What do you value most in a vaping vendor?

[Silver]

What do you value the most in your vaping vendor?

Is it the widest product range or a low price?
Or do you prefer being able to build a relationship with key individuals
Website vs Brick and Mortar Shop?

What's most important to you?

The poll has 10 choices and you have to narrow it down to your top 5 - or less. Even if you think all 10 are important to you, try narrow it down to th emost immportant 5 or less.

Lets see how this goes. Feel free to comment below and elaborate on your choices.

 

[Silver]

For me its more about being able to build a relationship with key individuals. At the end of the day its about trust. If i know the person and trust them then i should be in good care.

I also value strong aFter sales service for when things go wrong - and when they do i like it to be sorted out promptly. Vendors that sort things out without questions impress me the most. Obviously within reason.

I like a strong website thats easy to navigate. Cant stand having to click through pages of stuff to find what im looking for, or having to click on a juice to see how many mls in the bottle. I would like to see that upfront. And having a low free delivery threshold is important because it makes me feel like im getting better value for my purchase.

Physical shops are less important to me because i do most of my buying online.

Another important thing is keeping stock of coils and accesories long after the product was initially stocked. I understand this can be difficult with the amount of gear out there and new gear coming in all the time - but for the winners that stand the test of time, accesories and coils (or whatever else necessary) should be kept on hand for a long enough time. This is from my perspective because if gear is very good i like to use it for a long time.

What do you value most?

Answer the poll and feel free to leave your comments below.

 

[CaliGuy]

Thanks for taking the initiative @Silver. With more and more vendors and startups entering the market it is of interest not only for the vendors but also for the consumers to understand what motivates us to support a specific vendor or several vendors.

For me I’m pro online shopping, don’t mind going into a store but as I work from home I don’t like leaving my bubble often. Also being in the digital media industry with an IT background I do appreciate a great web experience where I can also build a personal connection with the owner of the business.

Overall I find the vape community and vendors to be a friendly bunch, very easy to build connections with as we have a common interest.

 

[Paul33]

Service drives me.

I only buy from a few select vendors because their before and ESPECIALLY after sales service is beyond phenomenal.

Service to me trumps all else.

 

[Silver]

Thanks for taking the initiative @Silver. With more and more vendors and startups entering the market it is of interest not only for the vendors but also for the consumers to understand what motivates us to support a specific vendor or several vendors.

For me I’m pro online shopping, don’t mind going into a store but as I work from home I don’t like leaving my bubble often. Also being in the digital media industry with an IT background I do appreciate a great web experience where I can also build a personal connection with the owner of the business.

Overall I find the vape community and vendors to be a friendly bunch, very easy to build connections with as we have a common interest.

Thanks @CaliGuy
I agree this is interesting for both the vendors and the consumers

I agree that the vape community including the vendors are generally a friendly group of people and i think thats what makes vaping a bit different and special when compared to other imdustries. There is this common goal of beating the stinkies and the sense of achievement when it happens.

While the industry has grown a lot and some of the "intimacy" of the early days has reduced, there is still a strong spirit in the vaping circles and i enjoy that.

 

[Hooked]

Great thread @Silver!

My selection was:
- Wide range
- Relationship
- After sales service
- Free delivery/low level of expenditure
- Coils

I'm a real juice junkie, so a wide range of juice is important.

Since I buy most of my products online, it's essential to have a good relationship with the vendor, particularly when it comes to buying a mod. I want someone who can advise and assist me.

EDIT: I didn't realise that we are allowed to mention the vendor's name, but now that I know, I must say that @BumbleBee, The Vape Guy, is absolutely the best. He's my go-to man for buying mods and advice.

After sales service is a true test of a vendor's integrity. One might need assistance with a mod, for example. Even with juice, I've had two occasions of juice leaking during delivery. Whilst the vendor's Ts & Cs might state that they're not responsible, when a vendor replaces a leaked bottle without hesitation that counts for a lot!

Free delivery is of course something that we would all love, but often a high level of expenditure is required in order to qualify. If one vendor can afford to offer free delivery for an expenditure of R500, why does another specify a minimum of R1500?

Coils are absolutely essential - the mod is useless without them. I had this problem with my very first mod. If the mod is an old model and coils are no longer available, it shouldn't be sold.

 

[SmokeyJoe]

Customer service, Customer service, customer service. If i walk into your store, stop chatting to your friends, treat me like your only customer. Dont try to make the sale as quickly as possible so that you can get back to your chat with your buddy. Listen to what im saying, sound interested in my purchase, give advice, etc. If your customer service is good, people will come back, even if your prices are higher than the norm. People by nature want interaction, want to be feel like they important. Even if its a small cheap item. Not like the womble at vape king today when i phoned them to ask how much their elbow tweezers are, to only get a scoff on the other side and a reply of "They are only tweezers dude"

I have a tight budget thats why i asked, and i definitely dont surf. So dont belittle me or call me dude

 

[Rob Fisher]

Customer service and after sales service goes without saying... and then for me a Vendor who is on the ball and gets the new goodies first... and the vendors that get those items that are different to the normal stuff. Also, the website is critical... and if a website doesn't have a WHAT'S NEW link I just leave.

 

[Room Fogger]

I have to agree with @SmokeyJoe , service, service, service. I must feel as if I am your one and only client, and that everything else can wait. This is what makes me come back for more, again and again. This includes your website, as I do dabble with remote buying as well.

As I said in a post in another thread, I need to feel like family, that you are willing to spend enough time with to know exactly what I want, not what you think or feel I want and also not just enough to make the sale. Advice and assistance also goes a hell of a long way. This experience will either make or break my association between my wallet and your establishment.

 

[KZOR]

gets the new goodies first

This but unfortunately there is only one vendor that manages to do it effectively.
Hence i order from overseas.
Otherwise HONESTY, knowledge, approach-ability, friendliness, service, effective marketing, accessibility and diversity is key.

 

[Rafique]

Very good thread @Silver

For me it's service and after sales service.

I do appreciate a loyalty programme just makes me come back because I'm getting something in return.

Would also like same day shipping as an option, when it comes to Vape gear the wait kills me but I have settled on a specific daily setup so same day is not that much of an issue. I have moved away from the vendors that use to have the same day option as I supported them Mainly because of the shipping option even though the price of the item was higher then anywhere else.

This is good thread for vendors to look at and it should be taken seriously because I do not know of another forum that takes the time and effort to help both retail and consumers around purchasing of specific products.

 

[ARYANTO]

@Hooked - ''Coils are absolutely essential - the mod is useless without them. I had this problem with my very first mod. If the mod is an old model and coils are no longer available, it shouldn't be sold.''

There I'm 100% behind you , Smok have a wide variety of mods and various sizes and types of coils , I walked into a few shops here in Joeys and asked for Smok coils /or even glass and get the snotty reply ''we don't stock Smok products '' [ for sure you will never see my Randelas , ever] I know Smok is not top of the range but not all of us is financially able to go out and acquire a mod a month , so we treat ourselves maybe once a year to something slightly more wintgat than the previous , thus we need the spares to keep out mods going till the next upgrade [Vapecon 2019?] .

 

[Jean claude Vaaldamme]

The first 3 vape shops I visited, the person helping me was blowing clouds and circles is my face the whole time I was talking to them. So since then I try get my information on google or the forum, then search for the closest or cheapest on the internet, then either order online or just go to shop, who I searched has stock, walk in, buy and leave.

 

[SmokeyJoe]

I have to agree with @SmokeyJoe , service, service, service. I must feel as if I am your one and only client, and that everything else can wait. This is what makes me come back for more, again and again. This includes your website, as I do dabble with remote buying as well.

As I said in a post in another thread, I need to feel like family, that you are willing to spend enough time with to know exactly what I want, not what you think or feel I want and also not just enough to make the sale. Advice and assistance also goes a hell of a long way. This experience will either make or break my association between my wallet and your establishment.

Some eye candy would also be appreciated. Vape shops are a sausage fest

 

[Christos]

The biggest thing for me is after sales service.
I really enjoy when you are treated well even if you aren't spending money. The relationships is equally important as I can walk in and be greeted by name and receive recommendations based on my individual profile that the sales people know.
As an example @SEAN P has not given me a recommendation that I have not enjoyed in the past 2 or 3 years. I often get told you will enjoy this and he is on the ball with 100% accuracy to date!

The second biggest thing for me which is not on the list is availability.
It irks me, I like to walk in and not check stock on websites etc, when there is no stock of something that I buy regularly. Let's say I enjoy a juice and buy it regularly, I don't want to walk in and be told sold out. I would think that there is enough sales data to be analysed and make assumptions on buying habits etc to be able to manage stock proactively but I can understand the dilemma of juice being seasonal so managing demand and assumptions is quite challenging.

 

[Hooked]

The biggest thing for me is after sales service.
I really enjoy when you are treated well even if you aren't spending money. The relationships is equally important as I can walk in and be greeted by name and receive recommendations based on my individual profile that the sales people know.
As an example @SEAN P has not given me a recommendation that I have not enjoyed in the past 2 or 3 years. I often get told you will enjoy this and he is on the ball with 100% accuracy to date!

The second biggest thing for me which is not on the list is availability.
It irks me, I like to walk in and not check stock on websites etc, when there is no stock of something that I buy regularly. Let's say I enjoy a juice and buy it regularly, I don't want to walk in and be told sold out. I would think that there is enough sales data to be analysed and make assumptions on buying habits etc to be able to manage stock proactively but I can understand the dilemma of juice being seasonal so managing demand and assumptions is quite challenging.

@Christos it's not only vape shops who appear to have a stock problem. Our local Spar (the only supermarket in my little town) drives me nuts, as they're forever running out of stock of something. Why should I have to build extra storage place in my house so that I can stock up on favourite products? They should be doing that! As you said, it's easy to analyse comsumption and order accordingly.

 

[Room Fogger]

@Christos it's not only vape shops who appear to have a stock problem. Our local Spar (the only supermarket in my little town) drives me nuts, as they're forever running out of stock of something. Why should I have to build extra storage place in my house so that I can stock up on favourite products? They should be doing that! As you said, it's easy to analyse comsumption and order accordingly.

One word only for utter uselessness, never have what I went for - Game

 

[RichJB]

Price and range are the only two for me. My response will be fairly atypical, though, as I don't buy vape items often enough for service or personal relationships to really be an issue. Most of my purchases are DIY supplies. Returns in DIY are freakishly rare, I don't need advice on what to buy, I buy in advance (anticipating running out of certain flavours) and I don't buy new hype flavours for the first six months because it's only then that you can see whether the flavour has some staying power.

So if the vendor doesn't know me by name, takes three days to deliver, only gets new flavour lines three months later than others, and never contacts me unless there's a problem, that is fine. I want a wide range at good prices, free delivery for a reasonably large order, and a tracking number. That's all I seek from them. In retail as in DIY, less is often more.

I balk at having to go into my bank or contact Vodacom, Multichoice, etc, with service issues. Not because the service is bad but because, for the next three days, I get a stream of totally unnecessary SMSes thanking me for contacting them, telling me that the issue has been resolved, asking me to rate the service, and so on. I'm of the view that time is precious and service providers shouldn't take up any more of their customers' time than is absolutely necessary.

 

[Room Fogger]

Price and range are the only two for me. My response will be fairly atypical, though, as I don't buy vape items often enough for service or personal relationships to really be an issue. Most of my purchases are DIY supplies. Returns in DIY are freakishly rare, I don't need advice on what to buy, I buy in advance (anticipating running out of certain flavours) and I don't buy new hype flavours for the first six months because it's only then that you can see whether the flavour has some staying power.

So if the vendor doesn't know me by name, takes three days to deliver, only gets new flavour lines three months later than others, and never contacts me unless there's a problem, that is fine. I want a wide range at good prices, free delivery for a reasonably large order, and a tracking number. That's all I seek from them. In retail as in DIY, less is often more.

I balk at having to go into my bank or contact Vodacom, Multichoice, etc, with service issues. Not because the service is bad but because, for the next three days, I get a stream of totally unnecessary SMSes thanking me for contacting them, telling me that the issue has been resolved, asking me to rate the service, and so on. I'm of the view that time is precious and service providers shouldn't take up any more of their customers' time than is absolutely necessary.

Personally I have been contemplating sending bills to the debt collectors phoning the house. I tell you once wrong number, Private and unlisted and you keep on bothering me 30 times a day for 30 people that onviously cannot reside here, you wasting my mixing and pit stop time. Just waiting for new phone with full call I’d, call waiting and message. Then I can bill them for listening to the messages as well. I’ll have allof the clients personal info needed to prove that are not POPIA compliant and I can make something on the side. Implementation tomorrow, Locust 2 will have to design a letterhead and invoicing for this. He he he, I’m going to be righ in no time.

[USERGROUP=3]@Admins[/USERGROUP] please move to thread for things that happened to me that doesn’t deserve one. Had my pills allready so coordination has left the building.

 

[baksteen8168]

For me its more about being able to build a relationship with key individuals. At the end of the day its about trust. If i know the person and trust them then i should be in good care.

I also value strong aFter sales service for when things go wrong - and when they do i like it to be sorted out promptly. Vendors that sort things out without questions impress me the most. Obviously within reason.

I like a strong website thats easy to navigate. Cant stand having to click through pages of stuff to find what im looking for, or having to click on a juice to see how many mls in the bottle. I would like to see that upfront. And having a low free delivery threshold is important because it makes me feel like im getting better value for my purchase.

Physical shops are less important to me because i do most of my buying online.

Another important thing is keeping stock of coils and accesories long after the product was initially stocked. I understand this can be difficult with the amount of gear out there and new gear coming in all the time - but for the winners that stand the test of time, accesories and coils (or whatever else necessary) should be kept on hand for a long enough time. This is from my perspective because if gear is very good i like to use it for a long time.

What do you value most?

Answer the poll and feel free to leave your comments below.

Great thread @Silver

I'm on Tapatalk at the moment so I can't participate in the poll, but will do so on Monday.

Most of my responses are the same as yours, however both B&M and Online are equally important to me.

Retailer attitude and after sale service are probably the 2 most important things to me. I like building relationships with retailers and as such I don't mind spending slightly more or waiting a day or two extra for shipping if it means that I support a store that made effort to accommodate me.

Not sure if we are allowed to mention stores here so I will refrain from naming them, but there are 2 that I will always support. One of them replaced a mod for me without any hassles even after I told them that the stuff up was entirely on me. The other has gone above and beyond with answering endless queries and, on more than one occasion, sent something as a freebie with my order just because they saw that I enquired about it on the forum (yes, you read that right. Never asked the person any questions about any of these items, yet by being an active retailer on the forums they spotted what I was talking about here and surprised me. This from a vendor that I haven't personally met before (met one of them at vapecon this year).

It's these vendors who have a real passion for vaping and are not just in it for a profit, these guys I will always support.

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk

 

[Silver]

Great thread @Silver

I'm on Tapatalk at the moment so I can't participate in the poll, but will do so on Monday.

Most of my responses are the same as yours, however both B&M and Online are equally important to me.

Retailer attitude and after sale service are probably the 2 most important things to me. I like building relationships with retailers and as such I don't mind spending slightly more or waiting a day or two extra for shipping if it means that I support a store that made effort to accommodate me.

Not sure if we are allowed to mention stores here so I will refrain from naming them, but there are 2 that I will always support. One of them replaced a mod for me without any hassles even after I told them that the stuff up was entirely on me. The other has gone above and beyond with answering endless queries and, on more than one occasion, sent something as a freebie with my order just because they saw that I enquired about it on the forum (yes, you read that right. Never asked the person any questions about any of these items, yet by being an active retailer on the forums they spotted what I was talking about here and surprised me. This from a vendor that I haven't personally met before (met one of them at vapecon this year).

It's these vendors who have a real passion for vaping and are not just in it for a profit, these guys I will always support.

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk

Thanks @baksteen8168
Sure you can mention vendors if you like and if it helps to explain your point.
The idea of this thread is to look at the things that we as vapers value most in the vendors
I would hope it can remain a constructive thread though - and that it can also help the vendors

 

[ARYANTO]

One word only for utter uselessness, never have what I went for - Game

That seriously p.. me off big time , it's available online but not in the store ? How on earth does that work , don't you pull stock from the same place ?

 

[baksteen8168]

That seriously p.. me off big time , it's available online but not in the store ? How on earth does that work , don't you pull stock from the same place ?

There was a retailer recently that had this exact issue with the black Friday specials. He explained it as the shops only stock the items that sell in their area. While I'll accept the explanation, I would then recommend that future sales pamphlets be different for online and in store promotions.

 

[baksteen8168]

Thanks @baksteen8168
Sure you can mention vendors if you like and if it helps to explain your point.
The idea of this thread is to look at the things that we as vapers value most in the vendors
I would hope it can remain a constructive thread though - and that it can also help the vendors

Thanks @Silver

I would like the thread to also remain constructive. As such I am going to refrain from mentioning them publicly because I feel that the purpose of this thread is to show the vendors what most of the buying public value from them, and not to promote specific retailers. I will reiterate that most important to me is the passion for vaping, the ability to form a relationship and the after sales service.

Added my votes to the poll

 

[Silver]

Thanks @Silver

I would like the thread to also remain constructive. As such I am going to refrain from mentioning them publicly because I feel that the purpose of this thread is to show the vendors what most of the buying public value from them, and not to promote specific retailers. I will reiterate that most important to me is the passion for vaping, the ability to form a relationship and the after sales service.

Added my votes to the poll

Thanks
I agree, passion is important
A passion for vaping and a genuine interest in helping customers to get what will help them to enjoy their vape

I like it when a store owner or manager knows how a particular device performs compared to others and is passionate about the topic - but I also appreciate that there are so many devices and juices nowadays that its hard for store owners to know a lot about all the devices.