Gotta love the mall e-cig kiosk guy

[p.opus]

We've all seen this guy. The mall e-cig kiosk guy.

So I just leave the Starbucks with a Grande Pike Place Roast in my hand and the guy makes eye contact with me and pulls out his eGo stick with a CE4 on it and takes a long drag and blows out a big cloud..

I couldn't resist. I go over and start looking at his stuff and I pull out my vv3 with my mini PT2 on it and take a hit and cloud it up....and he says something in this thick European accent.....I reply and the following conversation ensues.

Him: (Laughs...) So You try to out do me????

Me: Uh......No......So what tanks you got?

Him: We have Protank and Mini like you have there....

(I look in mock facination at a Mini Protank Clone and Protank knock off. The box says something like Atmos PT and Atmos PT Mini or something like that...)

Me: Nice....

Him. I like your battery......

Me: Yeah, it's nice....It's a........

Him: I know. EEEEE-NO-KEEN. NIIIIICE!!!!!

Me: Yeah, I like it.

(At this point I am disassembling the Mini Protank knock off to see if they knocked off the Mini Protank 1 or Mini protank 2. The threads are crap, the bottom tank connectors feels like it's actually cutting the threads as I unscrew it... I have the bottom collar in one hand and the tank in the other....Mini Protank 1 knock off. Can't disassemble the upper tank...... I unscrew the head from the base...The head is complete crap...But I'm not gonna say anything so I'm examining the head....)

Him: You are professional I think...

Me: Oh.....Not really, so how much is the Mini here?

Him: Just a sec....He Look up for you..

(I take a sip of coffee.....His partner is typing on his keyboard....)

Him: Forty

(I almost choke on my coffee.... )

Me: With the battery???

Him: (Laughs....) NO with Battery is Seventy...

Me: ahhhhhh. Ok....

(We make eye contact again..... He sees it in my eyes.....If I know enough about vaping, to be walking around with an iTaste vv3, and Mini Protank 2....You know full well I'm not fool enough to spend 40 bucks on a Mini Protank I knockoff.)

(I reassemble his tank and put it back on it's battery and return it to the display holder.)

Me: Well, Thank you very much for your time....

Him: You have good battery there...Have good night...

Me: Yeah, Thanks.....Good Night....

I smile and slowly shake my head as I leave.....EEEEE NO KEEEN...... Nice battery.....

 

[toddrhodes]

So you try to outdo me!?!?!?

It is at that point, I'd have just started running. Douchism is both contagious and can lead to questionable reactions from the doucher. Best to just hightail it away when you sense it.

Good show though

 

[MorpheusPA]

I like the photo of your EEEE-NO-KEEN myself.

On the up side, many of the Kiosk People are simply low-wage salespeople who know nothing, and are basically paid to not steal stuff. You may have just encountered the "owner."

 

[MorpheusPA]

So you try to outdo me!?!?!?

It is at that point, I'd have just started running. Douchism is both contagious and can lead to questionable reactions from the doucher. Best to just hightail it away when you sense it.

Good show though

We should note I can outdo the kiosk people with my cheap Volt X2 and Kanger T3 mini-tank. It does help to have a 60% VG liquid, of course...

 

[Rocketpunk]

So you out-did the Mall Kiosk Guy!

"FOR FREEEDOM!"

 

[toddrhodes]

We should note I can outdo the kiosk people with my cheap Volt X2 and Kanger T3 mini-tank. It does help to have a 60% VG liquid, of course...

The mall kiosk guy doesn't exist in my little slice of the world. After hearing so much about them, I can't wait to encounter one out in the wild. ProVari with twins or a Kicked Roller and a Russian 91? Bring it, oh purveyor of e-pipes. Taste my (admittedly unimpressive) vapor you connoisseur of drizzle clouds. Ok, I'm out of alliteration for the night.

 

[Rocketpunk]

Curb your behavior around mall kiosks. Nobody likes a showoff or know-it-all. Do they go to your work and belittle you?!

 

[p.opus]

Curb your behavior around mall kiosks. Nobody likes a showoff or know-it-all. Do they go to your work and belittle you?!

Jeez....Lighten up Francis

I was not out to "belittle" the Mall Kiosk guy. He was the one who motioned me over. He noticed that I noticed his kiosk.

He was very friendly.....I found the whole exchange amusing. I didn't say anything to him about his merch, I simply looked at his tanks, asked how much they were. Didn't complain about his pricing. Nothing...

He knew that he wasn't going to fleece me though.....

 

[Rocketpunk]

And so a fellow does what he can to earn a paycheck.

 

[p.opus]

And so a fellow does what he can to earn a paycheck.

Which is why I didn't make a scene. Mall space ain't cheap. I did not show him up in front of other potential customers, I looked at his stuff, examined his tanks, and asked for a price.

If someone bought that mini with the battery for 70 bucks, at least they're not smoking.....No harm, no foul.

 

[SilentVapidity]

Starbucks, huh? Is the kiosk infringing on their "no vaping within xx feet" policy?

 

[p.opus]

Starbucks, huh? Is the kiosk infringing on their "no vaping within xx feet" policy?

I think Starbucks has to defer to Mall policy when in a mall. Didn't really notice. If it weren't for mall Kiosks, I wouldn't know what an e-cig was. If he had any juice I would have bought a bottle. I try to throw the local B&M's some cash when I can... But I'm not paying 40 bucks for a Mini Protank....I didn't even ask how much the PT was....

 

[crxess]

Personally can't stand those kiosk and yes the prices are insanely high. I have to assume, from the lack of interested customers and cost of space, at least at our Mall, their pricing is as much for survival as for profits.
Do I condone it - no. Go down town, rent a place for 1/2 the cost and open a real B&M that can serve repeat customers at a reasonable price.

 

[WillyZee]

One Christmas season I bought Smoked Meat from a mall kiosk ... eCig kiosks ... I wouldn't even stop to look.

 

[p.opus]

One Christmas season I bought Smoked Meat from a mall kiosk ... eCig kiosks ... I wouldn't even stop to look.

If it's Hickory Farms, I gotta get me a Beef Stick.......I love me some Beef Stick.....I remember it used to be my favorite STORE in the mall.

 

[Fyerwall]

Personally can't stand those kiosk and yes the prices are insanely high. I have to assume, from the lack of interested customers and cost of space, at least at our Mall, their pricing is as much for survival as for profits.
Do I condone it - no. Go down town, rent a place for 1/2 the cost and open a real B&M that can serve repeat customers at a reasonable price.

We had a new mall kiosk vendor open just before December. He and his wife are selling eGo kits, liquids and accessories. The GF and I stopped to look at their stuff and got into a conversation with them. They asked what we were using and I showed him my MPV and the GF had her vv3. The husband made the comment that they would love to carry items like that, but that they would have to charge an arm and a leg because the cost of the kiosk rental was borderline robbery. They are currently looking for a retail space downtown and can't wait to move. She said they were planning on making a lounge sorta setup like most cigar shops, but for vapers only. Sorta like a Vapers Cafe as she explained it where you can sit, vape, try/buy vaper gear/juices or have a coffee and vape while watching TV and relaxing.

She was poking fun at her husband because it was his idea to do the kiosk to get the name out, but they stuck them in the east bumfook section of the mall where no one ever goes (it's kinda dark, dirty and I swear I saw a tape outline of a body on the floor...). I bought an eGo starter kit and the GF bought some juices (pricey, but hey, it made their day). They seemed pretty knowledgeable about the gear (shes a provari girl) and what items they want to sell.

They said the kiosk deal is a 4 month lease, close to $500 a month for the non-prime spaces. There was a deposit too and if they break the lease they lose the deposit and have to pay a certain percent of the remaining amount of lease time as a penalty. So I felt our purchases, while small, would help them hopefully get out of the skid row section of the mall and into a space of their own where they could offer more product for a better price (and give me somewhere local to go to mess with new toys and juices )

 

[bigrf85]

We had a new mall kiosk vendor open just before December. He and his wife are selling eGo kits, liquids and accessories. The GF and I stopped to look at their stuff and got into a conversation with them. They asked what we were using and I showed him my MPV and the GF had her vv3. The husband made the comment that they would love to carry items like that, but that they would have to charge an arm and a leg because the cost of the kiosk rental was borderline robbery. They are currently looking for a retail space downtown and can't wait to move. She said they were planning on making a lounge sorta setup like most cigar shops, but for vapers only. Sorta like a Vapers Cafe as she explained it where you can sit, vape, try/buy vaper gear/juices or have a coffee and vape while watching TV and relaxing.

She was poking fun at her husband because it was his idea to do the kiosk to get the name out, but they stuck them in the east bumfook section of the mall where no one ever goes (it's kinda dark, dirty and I swear I saw a tape outline of a body on the floor...). I bought an eGo starter kit and the GF bought some juices (pricey, but hey, it made their day). They seemed pretty knowledgeable about the gear (shes a provari girl) and what items they want to sell.

They said the kiosk deal is a 4 month lease, close to $500 a month for the non-prime spaces. There was a deposit too and if they break the lease they lose the deposit and have to pay a certain percent of the remaining amount of lease time as a penalty. So I felt our purchases, while small, would help them hopefully get out of the skid row section of the mall and into a space of their own where they could offer more product for a better price (and give me somewhere local to go to mess with new toys and juices )

even with the great online deals i can get every ounce in a while i like to go for a wild hair purchase at my local b&m i ike to support them but if i went total b&m id have literlly 2 mods and maybe 3 weeks of liquid lol

 

[VapoJoe86]

I'm going to skip the nice politically correct stuff and go ahead and say that I have no respect for mall kiosk vendors blatantly overcharging people who are ignorant about e-cigs. Sure, they're just doing their job, earning a wage, etc. but bad business is bad business. We used to have a small mall kiosk at my local mall where they only sold their own brand of e-cigs (it was called Smoke Tonight- worst name for a vapor kiosk ever) and their own liquids. Their go-to thing to sell people was a starter kit that consisted of 2 non-VV batteries and a really low quality top coil clearomizer. Sadly enough, they now actually have a store in the mall where they sell the same low quality products for the same premium prices. In my eyes, places that do this type of thing are actually turning people away from vaping by offering them a low quality (and under-performing) product at an unreasonable price.

 

[happydave]

my mall kiosk wants $99 for
1 ego 1000 mah battery non VV
1 CE6 clearo
3 replacement heads
1 charger
1 crappy case

i laughed when they told me the price o_0

 

[Mohamed]

Maybe I don't get to the mall as much as I did 30 years ago...to be honest can't remember being there in 10 years to really look around other than maybe the food court. I might have to make a trip to my closet mall in Iowa to see if we have any ecig kiosks. I have heard that vaping isn't allowed in any of the starbucks. Figure it would be a mall policy and not a per store policy at a mall.

Anyway I got started by the njoy / eblu / some other disposable at a gas station. Yeah it was a rip off and only used it a month before I researched better things. Then again I think I paid 70 for ego-c starter kit and got a vamo v3 for less than that. If you don't have friends teaching you or intelligent vape shop owners it's kind of trial and error for newbs or noobs. Can 60 year old say that and still sound cool

Anyway I guess my point is I'm glad there was exposure in gas station to get me started and get me researching. Same probably goes for kiosks. Yeah they may get ripped off but hopefully it exposes them and leads them to research the devices, juices, etc. Seems like Iowa and the midwest can be behind times compared to east and west coast for some reason so we are a couple years behind trends. I think we finally got a few vape shops in our capital that I've been meaning to check out when I get time. I guess my point is we don't seem to have kiosks in every mall and 50 vape shops in our city like some of the east and west coast cities.

Sorry for rambling just wanted to give my 2 cents on that even bad exposure may lead to good exposure.