Living in southern California we have a lot of nice shops. What bothers me is the crowd of young people who hang out in most of them. I mean I don't have a problem with it per se but it makes me feel awkward since I'm 43 and not really into the "vape scene". I feel like a creepy old man trying to be cool...
What bothers you with your local B&M
- Thread starter geekmedic
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
- Status
I used to have to travel nearly 1/2 hour to get to any shop that had vape gear. Now there is a store right around the block. The owners are solely in it for the money, never vaped a day in their lives until they opened the business, didn't even know the difference between pg/vg, and sell clones claiming that they are authentic.
Another shop opened a couple of weeks ago that is also a vapor shop. That said, half the store is for e-liquid and the other half is for dry herbs. He is very knowledgable, and he makes sure that his staff is too. That said, they are very much in to cloud chasing, sub-ohming, etc. and have little patience for people who just want to drop a coil in and go.
There is a cigar shop directly across the street from the vape shop that started carrying e-cig stuff last Christmas. He carries Johnson Creek liquids, and liquids from FT (go figure). All of his stuff is from FT or a similar wholesaler. He doesn't really know what he is doing, but he is a great guy.
Honestly, if I need a B & M, I go back to the place that I originally went which is 1/2 hour away. They are still geared towards the "beginner" vaper, or the vaper who is not a hobbyist. I'm still there. I'm a collector, not a hobbyist.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Another shop opened a couple of weeks ago that is also a vapor shop. That said, half the store is for e-liquid and the other half is for dry herbs. He is very knowledgable, and he makes sure that his staff is too. That said, they are very much in to cloud chasing, sub-ohming, etc. and have little patience for people who just want to drop a coil in and go.
There is a cigar shop directly across the street from the vape shop that started carrying e-cig stuff last Christmas. He carries Johnson Creek liquids, and liquids from FT (go figure). All of his stuff is from FT or a similar wholesaler. He doesn't really know what he is doing, but he is a great guy.
Honestly, if I need a B & M, I go back to the place that I originally went which is 1/2 hour away. They are still geared towards the "beginner" vaper, or the vaper who is not a hobbyist. I'm still there. I'm a collector, not a hobbyist.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I hear ya. I'm 60, and not even trying to be cool. The vape scene where I'm at is full of young hipsters I can't relate to at all. When I was going to the vape shops they didn't even care to talk to me for the most part, and the store owners are just about the money. Cough up the cash or move on seems to be the attitude.
Employees who think they are the gods of vaping because they work at a vape shop. As someone whos been vaping on and off...mostly on, for the past 5 years, usually it just amuses but occasionally it will get under my skin a bit.
Used to live in York, PA. Vape shop there was fantastic. Still go there form time to time. (Shout out to One Step Above)
Up in Harrisburg, PA though, nothin'. I'm actually half tempted to open one so vapers in the area have somewhere to go.
The only stores up here sell the trash house juice, and 80 dollar nemesis clones. And 60 dollar eGo kits.
Up in Harrisburg, PA though, nothin'. I'm actually half tempted to open one so vapers in the area have somewhere to go.
The only stores up here sell the trash house juice, and 80 dollar nemesis clones. And 60 dollar eGo kits.
I really don't have a problem with mine, this is a small town so there isn't a throng of kids blowing clouds all the time, and the people there are amazingly helpful. They do kind of mark up prices pretty bad but eh, what're you gonna do. They have an awesome juice selection too.
Shops are popping up around me fast, must be five new ones in the last two months I'd say. Still haven't had the chance to check out several but will try this weekend most likely.
Most local shop is a Kanger wh*%$ mostly but does have some decent juice lines. Mainly start up gear but have started to add some better stuff, only carry a few rebuildable components as they feel that isn't their market. Makes sense, they just raised the vaping age to 21 in the town.
Other shops that are close sell nothing but cheap clone gear and know enough to be really dangerous, cater to the young inexperienced cloud chasers. Bad house juice with a few OK brands thrown in to round it out.
One shop just just started up has real potential. The owner has been a well known vaper for five years, knows his stuff for sure, and sells a ton of authentic gear along with the standard starter kit stuff. Only issue I have with the shop is the juice lines they carry as I don't like any of them but that is purely selfish.
Most local shop is a Kanger wh*%$ mostly but does have some decent juice lines. Mainly start up gear but have started to add some better stuff, only carry a few rebuildable components as they feel that isn't their market. Makes sense, they just raised the vaping age to 21 in the town.
Other shops that are close sell nothing but cheap clone gear and know enough to be really dangerous, cater to the young inexperienced cloud chasers. Bad house juice with a few OK brands thrown in to round it out.
One shop just just started up has real potential. The owner has been a well known vaper for five years, knows his stuff for sure, and sells a ton of authentic gear along with the standard starter kit stuff. Only issue I have with the shop is the juice lines they carry as I don't like any of them but that is purely selfish.
I wouldn't know what the shops in my area are like. They engaged in a trash mouthing contest amongst themselves before I had a chance to visit them so I won't be darkening any of their doorsteps.
Most of the small shops around here are worthless. We do have a shop which is part of a regional chain that is pretty decent. House brand juice is excellent, albeit a little spendy at $0.60/ml. Hardware selection is decent, but overpriced. I can at least lay hands on stuff before ordering it online for 30% less, lol. Shop staff is pretty knowledgeable and are friendly. Shop is clean and tidy and has a "tasting station" for every juice flavor (about 60 if I had to guess, maybe more). All in all, not a bad place.
theres three in my area
1. the two owners are weirdos and i've only been there once, at that time their knowledge was very bad and the people hanging out there were suspect
2. the place is really nice but theres only one really smart guy there and the customers at the juice bar haven't been my type of people. either snobs or totally weird...wouldn't shut up about this or that
3. the place was a bit small and i was the first customer there, the kid had no idea but he was nice enough anyway
i dont' frequent these places that often though, i'd like to support local places but i order mostly on-line and i'm learning i'm not a fan of a lot of people that hang out at these places haha
1. the two owners are weirdos and i've only been there once, at that time their knowledge was very bad and the people hanging out there were suspect
2. the place is really nice but theres only one really smart guy there and the customers at the juice bar haven't been my type of people. either snobs or totally weird...wouldn't shut up about this or that
3. the place was a bit small and i was the first customer there, the kid had no idea but he was nice enough anyway
i dont' frequent these places that often though, i'd like to support local places but i order mostly on-line and i'm learning i'm not a fan of a lot of people that hang out at these places haha
Living in Dallas, there are literally vape shops all around me.
- One near my work, every time I go in, its like walking into a Grateful Dead concert. The cloud you step into is next to London fog. They all drip and cloud chase. I asked how much they go through personally and most said "around 60 mil a day" as if it was nothing... good god. They push drippers as this moves more juice off the shelf. Good juices but I don't like high pressure. They sell other stuff at around 10% higher than market cost (MSRP).
- Another has very reasonable priced juice and the "specialize" in crafting juices. However this place is like going into your neighbors house and having him mix. Not very clean mixing tools.
- One shop has some very tasty juices that is crafted at the shop, it is generally clean and they mix in bulk and bottle there so you don't know how long they have been on the shelf. The other problem is that they change their pricing very frequently. I brought this up to them and the owner in the back room overheard and called out if I didn't like it, I could leave. I left with over $150 in product that I was going to buy on the cash register, which I told them I would be ordering online and thanked them for pushing their profits onto a competitor.
- The last one I visited has some ok juice and a HUGE selection of almost everything you can think of.... however they overprice everything. As an example I needed a box of protank 3 coils ... they wanted $25 for a box of 5. jussst a wee bit overpriced there.
I don't expect the pricing like internet pricing, I also don't expect premium juices at junkyard costs. I would like honest, clean knowledgeable people that don't try to push their preference on customers, but then again I am strange.
- One near my work, every time I go in, its like walking into a Grateful Dead concert. The cloud you step into is next to London fog. They all drip and cloud chase. I asked how much they go through personally and most said "around 60 mil a day" as if it was nothing... good god. They push drippers as this moves more juice off the shelf. Good juices but I don't like high pressure. They sell other stuff at around 10% higher than market cost (MSRP).
- Another has very reasonable priced juice and the "specialize" in crafting juices. However this place is like going into your neighbors house and having him mix. Not very clean mixing tools.
- One shop has some very tasty juices that is crafted at the shop, it is generally clean and they mix in bulk and bottle there so you don't know how long they have been on the shelf. The other problem is that they change their pricing very frequently. I brought this up to them and the owner in the back room overheard and called out if I didn't like it, I could leave. I left with over $150 in product that I was going to buy on the cash register, which I told them I would be ordering online and thanked them for pushing their profits onto a competitor.
- The last one I visited has some ok juice and a HUGE selection of almost everything you can think of.... however they overprice everything. As an example I needed a box of protank 3 coils ... they wanted $25 for a box of 5. jussst a wee bit overpriced there.
I don't expect the pricing like internet pricing, I also don't expect premium juices at junkyard costs. I would like honest, clean knowledgeable people that don't try to push their preference on customers, but then again I am strange.
Theres only like 2 here in the desert where I live and trying to charge me $70 for a knock off EVOD starter kit was not what I had planned on doing to save money by not smoking haha. Found the real deal online for $23 and never looked back!
One store is pretty much the whole 'tatted vaper bro' attitude, and the other is more artsy hipster kinda atmosphere.. Both have pretty ridiculous markups for stuff, and while I understand the need to pay rent and employee salaries, when youve only got like 2 employees anyways, why do you need to charge almost $30 for a $10 Kanger Protank?? I bought my first bottle of juice ever from the artsy store.. They didnt even have a menu posted and the girl working just asked what I wanted as if I knew what was hiding in their mixing area in back. Lucky I just asked for something green apple and they happened to have a third party brand that they carry.
Well at $1 a ml I guess the price wouldnt have been so bad if it actually tasted like green apple but it didnt..
Once you join the ECF, theres really no reason to go into a B&M unless theyve got some really awesome service to make up for the price differences.. The folks here are all cloud chasing idiots, Ive only run into ONE vaper the day I bought that juice that was actually doing it to quit smoking.. Id much rather come here and engage with the vendors that participate in the forum and actually care about what were doing than give my business to people just in it to make a buck off me..
One store is pretty much the whole 'tatted vaper bro' attitude, and the other is more artsy hipster kinda atmosphere.. Both have pretty ridiculous markups for stuff, and while I understand the need to pay rent and employee salaries, when youve only got like 2 employees anyways, why do you need to charge almost $30 for a $10 Kanger Protank?? I bought my first bottle of juice ever from the artsy store.. They didnt even have a menu posted and the girl working just asked what I wanted as if I knew what was hiding in their mixing area in back. Lucky I just asked for something green apple and they happened to have a third party brand that they carry.
Well at $1 a ml I guess the price wouldnt have been so bad if it actually tasted like green apple but it didnt..
Once you join the ECF, theres really no reason to go into a B&M unless theyve got some really awesome service to make up for the price differences.. The folks here are all cloud chasing idiots, Ive only run into ONE vaper the day I bought that juice that was actually doing it to quit smoking.. Id much rather come here and engage with the vendors that participate in the forum and actually care about what were doing than give my business to people just in it to make a buck off me..
we've got them all over the place in Houston too, and honestly I don't have a complaint with the one we cater , other than some juices they just don't have now and then because the manufacturer ran out *Vaping Rabbit's available today!! yeah!! *happy dance* *lol*
There are no "real" vape shops close to me. nearest "real" vape store is about 60 miles away. I have visited a few vape shops when working and most seem to be limited in stock with high prices. The last vape shop i visited was one that just opened the doors a couple days earlier. The prices were good and knowledgeable about the products, i will visit again if i work in that city.
There is nothing worse than small stock and snooty employees, i have a couple shops i will never visit again.
There is nothing worse than small stock and snooty employees, i have a couple shops i will never visit again.
A new Shop opened up ... about 2 minutes away from me.
I wanted to buy a new tank..
I said to him: I need a new Tank, This Nautalis tank is horrible.... I am getting dry hits ..it sucks !
He Replied: No. .dude that Tank is awesome....You just need a bvc !
and he was right!
He could have sold me a $50 pos tank...
but instead ...he sold me a $3 atomizer ....
I wanted to buy a new tank..
I said to him: I need a new Tank, This Nautalis tank is horrible.... I am getting dry hits ..it sucks !
He Replied: No. .dude that Tank is awesome....You just need a bvc !
and he was right!
He could have sold me a $50 pos tank...
but instead ...he sold me a $3 atomizer ....
What bothers me about my local B&M?
They won't stop buying new shiny stuff!! Every time I go in there they have the newest, latest and greatest "thing" to hit the market and I WANT IT!!!
They won't stop buying new shiny stuff!! Every time I go in there they have the newest, latest and greatest "thing" to hit the market and I WANT IT!!!
There are a lot of shops here in the KC metro. I dont really go to any of them. Ive have visited three so far
The first was KCVapes. Its where I purchased my first equipment and juice. They have 2 or 3 stores in the Kansas City area and a website as well. The shop is nice and large and has a good comfortable feel to it. The staff is professional and friendly. If their prices weren't so high Id probably have gone back. High traffic
The 2nd one I went to is kind of disgusting. Ive been there twice for juice as its location is convenient on my commute. Its literally a pig sty and the guy who runs it is a slob. He looks as if he hasn't showered in several days. The juice testing area is a mess with samples laying all over the table and spots of e liquid spread throughout. The floor is unusually dirty. There is a small room directly behind the register counter. The door to that room was left open both times. I think the guy must live there. there is a mattress and pillow and basically a trashed room. empty soda bottles, magazines, potato chip bags, wrappers and packaging of various things, and clothes all over the floor in that room. You just dont really want to be in here for very long. The guy is brutally honest about every product he sells. Ask him about a certain clearo. If he doesnt like it he says it sucks. I wanted to buy some juice. he tried to talk me out of it without offering an alternative option. His reasoning was that he thought it was too expensive. $7 for 10 ml. I bought it anyway and it was fine. He also gave me a good deal on some BDC clearos because he thought they sucked. They were nothing special but not as horrible as he made them out to be. Not a large selection, just two small glass counters. The juice is kept in the back room. lol Making small talk with him the 2nd visit I found that his dad owns a B&M in another state and more or less (the way I interpreted it) the dad kicked him out of the house back home and made him run this store up here. I guess in some weird way I kinda want to go back sometime and see how hes doing but I doubt Ill do it. Very low traffic
The third one is small, but the owner is cool. Very friendly, honest, and really into his mech mods and RDAs. Definitely is eager to get you into mechs and RBA's. The place is kept up and he keep up with the latest gadgets, trends. I think this place is a small chain based out of Colorado. Prices are the only thing I dont care for there. med to high traffic
The first was KCVapes. Its where I purchased my first equipment and juice. They have 2 or 3 stores in the Kansas City area and a website as well. The shop is nice and large and has a good comfortable feel to it. The staff is professional and friendly. If their prices weren't so high Id probably have gone back. High traffic
The 2nd one I went to is kind of disgusting. Ive been there twice for juice as its location is convenient on my commute. Its literally a pig sty and the guy who runs it is a slob. He looks as if he hasn't showered in several days. The juice testing area is a mess with samples laying all over the table and spots of e liquid spread throughout. The floor is unusually dirty. There is a small room directly behind the register counter. The door to that room was left open both times. I think the guy must live there. there is a mattress and pillow and basically a trashed room. empty soda bottles, magazines, potato chip bags, wrappers and packaging of various things, and clothes all over the floor in that room. You just dont really want to be in here for very long. The guy is brutally honest about every product he sells. Ask him about a certain clearo. If he doesnt like it he says it sucks. I wanted to buy some juice. he tried to talk me out of it without offering an alternative option. His reasoning was that he thought it was too expensive. $7 for 10 ml. I bought it anyway and it was fine. He also gave me a good deal on some BDC clearos because he thought they sucked. They were nothing special but not as horrible as he made them out to be. Not a large selection, just two small glass counters. The juice is kept in the back room. lol Making small talk with him the 2nd visit I found that his dad owns a B&M in another state and more or less (the way I interpreted it) the dad kicked him out of the house back home and made him run this store up here. I guess in some weird way I kinda want to go back sometime and see how hes doing but I doubt Ill do it. Very low traffic
The third one is small, but the owner is cool. Very friendly, honest, and really into his mech mods and RDAs. Definitely is eager to get you into mechs and RBA's. The place is kept up and he keep up with the latest gadgets, trends. I think this place is a small chain based out of Colorado. Prices are the only thing I dont care for there. med to high traffic
1 year ago there was 1 vape shop within 5 miles of me.
My first visit I was like Charlie Bucket finding a Golden Ticket and visiting Willy Wonka's Factory.
Their selection would make Baskin Robbins tap out like a casino dealer clearing his hands when he leaves the table.
31 Flavors? Big whup! This place had over 300 flavors listed and sign that said "Don't see what you like just ask and we'll make it!"
Now I have 7 (yes seven) others within 5 miles.
I frequent most of them because they all have their certain unique flavors I like.
Ironically, the one place I do not go is the original one. The reason is the way they present their samples.
The have a numbered home made "peg board system" mounted to the wall housing cheap, LEAKY, disposable CE4 style tanks with no drip tips.
The numbers correspond to their ginormo-list of flavors.
They then hand you a disposable plastic drip tip to move from leaky tank to leaky tank to sample the liquids.
The result is you're not only sampling that flavor but that of every other flavor the last guy that sampled it did.
I could swirl my tongue around inside the mouth of every other customer in the store and get a better idea of what "Chocolate Cheescake" actually tastes like.
"Chocolate" and "Peanut Butter" may be "two great tastes that taste great together" but "Bacon" mixed with "Root Beer" tastes like a dog took a dump in your mouth
While having 350 flavors is impressive, tasting them ALL AT ONCE is not.
All the other merchants use Kanger Protank 2 Mini's--a good choice.
I'd rather have fewer good choices I can taste, than hundreds I cannot.
NOTE TO MERCHANTS: If you are trying to sell eliquids, it's in your best interest to present them in the best possible light you can. And the device you do it with key.
My first visit I was like Charlie Bucket finding a Golden Ticket and visiting Willy Wonka's Factory.
Their selection would make Baskin Robbins tap out like a casino dealer clearing his hands when he leaves the table.
31 Flavors? Big whup! This place had over 300 flavors listed and sign that said "Don't see what you like just ask and we'll make it!"
Now I have 7 (yes seven) others within 5 miles.
I frequent most of them because they all have their certain unique flavors I like.
Ironically, the one place I do not go is the original one. The reason is the way they present their samples.
The have a numbered home made "peg board system" mounted to the wall housing cheap, LEAKY, disposable CE4 style tanks with no drip tips.
The numbers correspond to their ginormo-list of flavors.
They then hand you a disposable plastic drip tip to move from leaky tank to leaky tank to sample the liquids.
The result is you're not only sampling that flavor but that of every other flavor the last guy that sampled it did.
I could swirl my tongue around inside the mouth of every other customer in the store and get a better idea of what "Chocolate Cheescake" actually tastes like.
"Chocolate" and "Peanut Butter" may be "two great tastes that taste great together" but "Bacon" mixed with "Root Beer" tastes like a dog took a dump in your mouth
While having 350 flavors is impressive, tasting them ALL AT ONCE is not.
All the other merchants use Kanger Protank 2 Mini's--a good choice.
I'd rather have fewer good choices I can taste, than hundreds I cannot.
NOTE TO MERCHANTS: If you are trying to sell eliquids, it's in your best interest to present them in the best possible light you can. And the device you do it with key.
I have a few shops around me. When they first started popping up, I was excited thinking my online ordering days were over. I'm not a fan of any of them.
The closest store to me is way overpriced (up to 170% of the prices other places charge) and I don't like their selection. They have good customer service as long as you are sub-ohming, but they are clueless if not.
There's another store I used to go to, but their customer service stinks. They won't even allow customers to handle the mods they sell. Sometimes their prices are decent, but other times they aren't.
None of the local stores sell PG free liquids, and they look at me like I'm crazy and get irritated when I tell them i can not vape juice with any amount of PG in them (even the flavoring must be PG free).
I've gone back to online ordering. It's nice to go to the stores to talk to other vapers, but not for the services these stores offer.
The closest store to me is way overpriced (up to 170% of the prices other places charge) and I don't like their selection. They have good customer service as long as you are sub-ohming, but they are clueless if not.
There's another store I used to go to, but their customer service stinks. They won't even allow customers to handle the mods they sell. Sometimes their prices are decent, but other times they aren't.
None of the local stores sell PG free liquids, and they look at me like I'm crazy and get irritated when I tell them i can not vape juice with any amount of PG in them (even the flavoring must be PG free).
I've gone back to online ordering. It's nice to go to the stores to talk to other vapers, but not for the services these stores offer.
Last edited:
- Status
Similar threads
