About Mods, Pod Kits & Chargers

[YeOldeOke]

Quite a few people have been asking us why we don't have the above on site anymore.

Chalk it up to envy. Apparently someone reported us and another major vendor to the NRCS to check if we have any Letters of Authority. So the NRCS was forced to approach us.

LoA's are issued only if you have the 200 page safety report for every basic model. We approached all manufacturers and they couldn't help. Apparently these regs have been applicable for yonks, but not actively enforced. Only the complaint led to the issue.

It's a long and complicated story, so suffice to say we lost hundreds of thousands Rand. Currently we are trying to find ways to keep the ship afloat, bitter and twisted as I am. It would take me no more than half an hour to submit a long list of vape vendors to NRCS in retaliation, but the vapers are the ones that will then suffer the consequences, so we would not do that. And it's just not our style. So congrats to the low-life that has to deal with competition in this way, I'm sure your mother will be very proud of you.

We will continue operating and hope the community keeps supporting us with the services we still offer.

Sorry guys & gals!

 

[Rob Fisher]

Sorry to hear that @YeOldeOke! Not cool!

 

[veecee]

Hold up. This means that sellers should have LOA's from NRCS for these devices. Which would mean that all manufacturers should be able to provide the required documentation.

If it's not something that's regularly enforced then either your business should be left off the hook, along with all others ... Or all businesses should be forced to comply.

Wholly unfair in my opinion, and I'm very sorry that this happened. I imagine that if the culprit were to be exposed, that their business would not last long afterwards.

 

[YeOldeOke]

Hold up. This means that sellers should have LOA's from NRCS for these devices. Which would mean that all manufacturers should be able to provide the required documentation.

If it's not something that's regularly enforced then either your business should be left off the hook, along with all others ... Or all businesses should be forced to comply.

Wholly unfair in my opinion, and I'm very sorry that this happened. I imagine that if the culprit were to be exposed, that their business would not last long afterwards.

Yes, it means that every vape shop / vendor needs to have a LoA for every model. They are simply not available, the manufacturers do not have a 200!! page safety report available for the mods and chargers, bar 1 or 2 that we could find. This is true whether you import or buy locally from a wholesaler, the retailer is still responsible.

These are ridiculous demands that simply cannot be met, We have ploughed back all our profits over the past seven years in stock, now that is gone. At 70+ and in terrible health I do not have the energy to start again from scratch, so who knows where we are going.

If I defend this issue with more aggression, citing the lack of enforcement of these little-known regs, their unachievable demands, the fact that everybody is selling and have been selling without LoA's and the high quality of the equipment sold worldwide, it will stir the pot no end and they will probably expand the enforcement and demand to all vendors. The net result will be a decimation of the vaping industry in SA, much worse than all the shenanigans that went before.

I don't want that to be my legacy..

 

[Resistance]

Yes, it means that every vape shop / vendor needs to have a LoA for every model. They are simply not available, the manufacturers do not have a 200!! page safety report available for the mods and chargers, bar 1 or 2 that we could find. This is true whether you import or buy locally from a wholesaler, the retailer is still responsible.

These are ridiculous demands that simply cannot be met, We have ploughed back all our profits over the past seven years in stock, now that is gone. At 70+ and in terrible health I do not have the energy to start again from scratch, so who knows where we are going.

If I defend this issue with more aggression, citing the lack of enforcement of these little-known regs, their unachievable demands, the fact that everybody is selling and have been selling without LoA's and the high quality of the equipment sold worldwide, it will stir the pot no end and they will probably expand the enforcement and demand to all vendors. The net result will be a decimation of the vaping industry in SA, much worse than all the shenanigans that went before.

I don't want that to be my legacy..

I hope you get through this in one piece.

 

[veecee]

Yes, it means that every vape shop / vendor needs to have a LoA for every model. They are simply not available, the manufacturers do not have a 200!! page safety report available for the mods and chargers, bar 1 or 2 that we could find. This is true whether you import or buy locally from a wholesaler, the retailer is still responsible.

These are ridiculous demands that simply cannot be met, We have ploughed back all our profits over the past seven years in stock, now that is gone. At 70+ and in terrible health I do not have the energy to start again from scratch, so who knows where we are going.

If I defend this issue with more aggression, citing the lack of enforcement of these little-known regs, their unachievable demands, the fact that everybody is selling and have been selling without LoA's and the high quality of the equipment sold worldwide, it will stir the pot no end and they will probably expand the enforcement and demand to all vendors. The net result will be a decimation of the vaping industry in SA, much worse than all the shenanigans that went before.

I don't want that to be my legacy..

Very sorry about this, it sounds super stressful and undeserved.

I also hope you find a way to resolve this and get through it in one piece.

 

[CeeDee]

That's awful YeOldeOke! Another site sells only ohm readers which I always thought was overkill, but now, well...

 

[Intuthu Kagesi]

"The Minister may, on the recommendation of the Board, in respect of any commodity, product or service which may affect public safety, health or the environment, declare a South African National Standard approved by the South African Bureau of Standards in accordance with the Standards Act, 2008 to be a compulsory specification. The effect of the declaration is that no person may import, sell or supply a commodity, product or service to which a compulsory specification applies, except in accordance with that specification and only if that commodity, product or service complies with, or has been manufactured in accordance with, the compulsory specification."

If our "illustrious government" have, (as implied by your post), declared the requirement for a SANS specification, then the industry is @#$%-ed, as every product would have to undergo a lengthy SABS test ... (it would #$%& the dispo industry more if that's any plus?)

 

[Resistance]

"The Minister may, on the recommendation of the Board, in respect of any commodity, product or service which may affect public safety, health or the environment, declare a South African National Standard approved by the South African Bureau of Standards in accordance with the Standards Act, 2008 to be a compulsory specification. The effect of the declaration is that no person may import, sell or supply a commodity, product or service to which a compulsory specification applies, except in accordance with that specification and only if that commodity, product or service complies with, or has been manufactured in accordance with, the compulsory specification."

If our "illustrious government" have, (as implied by your post), declared the requirement for a SANS specification, then the industry is @#$%-ed, as every product would have to undergo a lengthy SABS test ... (it would #$%& the dispo industry more if that's any plus?)

But we all would still be #$%& is what you're saying

 

[Intuthu Kagesi]

But we all would still be #$%& is what you're saying

On doing some research on the subject ... #$%& I love having access to clever people at Wits ... My simple answer is that we wouldn't be in @#$% IF the importers bandied together and defined a set of safety standards that was device agnostic, making it THE SABS / SANS vape standard. The respective manufacturers would then simply submit those components affected to the SABC for confirmation of design as apposed a full blown testing and approval cycle. I would also at the same time caution them of adding in any "value add" items that fall under different categories, such as power cables, (yes USB ones too), power supplies and possibly Li-Ion cells into the packaging, as those already have their own defined standards.
Think of the humble three pin plug that we used for many years, and how many iterations of them exist in the market, in different materials, different sizes and different fastening methods ... and yet they ALL fall under the same safety classification(s).

The possibility for this agnostic set of standards was tabled some time back, and I stand corrected, but believe @Rob Fisher may be one of the players?

 

[Rob Fisher]

On doing some research on the subject ... #$%& I love having access to clever people at Wits ... My simple answer is that we wouldn't be in @#$% IF the importers bandied together and defined a set of safety standards that was device agnostic, making it THE SABS / SANS vape standard. The respective manufacturers would then simply submit those components affected to the SABC for confirmation of design as apposed a full blown testing and approval cycle. I would also at the same time caution them of adding in any "value add" items that fall under different categories, such as power cables, (yes USB ones too), power supplies and possibly Li-Ion cells into the packaging, as those already have their own defined standards.
Think of the humble three pin plug that we used for many years, and how many iterations of them exist in the market, in different materials, different sizes and different fastening methods ... and yet they ALL fall under the same safety classification(s).

The possibility for this agnostic set of standards was tabled some time back, and I stand corrected, but believe @Rob Fisher may be one of the players?

I chose not to go on that panel. I have spent too many hours on committees like that in the past, and my patience is minimal these days!

 

[Intuthu Kagesi]

I chose not to go on that panel. I have spent too many hours on committees like that in the past, and my patience is minimal these days!

I get that! ... I too attend far too many Bull@#$% meetings, buuuuuuut ... this opens up an opportunity for all the Vape Importers / wholesalers / resellers to form a collective / organisation / committee, and nominate someone / a team with credibility to fight the fight ... or ... give into it and shut up shop

 

[Rob Fisher]

I get that! ... I too attend far too many Bull@#$% meetings, buuuuuuut ... this opens up an opportunity for all the Vape Importers / wholesalers / resellers to form a collective / organisation / committee, and nominate someone / a team with credibility to fight the fight ... or ... give into it and shut up shop

Agreed! However, I have managed to get off numerous committees and club leadership roles over the last few years. It can be a thankless job, and when you ask for help, the volunteers are scarce. I now concentrate mainly on number one, and my wife and kids as well.

 

[Rob Fisher]

A perfect example is VPASA (which I am still a board member of)... they work tirelessly for the vape industry, and when they ask for help or volunteers, there is a deafening silence! A handful of decent vape shops contribute their time and money to VPASA, and the bulk does neither... and when the &*^%R hits the fan, who are the first to whine and snivel?

 

[Intuthu Kagesi]

Agreed! However, I have managed to get off numerous committees and club leadership roles over the last few years. It can be a thankless job, and when you ask for help, the volunteers are scarce. I now concentrate mainly on number one, and my wife and kids as well.

I relate BIG TIME! ... Those roles are generally thankless, and like you, have extricated myself from most over recent years, retaining a few coaching . advisory ones as apposed the bull-@#$% lobbying / debating / political ones.

Time for the people that have the most to lose step up to the plate!