Hey Rusty, it was fab to meet you today.
For any of the doubters out there, you know who you are , I turned up at Rusty's stall whilst he was explaining the e-cig to a group of young guys who were interested in it - they seemed quite taken by it, hopefully they'll be making a purchase soon.
Anyway, Rusty didn't know me from Adam, so I just looked like another curious buyer, so it was easy for me to listen in to the information he was giving.
At
no point did he refer to e-smoking as an
NRT. He actually mentioned that he still has a couple of fags in the morning with his coffee etc and that he didn't actually advise people to look at it as a miracle 'give up smoking' device (or words to that effect lol).
He not only advised [potential] customers of the TS report right from the start, explaining why he could only sell starter kits with 0 Nic carts at the moment and what was being done to rectify this (i.e. child-proof carts), he also had a copy of the TS report in full view for all to read.
He also gave a demonstration of vaping his own e-cig, and had a sign inviting people to have a trial if they wanted.
Best of all; he wasn't being pushy and using the 'sales patter' to force this on anyone. He gave his information and allowed people to walk away, if need be, and decide for themselves if they wanted to later buy it or not.
Not at all like the Del Boy image some would like to paint of Rusty, the dodgy market stall seller trading from the back of a suitcase etc.
I did feel quite bad listening in without him knowing who I was. It was as though I was almost spying on him (I'd never get a job in Trading Standards lol) but it was just by chance that I arrived as he was talking to those young guys and I could hardly butt in and tell him who I was.
Rusty, it's great to see the e-cig being showcased in the public domain, and not just reserved for us luckily enough to have found this online community. You did us all proud.
p.s. don't be surprised if you get another visit from my Mum soon, she has her eye on one of the dream catchers you sell - will she be entitled to a 'mates rates' discount (j/k)?
A'ra best
Lou x
ETA: We were only there for a few minutes but it was great to see the amount of interest, in the e-cig, there was in that short time. It looks like the Press report has done us all a favour.

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