Please see the negative review forum for my post on the issues i experienced with Bombay. In short, a month, no order, no communication. Here's where it becomes positive...
As i was reaching for the phone to call my bank's fraud dept. and file a chargeback, it rang. It was Sayer, the owner of Bombay vaping calling me to tell me that my order would be completed and shipped the next day (today). He also took the time to explain what happened, and why they had been out of touch for nearly a month.
Let me start by saying that Bombay has updated their website with a post about their issues, if you want to read that. If not, here is a brief synopsis of my call with Sayer (keep in mind we had talked at the 1 week mark so i knew their site had been hacked, but not how extensively):
According to Sayer, the Yahoo storefront side of Bombay had been hacked. From there, the hackers gained access to bombay's main server. From that point, they jumped to their (Sayer's family) private LAN, and penetrated all connected systems to the point that the BIOS had been reflashed with malware on several of the systems (yes, this is possible, don't ask me how I know, I'd prefer not to talk about those younger days), so merely wiping the systems and reloading the OS wouldn't fix the problem. Using wifi, Sayer's smartphone was also penetrated. Needless to say, it took several days to a couple of weeks to fully repair all the systems, and reflash the phone.
Also, during that time, Sayer was moving his family of 6 to a new home. Whether this was due to threats (including threats againts his children) he received from the hackers, or a planned move, he didn't say. What he DID do was apologize profusely for being out of touch for so long, and explain that it was no easy feat to move a family of 6. He also took some time to talk with me about just what he went through (in much greater detail than i'm sharing) with the hacks, as we had spoken much earlier in the month when he initially told me he had been hacked, and i offered my extensive I.T. experience, should he need someone, to help him recover.
All in all, I am now very satisfied with Bombay vaping. Although their response time on this one order has been slow, after hearing what they went through, I can most definitely excuse it at least once. My prior experiences with Bombay have always resulted in rapid turn-around, rapid and excellent customer service response, the company is not afraid to answer the phone (when they aren't getting harassed by hackers), and blazing shipments.
Speaking of blazing things... if you order from them, make SURE you try their "blaze" flavor... a flavor I think should become their signature flavor. I would have ordered 120ml of it if i could have afforded it, but i was stuck with only 30.
Incidentally, as of the phone call last night (09/13), Sayer said there were approximately 150 customers in the backlog, and they were working through them as fast as they possibly could.
(If you are concerned about the hack and how it affects you, it's simple:
a) change your password at bombay, and change the passwoed anywhere else you used the same password, and stop using the same password in more than one place. If you need to write your passwords down to remember, do so in code by adding one to the letter or number, for instance, "bob23home" becomes "cpc34ipnf", then just mentally subtract before you type in. You can do the came for cc #'s too.
b) if your credit card number is saved to your profile, DELETE IT!! And never save a cc # again, anywhere. Also, as the hack originated on yahoo servers, and yahoo holds credit card info for 30 days (you can't control that), it is suggested that for the next three months or so, you keep a tight watch on the charges to the last card(s) you used with Bombay from July 1st - Aug 30th.
c) Don't be afraid to order from Bombay, again... they have resolved the hack, and re-secured their site, including the yahoo side of things. While they do have a backlog right now (so any orders placed in the next week or so may be delayed a bit), Sayer has assured me they are still putting out the same high quality product as always.
When i get my order, I'll post a brief review on the juice quality, etc... (i.e. did it feel rushed, and so on) in the appropriate forum.
Mods, please pm if this needed to be moved.
As i was reaching for the phone to call my bank's fraud dept. and file a chargeback, it rang. It was Sayer, the owner of Bombay vaping calling me to tell me that my order would be completed and shipped the next day (today). He also took the time to explain what happened, and why they had been out of touch for nearly a month.
Let me start by saying that Bombay has updated their website with a post about their issues, if you want to read that. If not, here is a brief synopsis of my call with Sayer (keep in mind we had talked at the 1 week mark so i knew their site had been hacked, but not how extensively):
According to Sayer, the Yahoo storefront side of Bombay had been hacked. From there, the hackers gained access to bombay's main server. From that point, they jumped to their (Sayer's family) private LAN, and penetrated all connected systems to the point that the BIOS had been reflashed with malware on several of the systems (yes, this is possible, don't ask me how I know, I'd prefer not to talk about those younger days), so merely wiping the systems and reloading the OS wouldn't fix the problem. Using wifi, Sayer's smartphone was also penetrated. Needless to say, it took several days to a couple of weeks to fully repair all the systems, and reflash the phone.
Also, during that time, Sayer was moving his family of 6 to a new home. Whether this was due to threats (including threats againts his children) he received from the hackers, or a planned move, he didn't say. What he DID do was apologize profusely for being out of touch for so long, and explain that it was no easy feat to move a family of 6. He also took some time to talk with me about just what he went through (in much greater detail than i'm sharing) with the hacks, as we had spoken much earlier in the month when he initially told me he had been hacked, and i offered my extensive I.T. experience, should he need someone, to help him recover.
All in all, I am now very satisfied with Bombay vaping. Although their response time on this one order has been slow, after hearing what they went through, I can most definitely excuse it at least once. My prior experiences with Bombay have always resulted in rapid turn-around, rapid and excellent customer service response, the company is not afraid to answer the phone (when they aren't getting harassed by hackers), and blazing shipments.
Speaking of blazing things... if you order from them, make SURE you try their "blaze" flavor... a flavor I think should become their signature flavor. I would have ordered 120ml of it if i could have afforded it, but i was stuck with only 30.
Incidentally, as of the phone call last night (09/13), Sayer said there were approximately 150 customers in the backlog, and they were working through them as fast as they possibly could.
(If you are concerned about the hack and how it affects you, it's simple:
a) change your password at bombay, and change the passwoed anywhere else you used the same password, and stop using the same password in more than one place. If you need to write your passwords down to remember, do so in code by adding one to the letter or number, for instance, "bob23home" becomes "cpc34ipnf", then just mentally subtract before you type in. You can do the came for cc #'s too.
b) if your credit card number is saved to your profile, DELETE IT!! And never save a cc # again, anywhere. Also, as the hack originated on yahoo servers, and yahoo holds credit card info for 30 days (you can't control that), it is suggested that for the next three months or so, you keep a tight watch on the charges to the last card(s) you used with Bombay from July 1st - Aug 30th.
c) Don't be afraid to order from Bombay, again... they have resolved the hack, and re-secured their site, including the yahoo side of things. While they do have a backlog right now (so any orders placed in the next week or so may be delayed a bit), Sayer has assured me they are still putting out the same high quality product as always.
When i get my order, I'll post a brief review on the juice quality, etc... (i.e. did it feel rushed, and so on) in the appropriate forum.
Mods, please pm if this needed to be moved.
