"Time Line: On Thanksgiving (11/25) I placed an order for a Hookah because they were having a Black Friday deal (30% off). The order came in on the 30th.

Gripe: I bring it home to find out that the vase had terrible bubbles through out the paint job (hand blown glass candy strip) and black specs that I couldn't wipe off. Now, I understand that it can happen and I wouldn't care if it were a few tiny bubbles ones. But, this was just terrible. The paint job on this designer vase looked like it was Swiss-cheese. Then, I look at their legendary Nar stem. The stem's craftsmanship was one poorly made. There were gaps where the stem connected to the bottom and top portions of it. Nothing was flushed/leveled and there were still metal shavings.

Action: There website states to call if there any issues with orders. I tried calling and I got a response that they don't have customer service for problems like mine. I can only send a ticket or speak to someone using their live chat option. So I send a ticket with pictures of the imperfect/defected products they sent me and my problem. They tell me to give them 1-2 days to get back to me. I asked them to call me. No one calls me or sends me an email. I decide to speak with the person handling my complaint using the live chat. She argues with me for the first half hour about how it's cause it's hand made and that it doesn't effect it's performance. I am sure it doesn't, but first of all it's a gift and secondly it doesn't state that it could have imperfections anywhere on it's site or product page even. Or else, I wouldn't of bothered spending that kind of money on a cheaply made hookah. I ask her to exchange and they're more then willing to exchange it. But, they discontinued my vase. All of a sudden.. Anyway, they said I can get an exchange AT MY EXPENSE! They expected me to pay for return shipping on my exchange even though they sold me damaged goods that should of been sold as clearance. I tried to get a black friday deal, and she wanted me to spend more money to get what I deserved from the purchase, initially. There policy doesn't state anywhere on their site about hand made goods having slight variations or anything along those lines even though she kept telling me it does and didn't have any links or proof of it. They also state "Shipping charges are non-refundable unless the return is due to our error." Clearly, this isn't my fault that they sold me something that isn't up to par in quality. They said they'll upgrade my order to a better model and throw me some goodies. Which I didn't expect but all I wanted was to get what I was expecting to purchase in the first place. I am not in it to get more then what a customer deserves. I don't need upgrades, I want to treated like a valued customer.

Final Thoughts: I expected Sahara Smoke to stand by their word and their products. I really thought they wouldn't have an issue in taking responsibility for their mistakes. Don't let those fancy pictures fool you, their products are cheap, and their customer service skills are just as poor in quality. It's sad because they didn't even care that I was a returning customer and would of brought them more business if they would of just worked with me. I have never heard of any company that doesn't send a customer a label for selling them damaged/imperfect goods. Even smaller companies know how to treat their customers with loyalty and respect."