Shop not taking responsibility for faulty stock, how is this OK?

[VapeProblem1]

A vape shop opened near my house about 5 months ago which was great as there isn't another nearby and it works out cheaper than buying from a newsagets as they do a '4 for £16' deal which sees me through the week.

Every so often one of the vapes would be faulty so I'd return it to the shop and let them know. The guy would reluctantly replace it but explain that he can't really keep doing so (?) as though he's doing me a favour.

He said he'd spoken to his boss and the boss said it's impossible that theres anything wrong with them as only '5 out of every 10,000' are faulty. Neither of the men vape so I don't know how they've reached that conclusion but I can assure you it's wrong and I'm not a dishonest person nor somebody who is so hard up I have to lie to get free nicotine.

Apparently the boss said in future they will only exchange a faulty one if I open it in the shop and test it there and then. I'm not sure how he expects that to work when I buy for the week ahead..

Anyway, the vapes being faulty is becoming a much more frequent thing. Two out of the 4 I've bought this week do not work and the shop has made clear that they will no longer replace them so I'm not going to give them any more of my custom and will instead buy them online.

I'm just really annoyed about their stance and how it has been squared as a 'me' problem. Apparently nobody else has complained 🤔

AIBU?

I'm not interested in quitting vaping at the moment. I have used it to quit smoking cigarettes and will stop in my own time or when it is banned. I buy disposable ones and recycle them accordingly so can we please not make it a vape bashing thread 🙂

Most likely they'll be knock offs especially if you are genuinely getting so many faulty ones. I'd report them tbh.

“A vape shop opened near my house about 5 months ago which was great as there isn't another nearby”

Not the point of your thread, but I’m interested in where the hell you live, cos vape shops are everywhere now! 🤣

I agree with those who’ve said you’re buying knock offs.

Let me guess, vaping is a sign of low intelligence. Blah blah blah.

Spare me the pearl clutching as I am not one bit interested in hearing how you feel about vaping, it was actually reccomended by a HCP when I asked for advice about quitting cigarettes.

FWIW though, I feel similarly about people who drink alcohol.

I think I will do, thank you.

Don't be ridiculous. The OP didn't ask for a lecture on her health!

If trading standards get involved the shop will probably close down/change business/become way more expensive because, as others have said, it seems very probable they are selling fakes...

It's up to you whether to buy from them on their terms. I expect that they don't have the right to refuse to replace faulty items, but they will just stop selling to you...

If you really want that brand then test them in the shop. It's not like it's going to go off or magically vaporise in its own once opened over the course of a week. Just put the sealer back in and back in the box.

I expect that they don't have the right to refuse to replace faulty items, but they will just stop selling to you...

I'm not sure that deserved an ellipsis as she's already decided not to buy them from there.

You can report them to Trading Standards.

Does it matter if it's open? I don't vape but my H has loads lying round half used that he then carries on with days later, so you could try them in the shop maybe?

To be fair disposable ones are pretty bad, my H has moved to pod ones with just interchangeable pods, would be much less likely to be faulty?

So the fault is always one of two things, either the battery doesn't work at all and it's completely dead or when you inhale it tastes like burnt plastic (comparable to when you burn out the coil on a reusable mod vape)

I did suggest they speak with their supplier but I don't suppose they care too much about getting to the bottom of it if they're happy to lose regular customers.

Those suggesting I could open them all in the shop when I buy them, try them and then set them aside until another day when I need a new one - I wondered whether they would still be OK to use that way. I used to have a regular mod and if I left juice in the tank and went back to it days later it would taste old, if that makes sense?

This is what I'm starting to think yes.

A customer who works at a competitor dreaded the clothes sales. A woman bought and returned about 80 pieces of clothing each time. She bought t-shirts from every available size on sale - from 8 to 22 or 24. For example.

She told me that the woman was a pain. Why buy all that stuff and return every single thing?

She hasn’t seen the woman for a couple of years now.

Why do you keep buying them from there if you keep getting faulty ones?

Maybe don't use reusable. Surely it's cheaper to use a refill and you won't have these problems

Don’t be opening all 4 in the shop and testing them. Reason I say that is I’m almost certain there’s a time limit. If I taste a vape say, and then don’t use it for whatever reason for a week or 2 - they don’t last as they usually would. It’s almost once they’re activated they have a time limit?

Also it sounds to me as though the shop are buying their vapes somewhere that maybe isn’t registered to sell them. They may be purchasing a big bulk for a ridiculous price, in return they don’t do refunds. I have a shop near me that’s the same. Change brands. The 600 daily ones are a killer. So expensive! I use the elux Firerose 4500 puffs and I can get a bulk deal on vapeverse.co.uk

Good luck! 💨

And also just vote with your feet and shop elsewhere.

I vape occasionally and buy online buying mystery packs. It works out about 85p for a vape. Probably had 3 non working vapes and another which leaked. Don’t bother with getting a refund as they don’t know what’s in the mystery bag.

I was giving them the benefit of the doubt / put it down to bad luck originally and felt there was no harm done so long as they replaced what was faulty. I won't be going there any more.

Could you point me in the right direction please? 🙂

Where did I say anything about intelligence?

Are you insecure about this or something?

I'm saying that the vape shop's business model is based on high sales at low profit margin to turn a profit. It buys cheap quality goods which is has little come back to the manufacturer. You either accept that or you report to trading standards. But the likely outcome of that is the shop will cease trading either because trading standards close it or because the high returns rate makes the business unviable.

It's one of those shit situations where you aren't going to win regardless of what you do.

But crack on by saying I'm questioning your intelligence if you like. It's kinda amusing to see.

As it’s likely a front for money laundering then customer service will be low down on their priorities.

Are they disposable vapes?

Firstly,disposables are notoriously unreliable and cheaply made.

Secondly, they are environmentally fucking awful products. At least switch to a reusable vape if so.

shop elsewhere.