Puffbuddy Avis 3

Stay away piece of crap product worse than Temu quality filters don’t even stay on and the thing barely sucks Any smoke. everything’s just loose instructions suck at putting it together. They dont explain what kind of oil to put in it. I’m absolutely pissed and out of $60.

I ordered a pipe on 11/13 it is now Friday after Thanksgiving and USPS has not even received the product for shipping and not a soul will get back to me...don't buy from them it's a scam. I will be disputing it with my bank ASAP!

I ordered the PuffBuddy as a gift. I filled it with butane, it did not work. I reached out to the company on 10/2 and 10/5 via email, hoping to troubleshoot the issue or potentially exchange for a new one if it turned out my product was defective.

I got no reply, so I reached out on 10/9 via Facebook. On 10/10, they responded & said their email had been having some issues (I totally understand!) and then gave me a troubleshooting suggestion for the lighter. I had already tried this, but I tried again anyways, and replied same-day letting them know it did not work, asking for more help. I was left on "seen."

Their website shows a 30-day refund policy. My deadline to request a refund was 10/22.

I reached out on 10/17 to ask how to request a return. My mistake for saying "return" instead of "refund," I guess, but either way, no reply.

Today, 10/24, I reached out to let them know that I was going to dispute the charge w/ my bank since I’d been trying to reach out for so long with no help.

THAT message got me a reply, within just over 1 hr.

The representative said that their website states that they do not accept returns in any form.
The website did not say that when I ordered. It did not say that when I received the message from them saying that it does. It does not say that now, as I'm writing this review. I've looked all over the website, I've used the search function. It. Is. Not. There. There’s actually very little mention of “return(s).” It seems they’re willing to provide refunds under certain circumstances, but will not accept returned product - which is totally fair. But don't lie to me about what your policy says like I can't read it myself.

They said that "Also, there is a disclaimer that we do not accept refunds on any sale items." That is true. I did order when it was on sale, but I've been looking at their website for a while even before I ordered, and it seems their products are ALWAYS "on sale." In other words, marked down from a price that they never actually charge to make it SEEM like you're getting a deal. That's shady on its own, but it's even shadier to hide behind a "no refunds on sale items" policy to try to avoid accountability when your products fail.

Furthermore, it doesn't matter if something is on sale or not - if you sell someone a defective product, then you have not provided the working product you promised in exchange for the money they have paid, and it is your responsibility to make it right. If you refuse to do so, or refuse to communicate at all, then it is their right to try to get their money back.

"We are so sorry about this, but it is our store rules stated on our website. What we can do is continue to troubleshoot your issue and work to get your lighter working smoothly!" I had been TRYING to do so but no one would help me. They only pretended to care when I said I was going to dispute the charge. The store rules on their website ALSO say that if your item is defective or damaged you should contact them, "so that we can evaluate the issue and make it right," but they did not make any attempt to do that.

Since they asked what the issue was, I responded and RE-explained the situation, and then reiterated that I’d be contacting my bank.
They then responded saying that they’d issued me a refund - but not without a condescending remark about reading policies from future stores.

I love a little sass. I think it's funny, I really do! …But not when it doesn’t apply to the situation. -I- wasn't in the wrong here. The person replying to me was the one who doesn't even know their own store policy enough to follow or correctly quote it.

The way this whole situation went down was just…unacceptable and sad. It could've been avoided if someone would have just bothered to respond to a message instead of leaving me on read for weeks when I was asking for help. I do genuinely appreciate that they granted me a refund, even "against" their "policy."

I really wanted to like this company. I WANTED, and tried MULTIPLE TIMES, to work with them to troubleshoot the product. I wanted to be able to gift it to a loved one who would have enjoyed it. I wanted to be a good customer and not cause any trouble/annoyance. But instead, I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth, a useless hunk of metal and butane, and (hopefully) a refund coming to my card in a few business days.

I'm really disappointed, and genuinely don't think I deserved the treatment I received. I have to, in good conscience, warn people away from doing business with this company. The product idea is really cool, but the product itself didn't work (in my experience) and the customer service is abysmal and unnecessarily mean. Please save yourself the time and frustration.