magick777 Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 This is an unashamed rant, directed at UK-based online shisha suppliers, all of 'em. A disclaimer: I'm going to address a few retailers by name, they deserve it. I speak as a pissed off, would-be customer and have no commercial interest of my own. This is an open invitation to any or all of them to fix up and take my business, before I go and give it to the German companies who can run a web site. All I'm trying to do is to service & upgrade a bog-standard Egyptian hookah, which means a new ash tray, a new hose, a new bowl, and a new base seal. I cannot find one single UK retailer that has all the items I need, and I don't know why not. I have spent days looking at site after site, and contemplated ordering from several different countries because the bottom seems to have dropped out of the UK market. First, quality of information. Precious few UK sites seem to sell ash trays any more. Of those that do, hookahshop.co.uk has "standard KM trays" but neglects to mention either the diameter of the tray or the central hole diameter. I need a 1.5" central hole and I think most KMs are 1.25, so not buying from them this time around. Then there's "theshishashop.com", which informs us that their trays come in two sizes, and have a 1.5" hole diameter, but neglects to give us the option to order the product in the larger size. And finally there's "shishalife.com", who have the (very nice) KM 2011 dual-tone tray, but again doesn't tell me whether it would fit my pipe. I guess I could ask them to measure one, but, come on, guys... it's hardly privileged information. So... I had almost resolved to go to shisha-life for the tray, if I can confirm it fits... but they don't seem to have a single good quality hose in blue; their best offering is a KM 2011 pro in black. They also only sell a single base grommet, of which they fail to specify the diameter (in common with just about every other UK retailer), and very little in the way of suitable bowls. Grr. The search for a decent hose takes me either back to "theshishashop.com" for a KYNMR Nammor-equivalent (where I can also pick up a Vortex bowl, but no suitable ash tray), or over to shishabuzz.com where I can get a blue Narbish and a Vortex bowl, albeit at higher prices, but again, no trays). And just about nobody seems to have a decent stock of Saphire bowls... am I going to have to order my own in from Gernany or is that what retailers are for? Really, not a single one of the retailers above seems to be able to satisfy what should be a fairly simple set of requirements. This is pissing me off. I can't afford to place two or three separate orders and pay two or three sets of delivery charges... I'm seriously thinking about ordering it all from the continent, with Aladin bowls for under 3 euros apiece the delivery will soon pay for itself. Why aren't any of you guys stocking the full Aladin range? Of course I could e-mail and make enquiries and I'm sure any retailer worth his salt will try to sell me something, but is it an unreasonable request firstly that you stock replacement parts for hookah pipes, and secondly that you describe them?! Take a look at something like sheesha24.de, where the section of seals and grommets has a total of 14 items, described with their sizes in millimetres. What a revolutionary idea, I can find a base grommet that fits a vase opening of 50mm and takes a pipe of diameter 40mm. Makes me almost willing to pay the shipping from Germany to reward them for their common sense. Rant over... I'd welcome comments from any UK retailers who may be lurking around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glider Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 While im not from the UK, some of the stuff you are ranting about isnt strictly UK... all that happens over here in the USA. 1) my KM tray measures out at 1.625"(right at 5/8) most KM trays are roughly that. some very slightly less some very slightly more. mine is the standard one and i cant speak for other "special" styles of KM trays though. as for your hose trouble. same thing happens here. also with bowls. tobacco.... retailers can only keep certain things in stock. maybe thats the only color they will ever stock because it may be cheaper to them. who knows. be a civil customer and call them up and find out if and when they will have said color in stock. 2) as said above. speak directly with retailers and find out when and if they will be back in stock. the holiday season just past.... most places are going to be out of stock of popular items. you have to have conversations with companies. if they want your business they are going to try to give quality service. if they dont they arent worth your time. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magick777 Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 Thanks for the detail on the KM tray; sounds like one of those is likely to fit. On the other issues, I guess you're right... I haven't actually got as far as to make any firm enquiries, and probably should rather than just fuming. I guess what's annoying me is that UK retailers don't seem to have their act together in the way US/German ones do... I wanted to be able to order the components "off the shelf" (otherwise I keep putting it off and reevaluating whom to contact). There are US retailers with a good stock of trays (and they're the only ones who think to detail them properly online), but it'll cost me a pretty penny to ship one to the UK, so I'm a bit inclined to prod the various UK retailers and see who cares. In fairness, it probably doesn't help that most of what I'm interested in, barring the tray, are modern products developed in the US or Germany. Most of our suppliers probably deal mainly with the Middle East, so supplies of things like Saphire or Vortex bowls are going to be limited. I guess I just need more patience, or a willingness to go different places for different things. Thanks for the input, on both counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glider Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 not a problem. glad things could be sorted out to some extent. keep at it and youll find what you are looking for. you can always check the trades too. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukhookah Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Sometimes u gotta pay the price for what you want. I got in touch with hookahshop.co.uk and I asked them for a km stem only from there complete set. The guy emailed me back and gave me a price on it. Give the retailers a chance by getting in touch with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Im with the OP actually. A well run site should supply all the necessary information about their products so you don't HAVE to call and ask. As for the selection, thats worth bitching about as well. It doesnt sound like he's lookign sor anythign special in those items and any reasonable shop should have the basics. Besides, if you can't bitch to your friends, who can you bitch to. If you don't like to read about people complaining about something I suggest avoiding topics with the word "Rant" in them. Its a dead give away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukhookah Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Saying that, the uk retailers are shite compared to the states or germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I agree with Mush. Sites should carry all the basics for sure. So you guys have every right to bitch if they're not providing all that from one site. Now for us Americans, well, you know we take everything for granted... we don't realize how good we have it. We bitch about having to order Tangiers from two different sites because one site doesn't have all the flavors we want. Same could be said for we want to order everything from say Hookahcompany, but we want a Nammor hose, and have to place a separate order for it with Hookah-Shisha. Yeah it's annoying and inconvenient, but it keeps all the online vendors afloat I suppose. If one site had everything, then everyone would order there. The rest of the sites would have to do the same. I think the way they have it set up now works to make sure they all get a piece of the pie by having a little variety. But yeah, every online store should definitely carry all the basics when it comes to hookah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joytron Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 [quote name='mushrat' timestamp='1294058043' post='493209'] Im with the OP actually. A well run site should supply all the necessary information about their products so you don't HAVE to call and ask. As for the selection, thats worth bitching about as well. It doesnt sound like he's lookign sor anythign special in those items and any reasonable shop should have the basics. Besides, if you can't bitch to your friends, who can you bitch to. If you don't like to read about people complaining about something I suggest avoiding topics with the word "Rant" in them. Its a dead give away. [/quote] I still cant really understand your deleting my response just because you disagree with me (as nothing written was offensive). I think he has every right to complain to the forum, just as we should feel free to comment on our opinion of the matter. That is exactly what forum means, does it not? I get your whole, if you can't bitch to your friends deal, but if any of my close personal friends complained to me about that, I would have had the exact same response. If you don't like reading differing opinions I suggest avoiding reading responses with my "name" in it. Its a dead giveaway. By censoring my opinion you are treating by the OP as well as me as children. I prefer to think we are all adults here and my comment would not cause any kind of hurt feelings. If the OP requested it being removed that is a different matter entirely and I respect his wishes and will say no more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 read rule 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magick777 Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Hmm, nice to see I'm putting the cat among the pigeons as usual... I didn't actually see any response from joytron (must have been deleted before I got to it), so no offence was taken on my part. For the record, I have no problem with dissenting opinions (though I reserve the right to be unconvinced). If the mods/admins have seen fit to remove a post, it is at their discretion, and not the product of any complaint on my part. Without knowing what you said, I can't say whether I regard it as legitimate moderation or censorship, and I am in many ways glad that the admins supported what I had to say. However, as a statement of general principle, unless someone is blatantly flaming/trolling (and possibly even if they are), I would not personally wish to be protected from an opinion on the grounds that it might cause offence, even if that opinion were stupid, offensive or plain wrong. If you feel you have been censored, I would like to clarify that this is not at my behest. I guess it passes into irrelevance... I was vaguely hoping that some of those retailers might be keeping an eye on what's said about them in forums such as this one, and take the hint, but I'm pretty much resigned to buying stuff piecemeal here and there, and taking my time about it. What I think annoys me most is that any or all of them would be far happier to sell me a new pipe that I don't need... and I'm starting to get darn tempted... but the environmentalist in me hates the waste. I can fix the pipe I've got, I should, and as a point of principle I won't buy a new one from a retailer that doesn't bother to stock spare parts. Anyhow, thanks to all who took the time to offer input. - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 The best advice...start your own web site..show em how it's done. Seriously, if every other site in hte UK sucks..see if you can come up with one that is made by a hookah smoker for hookah smokers. As for the removed comment, it was just unnecessarily rude and contributed nothing to the conversation. I have to say this rather often...if you arent going to contribute to a thread..stay the hell out of the thread and let those with soemthin to contribute do their thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 [quote name='mushrat' timestamp='1294145869' post='493300'] The best advice...start your own web site..show em how it's done. Seriously, if every other site in hte UK sucks..see if you can come up with one that is made by a hookah smoker for hookah smokers. As for the removed comment, it was just unnecessarily rude and contributed nothing to the conversation. I have to say this rather often...if you arent going to contribute to a thread..stay the hell out of the thread and let those with soemthin to contribute do their thing. [/quote] Maybe if he does decide to start his own business, he'll see how hard it really is and start to take it easy on em, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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