Getting Screwed By Exotic Imports

[Huskysibe]

one thing i noticed is everyone always gets on the same bandwagon. when people were into syrians everyone talked about them and such and bought them, then kms were in the picture, then MZ's, Tangiers, Exoticas, and now nours are in the picture..

i wonder how many people will actually stop buying exoticas and start buying nours now..

Its funny you say that because you were the first person to PM me and ask me who the KM Distributor was seconds after I posted that I knew who it was LOL So that everyone does include you.

[ASUSEAN1]

well KM and syrians will never die.. they are the best pipes yyou can get

[EternalSoil]

as far as my comment about maybe not buying anymore which seems like it may have started the bandwagon thinking i have the same reasons about skybuzz or skyzzz or whatever they are calling it.. why would i want to support someone who is sketchy and changes shit around or is screwing people who love their product. it goes with the thing where "if you have a good experience, you might tell 3 people, if you have a bad experience, you will tell 10" if they are going to jerk the lounges around, regardless of whether or not they make a huge profit off of them, then why would i want to support them.

i just bought 3 boxes, so i'm definitely gonna use them up, and if, by then, there hasn't been some kind of change, i might give some other naturals a try and if they are as good, ill go with them cause i can get them in town and they are cheaper.

[mushrat]

now, the 2 cases he did send me were good as ever. So, unlike some, I believe that there was a leaky container. They should have contacted their vendors and had them returned instead of just randomy sending stuff out to anyone who claimed ot have a bad box. unlike many, i still have 3 cases I canuse to PROVE i got bad one. I think the brand overall is a good one btw, but I won't be getting anymore, even knowing they would be ok.

[gaia.plateau]

as far as my comment about maybe not buying anymore which seems like it may have started the bandwagon thinking i have the same reasons about skybuzz or skyzzz or whatever they are calling it.. why would i want to support someone who is sketchy and changes shit around or is screwing people who love their product. it goes with the thing where "if you have a good experience, you might tell 3 people, if you have a bad experience, you will tell 10" if they are going to jerk the lounges around, regardless of whether or not they make a huge profit off of them, then why would i want to support them.

With Eternal 100% on this one... integrity is the most important quality for a vendor.

I'm chatting with H-S right now and they say that they're going to sample the coconut naturals next week... if they start selling them I'll order a couple of boxes and give them ago. Stupid HC doesn't ship to Canada

[UGAHookah]

I trust Mush, I will no longer buy exoticas

[ZenSilk]

Wow this is insane. I think it had to be said though, and Mush was the right man for the job.

I'm not buying Exoticas for personal reasons, it's not a bandwagon thing, but if you want to hop on got the fuck ahead.

They were great coals, the good batches, but the bad batches have cause so much trouble that it's hard to think they are worth it anymore. I don't want to have to play Roulette when ordering damn hookah coals.

When they get better, for certain, I will continue to use them i believe, unless these coconut coals prove to be a better move for me.

Mush did get screwed over, and i agree it was a bad business move for Exotic Imports, shafting an Admin of the largest hookah forum on the US net. Mushrat knows what he's talking about, and a few of us do as well from personal experience.

[EternalSoil]

oh, i'm not doubting that it was a leaky truck or whatever....

and i know that they stopped sending them out.

but they need to replace the ones that were dammaged.

ALL OF THEM!

or at least give you a credit or something.

unless it is their truck and they maintain it, they (should) have insurance and the trucking/shipping company that had the leaky container should foot the bill!

so unless the company (one with the leaky container) is denying the leaky truck or refusing to cough up the money to replace it, then the coal company should be getting reimbursed for the faulty shipment.

[mushrat]

oh, i'm not doubting that it was a leaky truck or whatever....

and i know that they stopped sending them out.

but they need to replace the ones that were dammaged.

ALL OF THEM!

or at least give you a credit or something.

unless it is their truck and they maintain it, they (should) have insurance and the trucking/shipping company that had the leaky container should foot the bill!

so unless the company (one with the leaky container) is denying the leaky truck or refusing to cough up the money to replace it, then the coal company should be getting reimbursed for the faulty shipment.

wasn't a truck, was the cargo container comingfrom china.

[Snoopy1966]

I still want a legit answer to my video I posted. I see no one wants to challenge me. I just busted your Myth.
3 days in snow and very cold weather did nothing to the coal. The way I just demonstrated is way more weather a shipment would see via UPS, FedEx or whatever. There are bad boxes out there still, but no one will own up to it and say all I want is free coals.

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/Ahme...ent=coalvid.flv

[ASUSEAN1]

i think water is a different story snoopy.. i dont think the coal acually gets wet in your vid

[Geiseric]

Hey, just throwing it out there, just got done asking whoever was on right now on H-S live help, and they said their Exoticas were checked, so if anyone is still looking for Exoticas, thats at least one place where you don't have to worry about getting a box full of shit. I wasn't planning on getting them, but they are all out of Al Ajdads right now, and I don't want Romman's, so.....

I find it difficult to understand why anyone with any understanding of the clout you have on the online community of smokers would purposefully treat you this way, Mushrat. It seems pretty foolish. If anything, your order would have been the time to get back some rep after all of this chat about the bad batches lately.

[camelflage]

I still want a legit answer to my video I posted. I see no one wants to challenge me. I just busted your Myth.
3 days in snow and very cold weather did nothing to the coal. The way I just demonstrated is way more weather a shipment would see via UPS, FedEx or whatever. There are bad boxes out there still, but no one will own up to it and say all I want is free coals.

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/Ahme...ent=coalvid.flv

maybe there is something im missing, but it looks like you grabbed a stick of coal out of the box on your deck and turned it over a bunch of times. i didnt' see you light it, or use it, or anything that would allow that video to have a point other than 'coal did not become poisionous frog when left on deck for 3 days'...

[zeppyrkr]

yeah maybe with some average person but a lounge owner, admin of forum, someone with such high rep, i would have sent him tons of boxes, his 8 cases is a way bigger sale then the 2 some average joe complained about, if they made any one happy mush should have been first priority.

[gaia.plateau]

i think water is a different story snoopy.. i dont think the coal acually gets wet in your vid

Nah, when I tried to get replacements for my bad boxes Gabe's first excuse was that the harsh Canadian climate must have ruined them... it was only after I showed him the water damage, and explained that other exoticas shipped here had been fine, that he and the vendor in question began to claim that customs agents wet the boxes.

[gaia.plateau]

Hey, just throwing it out there, just got done asking whoever was on right now on H-S live help, and they said their Exoticas were checked, so if anyone is still looking for Exoticas, thats at least one place where you don't have to worry about getting a box full of shit. I wasn't planning on getting them, but they are all out of Al Ajdads right now, and I don't want Romman's, so.....

They're getting in some coconut naturals next week, I'm waiting until then ~ they're supposed to be the cat's pajamas and the dog's bollocks.

[gaia.plateau]

maybe there is something im missing, but it looks like you grabbed a stick of coal out of the box on your deck and turned it over a bunch of times. i didnt' see you light it, or use it, or anything that would allow that video to have a point other than 'coal did not become poisionous frog when left on deck for 3 days'...

When they "go bad" from humidity, water contact, etc. they get a whiteish film on at least one side, or sort of sparkly. The coal in the video is fine (it's still not "evidence", because he can't prove that it was out there more than 30 seconds...).

[Snoopy1966]

i think water is a different story snoopy.. i don't think the coal actually gets wet in your vid

The reason I did this is because I was told the cold weather damaged the coals. I proved it did not. If you notice in the video, the box has a very small amount of snow on the top. I posted other pictures here of what a coal looks like when it is bad

This is how I received them.

I put a coal outside for three days in the cold to prove cold weather does not ruin the coal. I posted saying I would do this
here is the post
http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showt...mp;#entry192513

Well you don't have to believe me, but I just told the truth.

Here is a picture where the box was for 3 days. I did not move the box, I only brushed the snow off the top once in a while and to move snow away so I can light them outside, but I do not use the bad ones because they smell like a toxic waste dump.

[Bulldog_916]

As long as I'm confident in Exoticas, I'll still buy them. I cant say I can complain at all. Mushrat has his reasons for doing what he's doing and they are legitimate. I think Exotic Imports should be suing the shipping company that allowed a container to leak in the first place. Hell, maybe there is litigation already, I hope there is. I dont think we should be faulting the product for a shipping company that allowed a sensitive product to be leaked on. Exotic Imports should not be blamed because after a certain point, quality falls out of their hands. They have a product made in China to be sold in the US or wherever. Once the product is manufactured and loaded into the shipping crates how can you do quality control unless you have them delivered to your shop or wherever so you can check every single box by hand? At a certain point with that methodology, you lose productivity. We lose speed in delivery/stocking of said product. Then who gets pissed again? Us, the customer. Not only do we want it good every time, we want it that way FAST. Is Exotic Imports' reaction a bit of a turnoff to say the least? Yes. But I could see myself reacting the exact same way when something that wasnt my fault was blamed on me or my company. Maybe I look like a loyal "band wagoner" or whatever. Be real with yourselves and think about what you would do if a big fat chunk of change that was supposed to go in your pocket was suddenly vaporized by someone else's screw-up. Something tells me none of you would be talking.

[erufiku]

i think water is a different story snoopy.. i dont think the coal acually gets wet in your vid

Nah, when I tried to get replacements for my bad boxes Gabe's first excuse was that the harsh Canadian climate must have ruined them... it was only after I showed him the water damage, and explained that other exoticas shipped here had been fine, that he and the vendor in question began to claim that customs agents wet the boxes.

What, like piss on them out of pure spite because they weren't able to tax them?

edit cause i can't spell... Edited January 19, 2008 by erufiku

[jerrysalem]

Thanks for the heads up Mush! I would love to find some Nour here in europe-we get killed on the shipping charges from the states. Worth it for a hookah but not cost effective for things like coals.

[ZenSilk]

maybe there is something im missing, but it looks like you grabbed a stick of coal out of the box on your deck and turned it over a bunch of times. i didnt' see you light it, or use it, or anything that would allow that video to have a point other than 'coal did not become poisionous frog when left on deck for 3 days'...

When they "go bad" from humidity, water contact, etc. they get a whiteish film on at least one side, or sort of sparkly. The coal in the video is fine (it's still not "evidence", because he can't prove that it was out there more than 30 seconds...).

Snow and Humidity are two differrent things of course. It's not humid when it snows, it's dry as fuck. Hence the nosebleeds and dry skin so many of us get. Humidity damages the coals by adding moisture to them. So the real experiment would be to leave a coal in water for a couple days and then try to light it.

That's not a myth though, Gabe came out and said that because of this storm the boxes got fucked up. No questions asked. And he offered refunds. Mush said he didn't his good get coals, Gabe said Mush is trying to cheat him out of coals.

In all honesty, though, i think that fresh, dry, new coals should have been issued no questions asked with proof of purchase.

[Bulldog_916]

I think the evidence provided by us supports said manufacturer's assertion that their product was ruined by water damage.

http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showt...t=0&start=0

The scaly skin look was likely caused by the water that came into the box. Contaminated by water picking up metal, paint, primer, salt, whatever all else that has been deteriorating on the outside of the container and getting in. If the material in the coal somehow filters that stuff and the coal dries out, all that stuff is going to be stuck on the outside of the coal. It kind of looks shiney maybe scaley. There is still contamination inside the coal so even if you were to remove the outer layer, it would still taste like shit. It could also be salt dissolved in the water that leaked into the container. Same way as when you are on the coast, things deteriorate faster with all the salt in the sea air. That stuff could also have been deposited.

To Snoopy's problem.

If you look at the coals closely, the light areas look like blotches consistent with how water would run and how it would deposit dissolved cardboard and chemicals on a coal. He also said that some of the coals he used smelled part way into the session and some didnt smell at all. One box he received was good, the others were crap. I dont know exactly what happened, but it seems consistent with water damage in the randomness of it.

http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showt...hl=bad+exoticas

Look how many cases they collected of bad coals. Look at the photos of the water damage. Even if they really thought they collected them all, chances are they didnt. Once the water from the boxes starts to evaporate and humidify the air, the inside of the container forms its own climate, if you think about it. All of those cases are probably done for, some of them probably looked good, the box wasnt wet, so they let them go. But really, the humidity in the container killed them.

I just couldnt sleep when I thought about the preponderance of the evidence supporting the said manufacturer.

[ZenSilk]

I think the evidence provided by us supports said manufacturer's assertion that their product was ruined by water damage.

http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showt...t=0&start=0

The scaly skin look was likely caused by the water that came into the box. Contaminated by water picking up metal, paint, primer, salt, whatever all else that has been deteriorating on the outside of the container and getting in. If the material in the coal somehow filters that stuff and the coal dries out, all that stuff is going to be stuck on the outside of the coal. It kind of looks shiney maybe scaley. There is still contamination inside the coal so even if you were to remove the outer layer, it would still taste like shit. It could also be salt dissolved in the water that leaked into the container. Same way as when you are on the coast, things deteriorate faster with all the salt in the sea air. That stuff could also have been deposited.

To Snoopy's problem.

If you look at the coals closely, the light areas look like blotches consistent with how water would run and how it would deposit dissolved cardboard and chemicals on a coal. He also said that some of the coals he used smelled part way into the session and some didnt smell at all. One box he received was good, the others were crap. I dont know exactly what happened, but it seems consistent with water damage in the randomness of it.

http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showt...hl=bad+exoticas

Look how many cases they collected of bad coals. Look at the photos of the water damage. Even if they really thought they collected them all, chances are they didnt. Once the water from the boxes starts to evaporate and humidify the air, the inside of the container forms its own climate, if you think about it. All of those cases are probably done for, some of them probably looked good, the box wasnt wet, so they let them go. But really, the humidity in the container killed them.

I just couldnt sleep when I thought about the preponderance of the evidence supporting the said manufacturer.

Yes, i agree Bulldog. They were still being sent out by Vendors, there's no way they could stop that; so alot of bad coals went straight to consumers. And factor in the number of large orders they had like Mush's... that's a ton of bad coals being circulated. Pulling them off the shelves is one thing, pulling them off our hookahs is another. We whined, he replied, we whined more after he said they were gone because there were still some obviously, and he never answered that. He had the vendors telling the consumers what was going on, and sooner or later the vendors had no idea what was going on either and nothing could be done to feed us angry sharks. DPG is a smoke shop that sells stuff online as well, he's not a multi-million dollar company. Yet he tried to keep us happy by sending out free coals OUT OF HIS OWN POCKETS. So really, not only did the consumers suffer here, the vendors did as well.

[Snoopy1966]

Everyone is missing my point here. I got bad boxes and they said they were damged because of being shipped in the cold. I do not know how many times I have write this. Understand now why I made the video?

He also said that some of the coals he used smelled part way into the session and some didnt smell at all.

I did where? I cant even use the bad ones, they smell terrible.