Sorry... longish review:
I stopped by to pick up a decent e-liquid vape "pen." Not into box units, I like to keep it simple and portable. I had a nice one from KangerTech that I lost, and was looking to replace it. I'd been wasting money in the meantime on a convenience store cartomizer-rechargeable, but any vape user can tell you how ridiculous the cost is doing it that way. So I was looking to pick up a quality permanent unit. The store is big, clean, and has an excellent selection. I didn't look at the glass or hookahs, but they seemed well stocked in that department as well. Just not my thing.
So, the issues started pretty quickly. I had trouble convincing the clerk to notice me, as he was hanging out with three kids clustered over by the glass. Seemed like his friends visiting him at work. That's cool, but I was the only actual customer in the place and after saying hello, it took him five minutes to come over to the vape section of the store. I told him what I was looking for and he immediately told me all vape unit with "a detachable battery" i.e. vape pens, are "shitty." I didn't argue, just said that's what I was looking for. He pulled a couple out of the case and went back to his friends. I decided on a KangerTech Evod Glass (one he hadn't removed from the display). I waved at him and told him I wanted a look. About seven minutes minutes later he handed me the box. Starter kit, two units (which was one more than I needed but meant a battery to use while the other was recharging, and that's the only package this unit came in). I also picked up a bottle of e-liquid. This was a time-consuming process as the kid didn't seem familiar with their stock at all. They had a whole shelf of e-liquids but he would only discuss one corner of the shelf with me. I should have asked why, but he was pretty stoned and I didn't want to be there all day. So I made the purchase. Shouldn't have but sometimes you're just already at the store and don't want to go home empty-handed. When he rang it up it was very expensive. When I got home I looked online and found out that the KangerTech starter kit was marked up about 120%. The e-liquid had a regular retail mark-up, so that didn't bother me.
...Here's where the review takes a dive. Realizing how much money I'd wasted, I went back the next day to return the (untouched) kit. The same kid was working and basically panicked when I told him I was there to make a return. He mumbled something about not having a return policy, before admitting he didn't have any idea how to process returns. I almost got angry with him, but he looked like a rabbit in the headlights, and it's hard to resent such total, wide-eyed incompetence. I realized his brusque attitude before was a cover for his lack of knowledge on the products and the whole operation of the store... and being stoned to the bone, of course. Which, now, wasn't helping his near-panic. I told him it wasn't his fault if he hadn't been taught how to process returns, and asked when the boss would be in. He thought, uh, maybe next Wednesday? I left intending to return, but did the math on what continuing to use convenience store e-cigs would cost me for 5 days and realized I would be worse off waiting to return the wildly overpriced kit, order it at a reasonable price and waiting for it to arrive, all the while burning my money on short-lived, low grade convenience store goods. Fact is, the kid's inability to process returns, combined with the fact that I had to wait a week to MAYBE see the owner, made it cheaper to eat the cost.
So... good stock, nice place, MASSIVE markups - beyond what's justifiable to cover the added costs of a brick-and-mortar retail location - and the kid was basically the only employee (don't hate on him. It's seemed like maybe his first job?). This is a new secondary location of another store. But still, how can I rate my experience well? I'll toss in an extra star for the good stock and mitigating factors, but if you want to be able to coherently discuss your purchase and then not be gouged, go elsewhere. read more