Issue with many vape shops...

[tj99959]

ROFL, you guys made me grab a volt reader to check.
Right now my mechanical is pumping out a wappin' 7.6 watts with a 1.8 ohm coil. (that's 2.0 amps BTW)

 

[Eskie]

ROFL, you guys made me grab a volt reader to check.
Right now my mechanical is pumping out a wappin' 7.6 watts with a 1.8 ohm coil. (that's 2.0 amps BTW)

You can run that with a SureFire.

 

[jfcooley]

How much do you think that guy behind the counter is getting paid/hour? And, you want scientists?!?
Lets get real! With guys getting paid minimum wage, don't expect anything but minimum service/knowledge. It's the way of the business world.

Here I had to stop reading and reply. Please don't take my comments personally but retail service is something I feel very strongly about.

I worked my way up through the ranks of one of the most notoriously horrible retail establishments. Walmart.

I went from stocker to Department Manager (best produce in Market at the time) to Support Manager to Assistant Manager. Saying "what do you expect" is a cop out. I had numerous employees that were paid crap but took pride in themselves and what they were doing. At Walmart no less. It's Management's job to Foster, train (and retain) employees that work hard for the sake of themselves and take customer care to heart. That's how you make money.

Sure that guy behind the counter may not know it all, but if he desires to do better he can even in a crap establishment. The owner has to make an effort to lead, and promote education to customers and his/her employees. I'll never accept low pay as a reason to do less than what's expected for customers.

Sorry..../rant. I'll shut up now.

 

[stols001]

If you love what you do, pay becomes secondary sometimes. I could make far more money in management/custody work/other arenas, but I don't enjoy it, so I don't do it. For me, rate of pay is secondary to two things 1) If I like my job 2) If I can do it to my OWN standard, which quite often is a higher standard than someone else's which is why I am NOT good in the management role, I tried it out and hated it. The day after I had to fire someone, I resigned. The firing was necessary, but I don't care to make those kind of decisions.

I love "my" Walmart, not because it's so super fantastic, but they do have great employees and I know a lot of them, and they have to have some GOOD mg't going on, because I don't love EVERY set of Walmart staff, not by a LOT. I have been flat out lied to (not unexpected) ignored, forced to do something I did not want to (just today! They wouldn't let me use the self-checkout line as I had "too much stuff" WHUT??? There was no sineage stating "Limit 20 items anywhere" and go to a cashier.... This is why I hate shopping with the kid, though I am by necessity forced to do it sometimes.

Good customer service (anyplace) counts for MOST of my experience these days, I mean we live in an age where really anything is available fairly easily WITH a bit of willingness to wait, so my desires for good customer service have only GROWN over the years.....

I think a good vape shop owner has to understand vaping, and has to have the skills to build that understanding in even minimum wage jobs. My son is working a minimum wage job currently as a young adult, and he's plenty smart. We live in an AGE of minimum wage jobs, frankly.

And, vaping contributes to the problem as we buy Chinese products and whatnot, etc., but that's the age we live in. Around here, with little experience, you are LUCKY to have a minimum wage job that even pays 40 hours (thank you Mr. O) due to the benefit situation so there is NO REASON not to be a good employee at that pay scale, you are easily replaced. Management/owners are the ones who need to do that enforcement, though..... IMO. Because not every employee enjoys working, they do it because they HAVE to.

Anna

 

[jfcooley]

Oh the nightmare stories I could tell about poor management.

I left after 5 years because they wouldn't let me off on time to see a dying family member. But that's for another time.

I"be worked and managed specialty stores, and the key to surviving is exactly what is being discussed here. Responsibility to your product & customers. Know that sometimes letting that dollar go will reap benefits in the future.

Here one shop I frequent is laid back. I watched them sell an alien/beast combo to a woman who wanted to quit. They were very clear on how it worked, why it was different from other setups, and offered her plenty of patience while trying to learn. She was an excellent customer, realizing the guy was alone and waited while he did some quick sales.

Same when I purchased at the other I go to. I walked in and told her I was ignorant and knew little. We looked at some all in ones and in betweens, eventually I left with a qbox. That wasn't a great fit but I learned that on my own, due to me and it being defective.

I asked a question once there to someone else. His answer was "I don't know". I expected that to be the end of it, but he pulled out his phone and said "Let's look it up".

I appreciated the honesty and the added effort. Prices are far cheaper online, but I still go but and spend what I can to help keep them afloat.

 

[tj99959]

Missed my point, so I'll say it again.

Fast forward about three years and there were more vape shops than smoke shops here,

These shops had no interest in good customer service.
They thought regulations were coming, and jumped in to rake off some easy cash before they hit.

 

[stols001]

Really? Does someone open a vape shop for "easy money?" It doesn't seem that easy to me, and most small business owners I talk to don't find it easy, and are often making less money than their employees are-- My husband worked for a small company back East and the guy was so good and generous to his employees, I'm almost *certain* that he was making less than his other three employees, combined. One was an intern, and the other had just left school. My husband was making far more money than he ever did once we moved here, and more importantly, there has never been a single job he has enjoyed as much.

Don't get me wrong, the guy was doing okay, but there is this "myth" that SMALL business owners are raking in cash when quite often, they aren't. It's really about franchising these days, and the person who may have STARTED the franchise is wealthy, but franchise OWNERS even, are not.

Anna

 

[Bunnykiller]

and when his battery vents... he can be told he knew what he was doing...

 

[tj99959]

I can't think of a single "franchised" vape shop in Utah. There are several here that own more than one store with a "manager" in each, but none that are franchises.
There are some here that have great business practices, (like Riverwalk) but unfortunately they are the exception rather than the rule. ENS was one of the best vape stores in the country, but alas ... they are no more. However the owner now has a shop in another state. (Montana) Utah law simply made it impossible in his mind to continue doing business here.

 

[Tonee N]

But you can attract quality employees by assuring them good compensation. And knowing they're paying for quality, a business is more likely to fire someone if they manifest a poor work ethic.

Still the performance of a business's employees is established by leadership from above. If a store owner doesn't care about customer satisfaction, and only cares about driving sales the employees will act accordingly.

You would have to hire, well, most of ECF.[emoji16]

Sent from the future

 

[jfcooley]

I agree that higher pay attracts higher talent. No doubt. Having worked in an area where the hiring pool was very, very shallow I will say you can polish crap to get it to shine. A lot of those folks had been treated poorly. Words of encouragement can accomplish some where pay lacks. We all know that's part of, well, managing.

Sometimes you have to be merciless and cull the heard. The trick is using that as a clear indicator you won't tolerate dead weight, usually motivates the well meaning, if not training deficient.

My point wasn't to start an argument...

I've worked for bad owners. Ones who consistently make poor business decisions. Morale suffers...and so on.

I would imagine that owning a store presents some challenges not seen in other types of boutiques. Some product is cheap allowing tempting markups. Problem is the customers that will keep you in business are the ones able to spot when they're being fleeced a bit. So you have newbies and a choice. Inform and gamble they'll be back or throw it to the fan and take as much as possible.

Advertising, FDA regulations. Personally I think opening a shop would be too much a risk. Even as a cash grab before deeming. Too much of a chance ending up sitting on inventory etc.

Ok...that's it, I'm done with this stuff

 

[sofarsogood]

The best place to shop for vape stuff around me is the Wild Bill's tobacco store chain. It's looking like relying strictly on vape stuff is not bringing enough people through the door. The vape shops I visit (not very often) seem to be struggling. Half the peoplee who step out for a smoke break at work seem to be vaping but like me they spend very little on vape toys. The former smokers who might have been spending several thousand dollars a year to smoke are spending a tenth of that to vape. That's not a great business opportunity in most of the real world.

 

[ENAUD]

Ignorance is not idiocy. It definitely IS on the shop to give a simple explanation of these concepts to help the client and close the sale.

Little anecdote that literally just happened: I have some unused and older vape gear up for sale on Craigslist, and got a nibble for my gold Minikin. Sent my photos, got the ring back to set up a meet. The guy asks me to meet near a Tim Horton's by a highschool (seriously, how Canadian...), which immediately prompts me to ask for ID.

I apologise since it's a personal question to ask, but he quickly obliges with a (mostly blacked out) photo of his driver's license and a note back saying he totally understands - he works at Clouds Burnaby (MY shop) and it's important.

Too cool. Anyway, I'm mentioning this little exchange because the Minikin (which, honestly was being sold at buddy prices already, was asking a pittance) is now a freebie for the guy. I owe a whole lot of gratitude to the folks there, and it may seem weird to PIF to a business (ultimately not actually what I'm doing), but between their guidance in the early days, to their banter and professionalism as a regular, and near constant discounts, I saw it as an opportunity to say thanks. I figured this would be a fun story to relate that properly exemplifies the power of having quality face-to-face vape talk, and why it's so frustrating to me to see others taken by rogues and deadbeats.

Back when the MVP II was still relatively popular, I had moved on from them, and my local ( at that time) shop I asked one of the employees if they knew of any vapers in need of or want of an MVP II. The girl behind the counter confided in me that she did know of a customer in want, that couldn't afford one. I drove home and brought the unit with charger and all back to the store and PIF'ed it to that stranger via the employee, I did get a thank you email, and the employee was risking getting fired for doing that good deed.

That employee and the store she worked at were instrumental in me finding a successful vape and getting off the smokes, that location has since been sold, but there was a time when I would go there to simply toss a few bucks there way to offer a little support. A lot has changed since then, and really, I haven't the need to visit a B&M for a couple years now, and if I do, it is just a curiosity thing... I do like the fact that they are there, for folks to get an intro or a first setup, but I do wonder how many are still crossing over to vaping with the amount of negative press that has been put out there...

 

[tj99959]

You can run that with a SureFire.

Believe it or not I ran that same mod with Trustfires before we knew all that much about those new fangled AW IMR batteries.

 

[MrStik]

Here I had to stop reading and reply. Please don't take my comments personally but retail service is something I feel very strongly about.

I worked my way up through the ranks of one of the most notoriously horrible retail establishments. Walmart.

I went from stocker to Department Manager (best produce in Market at the time) to Support Manager to Assistant Manager. Saying "what do you expect" is a cop out. I had numerous employees that were paid crap but took pride in themselves and what they were doing. At Walmart no less. It's Management's job to Foster, train (and retain) employees that work hard for the sake of themselves and take customer care to heart. That's how you make money.

Sure that guy behind the counter may not know it all, but if he desires to do better he can even in a crap establishment. The owner has to make an effort to lead, and promote education to customers and his/her employees. I'll never accept low pay as a reason to do less than what's expected for customers.

Sorry..../rant. I'll shut up now.

That would usually apply when there is a good chance of advancement in the business. How many guys in a poor paying vape shop job have a chance to be the store manager someday? That is a very unlikely scenario in vape shops which are primarily one off and mom and pop shops.

 

[stols001]

Mom and Pops who know what they're doing, and are able to hire more employees over time, including a manager?

I wonder what the stats are for vape shop failure, honestly. That would be an interesting statistic.

Regardless of the business though, good sound business principles don't exactly change, and in the scenario above, Mom and Pops are the managers. Nor do the bad business models change, that much.

Anna

 

[MrStik]

Mom and Pops who know what they're doing, and are able to hire more employees over time, including a manager?

I wonder what the stats are for vape shop failure, honestly. That would be an interesting statistic.

Regardless of the business though, good sound business principles don't exactly change, and in the scenario above, Mom and Pops are the managers. Nor do the bad business models change, that much.

Anna

Exactly, the small businesses, the owners are usually the managers and that leaves very little room for advancement. So if a clerk is hired on a minimum, what is the incentive to work harder when there is no room for promotion? With that said, there are many great workers who work for basically peanuts out there. One of the shops I go to, they have great employees, but they are not going to be there forever, they are college kids who have a passion for vaping and are willing to work for minimum and they enjoy some of the perks of working in a vape shop, free samples and huge discounts on gear.

 

[Eskie]

Back when the MVP II was still relatively popular, I had moved on from them, and my local ( at that time) shop I asked one of the employees if they knew of any vapers in need of or want of an MVP II. The girl behind the counter confided in me that she did know of a customer in want, that couldn't afford one. I drove home and brought the unit with charger and all back to the store and PIF'ed it to that stranger via the employee, I did get a thank you email, and the employee was risking getting fired for doing that good deed.

In my business, that's an employee I would reward, not fire. There was no lost sale and that person with your MVP probably went on to be a very loyal customer who went on to buy all sorts of stuff including house juice, making money for the business over the long term.

Mom and Pops who know what they're doing, and are able to hire more employees over time, including a manager?

I wonder what the stats are for vape shop failure, honestly. That would be an interesting statistic.

Regardless of the business though, good sound business principles don't exactly change, and in the scenario above, Mom and Pops are the managers. Nor do the bad business models change, that much.

Anna

Depends who you believe. Generally, 50% will survive the first two years (yes, there are claims as high as 80% fail within 12 months, but that's controversial). Opening a small business is a risky proposition, even with sufficient capital and a committed, knowledgeable owner. No reason to believe a vape shop would be any different. However, given today's climate (and not regulatory but competitive) I'd have a retail location and an online presence. A B&M only business when so much of this industry conducts business online is not, IMO, a winning strategy.

 

[bobwho77]

We could be having the same discussion about cars or motorcycles.
Just because you can BUY a 1000cc sport bike, or a 600+ horsepower car doesn't mean you know how to drive it safely.

 

[gpjoe]

We could be having the same discussion about cars or motorcycles.
Just because you can BUY a 1000cc sport bike, or a 600+ horsepower car doesn't mean you know how to drive it safely.

Damn, I was just going to post that after I read the OP.

I'm sure I'll get a slew of "disagrees" but here goes:

Anybody can buy a motorcycle at any shop in my state without the dealer asking "How long have you been riding?" or "Are you wearing a helmet?" or "Have you taken a safety course?" or any other safety related questions. At some point the responsibility falls on the buyer to understand what they are getting into. Same with guns, or fireworks, or alcohol, or gummi bears.

I blame the user - not the shop.