giveing up on my local ecig shops!

[jp_cfc09]

I loved my first ecig shop just down the road but since they got new staff I dont like it. they dont want to help or just dont know anything, everything I ask about such as juice they say is great. once I try them they are rubbish, not much choice either apart from juice iclear clearomizers and ego batterys, no vv though.

so I decided to search and can only find one other shop called e cigarette world which has more choice and couple of shops about everywhere. same story again but with the staff. I cant understand why they hire people who havent a clue to work for them. I went into them today and asked about juice, what mix is it pg vs vg. the women looked at me like I was a headcase and said 24 or 16mg, I laughed and said yes im looking 24mg nic but wondering what mix is it in pg and vg. she hadnt a clue so went and asked the manager who never knew and said they are all the same and let me cheek the bottle. no vg just pg it said on the bottle I told them and she said thanks was wondering what that was when people asked. I was like seriously what a joke. I asked her about my iclear16 ce5 and said they do them also so I asked for new coils as mines is starting to go. asked if she had the 1.8 ohm coils and she asked what that was, I told her the resistance of the coil. she said we only do one type will I ask the manager for you about this, I told her no thank you and just went.

am I asking to much for staff to know what resistance and mix there own products are like, I thought must be her first day untill the manager was just as bad lol. I just like to walk into shops to buy things but seems ill have to go online now. just letting people know my experience so rant over lol

 

[kinggirl]

I somewhat had the same experiences at my local shops in Texas. After ordering juice online and having found 2 websites I absolutely love, I have determined that my local shop was pretty much junk.

 

[BeatboxHero]

Yeah, it's really hard to find a shop with knowledgeable vapers working there. I am lucky to have Electronicstix only about 30 minutes from my house. Their online store is nice (electronicstix.com) and they hire people that vape themselves! So when I go there I always pick up some tips and tricks and real world experience.

If I had the money I would open a vaping store and everyone I hired would vape. I would give them new products to try so they could recommend things. It's such a new market it's hard though. Good luck finding a better place!

 

[bfitz]

There was a shop in my area that I really liked. The one co-owner was into mech mods and rebuildables so we would talk about the new stuff we had gotten in and it was nice to have some one to geek out with about e-cigs in real life. He ended up leaving to pursue some other things and the new guy they hired is just as clueless as the people you mentioned. I have went in twice since to pick up some juice and a couple evods and the only thing he ever has to say is "make sure you don't tighten those to much". Nice enough guy but no real clue about what he is selling. I saw him tell a guy that one carto and a ego would last him a couple days on the road for his job.

 

[Underdog68]

I live in an area where the local analog shops carry the disposable and occasionally liquids and Vapage brand kits. Rare though. The other day while online, I found a shop that was 3 hrs away. The owner was very helpful via email, so what did I do? Yep, dove the 3 hrs. Lol
The "shop" was actually a kiosk in the mall; but, the employee vaped, and knew her stuff. Quite impressed!
Now being I have no problem driving (within reason), ill go to a brick and mortar store and see the inventory and how the staff are as far as customer service.
Will I shop online? I'd rather a face to face shopping experience, but I'll go online if need be.

 

[tinkrrrbell]

The B&M's here in my area have very knowledgeable staff based on my limited experience. Perhaps if I was advanced at this I'd think they were less so. I've had good luck so far, sorry you haven't.

 

[Vapolith]

I am very fortunate to have a great vape shop right down the street from me. They have three other branches and are doing rather well. Everyone that works there is all about trying all the gear in the shop, and every juice they sell, they have in an evod tank for you to try with a disposable drip tip cover. Most of their prices are pretty reasonable and they are very helpful to new vapers. I live in the Akron/Canton area of Ohio.

 

[jp_cfc09]

The B&M's here in my area have very knowledgeable staff based on my limited experience. Perhaps if I was advanced at this I'd think they were less so. I've had good luck so far, sorry you haven't.

must be the uk lol, usa seems to have more choice etc. there is 4 b&m within 15 mintue drive from me but they dont sell anything ecig here in the uk at all. ive only found three shops in ireland which is the 2 ive tryed and one down south but he seems to only do disposables and cartos really. must be because ireland is so small but even the shops in england, scotland that ive found have very limted selection of gear on there websites. wouldnt fancey shipping costs from usa so got to try eu shops then I guess, suppose the shipping wouldnt be too dare but would take a while just.

 

[really_now?]

The only 2 places that sells any type of vape stuff i refuse to goto. One store just feels like they steal from me with the overly high prices they have.

The other store well they lack knowledge and alot of it.

So i refuse to support local shops like that so everything is done online for me

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

It's pretty hit or miss, mostly miss. Most shops I get a lot of "deer in the headlights" looks, a lot. "Do you have a carto punch?" I'm sorry, what is that, the answer. Or, I walk in and they want to show me a $220 Bagua. Or, I walk in and see the Fasttech catalog and twice the price. We've had over 20 new vape shops open in the last 90 days, and they all seem the same to me. I want to support these guys, and I do on a very limited basis. They act like they're doing me a favor selling me a delrin drip tip for $10. I'm sorry, but I have to buy online most of the time. Even with shipping costs, it's quite a bit cheaper, and I can get whatever I like. Selections are just not good, unless you're looking for a first kit. Most of the gear I'm interested in these days, there may be only one shop in the whole U.S. that carries a particular product. The other thing I've seen that disturbs me is that these shops are preparing sub-ohm coils for new comers, and provide no instruction on battery safety, etc. Blowing Big Clouds is now all the rage, and I'm just speechless at what I see going on now.

I know how to blow big clouds. My problem is that I actually like the taste of vapor, and I don't want the TH to actually hurt me. I get a lot of vapor from my gear, but I'm talking about room filling clouds. I think this practice, in public, is bad for all of us. Anyway, my two cents.

 

[rico942]

After two fruitless stops at the vape shop nearest my home, I'm sticking with online purchases ...

Unlike most in this thread, I really don't know if the staff in my local store is knowledgeable or not, they've never spoken to me. Both times I entered, there was a group of 6 to 8 boys and girls vaping on a couch and engaged in a cryptic (to me) conversation that didn't seem to touch on anything in the store. All were 20-something, very self-absorbed, and seemingly amused at a senior citizen in their midst ...

I did have the run of the shop, the display cases were open, and spent my time checking out the hardware, totally ignored by any of the couch potatos that might have actually worked there, and their high school chums ...

Makes a good venue for hands on examination of mods and mechs beyond my own entry-level stuff, but buying anything would require acknowledgement by a salesperson first ...

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I'm blessed with a very good B&M store just a couple of miles from my house. I was just in there Sunday getting a few things and while waiting, I heard the lady working there competently explaining the difference between the Evod and the CE4 to a newb.

Then she pulled out her Tesla and took a few puffs, and the newb says, "what's that?" Then she competently explained the difference between mods and eGo/stick systems.

 

[texasguy4]

I somewhat had the same experiences at my local shops in Texas. After ordering juice online and having found 2 websites I absolutely love, I have determined that my local shop was pretty much junk.

must be Posh

 

[Ddippel]

I actually work in a B&M in NC and our company requires that not only must all employees vape, but we MUST use our products, so that we know what we're doing with them and can answer any question about any of our products that a customer may ask. Yes, our selection is limited but that is an unfortunate part of a B&M is space, we cannot keep more products then we have room for. However, at least at ours, we try and cram our cases nice and full so we can carry the biggest selection possible.

 

[Gaspar74]

I only have one local 15 miles and in other state but they are very good there. The prices are higher but thats to be expected but the staff is great.

 

[Lombaowski]

The local store here has a great product line, plenty of staff and actually a good web presence. However...they are completely unhelpful and borderline rude. In a pinch I'd go back, but I don't intend to be in a pinch.

I guess there is another B&M in the area, will have to check them out.

 

[james chapman]

We have 2 here in my town,they are geared to the newest of vapers. The town up the road has a shop,but the juice is horrible. The DIY I have been doing,so far is to my taste. I had thought about opening a store,as I am retired,but my knowledge is very limited,however after visiting the 2 BM,I realized I am a frigin' genius I asked if they carried Boge pre punched,he said you mean smok tech,Boge does not make a pre punched. I said, well I buy them on line. I would really like to see the BM make it,but I am so use to having all my supplies and never running low on anything,so they won't be getting many of my $.

 

[e-pipeman]

I would hate to knock B&M shops. However my total experience of vaping has only ever involved ordering from people over the internet. Some of those people have B&M shops, and we have established relationships which I value.

However in most cases we are talking about places that resell devices made in China at a mark-up and then also charge hefty p&p.. I am grateful that this forum made me aware of FastTech. Obviously you can't buy a beautiful English-made device like the Megalodon from FastTech - but you CAN buy just about everything else.

I don't believe that this is in any way disloyal. It is free-market economics in practice.

 

[Train2]

Haven't got one at all nearby, but there's one I COULD visit while working.
I feel bad I haven't yet, actually, but it's not a fabulous central location...
There's a definite small trend of people into vaping thinking they can run a vape shop - when they have little capitol to set up properly, and no experience running a retail business. Then they hire people they like - regardless of product knowledge.
I'm not saying it's like that in every shop - just that there are hundreds of shops like that. They'll all probably end up closing within 2 years of opening.

 

[StrappedKaos]

I must say that I felt like that at first.... Then I found Misty Mountain in Raleigh, NC. They are extremely knowledgeable and have helped me alot when it comes to RBA/RDA's.... I Don't work for them but they have earned the right for me to talk positive about them, Only place in Raleigh area I will spend my money and Mark is a RBA/RDA pro. Strapped