A story about vaping and mall kiosk personnel

[generalscoto]

watch out for those mall cats, man!

I ordered a Prodigy and had a new toy love affair with it for the three weeks my atomizer lasted - I was a two pack a day monster prior - so it's no surprise. I couldn't survive that abuse, let alone a resistance heating element. Burned through a bottle or so of juice, lovin' it.

Then the atomizer went, and all smoky hell broke loose. I, of course, didn't follow advice (being a natural skeptic) and was without an atomizer. Thinking all creatures are created equal, went to the KOP mall, found me a Smoking Everywhere kiosk, and tried to buy just an atomizer. Swarthy looking gypsy fellow rings me up, and it's fifty-five dollars! I tell him no way, so he knocks it down to thirty-five. At this point, i'm moderately agitated, and quickly pull up puresmoker.com on my phone and show him the cost of an atomizer from someone reputable. Guy looks at me like i'm loose in the head.

Then he tells me that since he already removed the thirty-five dollar atomizer from the packaging of a new unit (since he didn't stock just replacement parts) that I was law bound to purchase it, as I had opened the box and couldn't return it.

Barring any prohibitive language, I kindly instructed him on how to repackage the unit before i placed it inside of his...cavity...forcefully. Fortunately, I'm a big guy, and a little twitch of the eye and some growling noises make people think you're better off on the other side of the room, far away from them. He took the golden atomizer of the gods back, and cringed his away to the other side of his cart.

Quite a spectacle. I hope that these 'artists' aren't thought of as representative of the vaping community as a whole - detrimental, to say the least. Were I still unsure of the benefits and wonders of the vape, I think I'd have called it quits right then and there.

However, PS got my five (we go nicotine boy scout now!!!)replacement atomizers and bottles of juice out promptly, got me back off the analogs (for the most part - the five am burner is still just oh-so-too-sweet to let go just yet) and on to what my co-workers call, affectionately, my 'crack pipe'.

Moral of the story: Vapers unite! Slay the evil mall-rat-e-cig-demons! They give us a bad name!!!!

 

[crashtestjeep]

Aye! to that!

 

[them0nk]

hey, i'm a small dude, i'd have given anything to stick my foot through the face of the people at smoking everywhere's kiosk... but... there is a catch... even though they're complete D-bags for the prices they sell stuff for... the products do work.... they got me started on vaping. 250 dollars almost wasted... not to mention they're battling the FDA in our favor. but as you see... they're all about $$$. other than that ... i really think people should unite to spread the knowledge of how bad particular companies are at service and pricing. i paid 35 dollars for 1 801 atty at a different source... SE isn't the only bad egg.

 

[generalscoto]

you're absolutely right, m0nk. I need to take those fools like politicians. Some good, some bad. I think we need a puresmoker.com kiosk! With proper pricing and information.

I have since been spreading the word about vaping, and telling that same story when people ask, even giving website information and things like that. I've actually found it easy - people just notice the e-cig, and they're right over with what has become the ages-old question....'Is that one of those electronic cigarettes?'

Why, yes it is!

 

[BrockJ]

If you were paying for the kiosk in the mall and some gypsy fellow to run it for you, your prices would probably be close to what they're charging.

Unseen to the consumers of this product are the 70 - 80,000 dollar siezures by customs and port authorities. They tie the products up for months and sometimes never release it to the retailers. I think PS has taken a hit or two in the past.
With events like this, there's no wonder attys are $35 - $40 each.

I pass out PS cards and information every chance I get

.

 

[SheerLuckHolmes]

A long time ago I use to manage a store in a shopping mall. The mall environment is terrible. I would not be surprized if SE is paying at least $3,000.00 to $4000.00 a month for the rent on their hut. On top of that the mall gets a % of their sales each month, making the mall's take easily $4k to $6k each month. Those employees are probably at minimum wage plus 2% to 5% commission, trying to put gas in their car, pay their bills and raise their kids. They have to take the pressure from management for sales, more sales and more sales, deal with the customers that are rightly or wrongly in the holiday crump and plead & beg to leave for a bathroom break. In my jewelry store we were required to work open to close Thanksgiving through Xmas (could equal 75+ hours a week) and for the last two weeks before Xmas we were not allowed breaks ~ not even to eat. Had to grab bites as you could here and there. Sure its illegal, but do you want a job or not? Can you say under stress?

Are the mall e-cig stores nuts for doing business there? Yes. Are they over hyping and making outrageous claims about the product? Yes. But the real villian IMO are the malls themselves. They are the ones that rape the small business man and the national chains as well, who have no option but to pass it on to the customer.

So give the parent company all the jazz you want, and I am not saying they don't have it coming, but take it easy on that mall employee who is behind the counter. Many times they don't want to be there either.

 

[kristin]

There are some reputable mall resellers on this forum.

However, anyone who still actually shops in malls are nuts - the prices on EVERYTHING in malls seems over the top!

Malls seem to be more of a destination place, rather than a one-stop shop convenience, anymore - we have the internet for that now.

 

[VictoryNotVengence]

atleast you know you won't get any guff from anyone vaping in the mall. I'd like to walk around Sears and vape.

 

[catlvr]

There are some reputable mall resellers on this forum.

However, anyone who still actually shops in malls are nuts - the prices on EVERYTHING in malls seems over the top!

Malls seem to be more of a destination place, rather than a one-stop shop convenience, anymore - we have the internet for that now.

I'm totally with you on this. I haven't been to the malls here in years. The last time I went I couldn't believe the price difference in the exact same items I had looked at online. Now I'm curious to know if one of our 2 malls has one of these kiosks in it. I kind of doubt it knowing this town.

 

[Slickstick]

A flea market might be an easier way

 

[CaSHMeRe]

i feel *weird* when I walk by the Mall Kiosk here at the Opry Mills Mall ....

I just walk by, keep my mouth shut, and watch roughly 10 people standing in line there for a demo!!!!

 

[them0nk]

i feel *weird* when I walk by the Mall Kiosk here at the Opry Mills Mall ....

I just walk by, keep my mouth shut, and watch roughly 10 people standing in line there for a demo!!!!

do yourself a favor... sport your protege in front of them... blow a huge cloud of vapor in their face.

I actually did this... i was in a bind and needed prefilled legit looking carts for my trip to that party on Halloween... so i went to the SE cart flaunted my protege infront of the girl working that booth that day... i wish i would have had some PS cards - i would have passed them out to the people awing over the SE products. even the girl at the booth was saying she wants to look into them.

which reminds me... i need to get something going for new years eve... i refuse to attempt to get my protege in... stand in line for 1-2 hours to have to redo it? (yeah right throw away my protege... NO.) --- i had to go back to the car too that night... forgot my 100 dollar knife was clipped to my pocket and right when i got in line i saw it and had to take the 15 minute hike back to my car lol...

maybe i'll order an Ace from PS... carrying a couple carts and batteries seems like a good way to roll to a party. If it looks more like a cigarette i think they wont fret as much.

sorry for the ultra off in left feild post.

 

[Vapor_Happy]

Yeah, I bought a disposable e cig for $12 + $2 shipping from ecigarettechoice.com and was severely disappointed in vapor production, then I nearly bought from smoking everywhere in the mall but when i tried it out, still i got no vapor production ...after hours and hours and hours of watching reviews, finding online retailers, and shopping i'm now the proud owner of a dse901 USB passthrough, an RN4062 cigar, and a dse905 mod. I'll admit the start-up cost is really high, but they will be paid for in a couple months. Smoking Everywhere is taking the brunt of our "vapor battle" with the FDA, but I feel if you paid too much for your e-cig, it's partially your fault for not checking out enough online suppliers. (except those without credit/debit card) Money is very important to me, so I looked for days finding the best deals. I also had my items shipped from china and germany. they will be cheaper there, but since shipping costs are high you should by a big enough order to make it worth it. No offense to anybody that paid high prices, but always shop around if you need to save money like me

 

[Vapor_Happy]

omg monk, that's such a great idea to go to a Smoking Everywhere kiosk in the mall and blow a huge mushroom cloud of vapor into their faces and ask them if their little SE product can do that! haha shoudl I use my dse905 or my RN4062 (both of which produce excellent clouds)

 

[EcA2AcE]

i feel *weird* when I walk by the Mall Kiosk here at the Opry Mills Mall ....

I just walk by, keep my mouth shut, and watch roughly 10 people standing in line there for a demo!!!!

Jump In and give them that DEMO with the Protege

 

[Vapor_Happy]

ohh hell yeah, reppin Indiana I see, I'm talking about the castleton mall, im gonna walk right up to that SE kiosk and nuke em' haha

 

[markarich159]

omg monk, that's such a great idea to go to a Smoking Everywhere kiosk in the mall and blow a huge mushroom cloud of vapor into their faces and ask them if their little SE product can do that! haha shoudl I use my dse905 or my RN4062 (both of which produce excellent clouds)

Here's my SE kiosk story:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/law-e-cigarette/39849-se-still.html#post601709

 

[generalscoto]

i do respect what mall employees have to go through, my brother worked in one for a few years - brutal. I was merely commenting on the fellow's inference that i was stealing from him. Very unprofessional.

And I was vaping on a service call last night, homeowner thought it was the coolest thing ever, had to hand out the PS site and the recommendation! Another free mind! 8-o