Oh yeah, been there, done that. I just didn't take as long with it. In 3 weeks I went from the cheap flea market e-cig to a mech and genny which I still use 3 years later. It allows me to be free of the B&M's and I don't have to worry about whether they carry my coils, because I make them myself for less than a penny and they last over a month. Wicks are pretty much the same thing, and I make my own juice too rather than pay the B&M's $80 a week for it. If you let them have their way with it vaping will be just as expensive as smoking, and you will never be able to really count on them for your vaping needs. You'll just be a repeat customer subject to what they choose to carry.
Yes, vaping involves work, effort, and a learning curve. In my own experience it was well worth it to not be dependent on the vape stores for anything and to have a satisfying and dependable vape. It's well worth getting a rebuildable atomizer and learning how to build it right, and it's so very worth it to learn making your own juice. Not only do both save you a boatload of money, they are really quite rewarding in other ways.
I went through a range of hardware pretty fast trying to get a satisfying and dependable vape, and I got it. I had to learn rebuildables to do it, but it worked beautifully and I saved a ton of money in the process. There are many varieties of mods and rebuildable atomizers out there and ECF is a great resource for help with them. Then too YouTube is your friend in that way.
I would urge you to look into rebuildable atomizers and the mods you can use them on. If you want something done right it pays to do it your self.