I'm generally a shopper at Haven Smoke & Vape at North Pointe in Durham, but I thought I'd give…read moretheir other location a try. I've loved the one closer to me so much, as it's now my go-to place for not just vape, but some nice CBD products. I didn't find Haven Smokes & Ecigs to be different in that regard. Honestly, that place is a little more stylized and cool on the inside compared to the roomy North Pointe location.
Let me give you a straight up bullet point review here:
+ Ecig units, tanks, etc, are at pretty much the same price point you'd find at any Vape shop locally barring a sale. Can you get them cheaper online? Yes. Can you make sure you have the right stuff and get a chance to really look it over before you buy it online? No. I know kinda what I'm doing with ecigs now so I usually purchase online, but if you want safety and decent return policy, here you go.
+ Employees are not up your tailpipe, but are eager and available to help. I like this, because there are some extremely corporate places around here that really try to upsale, convince, or make a sales goal while you're in there. Not my jam. I want to look and ask questions when I'm ready.
+ In that same regard, these guys have some of the best vape flavors out there at a reasonable price. They are cheaper than most of the other vape stores and certainly more affordable than say, Avail. Avail makes some great juice! They're just expensive and there's a whole world of vape beyond their products. Remember, flavor will vary based on your tank and the atomizers it uses. I recommend the Crown IV (wherever you get it) for the best of both cloud and flavor, but if you ask these guys they'll help you select.
+ Locally owned and operated. Big plus.
+ Want to try CBD? I did on a lark. Swear it helps with my blood pressure and back pain. They sell hemp flower to smoke, and I've found that best, but they also have some good gummies. Give it a shot. This place has various types.
- The one downside is that these guys are not drilled on product knowledge like a corporate place may be. I promise you this is actually a good thing in some ways. They get most of their info from trying it themselves and hearing what other customers have to say. That means they're not always going to be dead on selecting a unit for you. To help you out let me say this: It almost does not matter what sort of battery/mod unit you get. The mod only matters in that in provides the proper power to the tank. Battery life is similar all around. The tank is all that matters. They usually have great ideas about tanks here. Pull out a phone and see what people online are saying to double check a mod or tank if you're not sure about it (this applies to everywhere).
- Another downside. Usually, they're understaffed. This is almost never a problem because its never jam packed busy. On the rare instance that it is, you're going to wait a second. This isn't abnormal, most places with the constant, normal foot traffic of this place aren't ready for a rush. For a local business its doubly understandable. Just know that if you see a crowd of people in there, maybe go get your gas or do your other errand first.
I don't give as many reviews on Yelp as I do other places, but I like to make sure the ones I put here are especially informative. Hopefully, this helps someone out. Oh! Another note, if you want to try flavors that are easy to get online, these guys usually have most of those. Meaning if you happen to be out of city or state, you can usually find their flavors for around the same price out there. Me, I'd rather buy vape in the store so I can ask around or get a suggestion from another customer to try. Also, if I try something and I hate it or love it, I make sure these guys know. They do a good job of remembering my preferences.
Note: I hope Haven doesn't do this as well (they're pretty chill so I think not), but as a note, the Vape business is cutthroat. I'm not saying disregard reviews, but man do they like to try and push each other out of business. You can't trust every review (for almost ANY vape store). Heck, you can't trust mine, as it's just an opinion. I'm just giving it my 5 stars and saying: give it a shot and see if you dig it. Hopefully, this place does well for you!
