed my first order with these guys and was very impressed. Got a beautiful 32" Hookah (The one in my signature) and an accessories package shipped for less than $70. I ordered on a Friday evening right before a three-day weekend, and it was here on Wednesday.
All accessories were included and nothing was missing from my order.

A couple of complaints though...

The box that it was shipped in was a tad overpacked with shipping peanuts and the box was bulging.

The purge valve isn't decorated like the picture shows, it's just plain.

Item description said 25 mouth tips are included, that's an approximation and in reality I got close to 50. Unfortunately though, I have to go through about 4 until I get one I can use. Most of them either don't fit my mouthpiece, are cracked, or have plastic "spurs" from production.

Overall though, I'm pleased. After I received my hookah, I went to the local tobacco shop and the lady asked me what my hookah looked like. Apparently she likes hookah. She was talking to me and asked if I had a picture of it, instead I ran home and grabbed it (the store's less than 1/4 mile away). I asked her how much she'd price it for in her store and she said well over $200. I know it sounds like a ripoff, but locally there's no demand for hookah. Most people go to a store that's 30 minutes away and even there a 28" hookah's $150

[emachine]

I have recently bought my first hookah from Caravansarai Imports on ebay, and from what Ive experienced so far they are awesome!
I had originally bought the wrong hookah from them, but a phone call to their customer service department fixed this up in a hurry and they even gave me a $5 discount on shipping. I'll write more when I actually get the hookah but so far they seem like very good people.

I bought the 22" NOOR style 2-hose hookah package for $70 shipped, will update this review when I actually get it Edited April 13, 2008 by emachine

[Stuie]

I have ordered coals, Silver mouth tip and Saalaam from them over the past year. Every time was great with no problems. Although I thought shipping took longer than it should. But no problems outside that.

[likespaceships]

I ordered some saalaam from caravansarai on friday. They shipped out the same day and received everything as ordered by monday morning. Will buy from them again.

[Genie]

I ordered a set of five hose grommets from them on July 4 and got them in the mail on the 9th. I thought I was ordering five black, soft rubber hose grommets but what I got was six opaque soft rubber hose grommets and a free screen all for a grand total of $3.95 with s/h and a promise of 5% back on my next purchase. I wasn't upset, the grommets were exactly what I wanted, just a different color. I wrote them to tell them how surprised I was and that I wasn't complaining because I got what I needed but it definitely wasn't what I thought I was getting. This is what they wrote back to me.

Hi! Sorry for your confusion. The gaskets come in various colors and since, in our experience, most people prefer the clear ones over black, that's what we typically send. We always add one extra as a "just in case" -- just in case you drop one when opening the bag. Also, we always include a free gift like the charcoal screen with purchases, but we don't include this in the item description because we like to give our buyers a pleasant surprise.

I'm loving how cool all the hookah sites are, on Ebay or otherwise. Wish more stores were as competitive with each other for repeat business as hookah stores seem to be. Caravan Trading really surprised me with good service on such a teeny tiny order, and no price gouging on the shipping rates. Awesome. I love when stores charge appropriate shipping rates! I'll definitely shop at Caravan again.

The grommets were PERFECT, by the way, exactly what I needed for my Bambino. Was having a helluva time with the harder hose grommets that everyone else seems to carry.

[kvtaco17]

I ordered a nirvana vase from these guys a couple months ago and It was a pleasant experience! They packaged the vase well and even gave me a few extras! (grommets and a screen) Shipping kinda took longer then I expected but overall a good place to buy from!