I got really lucky with my local b&m on a few levels. One, I'm lucky to have one close by. Two, they're pretty knowledgeable and weren't interested in screwing over a newbie like me when I walked in off the street and basically said "OK, set me up." They sell good juices at decent prices, and their equipment is reasonable as well. I've switched to online buying for equipment simply because of their limited choices, but will go back for juice refills as long as they're in business simply because they treated me well and I like to support small local businesses when I can.
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I have one EXCELLENT B&M right down the street from me. One of the things they do that impresses me the most is they hold an open workshop every Saturday where both newbies and experienced vapors are invited to come and learn.
They'll teach the newbies the basics, walk them through cleaning and maintaining, explain the products they bought, and answer any questions the user may have. They don't just talk about the products and processes either, they'll break out the gear and demonstrate everything they discuss so the people can interact and participate rather than just listen. They have a very helpful employee who is dedicated to teaching and explaining things to the new people so they can walk out with hands-on experience with their stuff and feel much better knowing what they are doing.
Then they've got another guy who will sit with the more advanced user and talk about the options for them. He'll explain mods, mech mods, RBA/RDAs, batteries, building coils, etc... Again, they break out the gear and it's a lot of hands-on experience.
Now THAT is customer service. For them, the customer relationship doesn't end with the sale, that's where it starts. By offering these people a place to go and learn, for FREE, they make their customers into friends, and that is how it should be.
maybe i should explain my frustration with the first scenario a little better, i know i sound like the douche on that one. when i say she had a dumb founded face, as in she acted like she had never heard of custom mixed juice or after a brief chat had never heard of any ratio other than 70/30. what got me is she is the juice mixer, shouldn't she know these kind of things? and wouldn't you want your shop fully stocked in the back with plenty of nicotine and flavoring? instead of running out? not to mention the prices...$6 for 5 ml. $14 for 12 and $18 for a 30...no thanks anyways. maybe i'm just spoiled on mtbaker prices.
that is how a business should be run IMO. i'm curious to see how many shops around me that are popping up over night will still be in business next year or the year after.
And that is how we do it at the shop I work at. When a person walks in and is new we walk them step by step on how everything works and how to use it and maintain it. Also for the person who wants to move up to say a rebuildable I will show them how to build a basic micro coil even do it for them (using my own personal wire no less) if they want and explain to them the batteries, ohms law and how to do all of this safely. We do rebuild classes once a month for now unless it gets bigger and we need to do so more often. We are in no way the best shop ever but we do pride our selves in trying to make sure the customer beginner or advanced user has any questions answered and feels comfortable with using their purchase. Heck if someone comes in with a piece of gear we don't carry we still try to help. Like a lady came in today with a kayfun that someone gave her and I sat down and taught her how to build a coil for it and how to use it.
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Sounds like you work at a great shop.
There is a shop by my work where a coworker went with her Ego when she was having problems refilling the cart. They GAVE her a Kanger T2 clearo for free to use instead. Probably cost them no more than $3, but they gained a repeat customer who is happy to recommend the place to others now.
Argh, I'm so envious of you all! I don't have a decent B&M!!!! There's one that's 45 minutes away that only sells one type of eGo for beginners and they sell their own in-house juice that I can make myself since I'm a DIY'er. I wouldn't know what to do if I had one that came near to the one's you guys mention, customer service with mods and rba's....I'd think I was in OZ! 
Well it is just me and the owner. While I have the knowlage(I don't know everything) we both have the passion for this stuff. That and my look at it is if you take care of the customer and make them feel comfortable with what they are buying or already own they will come back. To me the best practice is to make a customer for life not a one time customer.
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I've found online vendors to be a lot more knowledgeable AND affordable myself. Ebay can have some great deals, but be wary of unscrupulous sellers, as I have gotten fakes, AND an EMPTY envelope at one point, and was even accused of making it up! Out of the thousands I've spent and 100 percent feedback score, I would have certainly picked something better than a $12 pack of 510/ego adapters to make a false claim over, like the $400 8.9 Kindle HDX I had just recently purchased, ha! Anyways, you can have poor experiences anywhere, and everyone has to start somewhere. I see a bit of "My ____ is bigger then your...." going on, which I can understand to an extent with the money, time and energy people have invested in their gear, as I know I have! Also, like fast food shops, I see a CS position in a vape shop, which is still a relatively new and unheard of industry to many is going to mainly appeal to younger workers. Owners, especially those just starting up will be struggling to stay ahead of overhead and make a profit at first, especially in a community where it's not popular YET, is going to want to keep cost down by hiring younger and less experienced workers and OF COURSE train them to sell THEIR products or why sell them to begin with??
My only experience in the only brick and mortar shop I've been in, in Nebraska, which says a lot ha ha, wasn't the most memorable. The kid was a bit immature IMHO, preferring much more to talk about HIS OWN personal gear versus what they sell. He kept trying to sell me on their juice despite the fact that I'm very picky, and only buy from certain vendors what I know I like, and I just couldn't get past the idea of putting my mouth a cheap clearomizer even WITH a "condom" that God knows HOW MANY others had their mouth on, and I didn't have a dripper at that point. Still I get what he was trying to do, his JOB, which is to sell me something! Of course all of their prices out of their scant inventory were WAY over inflated, (they were really PROUD of their stuff!), but for goodwill's sake and backup, I bought a cheap, knockoff protank, and mini pro. For $10 each, which I guess isn't ALL that bad of a price, they actually perform pretty decent.
I'm just glad there ARE vape shops popping up, advertising, spreading the word, and getting people informed and into vaping! We ALL gotta start somewhere, on both sides, (suppliers/consumers), and I hope the vaping community can stick together as a whole and stand for a long time coming! Sorry your experiences in B and M's have put you off, but next time, as someone else suggested, try educating and informing the person across the counter who's not up to your standards in a non-threatening way, and they're likely to listen and take yoru suggestions to heart. Try and remember that some people like myself prefer an excellent tasting, satisfying vape no matter WHAT it comes from, versus cloud chasing, top of the line RDA's, mech mods and the like, and that we're all on the same team, yes? I think with that attitude you will definitely start to notice the more positive elements of your experiences versus being exasperated, as is true with anything in life I suppose! Best of luck to you as you continue on your vaping endeavors!
My only experience in the only brick and mortar shop I've been in, in Nebraska, which says a lot ha ha, wasn't the most memorable. The kid was a bit immature IMHO, preferring much more to talk about HIS OWN personal gear versus what they sell. He kept trying to sell me on their juice despite the fact that I'm very picky, and only buy from certain vendors what I know I like, and I just couldn't get past the idea of putting my mouth a cheap clearomizer even WITH a "condom" that God knows HOW MANY others had their mouth on, and I didn't have a dripper at that point. Still I get what he was trying to do, his JOB, which is to sell me something! Of course all of their prices out of their scant inventory were WAY over inflated, (they were really PROUD of their stuff!), but for goodwill's sake and backup, I bought a cheap, knockoff protank, and mini pro. For $10 each, which I guess isn't ALL that bad of a price, they actually perform pretty decent.
I'm just glad there ARE vape shops popping up, advertising, spreading the word, and getting people informed and into vaping! We ALL gotta start somewhere, on both sides, (suppliers/consumers), and I hope the vaping community can stick together as a whole and stand for a long time coming! Sorry your experiences in B and M's have put you off, but next time, as someone else suggested, try educating and informing the person across the counter who's not up to your standards in a non-threatening way, and they're likely to listen and take yoru suggestions to heart. Try and remember that some people like myself prefer an excellent tasting, satisfying vape no matter WHAT it comes from, versus cloud chasing, top of the line RDA's, mech mods and the like, and that we're all on the same team, yes? I think with that attitude you will definitely start to notice the more positive elements of your experiences versus being exasperated, as is true with anything in life I suppose! Best of luck to you as you continue on your vaping endeavors!
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Doesn't a poor B&M just want to make you take the associate and shake them!!
I test the store clerks too. There are three around me and if I could take two of them and make them one store, I would be happier. Two of them have Kayfun clones but when I asked both, which clone.......you would have thought I asked him to define gravity in an equation. One of those two were the actual store owner and he didn't know what he bought. The third has WAAAAAY too many employees to be competitive for a vape store. I don't care how busy you are, you don't need 4 people up front and 1 person in the back.
I expect to see clerks who make minimum wage and get a commission and I expect that level of service but take away the vape knowledge and I am flabbergasted at the business practices at their core.
I am not a vape master by any regard but I have felt bad for a newb customer in every store I have been in because they weren't give real information a new vaper should know............and the worst part is that knowledge is commonly going to come with a higher sale.
I test the store clerks too. There are three around me and if I could take two of them and make them one store, I would be happier. Two of them have Kayfun clones but when I asked both, which clone.......you would have thought I asked him to define gravity in an equation. One of those two were the actual store owner and he didn't know what he bought. The third has WAAAAAY too many employees to be competitive for a vape store. I don't care how busy you are, you don't need 4 people up front and 1 person in the back.
I expect to see clerks who make minimum wage and get a commission and I expect that level of service but take away the vape knowledge and I am flabbergasted at the business practices at their core.
I am not a vape master by any regard but I have felt bad for a newb customer in every store I have been in because they weren't give real information a new vaper should know............and the worst part is that knowledge is commonly going to come with a higher sale.
I am fortunate enough to have a killer vape shop here in Lubbock, TX (180 Vape). But even there I have heard an employee give incorrect information to a customer. In one particular instance, he was telling someone that the Igo W3 had four positive posts. I waited until the customer was gone and I corrected him in the nicest, and least condescending way possible. I felt it was imperative that he knew right away he was giving bad info. People see him working in a vape shop and blowing huge clouds, so they assume he is the all knowing. He appreciated it. And he asks my opinion on things every time I come in now.
Nothing wrong with that. I have customers teach me new stuff all the time. We as a vape community learn from each other.
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Well, all I can say is vaping is relatively new and weill, umm, people are idiots and/or uniformed. Went to one shop the other day and owner couldn't figure out why I'd want to vape at more than 11 watts. Must say though, it was a smoke/head shop that also carried vape gear.
Vape is a user knowledge base hobby. The more you vape, the more is learned. I learned quickly to mix DIY juice, got tired of playing the juice roulette game.
Vape is a user knowledge base hobby. The more you vape, the more is learned. I learned quickly to mix DIY juice, got tired of playing the juice roulette game.
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