I feel everyone's pain. In nearly 2 years, all of my hardware has come from SI. Early on, I felt the pain of supply disruptions, and my fear of being stuck and going back to smokes, got the better of me. At any moment, I have a year's supply of batteries, coils, and liquids. I've watched as ppl complained of shortages, and checked my shelf to make sure I always had many months of extra coils. I still have 1 battery in a box from 9 months ago that I haven't used yet. My sister who quit a year ago was very upset a month ago. She uses the mini T3 exclusively and was low on coils. I gave her 5 from my "stash" and advised her to stock up next time.
I have an MBA, so please take this as free professional advice. Inventory shortages are part of business. Whether it be natural disaster, political turmoil or holiday, it impacts customer service. Every time things are out of stock, the customer base suffers. Even if all other aspects of customer service is excellent, this negative impact on CS will damage the potential of any company. In a retail setting, the reliability of the inventory is critical to success. There are too many competitors offering replacement product to ignore the harm this does. Every shortage is an opportunity for loyal customers to look elsewhere to meet their needs. Just in the last 3 months, I've seen advertisements for 4-5 new stores dedicated to e-cigs, where previously 7-11 used to be the only option.
Having said that, I will continue my system of waiting for the next sale, and stocking up on any items that are anywhere near running low (if available). I am happy, but I fear I may not be the typical customer. Even if e-cigs were banned outright, I am good to go for at least a year, and plan to keep it that way.
I have an MBA, so please take this as free professional advice. Inventory shortages are part of business. Whether it be natural disaster, political turmoil or holiday, it impacts customer service. Every time things are out of stock, the customer base suffers. Even if all other aspects of customer service is excellent, this negative impact on CS will damage the potential of any company. In a retail setting, the reliability of the inventory is critical to success. There are too many competitors offering replacement product to ignore the harm this does. Every shortage is an opportunity for loyal customers to look elsewhere to meet their needs. Just in the last 3 months, I've seen advertisements for 4-5 new stores dedicated to e-cigs, where previously 7-11 used to be the only option.
Having said that, I will continue my system of waiting for the next sale, and stocking up on any items that are anywhere near running low (if available). I am happy, but I fear I may not be the typical customer. Even if e-cigs were banned outright, I am good to go for at least a year, and plan to keep it that way.
