What Happened to Zephyr
- Thread starter Mike7752
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haven't been called that in a while 
lwien
Well-Known Member
Progress said:
Wow. Never thought of that. That sounds plausible. But man, how in the hell do you prosecute in China against a Chinese company from another country?
Not sayin' it can't be done. Has it ever been done or am I livin' under a rock?
Also ate some firecrackers about 2 and a half hours ago.........
finchrock24
Proud MMJ Patient
lwien said:Wow. Never thought of that. That sounds plausible. But man, how in the hell do you prosecute in China against a Chinese company from another country?
This is actually why there is so much of a 'knock-off' industry. Its extremely hard and expensive to go after the 'fly by night' Chinese factories that reverse engineer products OR a lot of cases, just pay off someone from the legitimate factory to fill up a flash drive of CAD files or things like that. And I don't think that the Chinese gov't would be the easiest to work with.
There is a case of this right now in my hobby, the R/C industry. A big name US based hobby corp. has (or should I say had) uniuqe type of 2.4ghz transmission that really changed the hobby. The transmitters could only work with specific receivers and vise versa. The technology was very very good and is now the industry standard. However, a chinese company has now copied and cloned the receivers and they sell them for as little as $4.99. The price of the original receiver is $49.99. Obviously, the legitimate unit is warrentied, tested, QC'ed, and there is a phone number you can call when/if it breaks. The $5 unit has no warrenty or phone number to call. And quality control in a Chinese knock off plant? Haha....
EDIT: Lwien, did you use ABV or fresh meds? If fresh, what type?
Thanks!
StonedCold420
Member
I am in the same boat as all of these people who sent back their IONS....I really hope I get it back. I didn't get to use it once, right when I got it, it never turned on. Im crossing my fingers and hope all goes well with Bruce.
Hammerzeit
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking they ran into trouble with the factory in China.
Purple-Days
Well-Known Member
Might be as simple as a product name conflict, remember the i-olite? May be as simple as that. No reason to suspect the worst, site names and product names might change, has happened before... 
What happened to Zephyr?
I make this last post as Bruce@Zephyr strictly of my own free will to clear up what is going on and without the say so, ok, knowledge or prompting from Zephyr Vaporizers.
I am Bruce and I worked as the sales and marketing director for Zephyr.
I also took care of all customer service. I like to think I did an adequate job.
I started with Zephyr in late 2009 and that lasted till December, 28 2010.
In that time Zephyr has exhibited a very strong commitment to their customers and their employees. The owners are not shifty fly by night guys trying to make a quick buck. They are first, vaporizer users and second owners of a vaporizer company trying to make a vaporizer they would like to use themselves. Yes, Zephyr has had production issues, software delays and the never appearing whip. None of this was due to malice, merely having to conduct business and finding out along the way that some things take longer and are harder to achieve than first anticipated. New business with a new product in a new industry.
Whenever I had dealings with the owners of Zephyr they were always upfront with me and I did get the feeling that they wanted to provide a great product at a reasonable price. They backed up my customer service decisions trying to make returns and repairs as easy and seamless as possible. They allowed me to send replacements to people based on the customers say-so that their unit was defective. Never tried to make an issue the customers fault. Zephyr allowed me to let customers open their machines to fix pump issues without voiding the customer warranty. As time went on, Zephyr realized that the defective units being replacing were not getting returned, so, they had to change policy. The defective unit would now be returned first and then a replacement would be sent. Then the zephyr legal team tells them that they have to attempt a repair on the initial unit the customer sends back prior to sending a replacement. Understandable but creates delays in shipping.
I was in and out of work November and most of December for personal reasons that are, frankly, personal. The new policy of repair prior to return was set down in my absence.
As of Tuesday December 28 at 6pm EST I learned US Customs closed Zephyr bank accounts and raided the warehouses. All Zephyrs Ions in house have been seized, including defective units and spare parts. Since I only (used to) work for Zephyr and am not an owner, I know no other details and can not speak on behalf of Zephyr. I do not know any specific charge, reasoning or any other information. I am now jobless. I do believe that Zephyr has not released this info yet but plans to do everything legally within their power to keep open. I believe that if they can clear up whatever the legal issue may be, they will still send replacements for any units that have been sent in. Zephyr has record of all of the defective units and would not screw over anyone deliberately. IMHO US Customs screwed us all, but that is all I know about that for now.
I put all this down in writing because it is in fact all I know to date, asking me for further details is moot because I know nothing more than I have already said, I am no longer employed by Zephyr, US Customs can screw up the start of a new year.
I would go back to work for Zephyr in a heart-beat if they can clear their legal issues and would have me.
All of this being said, I am sorry for everyone that it affects and I wish there was some way I could help. I hope those of you who feel you have been shafted understand the situation. Don't have to like it, I sure don't, but I hope this helps you to understand. Some of you have stood up for my personal integrity and I appreciate that. Your wishes for my well being are also appreciated.
As for me personally, you will now be able to find me on here (fuck combustion) as "Vapenstien's Monster", I have used this as my personal account so I could discuss things not Zephyr related, feel free to look me up and note I never used it to shill zephyr or bad mouth any other vape.
I do have a personal plan for the future that could impact the industry in a positive way and would be happy to share it with anyone interested.
I make this last post as Bruce@Zephyr strictly of my own free will to clear up what is going on and without the say so, ok, knowledge or prompting from Zephyr Vaporizers.
I am Bruce and I worked as the sales and marketing director for Zephyr.
I also took care of all customer service. I like to think I did an adequate job.
I started with Zephyr in late 2009 and that lasted till December, 28 2010.
In that time Zephyr has exhibited a very strong commitment to their customers and their employees. The owners are not shifty fly by night guys trying to make a quick buck. They are first, vaporizer users and second owners of a vaporizer company trying to make a vaporizer they would like to use themselves. Yes, Zephyr has had production issues, software delays and the never appearing whip. None of this was due to malice, merely having to conduct business and finding out along the way that some things take longer and are harder to achieve than first anticipated. New business with a new product in a new industry.
Whenever I had dealings with the owners of Zephyr they were always upfront with me and I did get the feeling that they wanted to provide a great product at a reasonable price. They backed up my customer service decisions trying to make returns and repairs as easy and seamless as possible. They allowed me to send replacements to people based on the customers say-so that their unit was defective. Never tried to make an issue the customers fault. Zephyr allowed me to let customers open their machines to fix pump issues without voiding the customer warranty. As time went on, Zephyr realized that the defective units being replacing were not getting returned, so, they had to change policy. The defective unit would now be returned first and then a replacement would be sent. Then the zephyr legal team tells them that they have to attempt a repair on the initial unit the customer sends back prior to sending a replacement. Understandable but creates delays in shipping.
I was in and out of work November and most of December for personal reasons that are, frankly, personal. The new policy of repair prior to return was set down in my absence.
As of Tuesday December 28 at 6pm EST I learned US Customs closed Zephyr bank accounts and raided the warehouses. All Zephyrs Ions in house have been seized, including defective units and spare parts. Since I only (used to) work for Zephyr and am not an owner, I know no other details and can not speak on behalf of Zephyr. I do not know any specific charge, reasoning or any other information. I am now jobless. I do believe that Zephyr has not released this info yet but plans to do everything legally within their power to keep open. I believe that if they can clear up whatever the legal issue may be, they will still send replacements for any units that have been sent in. Zephyr has record of all of the defective units and would not screw over anyone deliberately. IMHO US Customs screwed us all, but that is all I know about that for now.
I put all this down in writing because it is in fact all I know to date, asking me for further details is moot because I know nothing more than I have already said, I am no longer employed by Zephyr, US Customs can screw up the start of a new year.
I would go back to work for Zephyr in a heart-beat if they can clear their legal issues and would have me.
All of this being said, I am sorry for everyone that it affects and I wish there was some way I could help. I hope those of you who feel you have been shafted understand the situation. Don't have to like it, I sure don't, but I hope this helps you to understand. Some of you have stood up for my personal integrity and I appreciate that. Your wishes for my well being are also appreciated.
As for me personally, you will now be able to find me on here (fuck combustion) as "Vapenstien's Monster", I have used this as my personal account so I could discuss things not Zephyr related, feel free to look me up and note I never used it to shill zephyr or bad mouth any other vape.
I do have a personal plan for the future that could impact the industry in a positive way and would be happy to share it with anyone interested.
momofthegoons
vapor accessory addict
Best of luck to you Bruce, work and health wise.
Purple-Days
Well-Known Member
Good luck, Bruce. Sorry to hear of your situation. 
steiner666
Serial vapist
Man, that really sucks. I wonder why US customs got involved? fucking intrusive government
Good to hear they'll still be trying to get warranty units out, and that you'll be stickin around FC still.
Good to hear they'll still be trying to get warranty units out, and that you'll be stickin around FC still.
lwien
Well-Known Member
I just read that the Volcano was once seized by US customs also, but after a bit, they were released after going round and round with S&B, so, there's a chance that this can be rectified as well.
Take care Bruce and keep us all posted with what's goin on. I have no doubt that we haven't heard the last from you.
Take care Bruce and keep us all posted with what's goin on. I have no doubt that we haven't heard the last from you.
CombustionJunction
What's Your Function?
Bruce! Thank you for the explanation. Best of luck to you, brother!
Vapenstien's Monster
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the well wishes everybody...
AG, good thing you didn't say anything to me, you would have outed my screename hahah. I was wondering if anyone noticed that my recipes were eerily similar to my other recipes. At least now I can go full boar as Vapenstien's Monster,.. I like the name anyhow.
I doubt this is the proper place to come out with my new plan but consider this,......
A customer service call center that is industry specific.
I will create a new post to explore this idea further..... see you there.
Bruce
AG, good thing you didn't say anything to me, you would have outed my screename hahah. I was wondering if anyone noticed that my recipes were eerily similar to my other recipes. At least now I can go full boar as Vapenstien's Monster,.. I like the name anyhow.
I doubt this is the proper place to come out with my new plan but consider this,......
A customer service call center that is industry specific.
I will create a new post to explore this idea further..... see you there.
Bruce
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