Sleazy Local B&M

[KAS129]

Happened to be out and about today and was driving by one of our local B&M stores. I have been intending to order a couple more ProTanks, but never got around to it, so I stopped in and bought a couple tanks for me and an MVP 2.0 Energy for the daughter. Never really looked at the boxes grabbed my bag and left. I get home and the ProTanks had the seal broken and the base removed from the tank and put in the little spot where the EGO beauty ring is supposed to be and no beauty ring. Now I don't really care about the rings as I have 4-5 laying around but I thought it was pretty sleazy to steal the rings and sell them for $4.00 and try to make it seem like the tanks don't come with one. Pretty petty way to up your profit by 20% on an item huh? Needless to say they won't see my face in the store again.

 

[RubyRoo]

Wow, that is so shady. I'm lucky to have a few good stores in town that don't do anything like that. Ugh, that makes my stomach turn.

 

[KAS129]

Sorry to put this in wrong area. Mods feel free to move and give me my 20 lashes.

 

[Steamix]

Pretty stupid too.

If a customers walks in and asks for specific make and model he/she knows their stuff.

That caper can be pulled on unsuspecting newcomers.

Surefire way of bowling his shop outta business...

 

[BernieVideo]

Happened to be out and about today and was driving by one of our local B&M stores. I have been intending to order a couple more ProTanks, but never got around to it, so I stopped in and bought a couple tanks for me and an MVP 2.0 Energy for the daughter. Never really looked at the boxes grabbed my bag and left. I get home and the ProTanks had the seal broken and the base removed from the tank and put in the little spot where the EGO beauty ring is supposed to be and no beauty ring. Now I don't really care about the rings as I have 4-5 laying around but I thought it was pretty sleazy to steal the rings and sell them for $4.00 and try to make it seem like the tanks don't come with one. Pretty petty way to up your profit by 20% on an item huh? Needless to say they won't see my face in the store again.

Did you contact them to let them know about this situation?
Perhaps give them a chance to make good?
Perhaps you have jumped to a conclusion too quickly?

Or perhaps you are right.

 

[KAS129]

Pretty clear when the holographic seal on 2 boxes are opened. One I can see maybe somebody opened one to show and it got lost. Neither of these were the display model. I did call them and the response was " If you need the rings come back and we will give them to you." Bottom line for me is they should not be breaking the seal on new items unless it is for the display case. I won't name the store as it will not serve any useful purpose, but just thought it was a prime example of the sleaze factor in our "hobby".

 

[bosun]

Vote with your wallet and go somewhere else. No telling what other 'adjustments' they've done!

 

[steel bender]

---silly rant deleted---

I had a rough night with my blood sugars, but I'm feeling better now...

That's just terrible, what some people will do.

 

[KAS129]

Sorry, wasn't trying to imply "sleaze" factor of our pastime, rather the influx of people with less than honorable intentions looking to cash in and make a quick buck due to the rapid expansion of Vaping. I should have made myself more clear. Every vape enthusiast I have had the chance to meet in person has been nothing but genuinely nice and helpful . Unfortunately the same cannot be said of some retailers in this arena. As this industry grows hopefully these shops will wither and disappear as more and more honest business people open honorable establishments. Until that happens we have to adopt a buyer beware stance and try to warn others of the scams to beware of. If I have offended anyone I apologize, it certainly was not my intention.

 

[damthisisfun]

Could be a customer wanted to see it and they opened it for them. Ring fell out? Maybe a customer bought it and returned it - forgot to put the ring back in the box? (not sure if they should resell returned mods). I would take it back and give em a chance.....

 

[steel bender]

Sorry, wasn't trying to imply "sleaze" factor of our pastime, rather the influx of people with less than honorable intentions looking to cash in and make a quick buck due to the rapid expansion of Vaping. I should have made myself more clear. Every vape enthusiast I have had the chance to meet in person has been nothing but genuinely nice and helpful . Unfortunately the same cannot be said of some retailers in this arena. As this industry grows hopefully these shops will wither and disappear as more and more honest business people open honorable establishments. Until that happens we have to adopt a buyer beware stance and try to warn others of the scams to beware of. If I have offended anyone I apologize, it certainly was not my intention.

Nah, it wasn't you at all, I was just in a growly, irrational mood at the time and I think it's a great thing to put the word out, like hey, you need to be careful around these guys

 

[peterforpats]

Pretty clear when the holographic seal on 2 boxes are opened. One I can see maybe somebody opened one to show and it got lost. Neither of these were the display model. I did call them and the response was " If you need the rings come back and we will give them to you." Bottom line for me is they should not be breaking the seal on new items unless it is for the display case. I won't name the store as it will not serve any useful purpose, but just thought it was a prime example of the sleaze factor in our "hobby".

why wouldn't it serve any useful purpose? wouldn't you want to know which store was acting this sleazy? isn't that the point of a vaping forum to alert others so they can be aware. starting a thread and saying how bad this is and not naming names is sorta just as sleazy. IMHO.......

 

[KAS129]

This is a local store. In the context of this forum I felt more people would be helped by warning them to check items for tampering than naming any one B&M. I just felt it would not be right to trash any B&M publicly that may not have the ability to defend themselves here. I was trashing the practice not the individual store.

 

[Virtual Life]

One local store I went to showed me EVOD coils when I asked for Kanger. When I pointed out the difference (never saw an EVOD before) she was surprised. This was before I learned that EVOD is OK in my PT2. If she had known the difference and explained I may have bought them anyway since they did not have Kanger coils. Turns out I can get Kanger for less half a mile down the street. Now that I know the EVOD's are less expensive it highlights the fact that they are being greedy.

I did find a cherry juice I like in that store. $15 for 30ml. Reasonable for a B&M. Then I went out of town for 3 weeks and went to their website for more, $21 there! So I did without until I got home. I asked about the price difference thinking a mistake and was told they are only an affiliate. Hmmm. So the website is also greedy? And no, wasn't free shipping.

You really do have to pay attention when at a local shop. I think of it as the minimum wage syndrome. Unlikely to have good people when the owner won't (or can't) pay a decent wage. Told this one visit and that on the next visit. Even had to correct salesperson on their price, he checked, and oops, sorry about that.

 

[GrizzlyAdam]

Personally I buy online. Why?

The markups by me in B&M's are outrageous. 2-3 dollars for a single PT head when I can buy a pack of 5 for 4-5 dollars. Juice is also outrageous. Im sure there are good ones around, but not anywhere by me.

I would also think if a B&M cared they would also know about ECF. Actually at this point in my vaping life (4 months) id almost go into a retail store and ask if they know about ECF and if they didnt I would leave. What I have found is most of these places are in it for the profit. You walk in with an IBTanked tank an they look at you like. OOOOH shiny where did you get that from? Come on. If I was running a retail vape shop, id be all over ECF id be on reddit, id be well everywhere learning. Customer service by me is nil to none, they want you to SPEND SPEND SPEND and SPEND some more.

I dunno for me I buy exclusively online now. Until a B&M shows me they care and are not out to scalp me around here I just cant do it. I mean when you can buy 30ml online for 8 bucks and they will charge upwards 20-30 for sub-par juice. What would you do?

Thats not to say good B&M's dont exist but in my experience its just a bunch of greedy, non-informative people making a buck on a new and growing industry. Just my two cents and rant. Just be careful with this guys like the original OP said I have had similar experiences and you cant beat the prices online. Sure I like to go and play with stuff before I buy, but im not going to pay 3x the price for it...

 

[peterforpats]

Personally I buy online. Why?

The markups by me in B&M's are outrageous. 2-3 dollars for a single PT head when I can buy a pack of 5 for 4-5 dollars. Juice is also outrageous. Im sure there are good ones around, but not anywhere by me.

I would also think if a B&M cared they would also know about ECF. Actually at this point in my vaping life (4 months) id almost go into a retail store and ask if they know about ECF and if they didnt I would leave. What I have found is most of these places are in it for the profit. You walk in with an IBTanked tank an they look at you like. OOOOH shiny where did you get that from? Come on. If I was running a retail vape shop, id be all over ECF id be on reddit, id be well everywhere learning. Customer service by me is nil to none, they want you to SPEND SPEND SPEND and SPEND some more.

I dunno for me I buy exclusively online now. Until a B&M shows me they care and are not out to scalp me around here I just cant do it. I mean when you can buy 30ml online for 8 bucks and they will charge upwards 20-30 for sub-par juice. What would you do?

Thats not to say good B&M's dont exist but in my experience its just a bunch of greedy, non-informative people making a buck on a new and growing industry. Just my two cents and rant. Just be careful with this guys like the original OP said I have had similar experiences and you cant beat the prices online. Sure I like to go and play with stuff before I buy, but im not going to pay 3x the price for it...

really? you think they are "only in it for the profit"? what business isn't? you can't have it both ways. you bemoan minimum wages and blame that for lousy customer service but you don't like higher prices. prices are part of any equation, but great customer service is more important to me than price. i don't have the benefit of any b&m where i live so i shop on-line. but i would love a well- stocked vendor with a vape lounge close by where i live. and i would spend more for the privilege, gladly.....

 

[GrizzlyAdam]

really? you think they are "only in it for the profit"? what business isn't? you can't have it both ways. you bemoan minimum wages and blame that for lousy customer service but you don't like higher prices. prices are part of any equation, but great customer service is more important to me than price. i don't have the benefit of any b&m where i live so i shop on-line. but i would love a well- stocked vendor with a vape lounge close by where i live. and i would spend more for the privilege, gladly.....

Well I could care about the price, when I dont have a bunch of extra money to throw around like an idiot.

Their customer service is fine if you gonna spend an arm and a leg their. But they are not knowledgeable in the slightest and honestly that scares me. Not for my own safety but for others. Selling rebuildables, advanced mods and dont have the slighest idea of how to use one themselves. Not telling people about safe battery use. ect.

I wish I found ECF earlier, I would have saved a bunch of money and knew about all the stupid things I was doing I was not aware of.

Again just my personal experiance, if you got awsome b&m by you, your luck. They suck by me