So I'v been fortunate enough to come across quite a few vape shops over the past few months, both inside and outside of TN and for the most part, I've enjoyed visiting every single one of them, but I have a slight issue with a number of them. Let me explain.
I've been to ~8 vape shops in the past few months and blown my vape budget many times over - it's a hobby I truly enjoy and I like to support local small businesses, but there's a limit to how far I'll support them. As of late, I've noticed more and more B&M's carrying clones (not an issue) and they're marking up the pricing to as much as 2-3x what they normally sell for and they're not even educating their employees on how to use what they're selling (pretty big issue to me).
For the purpose of this thread, I'll give you a quick glance at my visit to Store #01 (no, I won't mention the name of the store).
I walked into the stored and headed to the display case with the mods. I saw what was labeled as a Nemesis and asked if I could see it. The guy behind the counter said sure, handed it to me and walked off to deal with another customer. Ok, so he was a little trusting, no harm no foul, but he could have lost his job if I walked out with it I'm sure - but I wouldn't have done that.
When he came back I asked if this was the real deal or a clone (I knew it was a clone), he said he didn't think it was a clone and then followed up with no it's not. So I asked if I could see the box and he said it didn't have one. Okay, so I asked how much it was and if they had more. He said it was $59.99 and yes, did I want to get one today. I gave him a shocked look and he asked what and I said well the one I was looking at from the dealer was a little over $200 and the clone was $22. He stayed quite and gave me that look of "uh, crap." About 2-3 minutes later a girl came over to help me since I was still looking across the case.
In the display case with the Nemesis Clone was an I-ATTY, a Z-ATTY Clone (which was actually labeled as a clone). It was $29.99 so I asked if I bought it, would they happen to have some stainless steel mesh to go with it and she and the guy next to her, without blinking an eye, said huh? Why would you want to use metal. You should only use silica in rebuildables.
The other guy then suggested that if I'm new to vaping, I should go with a Protank II or Mini. He said you can't rebuild them and that they're not the best, but you can replace the attys for $2.50 each (i.e. $12.50 for 5) and they perform pretty well.
Before I left as I mentioned I'd have to look around and that'd I'd be back later this week, he then asked what I was using, so I pulled out my SVD, Protank II rebuilt with a micro-coil and cotton and told him about the juice I had in there (DIY juice). Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have went into detail on all things, but the lack of knowledge for anything other than an eGO battery was a bit agitating.
What are your thoughts? Am I out of line expecting that a store and their employees actually know something about what they're selling? Or that I think employees should be trained to answer questions about what they are trying to sell someone? The 2-3x cost on (clone) mods and RBA/RDA is bad enough, but lack of knowledge in general is a bit disappointing.
I've been to ~8 vape shops in the past few months and blown my vape budget many times over - it's a hobby I truly enjoy and I like to support local small businesses, but there's a limit to how far I'll support them. As of late, I've noticed more and more B&M's carrying clones (not an issue) and they're marking up the pricing to as much as 2-3x what they normally sell for and they're not even educating their employees on how to use what they're selling (pretty big issue to me).
For the purpose of this thread, I'll give you a quick glance at my visit to Store #01 (no, I won't mention the name of the store).
I walked into the stored and headed to the display case with the mods. I saw what was labeled as a Nemesis and asked if I could see it. The guy behind the counter said sure, handed it to me and walked off to deal with another customer. Ok, so he was a little trusting, no harm no foul, but he could have lost his job if I walked out with it I'm sure - but I wouldn't have done that.
When he came back I asked if this was the real deal or a clone (I knew it was a clone), he said he didn't think it was a clone and then followed up with no it's not. So I asked if I could see the box and he said it didn't have one. Okay, so I asked how much it was and if they had more. He said it was $59.99 and yes, did I want to get one today. I gave him a shocked look and he asked what and I said well the one I was looking at from the dealer was a little over $200 and the clone was $22. He stayed quite and gave me that look of "uh, crap." About 2-3 minutes later a girl came over to help me since I was still looking across the case.
In the display case with the Nemesis Clone was an I-ATTY, a Z-ATTY Clone (which was actually labeled as a clone). It was $29.99 so I asked if I bought it, would they happen to have some stainless steel mesh to go with it and she and the guy next to her, without blinking an eye, said huh? Why would you want to use metal. You should only use silica in rebuildables.
The other guy then suggested that if I'm new to vaping, I should go with a Protank II or Mini. He said you can't rebuild them and that they're not the best, but you can replace the attys for $2.50 each (i.e. $12.50 for 5) and they perform pretty well.
Before I left as I mentioned I'd have to look around and that'd I'd be back later this week, he then asked what I was using, so I pulled out my SVD, Protank II rebuilt with a micro-coil and cotton and told him about the juice I had in there (DIY juice). Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have went into detail on all things, but the lack of knowledge for anything other than an eGO battery was a bit agitating.
What are your thoughts? Am I out of line expecting that a store and their employees actually know something about what they're selling? Or that I think employees should be trained to answer questions about what they are trying to sell someone? The 2-3x cost on (clone) mods and RBA/RDA is bad enough, but lack of knowledge in general is a bit disappointing.