The Vape Escape (TVE) is locally owned and operated. TVE is not a fancy place but what's unique is…read morethat they make e-liquid to order using 50+ flavors you can mix & match The store has very low employee turnover so you will always see a familiar face at TVE. While it's great to see a familiar face, I haven't seen any diversity among the employees that work with customers, (i.e diversity in color, age, race, gender, physical ability.) Nonetheless, the owner and the staff members are all very knowledgeable about the vaping industry, the current hardware (especially knowledgeable in what they've decided to use personally and/or sell.) Moreover, their e-liquids are definitely worth a try if you are on the fence about it. They sell about 40 name brands and the others are their in house brand. You can try their in house e-liquids in various combinations right there, in house. Remember that you must be 18+ to enter the store and if they are in doubt about your age, you will be carded. I've seen minors carded and get embarrassed w when kindly asked to leave.
I give TVE 5/5 Stars for customer service and for standing behind what they sell whether it be e-liquid or merchandise. If you're familiar with the vaping business, most sales are final. If the TVE owner or manager thinks the items you've purchased are defective and brought back within a few days off purchase, he will make sure it's corrected right then and there to your satisfaction.
I give TVE location itself 2 out of 5 Stars. It's located in an outdated strip mall in the Cary/Morrisville area where I'm sure the rent in inexpensive relative to other skipping address in the same vicinity. I can say that entry into the shopping center, parking and exiting the shipping center CAN be a little challenging because Maynard is such a busy road, particularly where they are located, near a major intersection. But it's a good thing because that probably gives TVE more visibility from Maynard that, in turn, probably increases foot traffic. However, it's tough to get in and out of your new to this area. However, there is a traffic light that helps make it easier. Also, I give the inner store appearance and outside signage a three out of five stars. It not a hipster spot, imo, but young people, meaning young adults over 18 but Uber 25 years old, are there quite often, visiting their friends that work there. Speaking of the staff, when I see them on the sales floor or at the service counter, they are very chilled out, almost to the point of seeming a tad lazy depending on the day. I think some of that is part of this vaping subculture, some of it is generational, some of it is individual personality and much is probably the company culture and the standards that employees are asked to follow (or not given guidance on at all). If it the owner is there, they don't improve so it's condoned behavior. Employees don't always stand up from the couch, bistro take or desk chair as soon as customers enter. They do what's acknowledge your there and that is good. However, even still, most of the time, they are vaping in clients faces, eating in clients faces, taking to each out loudly, yelling across out the floor to each other, playing on their phones or other electronic devices while lounging around in the client seating areas, etc. Those things should not be done in front of customers period. It's unprofessional. Those areas are intended for clients relaxation, not employees. They should have a break room, out of site for that. Even the office area and be out of site honestly. The employees also often have their personal friends coming to their job to visit and horse around while they are supposed to be working. They ignore customer needs if they have friends dropping by and staying for lengthy period of time. A couple times, one employee had to ask his friends to stop using profanity (cussing) in front of customers and to settle down because they were obnoxiously loud. He had about six male friends there, chillaxing and just playing around on a Friday night and they weren't buying anything. In fact, they were talking about the best way to smoke some kind of liquid marijuana snuggled back to NC from marijuana legal states, talking how best to bring it back here and how to smoke it with a vape set up. They even pulled a couple of customers into that conversation. If I were the owner and saw or heard that? I'd be livid and the employee would be fired or suspended immediately. In closing, there are some things that can be improvedb upon and there are things that they do very well @ TVE. My advice is simple; if you vape, take the time to visit and to form your own opinion. They are worth it especially if they clean up the employees actions!
