Mall vendor fury

[PepNYC]

So I was in the mall yesterday and stopped at the local vape kiosk to check out what they were selling. I should have known better. They had the usual ego batts, cheap stardust looking clearos, some evod knockoffs, etc... Then I noticed he had some nice drippers and mech mods. Even had a eleaf istick mini. Now I don't claim to know everything about every piece of vaping equipment however, being that I've been vaping for a little over three years, I've been around the block once or twice. So now I start in with the questions. First I asked about the "RDAs" to which his response was, "we don't have any RDAs". Huh? They're right there in your window I said. He said "oh. Those are called drippers". Ok. I just nod my head. Then I ask him about the EVODs. Do you sell the heads for those? He responds, "those heads are not replaceable". Again I just nod my head. Then I ask him what the mAh on the istick mini is. He says "2200mAh." For those who don't know, it's actually 1050mAh. The full size is 2200mAh. At that point I had to just walk away before I laid in to this guy. This is the second time this has happened to me at a mall kiosk. Something similar happened to me about a year back when I went to my local MadVapes shop to buy something. The sales guy there didn't know what he was talking about either which surprised me quite a bit. My point here is if these guys are going to sell this stuff, they should really know what the hell they're selling. Yes, it is the responsibility of the consumer to do their research but we all know most beginners don't and assume the sales person knows what they're talking about. I guess I'm just ...... off that consumers are not getting accurate information on equipment as well as what people are hearing about the safety of vaping. Just gives the whole damn community a bad name. Ok. Rant over.

 

[Circa Survivor]

What'd you expect? It's a mall kiosk lol.

 

[InTheShade]

Assuming it wasn't the owner of the kiosk that helped you, it was probably some over worked, under trained person just trying to make a dime.

High turnover in retail stores often mean employees aren't as well trained as they should be. If you want proof, go to Best Buy or any Cell phone vendor store and you'll get wildly different information from each sales rep that helps you. I blame the managers and bean counters for not training their people properly more than I blame the people that work on the front line tbh.

It's frustrating for sure, but it's also the main reason why I research every purchase I make before going to a B&M (not just for vape gear either) Anyone going to any store to buy anything should do their own research before going.

 

[seminolewind]

I live near a great mall kiosk. The woman never smoked or vaped, her husband vapes, and she decided if she's going to sell them, she read everything there is to know. I've vaped for over 5 years, and I was impressed!

I tended to look at what they sell in another way. An ego and a proline mini or knockoff proline mini is cheap, attractive, and easy and pretty satisfying and tasty. I'm kind of glad that most of these suppliers around here sell that. I think it's the most likely to work well for a beginner.

 

[vapero]

I once passed by one of those and the guy was trying to get me to buy a cigalike, I told him that I vaped and showed him my paps/quasar.. he then said that mine was crap compared to their and that they had the best technology and produced more vapor than anything on the marked...

that's when I asked him to make a demonstration so he produced what could just as well be vapor from breading in clod weather, so I decided to take a big lung hit out of my .4ohm build.. he really couldn't believe it, he didn't even thought it could be done (and I'm not a cloud chaser per se)

 

[Danbrooks2k]

Yeah I have been to a mall kiosk... once. There wont be a second time. At the time I was vaping a kayfun clone with a vertical coil ( rip tripper style ) on an mvp.

They carried ego batteries, acrylic clearos, and topped out with an innokin cool fire and a protank 2. All the juices were high pv stuff from china that had been re bottled.

Except for the dekang RY4... it was still in the 30ml bottle with the blue top that kinda looks like the nipple from a babies bottle.

I didnt even have the strength to call them out on it. I feel bad for the poor gal standing there wearing an ego on a lanyard around her neck.

 

[dgm76513]

On a lighter note, you said: " I'm just ...... off that consumers are not getting inaccurate information on equipment as well as what people are hearing about the safety of vaping."

I know what you meant, but LOL! You're mad they're not getting lied to!

 

[supermarket]

So I was in the mall yesterday and stopped at the local vape kiosk to check out what they were selling. I should have known better. They had the usual ego batts, cheap stardust looking clearos, some evod knockoffs, etc... Then I noticed he had some nice drippers and mech mods. Even had a eleaf istick mini. Now I don't claim to know everything about every piece of vaping equipment however, being that I've been vaping for a little over three years, I've been around the block once or twice. So now I start in with the questions. First I asked about the "RDAs" to which his response was, "we don't have any RDAs". Huh? They're right there in your window I said. He said "oh. Those are called drippers". Ok. I just nod my head. Then I ask him about the EVODs. Do you sell the heads for those? He responds, "those heads are not replaceable". Again I just nod my head. Then I ask him what the mAh on the istick mini is. He says "2200mAh." For those who don't know, it's actually 1050mAh. The full size is 2200mAh. At that point I had to just walk away before I laid in to this guy. This is the second time this has happened to me at a mall kiosk. Something similar happened to me about a year back when I went to my local MadVapes shop to buy something. The sales guy there didn't know what he was talking about either which surprised me quite a bit. My point here is if these guys are going to sell this stuff, they should really know what the hell they're selling. Yes, it is the responsibility of the consumer to do their research but we all know most beginners don't and assume the sales person knows what they're talking about. I guess I'm just ...... off that consumers are not getting inaccurate information on equipment as well as what people are hearing about the safety of vaping. Just gives the whole damn community a bad name. Ok. Rant over.

Not sure why it bothers you so much.

At least the guy was in the ball park. He didnt know what RDAs are, but he knew they were drippers. You could have explained RDA stands for "Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer" in one sentence.

As for the mah of unit you mentioned, he could have made a mistake, as you said, that is the same mah of the original unit, just not the mini.

You can't expect some teenager at a mall kiosk to know as much about vaping as you, a vaping enthusiast of 3 years who frequents vape forums.

Cut the guy a break....he probably doesnt even vape, and is just trying to earn a paycheck. At least he was close in his responses.

 

[supermarket]

Also, you said you are upset that the consumers aren't getting adequate information from the people selling the stuff. Really? You are upset that the salesman, looking to make $$$, isn't informing the buyer of everything they need to know? That isn't the sales persons job. Their job is just to SELL. YOUR job, as a consumer, is to do your OWN research.

I'll never understand people that want stuff handed to them. Maybe I just grew up in a different environment.....and maybe I'm lucky for that....but the way I grew up, you never expect a person selling you something to have YOUR best interests.....as a person, only YOU have your best interests. That is why you need to know what YOU want to buy, and how much you are WILLING TO SPEND.

People who depend on the person selling them a product as a source of information on the product should be more careful. A salesperson is just that, a salesperson. Again, their job is to SELL.

 

[BlkWolfMidnight]

I've myself hit this issue but the reality is yes he is prob. there just trying to earn an income. Not everyone will be up on the products they sell (Especially if the owner just orders stuff and says "here, sell this"). I'd say rather then get frustrated try to educate and share the knowledge that you have as it will get passed on to other clients.

As for the folks being a total kwat about stuff, been there, done that and had to put someone in their place only once.
Similar story, I was running an EVic at the time of this one, I had my RSST on top which for all intents and purposes worked better then anything at the kiosk. It started out with an educational session of what RTA's were and how they were different, then something went south right quick. I was told "Well our cig alikes are much safer then your set up, you obviously don't know what dangers your in vaping on that" and so on and so forth about this and that.
Keeping with my usual I had simply mentioned " Well, if I'm so wrong then please do visit ECF which is the leading source for knowledge in a singular place, ask them about what I told you if its correct, I'm sure they will answer truthfully" and wandered off not even mad.
I guess there are times to get mad, times to get even and times to educate, the real truth in this industry is mis-information will come back to haunt us so educate politely where you can. Any positive win for vaping is a positive win for the community overall, just a thought.

 

[MN_Mike]

There's not a kiosk in the mall here, but I have serious reservations when it comes to those type of shops. I've seen cheap ego batteries, cheap ego clearomizers and small bottles of juice popping up in gas stations. I wonder how safe those products are. Do they have any kind of quality control? I'm a fan of Innokin and Kanger products..I know my MVP isn't going to explode on the charger or in my face...I know the Kanger tanks I use are made well and both companies give you codes to make sure you're getting an authentic product. Is someone going to be poisoned by vaping their juice? Call me paranoid or whatever, but those kind of products worry me.

 

[BlkWolfMidnight]

There's not a kiosk in the mall here, but I have serious reservations when it comes to those type of shops. I've seen cheap ego batteries, cheap ego clearomizers and small bottles of juice popping up in gas stations. I wonder how safe those products are. Do they have any kind of quality control? I'm a fan of Innokin and Kanger products..I know my MVP isn't going to explode on the charger or in my face...I know the Kanger tanks I use are made well and both companies give you codes to make sure you're getting an authentic product. Is someone going to be poisoned by vaping their juice? Call me paranoid or whatever, but those kind of products worry me.

Not likely poisoned vaping anything out of a gas station, they are harsh and mostly PG based and over flavored by a large margin using a single flavor. I've had to bow down to the gas station fix in a moment of desperation and need, I'm still kicking and alive
As for quality control really quality control at the moment is in the eye of the beholder, there are minimum and maximum tolerances at the moment but nothing really written in stone of "This is XYZ and this mAh batter" so yah its a gamble, for a quick fix though they work as described.
Rumor is that BT companies are jumping on the band wagon of vaping, if that's the case then quality control is well beyond anything that can be produced at a home DIY shop, it might come close to those of us that DIY using lab equipment but even then not really. This of course is unconfirmed as they wouldn't let that cat out of the bag, lol

 

[MrStik]

I just hate all mall kiosks period. They are all pretty much worthless. I was walking in a local mall when some Orange County Douche with a popped collar (a Colin Kaepernick looking douche) takes a off an ego and blows the vape towards me. Then in his next breath explains that it is safe and not smoke. I stopped, gave him a stare of death and told him that he best apologize for his disrespect and I'll be on my way. He refused. So I pulled out my sub ohmed mod and took a huge lung hit and blew it all into his face. Then as the cloud dispersed, I said, no harm no foul, since it was harmless. I told a couple who was looking at his case that a legit vape shop was just across the street from the mall and they should check that out instead of buying from that donkey-hat.

 

[PepNYC]

What'd you expect? It's a mall kiosk lol.

Assuming it wasn't the owner of the kiosk that helped you, it was probably some over worked, under trained person just trying to make a dime.

High turnover in retail stores often mean employees aren't as well trained as they should be. If you want proof, go to Best Buy or any Cell phone vendor store and you'll get wildly different information from each sales rep that helps you. I blame the managers and bean counters for not training their people properly more than I blame the people that work on the front line tbh.

It's frustrating for sure, but it's also the main reason why I research every purchase I make before going to a B&M (not just for vape gear either) Anyone going to any store to buy anything should do their own research before going.

As I said, they should, but as beginners, they don't. The onus shouldn't only be on the consumer.

 

[PepNYC]

What'd you expect? It's a mall kiosk lol.

Still no excuse for ignorance.

 

[TheJakeBailey]

I Agee with Circa. Vape shops don't REALLY exist to help anyone do anything. Including quitting smoking. If that happens, and you continue not smoking, all the better. There job is to sell. And they either do THAT well, or they go out of business. That's what you should expect from a salesperson. Be it cars, tv's, jewelry, or e-cigs.

 

[PepNYC]

I live near a great mall kiosk. The woman never smoked or vaped, her husband vapes, and she decided if she's going to sell them, she read everything there is to know. I've vaped for over 5 years, and I was impressed!

I tended to look at what they sell in another way. An ego and a proline mini or knockoff proline mini is cheap, attractive, and easy and pretty satisfying and tasty. I'm kind of glad that most of these suppliers around here sell that. I think it's the most likely to work well for a beginner.

You are probably one of the few that are fortunate.enough to have a knowledgeable sales person to deal with and that's great. Yes, a simple ego setup is usually a good starting point for a beginner. However, It wasn't a point of what they're selling. It's the fact that most vendors know little or nothing about their products.

 

[PepNYC]

On a lighter note, you said: " I'm just ...... off that consumers are not getting inaccurate information on equipment as well as what people are hearing about the safety of vaping."

I know what you meant, but LOL! You're mad they're not getting lied to!

I was so mad I couldn't type correctly.

 

[PepNYC]

Not sure why it bothers you so much.

At least the guy was in the ball park. He didnt know what RDAs are, but he knew they were drippers. You could have explained RDA stands for "Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer" in one sentence.

As for the mah of unit you mentioned, he could have made a mistake, as you said, that is the same mah of the original unit, just not the mini.

You can't expect some teenager at a mall kiosk to know as much about vaping as you, a vaping enthusiast of 3 years who frequents vape forums.

Cut the guy a break....he probably doesnt even vape, and is just trying to earn a paycheck. At least he was close in his responses.

According to your logic it would be acceptable if you go to three different McDonald's in a week. Keeping in mind you've never been to a McDonald's. You always order a big Mac and they always give you a cheeseburger. So you walk around thinking a cheeseburger is a big mac because you were misinformed and have no clue. Would you cut them some slack because they were in the ballpark? I think it might start to piss you off a bit. No?

 

[PepNYC]

Also, you said you are upset that the consumers aren't getting adequate information from the people selling the stuff. Really? You are upset that the salesman, looking to make $$$, isn't informing the buyer of everything they need to know? That isn't the sales persons job. Their job is just to SELL. YOUR job, as a consumer, is to do your OWN research.

I'll never understand people that want stuff handed to them. Maybe I just grew up in a different environment.....and maybe I'm lucky for that....but the way I grew up, you never expect a person selling you something to have YOUR best interests.....as a person, only YOU have your best interests. That is why you need to know what YOU want to buy, and how much you are WILLING TO SPEND.

People who depend on the person selling them a product as a source of information on the product should be more careful. A salesperson is just that, a salesperson. Again, their job is to SELL.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you. Part of their job is to be somewhat knowledgeable about the products they're selling. Always has been. If a computer salesman came to you and sold you a laptop but didn't know what size the hard drive was or how fast the processor was only to find out later the laptop was crap. The processor wasn't fast enough for what you needed the laptop for in the first place and the hard drive was not the size you needed. Ultimately, you had to go buy another one a few months later after you spent all that money. What if you went to buy a car and the salesperson knew nothing about it but the color. Don't tell me that wouldn't bother you. If it didn't, it should. Yeah yeah I know. You'd do your research and that's great that you are fortunate enough to know you need to take the initiative to do so. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't and go in blindly.

What does a handout have to do with any of this and how is the way you grew up relevant?

I believe I did mention people should do some research on their own but it can still be overwhelming for a beginner with the amount of gear that has been introduced in the past few years. It's quite sad that someone that sells vape gear doesn't know that an RDA is the same as a dripper.

No. Most sales people don't have your best interests in mind and yes people should be more careful but the truth is a lot aren't. A lot of consumers are sold something they will end up throwing in a drawer never to be touched again.They'll continue to smoke cigarettes because of these guys. They'll tell their friend that vaping didn't work for them. Now if they were sold something that would suit their needs in the first place they'd have a better chance of quitting smoking.

Basically you're saying oh well, if they don't research their purchase, too bad for them and they get what they deserve for not doing so. Suppose a member of your family went to one of these guys. They did no research and the salesperson gave them false information and sold them something that was totally inadequate for their needs. You'd say to them "well you should have done your research or asked me first"? Maybe you would but wouldn't it piss you off a bit? I believe it would.

It amazes me that a lot of you just concede to the fact that people are getting inaccurate information, wasting their money and are being taken advantage of. Don't ya think it sheds just a bit of negativity on vaping and the vaping community?