Any SF vape shops?

[tokenfemale]

There's a B&M in Santa Rosa? Is it worth a zipcar trip?

I just want to walk into a store once and see what it's like to actually be able to see things before buying them!

 

[CHoKPoP]

I would say yes. It is vapor 5 in Hayward might be closer to you. Two great places to go.

 

[gardnerd4me]

Ill have to agree. I was at vapor den about 2 weeks ago for an emergency juice run. I obviously had to buy something since i was totally out of juice. The owner (I'm guessing) was friendly over the phone till i got there. The place is as big as a dorm room. the lounge area was occupied by another employee and his circle of friends. They only know and care about ego type batteries and accessories. PRICES ARE RIDICULOUS! they like to play chef and mix up flavors on the same counter top as the register and with ONE community syringe that is sitting in a glass of water. They let u try whatever flavor you want from there dewey decimal system looking shelves which means what u are buying could be possibly missing a drop or more from its original amount. kinda sucks since you are paying a buck per ml.... when i was in there, they misinformed customers and i wish i had spoke out but i didn't... The Snobby Manager informed the customer that there is no such thing as a variable voltage device in the vaping world (customer was asking about an eGo twist)... This shop honestly feels like they are only in it to profit and not to help people to get off cigs. Totally a noob place as the manager and staff seems like they are noobs themselves. I love the vaping community. every forum i go to, vendors i talk to, and vapors that i encounter are all nothing but friendly folks. these guys at vapor den however, total opposite. think of a gas station in a deserted town. thats how these folks act, almost like i wasn't there. Went there once and never again....

Those semi ok reviews on yelp, they are probably from the owners friends and family. I know I'm being unfair as i only gave them one chance, but that was all i needed to make my decision. Bad Staff. Bad Prices. Bad Quality. Very Bad sanitary practices. Wont be getting my business anymore....

I have to agree with most of that. I visited the Berkeley store recently just to check out all my local options. I sat down in their lounge and BS'd with customers and the employee. After about an hour of sitting around and just hanging out I came to the conclusion that they were a bit of a rip-off. Now I never met the manager, but the guy working there was very friendly and we had some good conversations, but good people only take an experience so far. What I really wanted was to pick up an ego twist, but he wanted to sell it to me for $50. Eventually he talked himself down $5, probably because he saw me disinterested.

I ended up getting 10ml of their ry4 just to try it, but with the markup they had on their products I couldn't spend any more there. The employee told me they were pretty much just there to help get people started on e-cigs, and I can respect that. It's nice to have a brick and mortar store to walk into. But gouging those customers is not cool.

As far as sanitary, the guy wiped down all off the clearos he let me try with an alcohol swab, so I had no issue there. But yeah, the store is as big as a dorm room. All in all I wouldn't turn someone away if they needed some juice, but I wouldn't send them there to get an ego.

 

[gcvt]

After reading the reviews on Vapor Den in Berkeley, I wasn't much looking forward to visiting the store in SF today but I was pleasantly surprised.

An online order was running late and I needed some juice. I arrived around 6:00PM and greeted the store employee. He was very nice! I stated that I needed some regular tobacco flavored juice and he promptly began explaining their different options. The "Red USA" sounded like what I was after. He said I could sample it and rushed to look for the sample bottle, but I told him not to bother. He asked how much and what strength - done deal. Sure...it was more expensive than ordering online, but when you need juice you need juice. This guy was very helpful and totally cool. Just thought I'd throw that out there for people in the area.

Parking, as expected in SF, sucks.