Saharasmoke

[mushrat]

This is for posting your PERSONAL experiences with www.saharasmoke.com. 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.

[hmpitags2006]

I bought my base from there and it was well packaged, the processing of my order took a day longer than I wanted but fast shipping and I love my base. Plus the free shipping was really nice. I will buy from them again.

[Drake BBNR]

I took advantage of their "free round of shots" promotion. This is where you buy $40 worth of stuff and get 33 different flavors of hookah shots. Everything went great. Got everything as promised and shipping was quite fast. Would buy from again.


10/10

[kornkitten42]

i purchased from saharasmoke, got their free round of shots promotion, fast shipping.

bought several items, including hookah freak shisha, hh shisha, and serveral other items

10/10
would by again.

[only hookah head]

this is what i noticed, i bought things from hookahhookah, and saharasmoke, the funny thing is hookahhookah.com, saharasmoke, saharahookah, and discoverhookah are the same people or the same company. one of my buddy was telling me about this also, so i thought i let everyone know about this, this is kind of cool to know haha. i work at a local hookah lounge in cali and i run into so many different people and thats how i found out about this. thanks guys


p.s. more funny/crazy stories will be added as i get more info to pass it down.

[MAKCuMG]

Recently purchase a 4 hose Sahara Filigree from a site called TheHookahHouse.com. Then got a confirmation email from Saharasmoke.com....still not sure why as their prices were different.

Received my order in a relatively timely manner. Well packaged. The Filigree base is gorgeous IMO.

Here's my beef:

2 of the 4 branches (the tubes sticking out of the stem into which the hoses insert into..dont know what they are called) were bent slightly more toward the base than the other 2. There were ugly welding scars where they connected to the stem. There was a small, but notisable dent on the stem. Looked like a clearance item.

Hoses were mismatched. Two where one type, two where another.

Pictures don't compare to holding a product in your hands. I know that when ordering over the internet, there is always a chance that what you get will not look as you pictured it, or expected it to.

Sent them an email 5 days ago explaining the situation and asking that they post more accurate pictures of their merchandise. Have gotten no reply.

Just went on their site (thehookahhouse.com) and apparently its down. Not sure if they are (were) a branch of saharasmoke.com, but my hookah bag has the saharasmoke logo all over it.

In the end, I went down to one of my local hookah shops (live in NYC and there are like 5 in the village, all terribly overpriced) and exchanged my 4 hose stem and hoses for a 2 hose MYA like stem, and MYA hoses. Looks alot better and the auto seal it great.

[entropism]

I ordered from Sahara on the 16th, it arrived 9/20. Packaging was average, but effective, and shipping rates were pretty damn good. There are free shipping codes out there as well.

As for the order, the 250g tubs of Layalina I ordered turned into 50g boxes, but one call to their offices has them shipping out replacements to me without a problem.

As for the products themselves... The vase on this hookah is drop dead gorgeous (Candy Stripe Genie in "smoke"), though a small is definitely small. The rest of the stuff was pretty mediocre. If you like the look of their hookahs, or the taste of Hookah Hookah shisha, you can feel safe ordering from here.

These guys are an annoyance. The hookah that I received from them rusted after 11 days of light use, and I was told to "take pictures and they'll TRY to send me a replacement." I said I wanted a refund, they said they wouldn't because the hookah was already used, despite the fact that it's faulty.

The best was their excuse: "if you use a blow dryer on the stem (I used it on cool setting), the heat will discolor the metal". He had no response as to why the metal was discolored rust orange, and so was the water I washed it out with.

I have no doubts right now, from the conversations I've had, that I'll be disputing the charges with my credit card company. This is just silly at this point.

Avoid these guys at any cost.

[badxangelx22]

ok i am pissed. i ordered a hookah from these people w/ my credit card and although i am satisfied with my product, 4 days later i get a call from my credit card company saying someone was trying to use my card to send 99 cents to a bank in karachi pakistan. i don't claim these people stole my credit card number 100%, but considering that the only purchase i made with my card was a usps label, shisha from fumari and a new hookah from this company...i suspect it was them who tried to use my card number. i dont care that it was 99 cents, it's still SO WRONG. DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE WITH YOUR MONEY.

edit: i've found some posts on here about this company ripping off other websites, too. i'm really not suprised... Edited October 18, 2007 by badxangelx22

[Elky]

Well, I only have nice things to say about this vendor. I made my order on the 18th late at night. It shipped out on the 19th and arrived the 24th (monday) from TX to MA with basic shipping.

My order was a vase, a stem, a bowl, and a tub of watermellon shisha. When the package arrived this afternoon, it was tightly packed with large bubble wrap. To my surprise, when I opened the box, they had included a bunch of extra goodies.

Included were: a carrying case which everything was inside of, a hose, a filter, some plastic tips, and even a tub of HookaH HookaH menthol shisha. Everything arrived in excellent condition and before my purchase, they responded quickly to my questions through email.

I look forward to ordering from them more often. Now I just need my Nammor to come in from H-S... Edited December 25, 2007 by Elky

[Snoopy1966]

I purchased a Cyclone Hookah from Sahara Smoke last week and most of you may have seen the first stem that came with it.
The replaced it no questions asked, I just sent them the pictures. The replacement stem is much better. It smokes very good.

Shipping: 10/10. Very fast shipping and packaged very well also. No Peanuts!! Yippie. I love the huge bubble wrap they package with. I ordered on a Tuesday, and got the Hookah on Thursday. GA to WI. Darn fast.

Customer Service: 10/10 What can I say, they replaced my stem in a very timely manner. A person answers the phone when you call also. Not to many vendors like that.

Overall I would say they are a good vendor, the have very nice vases and they said the new stems like the one I got will be the ones coming with their Hookahs.

I will be putting up a review soon on the Hookah.

More testing of their services will be needed by me for and overall score. Unfortunately they do not have Tangiers so tobacco purchases will be made elsewhere. If you are looking for a Hookah that is different then all the others out there, give them a try. A little more expensive, but it is worth is once you see the quality of the vases they have.

[Holdensnow]

Well I ordered a Medium Clearence Hookah at $25.00 so i was less then optamistic about it but figure what the hell i'll give it a try. So i ended up ordering that an extra vase, 500g of HH assort. ,and a free jar of HF Cherry Vanilla Float that was thrown in by the nice gent from Saraha on HF.

10/10 Shipping

9/10 Packing

10/10 Customer Service

As for my items i was giving alot of free b's so i was rather happy about that but when it came to the Clearence items i quickly learned there faults. Both vases had chips galore but none that affected smoke, stem had small leak, hose had small leak, and the bowl that came w/ was pretty much a POS. But thats where you come back to you get for what you pay for. I spent maybe 50 bucks and came out with a damn lotta Great Shisha and after some TLC 1 sweat looking hose, 2 decent vases, a below par stem, and lots of fun goodies to go with. I called to ask about how bad it was b4 i bought it and they were able to help me with everything and gave good detail about their items. They deff put the effort into their company!


All in all if your looking for a budget hookah this could be your diamond in the ruff. But if your looking for something amazing out of 25 bucks than maybe you need a cheaper hobby.

[coplinb]

just ordered some shisha TWO days ago and it just got here today. awesome turn-around and there was even a free tube of coals! will def. order from them again

true to my word, i ordered again yesterday afternoon and hell, it shipped already! i love this site and everyone should order from them.

[pigpen]

I purchased a Genie from a distributing vendor. After just a few uses the hose started disintegrating and I tried to contact the vendor directly. I never did get a response about my hose problem from the vendor so i called Sahara directly.

The young lady I spoke with was very nice and after I explained my problem she offered to send a new hose. I recieved the hose promptly.

I appreciate that Sahara made an effort to correct a problem even though the official policy is that the customer should go through the vendor. They get top marks for friendliness, helpfulness and overall customer service. Even though I was not happy with their product I am more willing to shop with those that work hard to make things right.

[nicko99]

I purchased a Sahara Genie Hookah from a local authorized retailer about a month ago. It started rusting pretty bad by the second week so I took it back to the retailer. They told me I needed to contact the Manf. (bad cust. service on thier part)

So I emailed Sahara Smoke and about 3 days later I rec. a reply saying they would replace the rusted parts and that they would go out no me next week. They also asked for pictures which I promply returned to them. After not hearing from them for some time, I emailed them again. They finally replied but only asking for my order number from my original purchase. Of course I don't have one because I bought it locally. (should that be a problem?)

I was informed that I needed to take it back to the store, but if that was "to much hassle" that I could buy a new stem on Sahara's website at a discount.?.? WTF?

Am I wrong in thinking that they should replace the rusted parts? (bearing valves, stem base, ect.) I'd only had it a couple weeks at most.

[StreetBob]

I ordered a couple replacement vases from Saharasmoke:

-Their web site and selection of vases was impressive

-Processing and shipping was slow. I received my order complete notification 3 days after my order, and then it took more than a couple weeks to receive them. I am in Hawaii, so you can add a couple days for that, but I still consider that slow.

-The items were well packed with air pillows and bubble wrap. It's good to see such care in the packing.

-Despite the packing, one of the vases had a crack running through it. I notified SS and they informed me that a replacement was on the way. They were very pleasant to deal with over the phone.

In a nutshell... very good web site, selection and customer service. I would order from them again, unless I was in a big hurry to receive the items.

[FactorE]

Sahara Smoke PROBLEMS! IMPORTANT! THEY SELL DEFECTS!

Alright guys, I recently ran into a problem with SS that literally left me frustrated and angry. Now, If i am breaking any rules by posting here, I am sorry but I felt this needed to be on here for public service annoucement. There are two parts to this so if it is too long to read just read part two.

sorry if my spelling and grammar is crap right now i am on a rush to work....

Here is what happend I ordered a Nar Stem, a seperate subzero vase, and evolution tea shisha 50g jar of peanut butter. I only received the stem without the charcoal tray and rubber bowl stopper, and as for the shisha it did not come at all. SO I called SS and the lady on the phone told me that if I buy the stem seperately it does not come with a charcoal tray and grommet. However here the description on tthe website:
Comes complete with 1 Rubber Grommet, 1 Rubber Bowl Stopper, 1 Rubber Hose Stopper, Charcoal Tray, and Metal Tongs.

After some arguing, they made me send another email of pictures of the items that is present which is stupid in my opinion because if i am really a liar i can just not take the items i claim are missing and only show them the stuff i said is in there.

Anyhow, i took the pictures, sent the email and going back and forth with emails they finally sent me my package. COMPLETE! And I am still happy and satisfied cuz even though they messed up, I still got my items!

WHERE THE REAL PROBLEM BEGINS: PART 2

I decided to finally smoke my nar stem, and after ONE use some kind of crap or gunk apears all over the stem, its inside all over and it is disgusting.. I linked the photos below..d Immediately, I washed it over and the next day it appeared again, so I washed it again and it apeared again. Eventually, I realized that it is a problem and defect so I did some research on the forums and internet and found out that i am not the only person wtih the problem and there’s been customers before me that ran into the problem and it is a defect.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44697654@N05/4110868265/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44697654@N05/4111633634/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44697654@N05/4110867419/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44697654@N05/4111632628/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44697654@N05/4110866579/


Thus, I contacted SS and provided the pictures.

And even after i decribed the situation and that I washed it twice extensively after one use, this is there response:

If you are cleaning the hookah after every use this will not happen to your stem. After cleaning it the residue will come off and eventually it will stop happening.
Let me know if you have any questions

After several back and forth emails and me arguing here their updated response:


I showed your photos to the shipping manager and if you scrub that part of the stem right after each use the gunk will come off.
If you need further assistance let me know.

then finally: I am sorry that this has become an inconvience to you, but we will not be able to give you a replacement, because the gunk should come off after you scrub the area. This will not effect your smoking session in any way at all because that area is were the grommet goes. If you need any assistance let me know.

then they offered me a discount....

now i just want to say first of all i stated many times in my email and in the pictures that the gunk or whatever they call it is all over the hookah and especially all over the stem inside, and i dont see how after explaining it in the email numerous time that they can just ignore it and pretend it is only in the grommet area.

Guys i been smoking for about 6 years now and i practically ordered from every vendor even some banned ones as well and usually nothing happens to a point where i have to vent on a forum. I hate drama and i usually stay out of it but this is just wrong. I cant stand being stuck with a defective product, and after reading some sources from other customers that suffer from this as well I am left thinking they never fix the problem and just continue to sell defects. Before, I only smoke from Mya, KM or certain Syrians exclusively but with the design of the Nar stem i was suckered into buyin from them. Dont make the same mistake! take care guys! thanks!

[ngraz617]

The same problem a lot of people are having with growth on their stems and they just have the receptionist say to keep washing it and it will go away. It doesn't go away they wont say what it is or replace the parts, they could be poisoning us and they don't care once they have your money. The worst company on the net. I would rather order from, well I wont say that but anyone besides SS. Buy their Vortex bowl from another vendor so they don't get retail for it and nothing else. They suck.

[porksandwich9113]

Ordered an extra vase and some assorted shisha on Tuesday the 3/23 at about 1:00 A.M.
Paid for 2 day shipping (25 bucks) it was delivered at about 4:00 P.M. Thursday.

10/10 on shipping.

10/10 on price.

Didn't have to deal with customer service. But they threw in a free vortex bowl, tongs, and coals for spending more than 30$.

10/10 Overall,

and there have been no odd charges from my credit card since putting it on their site.

[Cadrian]

I Ordered on May 5 at 1am

My order was
1 mini Subzero Black Hookah (Free Tongs, and Charcoals plus 50g 7 Spice)
3 50g Hookah Hookah 7 Spice, Blueberry, and Margarita
Vortex Bowl
Large Ashtray
[font="Verdana"][size="2"]Silicone Vase Grommet
[/size][/font][font="Verdana"][size="2"]Rubber Vase Grommet
[/size][/font][font="Century Gothic"][size="1"][font="Verdana"][size="2"]CocoNara Charcoal 108 Piece Box[/size][/font]

[font="Verdana"][size="2"]I got Free Shipping plus a Free Zen Mini Hookah (25$ Value) plus 15% with a Coupon.

After I placed my order I realized that the Subzero vase was painted and you couldnt see your water levels... I emailed and message them before I went to sleep at 6am that I wanted to switch my order with the Clear Clyclone Orange/white. (Same Price)

I got my package 28 hours later!!!!! I didnt know they shipped from GA. AMAZING! Everything package nicely. I got a Free Calender as well, which is cool tells all the deals they will have each month. Bubble Wrap no PEANUTs! I did get the Subzero and not the Cyclone and never got an email about how they werent able to do it or anything.... Still haven't heard anything and its been 5 days. Buts its my fault I ordered the wrong thing.

So I would say
10/10 for Packaging
100 out of 10 for their shipping time to SC, I mean It was free and next day!
Their Quality of Product.... I love the Vases! I think i will order a replacement for all my hookahs, it gives them a American type style plus they are extremely thick. The Silicone Vase Grommet I ordered it great... Comes off and and goes on alot smoother then the Rubber ones,
The only problem I have had with the Subzero is the Hose adapter has a BB in it like it was setup for more then 1 hose but that BB GETS STUCK ALOT! But its something I can deal with. considering it was like a 43 dollar hookah with discount and the Zen is great for extra parts or if like me I sold it to my room mate for 20 bucks.
Not to much of a fan of the Hookah Hookah brand Besides the 7 Spice... I LOVE the 7 Spice. I cant smoke the Blueberry or Margarita to much they dont taste good at all.
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