"Sorry, but this mailbox is full - please try again later"

Any company that I call and get a message like that is a company I don't want to do business with.

Considering Sigg touts itself as being eco-friendly I wonder how they will dispose/recycle the returned bottles.

My bet is landfill.

Sometimes when I order with a gift card, companies make me enter a credit card...just in case there isn't money on the gift card.

Perhaps this was the case with Sigg?

Although that doesn't explain the other CS problems

Well at least I'm not alone; I haven't even received a gift certificate code back!!! I mailed my two back via UPS in mid-September - according to the tracking system it was received a while ago, but I've yet to hear back from Sigg. I sent an email to the liners@mysigg.com address without any reply at all - not even a robot. I figured I'd wait another week or so before calling, but after reading your tale I'm not sure that's even worth it. Please post any update to your story, Cassi!

I agree with an earlier post, did you try to enter a CC number and see if the order would go through without charging your card?

Enter your CC number, then if it charges you, call your cc company and do a chargeback

I got a RMA from SIIG, sent in my two bottles, received an email, replied to it, ordered two new ones using the PIN code they sent me and received the new bottles several days later. No problem here.

@Laura B Prickett:
Same here, I sent mine via UPS the day after Consumerist posted their article. I never got a confirmation and I can not get any responses to emails I send inquiring. I am getting ready to just go ahead a purchase a Kleen Kanteen and call it a wash, but I forwarded the info to a friend who also returned hers, she also hasn't received any kind of confirmaton or response, so I feel like a heel for that.

Did you try entering your credit card number and see what the penultimate page claims you will be charged before submitting your order? Could be just a requirement of the site to refuse blank credit card fields.

@dragonfire81: I wouldn't expect customer service to be bottle company's strong suit.

While I agree with the people saying to put in the CC, (it's just the way webstores work) Please be aware that Sigg corporate headquarters are in Stamford, CT. and if this is where your gift certificate originated (and it is labeled as such and not a 'promotion' or 'coupon') it can not expire per Connecticut state law..

create a virtual credit card number for like 2 dollars and use that. if it goes through awesome, if it doesn't work then they were going to charge you the full amount.

@jvanbrecht:

By the way, never ever do that on a pron site.

i sent my bottle in on 8/16 and still haven't heard anything back. after several emails to their customer support and the ceo steve wasik, they keep replying that they are experiencing delays and it will take 3-4 weeks to get a replacement code. hello, it's been 2 months now. i think they just lost my bottle.

@cowboyesfan: Obviously it's going to charge you if you enter the number.

@gamabunta:

Is it even possible to do it any other way?

Would the plastic burn off if you melted the metal, or would it just contaminate it? (Or a little from column A a little from column B?)

In 2008, there was a lot of press concerning Lexan plastic water bottles (Polycarbonate #7) leaching harmful chemicals into the container's ingredients. It's extremely important to note that SIGG bottles exceed FDA requirements and have been thoroughly tested to ensure no leaching.

It's extremely important for Sigg that you note that. It's extremely important that their marketing department notes it in their promotional materials. It is not particularly important that potential customers note it...not to the customers. (I'm not saying BPA doesn't matter...I'm saying there are other bottles people could buy)

I get the idea that this company is full of people who aren't very good at thinking about things from others' perspectives.

@gamabunta: iirc, SIGG bottles are either steel or aluminum... both easily recycled into a number of other products. Sigg might have the ability to remove the plastic liner, melt down, and refine the metals in-house - otherwise, they should be able to contract with their metals supplier and have the bpa bottles recycled into ingots of metal

I just avoided the entire process and purchased a Klean Kanteen instead. I had two bottles I could exchange but bought one new one; I ate the $15 and I'll recycle the damn SIGG bottle myself. When I inquired about the bottle exchange, their canned response was not to my liking.

First, EIGHT BOTTLES?!? Why do you need EIGHT?

Second, SIGG is saying that BPA in plastic doesn't leech out. That settles my mind, I can keep using by BPA-loaded old material polycarbonate Nalgene bottles and continue to not buy these repainted, overpriced fuel bottles.

@Con Seannery:

I've got two currently and a third would be really useful. The big one holds water, the little one holds everything else. Of course, the third one would be for hot liquids.

Yeah...8 bottles...op is seriously storing Dahmer-parts in his fridge and wants them to be fresh. Hehehe.

@Con Seannery: @Con Seannery:

Can't people just store water in gasoline jugs like an ordinary person ;)

@gamabunta: Gamabunta...that's the frog smoking a pipe right?

Speaking of SIGG, did anyone else receive a free bottle thanks to the credit card data breach? I just got a free .6 liter bottle last week because of it. It's definitely not the pattern I would have chosen, and I am fine with the 1 liter bottle that I already had, but it was nice of them to send me something free.

@dragonfire81: It's not "obvious" at all, but I can see where Cassie would be very hesitant to do it. Especially since it sounds like the company's very specific instructions didn't say it would be required.

@morlo: Customer service is MOST company's weak suit. I just consider that if their support staff are overloaded, there must be something wrong with their product and I tell everyone I know to avoid that company.

@sponica (on furlough): That's no reason at all to ask for a credit card.

If the gift certificate entered is no good, then the proper computer system design should discover that fact immediately. Cheaper computer designs could discover that later. But they should simply not ship until they find they have the payment. What if the credit card is no good? That does happen (A LOT).

Sounds to me more like the site is misprogrammed.

@pmcpa4: So he can be charged for something he's supposed to get for free? Since it's already misprogrammed, it is likely it will charge the CC.

What if someone bought the originals using a prepaid "credit" card that is no longer active? What if someone doesn't have a CC (right now)?

@selianth: It may not be a certainty that it will charge the CC, but since there is virtually no cause for needing a CC in this case, it is likely the site is misprogrammed, which greatly raises the probability the CC will be charged, anyway.

@morlo: Why don't you just let Cassi use your CC number?

@Joedel263: Webstore software that can only take a CC is as bad as a bottle that leaches out BPA.

@nstonep: I use Jerry Cans. If it's good enough for Jerry, it's good enough for me.

@Con Seannery: The BPA leeches out when there is a heat transfer taking place through the boundary between plastic and other material. The leeching is in the direction of heat transfer.

In the case of hot liquid, it is minimal. Most of the heat transfer is outward, which will put the BPA leakage into the plastic/metal boundary since the metal won't absorb it fast enough. A small amount of reverse transfer takes place as the heat in the metal transfers back when the bottle is opened. But this is very very small.

The greater leeching happens when a cold liquid is heated from heat transferring from outside to the liquid. As heat transfers from the plastic layer to the water based liquid (I don't know what it does with alcohol, but it could even be worse), the BPA leeches in that direction. The leeching rate increases with the difference in temperature, and also with higher temperatures. The worst scenario is thus a bottle of cold water sitting in a hot car in direct sunlight.

@nstonep: If I were to find a good bottle, I'd probably buy 12 or more. That way I can have multiple drinks prepared and chilled, ready for use.

My requirements for the bottles include no BPA anywhere (not even the cap), no seams in the construction, and dishwasher (running in hot water mode) safe.

I'd prefer a NON-metal construction so I can use them for soup and give them a quick zap in the microwave at work. It would be nice for the cap to be constructed so it can be loosened in a way to release the pressure without having to completely remove it. But NON-metal means BPA-free plastic, or glass.

@dragonfire81: Whenever it becomes that difficult to reach anyone in a company and voice mails are full then its more likely than not the company is only standing on one leg and the other is getting very, very tired.

Get the name of the CEO (many sources). First name plus dot plus last name plus at sign plus domain name (without the "my" part), and send mail to the CEO. Do this ONLY if you receive no reply or response to the usual process in a week or two.

And I do NOT expect you to need to enter a CC number when you have a gift certificate code.

@keepher: Maybe all those messages in their voicemail are to tell them how wonderful a job they are doing.

@gamabunta: Metals simply do not get thrown away. Almost every scrap is recycled because the cost and resources required to form new alloy is FAR greater than that of recycling it.

I just went through this this weekend...maybe I can help? Are you sure you're putting your code in the right place? The instructions that sigg sends aren't exactly clear (or at least to me they weren't). There are two places to put in the code, try using the SECOND box, not the first. I think it's the pin # box? The instructions give the wrong name for it making you think it's supposed to go in the first one. Good luck...hopefully my bottles are on their way.

Wow, this is my 1st time commenting on consumerist after reading posts for over a year because im so upset with sigg. i have a delivery confirmation slip from SEPTEMBER 1st when i mailed my 3 bottles! I've emailed several times with pathetic responses on how they're filling orders as quickly as possible. I never even got a confirmation email yet. I'm going to check my delivery confirm number for sure. when did you guys send yours in, those who received a confirmation email?

@dragonfire81: Wow. You'd think that a company that charges $188 for 8 *WATER BOTTLES* would have enough cash on hand to have adequate VM storage space.

Do people really pay $24 for water bottles? If so, could you direct them all my way? I've got some containers I'd love to sell them.

hmmm... i am still using my 4 nalgenes with BPA :( and i put cold liquids in them. oh well i usually drink them up before they get warm

@gamabunta: If a recent trip to my local Target is any indication, Sigg is going to dump the bottles containing BPA off on big box retailers, where they will be sold at deep discount. I had never seen actual Sigg brand bottles at Target before, yet there they were--a whole wall of them being sold at about 2/3 of the price that I usually see them being sold for at other retailers.

@GitEmSteveDave_Worked4TheWeekend: I still have a ton of these in storage from when we had a giardia issue with our town when I was younger. All different sizes.

Seriously about these expensive water bottles. I could see if you needed something heavy duty for some activity, but $24 is still ridiculous. I make out fine with my re-purposed gallon milk jugs for the gym.

My mom replaced her 6 bottles through the local store (Wegman's) where she originally purchased them. They were running a voluntary replacement program in collaboration with SIGG themselves. Bring in the bottles, pick out new ones from their stock. No waiting.

REI and Whole Foods will also exchange with the newer (BPA-free) bottles, with no receipt required.

I drove over my Sigg bottle last summer. Sounds like it was the right thing to do.

Note: Sigg bottles don't survive being driven over.

@Skaperen: The old-school Nalgene's fit that bill perfectly.