# Local Vendors Need To Improve



## AStray (28/3/14)

Hey everyone,

Ok, I know posting this is going to make me unpopular but I'm doing it for the greater good, I promise.

I'm a newbie to this. I posted a post at the beginning of the year about how excited I was about receiving my device. I bought an epipe as I'm a pipe smoker. I bought it from overseas - the very thing I didn't want to do. But the only people selling epipes locally were selling a model out of my price range. I figured that I could buy any of the maintenance stuff locally anyway. But still, I'm having very little luck. A thread I posted here mostly pointed me to overseas suppliers, which I appreciated and the community was very helpful, but I still want to support local business.

The plethora of local options is brilliant - it's great to see a budding business - but honestly, as a newbie and a general consumer, the local vendors need to improve on their service, information, and presentation. Big time. Here's why:

*ONLINE*

1. At every website I've visited, most of them are full of broken links somewhere. The websites are generally ugly, which I can forgive, but to have broken links / broken pictures / 'buy here' buttons that don't work, or even contact details that are empty (Phone: ... blank; address: ... blank) is crazy. How on earth do you start a business and forget to put your contact details on your own website? Furthermore, some of these websites honestly sound as if they hired Chinese people to write the English on their site. Obviously I have no problem with the Chinese, but they don't speak or write English, so if your site is in English get someone who does. I wonder to myself if these sites have been built by those cheap freelancers you can get from a site like elance.com - that would explain the bad English. At any rate, it just doesn't make the site easy to use.

2. All the websites I've visited are unhelpful to newbies (I'll explain in a moment)

3. Service was generally bad. So far, vendors have only ever responded to actual orders - they ignore questions (such as, "I'm looking for this, do you have it or can you get it?")

*WALK IN STORES*

I've been happy to see several stores pop up in addition to the Twisp vendors everywhere. But still, there is a serious lack of training at these stores. 

Here's the simple reason why (and this goes with number 2 above) - all I've been looking for are dual core cartomisers. And some nice tobacco ejuice (preferably naturally extracted ejuice).

A. Hardly anyone online seems to have cartomisers or even seem to ever have stocked them. The stores all seem to sell clearomisers. Have cartomisers now gone out of fashion? Are they old tech now? But yet these same online stores have articles talking about how cartomizers are 'preferable' and 'new'. The info is out of date and I feel as if I've been mislead. 

B. The walk-in stores (I've visited four so far - only one was Twisp and I'm not include JJ Cale here - I'm talking shops that sell several ecigarette devices) have ALL had shop assistants that gave me a rather puzzled look when I asked if they had 'cartomisers'. "What's that?" they all said. One said, "Ok, well look around and see if you can see what you're looking for." Another was keen to see my device but then said, "Uh, no, I don't think our atomisers will fit." What puzzles me is that cartomisers, according to all the info I can find, have been around for a while and have been a staple part of the ecig deal for a while. At this point, what's supposed to happen is the shop assistant says, "Maybe I can see where we can get them - can I give you a call?" or something along those lines. But simply a shrug as if I'm asking for something that's only available in the Amazon jungle is just weird.

C. If cartomisers are now no longer being produced (Fasttech still has them but I don't want to buy from them) I've tried to research a clearomiser which will fit my device. Unfortunately, I can't find any information on the local online stores that I've gone to (and I've visited more than ten) that even tell me what clearomiser fits on a 510 thread (in addition, some of the stores have pictures of clearomisers for their 'cartomiser' section, or just put clearomisers under the atomiser section and even call it an atomiser when it looks like a clearomiser). I have to rely on the kindness of people on this forum to explain what might work, but this is simply not helpful for the general consumer who won't come to a forum like this.

D. I bought a set of cartomisers from a local store online who actually had stock, only to find that the cartomisers aren't the right length for my DC tank. As a newbie, how was I to know that they come in a different length? This is actually a general problem even with overseas stores - the learning curve is exceptionally steep. Anyway, I went back to the website but found that it simply didn't say anything about the length of what I was getting. I emailed another store asking what length they had with so far no response.

E. eliquid. Ok, I know looking for Naturally Extracted Tobacco may be a tall order - it's obviously not the market - so I have to order overseas and wait five weeks and rely on the post office (if my stuff isn't stopped by customs) and that sucks. I asked one retailer if they would maybe stock the stuff and I would pay a higher price, I just don't want to have to deal with customs myself, but they never got back to me.

*Ok, here's what I'm prepared to accept*

1. That I'm exceptionally stupid and hopeless at reading. (But so are most consumers, so local vendors need to make it easy for silly people like me.)

2. That I'm exceptionally lazy and don't want to have to research everything to a tee. (But so are most consumers, so local vendors need to take that into account.)

3. That I'm just a grump and want everything to fall on my lap. (But so are most consumers... you see where I'm going with this.)

4. That I'm just a difficult customer. Well, aren't we all somewhere down the line?

*PLEASE* I'm not attacking - I'm posting this for the greater good. The sooner local vendors up their game the better for everyone - it means that ecig devices will get more popular because accessibility is better and info easier to find.

1. There needs to be a much less steep learning curve and local vendors can help with this.
2. There needs to be readily available information on vendor sites that tell you exactly what you're getting (and explain the lingo - something like "This fits the X2 device" is not good enough.)
3. There needs to be honest information (copying and pasting marketing PR from ejuice companies doesn't mean those juices actually taste like what they say they taste like, which makes you look bad when they don't because it looks like you were lying.)
4. There needs to be pride in the business - like the old tobacco stores of yesteryear. (Or maybe not, but there needs to be some sort of pride.) What I mean is that there needs to be relationship both in forums like these but also outside of these.
5. There needs to be well trained staff.

And other stuff mentioned above.

To be honest, I know many people say Twisp sucks etc. but they have the right image at least and are usually keen to help with staff that can smile and make you feel as if investing in the business is worthwhile. This may be why they seem to be doing much better than the others at the moment. I know they have some great financial investment, but some simple things can go a long way.

I'm sorry if I sound like a grumpy hater, but I think this can be a great business if guys just approach it in the right way. I know everyone's learning, but these for me are basic things. I hope guys hear my heart here.

Thanks and all the best!

Reactions: Like 2


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## Rob Fisher (28/3/14)

Wow @AStray that was a long intro... not sure my answers are going to be as long... but in a nutshell you are not far wrong and I agree with pretty much what you have said... yes the vaping industry in SA is in it's infancy and there is huge room for improvement... yes the Twisp stores are portraying the right image and are doing a fine job of promoting Vaping... I'm one of those that discovered the Twisp at the shopping centres and luckily found this web site soon after... 

Yes a lot of the web sites leave a lot to be desired and a lot of them are simply awful. I was very happy to find a vaping online store that has a very well designed web site that worked really well from start to finish! I'm talking about http://www.vapeking.co.za/

The ecigssa forums have been a revelation for me and have had a huge learning curve in a very short space of time thanks to the very helpful members who partake here!

There are a couple of GEMS already in this industry and while not all the GEMS have up to date online web sites they are GEMS all the same.

Off to make coffee... I'll be back!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Rob Fisher (28/3/14)

For your ease of learning curve and pointing you in the right direction I'm going to give you some of these GEMS I was talking about.

The first GEMS I refer to are the top members of these forums... Just take a look at the names on the front page of these forums http://www.ecigssa.co.za/ and anyone of them will give you honest and unbaised info and help on any question you ask relating to vaping!

Second GEM is the team that run http://www.vapeking.co.za/ and that's the husband and wife team of @Gizmo and @Stroodlepuff. As a matter of interest @Gizmo set up and runs the forums for us all!

Another GEM and a pretty important one is @Oupa from Vapour Mountain Juices who produces some of the best quality juices on the planet right from his laboratory in Cape Town.

His web site is not up yet but information can be gleaned from the forums and specifically here..
http://www.ecigssa.co.za/threads/vapour-mountain-premium-e-liquid-and-diy-mixing-kits.70/

Welcome to the wonderful and helpful world of ecigssa!

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## Andre (28/3/14)

Hi @AStray 

Do remember your post about the epipe from some time back. I did try to help to the best of my abilities, but ain't many of them around in SA. Cartomizers are 1st generation gear and have not gained much of a foothold in South Africa. I, for one, can understand why vendors do not stock them - no turnover. Thus, they do not have much knowledge of them. The same with NET juices, but fortunately that is changing. I think one of Vapour Mountains Legends range of juices does contain some NET and I think he is working on bringing out a fully NET juice. 

Yes, some of these web sites leave a lot to be desired. Same with the level of knowledge. We have seen a few bad experiences in that regard on this forum. Those vendors will lose business.

Hopefully this forum and contributions like yours will help to change that. And if you are not satisfied with a vendor, in whatever respect, do name them here so us vapers are informed - we do have a Local Retail Reviews section: http://www.ecigssa.co.za/forums/shop-reviews/. If a registered reseller on this forum, you can also ask questions in that reseller's subforum so that they are afforded the opportunity to respond. 

Happy vaping.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 2


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## vaalboy (28/3/14)

One of the challenges with shopping online is that as a purchaser all you really have as a point of reference is a picture and some specifications or manufacturer write up to base your decision on. As a result, before parting with your hard earned cash I suggest researching as much as possible. I have personally found the service from local resellers range from good to excellent and have made numerous purchases from most of the resellers advertised here. To date have only made 1 bad purchase and upon reflection, the error was mine for not double checking the specification of the product properly. I definitely cannot blame the reseller for my ignorance.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Silver (29/3/14)

Hi @AStray 

Thanks for your original post. I do think you raise valid points. Sorry to hear that your experience has been generally a bad one. I suspect it has more to do with your specific requirement with your ePipe than a general lack of willingness from the retailers. 

That said, your points all make sense and i think retailers should take note of everything you are saying to try improve. It will help us all in the long run. 

I agree with the previous replies of @Rob Fisher, @Matthee and @vaalboy. I have generally had a good experience with the retailers on this forum. But there is always room for improvement. 

Hope you get the right gear for your vaping to grow from strength to strength.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## mohamed (29/3/14)

@AStray


I hear your pain buddy .my concern is that if i were to purchase any item from abroad i would first and foremost research the product to find out whether their would be support for the product locally.the way i see things now you have been struggling to source support for this unit you have purchased and in the process wasted a lot of time trying to find a supplier that could assist you and now came to a point where u feel as if the local suppliers are the problem.
However i do feel that staff that works at ecig outlets should be trained sufficiently enough to be able answer on products they stock aswell as other products on the market.
However i do hope their is a local retailer that could assist you.

My suggestion to you, keep calm and vape on.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

Reactions: Like 1


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## AStray (2/4/14)

Thanks guys for all the responses, yet again, and your patience! I've contacted @Oupa to see what they are cooking up and thanks @Matthee for a fantastic platform  I am a bit of a lurker. Thanks @Rob Fisher for all the advice - really do appreciate it!

I'm going to be exploring a clearomizer option and see if that helps me to have no further headaches  Thanks everyone.

Reactions: Like 3


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