Smoke Everywhere Rip Off

[mcl5000]

But you knew that you could buy asprin somewhere else right? You knew another store carried it for cheaper price thats your fault. Did the convenience store lie to you about there asprin? Look I want to end this thread I am not here to piss anyone off. We are here to help so this will be my last post in this thread. I hope everyone else does the same.

First, everybody here is having a pretty good discussion. People are stating their opinions, people are refuting them and then stating their own. The insults and flamings are pretty minimal.

As you can see, I like this thread, so I'm not going to stop posting here. You gladly can if you want.

Anyway, there is no way to compare a store selling another company's product with a company selling their own product through a "store". Think about it. Companies lie about their own product all the time.

There's a bar down the street that has "WORLD FAMOUS STEAMED CLAMS" on their sign. People from 2 towns over have never even heard of this place. It's called marketing - people boost up the appearance of their product to make the sale. If you weren't interested in the first place, you wouldn't have looked at the sign or stopped to find out how many "cigarettes" each cartridge contained.

What I'm getting at is that every company lies about their product. Can you believe that they told me I'd get 24 mpg city with my new car and I only get 23? What a rip off.

 

[jennlsnoopy]

Last week I was going to be in Spokane and looked to see if they had an e-cig place at the mall. They did have one called Smart Smoke. I was thinking about stopping by to just take a look around. Thought I might pick up a small bottle of juice if the price wasn't obscene. Looked up their website and found these prices.
15ml juice $41.95
Spare 901 or 801 battery 42.95 each
801 kit 1 battery 1 atomizer 5 carts $106.95
901 kit 2 batteries 2 atomizers 2 carts 1 15ml juice $176.95

Thats were I get mine. It is a bit cheaper if you buy from the kiosk instead of the website. Also if you refer people you get a discount. There is a lifetime warrenty on the batteries if you buy a bottle of juice a month. I really love their product. I get great vapor and flavor with mine, and I don't plan on switching even if it is cheaper somewhere else. I would rather buy local then buy online elsewhere. It's a personal preference. I am still only spending half of what I did on analogs so I'm happy.

 

[Houdini]

Those prices are 3X more expensive than any of the suppliers that have them here.

901 or 801 batteries are usually $14.00
Atomizers are between $7-$9.
A whole kit is $50.
Juice can be had for under $20 for 30ml.

AND ALMOST ALL OF IT COMES FROM THE SAME PLACE NO MATTER WHO SELLS IT. CHINA.

 

[annah]

Man- my car is a rip off too. I only get 15mpg, and supposed to get 20.

Really though, when I thought about it, I decided the overhead was what does it. It's almost always cheaper to shop online than local, even at big name stores. I got a 3 in 1 printer from walmart for $20- through their website- they don't carry it in stores. And I paid $3 shipping. Easily 20-$40 cheaper than I would have paid in store.

I remember in Germany, seeing a sign for "Famous American Cigarettes" they were advertising for Pall Mall. I have never known anyone who smoked pall malls, but it doesn't change their slogan.

 

[hyperdeficit]

40 bucks for a batt?!! i consider 18 bucks for a batt a semi ripoff if it has no warranty,

A dollar per ml is a ripoff to me. i could see 20 bucks for 15 mls so they can keep the whole stigma they have going that a cartridge is 20 cigarettes and 25 mls would be equivalent to a carton of cigs. but man thats just sad that this is the company everybody who isnt familiar with e cigs is going to go to

 

[Bruce H]

I agree that you certainly pay for convenience. No doubt about it.

And it's nice that these kiosks are reaching out to the public- responsibility and validity are subjective.

But I do know this- if the vast majority of people "trying it out", continue use or not, continue buying or not, pay what amounts to 4x as much it will eventually set precedent. Then we'll all be paying a ridiculous amount, eventually. Whatever the market will bear based on the majority of sales.

I'm sure "your guy" will eventually wise up and raise the price hoping to nail the novice, leaving us veterans in the cold. Let's just hope they all don't. At least those that have an actual heart that pumps blood.

 

[PhokingD]

Just to put other "rip-off" prices into perspective, I'll give you a few of these examples. I used to rent a cart/kiosk at a local mall selling cell phone accessories.

car charger : cost = $.50, retail = $20.00
leather case : cost = $.25, retail = $15.00
battery : cost $2.00, retail = $30.00

rent = ~1k/mo
general overhead (electricity/payroll etc) = 1k/mo

Thats damn near 2grand in bills, and during the "off-season" (aka not christmas time) I would break even or make a slight profit. EVERYTHING is marked up in retail no matter how you look at it, if someone sells for a higher price then so be it, no one is holding a gun to your head to buy anything. But like how SE gets the word out about ecigs I was using my kiosk mainly to advertise my actual store.

Once again like the others whom have left their opinions in this thread I should point out that I don't agree with how they operate but tis the way business(s) are run in a mall location. The whole part about the sales people not knowing what they're talking about well put it this way, if you got paid minimum wage would you keep up with the info about the product(s) you sell compared to "enthusiasts" like us?

Arguing about how SE is ripping people off is a moot point, they might be selling over priced junk it a pretty wrapper and have their employee's do their speech for the noobs... but again no one is forcing anyone to buy anything they don't want. Smarter people will always research any product(s) they buy, some people can't for whatever reason and thats the price they pay.

sorry rant-off

 

[optsmk]

In defense of the Smoking Everywhere people, they do have a lot of overhead that the online vendors don't have. Also, I had problems with my SE when I got it and they were more than happy to exchange it for me with no questions asked. I even had to go back a second time to get another atty since the sexond one went bad after a week of use. I am now on atty number 3, and it is working well. Had I gone through three atty's with an online dealer, that would have meant over a week of downtime with my e-smoking.

I suppose the one advantage to buying the SE at the mall is that I can take it back any time to get it fixed. I have a two year warranty on it and if it breaks again, I'll just take it back and get another one. At this point I am confident that they will replace it and not give me the run around. They also tole me the warranty covers everything, so if the batteries, atty's or charger go bad I can get a free replacement. I think that will makeup for the amount of money that I paid.

With that said, I don;t think I;ll go back to them and buy another one, but the one I have works well and I am satisfied with the way it works. Although I would recommend buying one at the mall if you don't mind paying more that you would online. The advantage is that you get the immediate satisfaction of having it right now and not waiting a few days to get it in the mail and also having a place to go when there is a problem. I would say that it is not a rip off when you consider their overhead and the good customer service that they give.

 

[HaploVoss]

Sorry, but I'm sick and tired of p eople labelling SE as a 'rip-off' - flame on I don't give a rat's hind end.

Crappy stuff? I don't even think so. Like you all keep saying - it all comes from the same place right? Mine is still a fog machine on a stick and I've only had the one atty failure which was replaced no questions asked plus a pack of carts thrown in for my troubles. Maybe some of you have had worse experiences, maybe some of you haven't.

Yeah it is priced way higher than on many websites - but hey - I can drive 10 min and get a replacement for any part or piece I want and have it right now. If any part of it breaks, I get it replaced for free - no shipping costs to me or him. Each time I've gone to visit and say hello he gives me a pack of carts or a new cap, and I see him do that for other loyal customers as well.

So quit whining and just don't buy it. There's no reason to try to kill off someone's business just because YOU don't like it. I refer people to online places if they ask also, because I know they are cheaper, but if someone locally says 'I just bought an SE at the mall' I am sure not gonna flame them on how they got ripped off and blah blah blah.

So stick it in your e-pipe and smoke it.

I respect those of you who choose not to shop there and voice your opinions, but I can gripe back just the same for those that wanna just gripe about it and rag on people that are just trying to make a living. Get over it, buy wherever you want and suggest whatever you want. No need to rail someone else in the process.

/rant

- Hap

 

[googled]

Having a presence in malls and general retail environment is a really good thing for us all. It increases acceptance and understanding which is times such as these especially in the US(FDA) is important. Once people actually buy one its very likely they'll do some googling and find prices cheaper online but otherwise they may never have even bothered. They do as has been stated also get the backup of knowing if things break or run out there's somewhere local they can go instead of having to wait days and going back to tobacco.

 

[jennlsnoopy]

40 bucks for a batt?!! i consider 18 bucks for a batt a semi ripoff if it has no warranty,

A dollar per ml is a ripoff to me. i could see 20 bucks for 15 mls so they can keep the whole stigma they have going that a cartridge is 20 cigarettes and 25 mls would be equivalent to a carton of cigs. but man thats just sad that this is the company everybody who isnt familiar with e cigs is going to go to

The $40 batteries from smartsmoke have a lifetime warrenty as long as you buy 1 bottle of juice per month. I don't mind that price if i don't have to pay it again, ever.

 

[DngrMse]

How can you say it is not a ripoff. If you take advantage of people who do not know better then yes you are riping them off. I understand there has to be a mark up. They have overhead. But come on. $40 for a batt.

Sorry...it's not a ripoff. First, you can't compare online prices with brick and mortar prices. There's no apples to apples there, as a physical presence comes with additional expenses an online retailer does'nt have.

Second, it's the buyer that sets prices, not the seller. Too expensive, and people won't buy it. If his kiosk prices remain the same, then people are spending their money. They are almost certainly spending more, but they enjoy the added convenience of instant gratification.

Hardly a rip off.