Wow. Where do I even begin? I wish that anything I am about to say here were some kind of exaggeration, but I assure you I'm actually being kinder than I should.
I came in on a friday afternoon, and was "helped" by an employee (He's a young man, on the shorter side with short blonde hair and glasses, and his name is Jay). My mod had been water damaged, and I needed to buy a new one. I was sold a device and some e liquid and went on my way. As soon as I began using the device, I knew there was something VERY wrong. The screen kept saying "weak battery" even though my batteries were perfectly suited for the device and in very good condition (confirmed by my smart charger).
I returned to the shop on saturday evening and tried to return it. The same man, Jay, was there. He proceeded to make up some literal BS about how i needed new batteries (despite the fact that mine were obviously fine- he hadn't even plugged mine into the charger at the shop to check). I mistakenly believed him and bought two new batteries, but i had a feeling that something was off. He told me that if i wanted to return the device if there were any more problems, I would need to "come back with the receipt" (which I found quite strange considering he CLEARLY remembered who I was, and had asked me to rush to the shop because they were closing soon. It was pretty understandable that I had not had time to find the receipt in this instance. I should have had zero difficulty returning my device immediately).
Sure enough, the new batteries he sold me did NOT fix the device. I was STILL getting the "weak battery" message. I decided to take the silicone cover off of the mod and take a closer look. It was clearly scratched and damaged, despite the fact that I'd had it for under 24 hours, always with the silicone case on it, and it had NEVER been dropped or damaged in any way by me. I would know, because it's pretty much constantly in my hand.
I was pretty frustrated at this point, so I emailed the shop (it was easter sunday, so they were closed). On Monday, after receiving no response, I called and spoke to Jay yet again. He was unbelievably hostile and rude. He quoted me all sorts of numbers to "support" his argument that this was "normal". Now let me explain- this device was NOT functioning "normally". It would work OK until the battery hit about 75% charge, and then it would begin a rapid decline into barely being functional by 50% battery. I was having to replace batteries constantly. I have used other similar setups before, and I knew that this was definitely NOT "normal". When I asked if i could come in and return it, he said "we don't accept damaged devices. You said it's damaged."... really?! wow.
So basically this employee took advantage of me by selling me a faulty device, and then swindled me into buying new batteries which I did not need. The way that he continued to try to persuade me that it was functioning "normally" and sell me ways to "fix it", proves to me that he had full knowledge that this was a faulty device when he sold it to me. When I confronted him about this, he proceeded to treat me like an absolute moron. I had spent over $150 at this point, for essentially nothing that actually functioned.
I told Jay that I wanted to speak with his superior, and he immediately gave me a number where I could reach him (he did this in a manner which suggested that he would LIKE me to call, as if his boss was going to take his side... unfortunately for this a**hole, that isn't what happened). When i spoke with the owner, he did not seem very happy about the experience i'd had AT ALL, and confirmed that I had, in fact, been lied to. My device was NOT functioning normally. In fact, the owner also informed me that he had already emailed the employee that morning, instructing him to offer me a full refund. He also informed me that the store doesn't typically accept exchanges at all (two points on that: when I was initially sold the device, I was told I could return it anytime within the next two weeks. So there's lie number one. And two, since the store actually has no policy regarding damaged devices, this guy said that just to be an a**hole).
I was offered a full refund by the owner whenever I could bring the device back to the shop.
I was informed by the owner that Jay actually MANAGES the Avon location. How unfortunate. Needless to say, I will never be setting foot into a Sir-Vapes-A-Lot again. Seriously, avoid this Avon location at all costs, unless you really enjoy being essentially stolen from and then treated like a moron. read more