This store used to be my go to place for hookah products and shisha until recently.
Up until today, they used to come close to price matching some of their prices on shisha to prices from the larger online retailers like Hookah-Shisha and HookahJohn. I took my business here because I'm a believer in supporting small businesses and shops as much as possible.
Today, as I called before driving over, I was told that this is no longer possible. Specifically when asking about why a box that's available to consumers for $17 online is being sold for $25 in store, I was told to call the other store to speak to a manager. As I called the other store, the employee hung up on me mid sentence, and did not pick up any of my next few calls. When they finally did, I was told that "this is our rule and we charge you the price we need to charge you because you get the convenience of having the product now. You can buy your products online and wait".
As a retail store, even though it's understandable to have prices at slightly higher levels to make a profit when not selling at larger volumes like online retailers, there is no justification to not work with customers making reasonable requests. Expecting the "lowest price guaranteed" is a lot to ask from small business owners, but customer service and reasonable prices is the bare minimum. I will do as the manager told me to and take my business elsewhere.
Save your $ for someplace that doesn't hike up prices over 45% and appreciates customer loyalty. read more