Does your local hydro shop appreciate your business?

OK... I've used practically every hydro supply shop in my state. There are 6 i believe. May be off by one or two and i am centrally located to all of them, maybe 25 minute drive from each. Anyways, Just about 4-5 months ago a brand new one opened up so i decided to check them out... See what they were all about. Now there has been a number of times that I've walked into previous shops and the employees don't really ever seem to know much about their products and aren't very friendly. Its kind of like a "hey give me your money, take your shit and leave" vibe.

So back to this new shop... Super friendly, they know their shit about every product they sell because, well, they test everything out in the community garden that they put together on the side of their own shop! Both neighboring homes as well as customers have plants of their own growing there and they all come together for positive causes! I have spent probably a total of $850 there so far between a new HID light, store brewed worm tea, nutrient solutions and other needed accessories.

Everytime i step foot in this shop i am greeted immediately, not in a "sales pitch" fashion but in a friendly manner. They are always giving me grow tips and keep me up to date on ALL of their new products. They always give me free samples of their newest products, some i use and some i don't so those i keep around in case i ever decide to take on more projects involving growing. Not to mention that they have a game where you pay 50 cents and get to roll three dice... If you get triples you win a jar full of cash or get to pick from entire nutrient lines as a prize!

So today i walk in after not stopping in for a couple weeks (i usually go get a fresh worm tea brew once a week), and the regular worker there says, "HEYYY... Were you here yesterday?" i told him i wasn't so he says, "since we really do appreciate all the regular customers business we have a grab bag with a bunch of free shit in it for you to take home!" i was so stoked by this!

This is what i was given for FREE!

1 Gal. Fresh Worm Tea
3 pack of GH 3 part series...
-FloraGro 8oz.
-FloraMicro 8oz.
-FloraBloom 8oz.
4oz. GH ArmorSi
30ml GH Floralicious Plus
30ml GH RapidStart
25ml RhizoGel Rooting Gel
The Green Pad Jr. co2 Generator
2 - Disposable 30ml dropper
FoxFarm Swivel Measuring Spoons
-1/4 tsp
-1/2 tsp
-1 tsp
-1 tbsp
2 - 1.5 Gal. Smart Pot Transplanter
2 Gal. Mother Earth Coco
4 Coco Plugs(shop presoaks them in CloneX and their Worm Tea)
A shit ton of reading material and 2 stickers! I mean Who doesn't love stickers!

I also got a free drawing on a raffle. There are 3 prizes...

1rst Place: $200 Cyko Nutrient box
2nd Place: $100 Cyko Nutrient box (smaller)
3rd Place: GH FloraSeries by the Gallon

There's only like 6 raffle tickets in the jar and they draw the ticket tomorrow... My odds are 1 in 6... Lol i think I'm feeling pretty lucky! Haha

With this being said.... When you find a gem of a shop like this one... STAY LOYAL!

Anyone else get this kind of treatment from their local supply shop?

Oh i forgot to mention the eco-friendly bag that came with it all!

Sounds nice man! All of the hydro shops in my area are money laundering fronts and they completely suck to do biz with. It's kind of funny how obvious it is. They don't give two Shits about the appearance of their store or you as a customer.

caherbgrower said:

Sounds nice man! All of the hydro shops in my area are money laundering fronts and they completely suck to do biz with. It's kind of funny how obvious it is. They don't give two Shits about the appearance of their store or you as a customer.

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Agreed! Most of the shops near me are poorly organized and put together... Hard to even walk through aisles without fear of getting brain damage from shit falling on your head

Craigslist is my favorite hydro shop. Then again, I do live in Colorado.

I fucking LOVE Craigslist... But in my area the only things worth getting from CL are HID setups for cheap or grow tents... Plus CL won't give you free shit!

ttystikk said:

Craigslist is my favorite hydro shop. Then again, I do live in Colorado.

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sno capz said:

I fucking LOVE Craigslist... But in my area the only things worth getting from CL are HID setups for cheap or grow tents... Plus CL won't give you free shit!

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Tents? I'm shopping in farm, ranch and ag stores these days anyway, when I'm not at home dePot. Hydro stores are far from the only place to get supplies and equipment for growing things.

Yea but they reward me for my purchases all the time so I'm not going to complain one bit

I used to go to this one shop that had tons of reps from companies giving them free samples for all kinda of stuff al the time...They would never put them out cause they were lazy I guess, and once in a while I'd pop in and ask for samples, leave with like 3 jumbo bags of stuff.

my hydro shop is over priced on some of the stuff, especially the lighting. Decent prices on soil and nutes though thats why i go. Terrible customer service and i feel like they could careless if a customer comes back or not. I dont know why because every time i go im the only one there.

So they should give something back with all the money they make off their unnecessary products. Then again gullible people buy all the crap. Been there done that experimented now all the stuff i need for my indoor grows come from my local hardware store...fraction of the price.

They take care of us very well at our shops. But shit they better we drop ass loads of cash in there. They damn near kneel down when we walk in cause we'r faithfull to them. Knowing we could get all our shit cheaper through the internet if we want to

I just want a shop that's fair priced with a knowledgeable staff. I don't care about free crap, I buy what i want, just make it reasonably priced. My shop was giving my free samples every time i went in, I just threw out 2 milk crates full of unopened nutes/additives because I'm sick of it sitting around. Every time they try giving me stuff now i tell em, if you can give that away you can take another $10 off my tab, I'd rather have that.

Mines pretty decent, very knowledgeable however gotta keep it discrete cuz not a legal state.. Only been there a few times cuz I'm fairly new at this but she gave me free cloning gel and cuz I pay cash and don't need a receipt she give me good deals, well seem to be good cuz I get it cheaper than advertised and pay no tax and she does bulk prices too even on my first visit when I needed everything

Free shit is always nice! Yes a lot of it comes in handy when i run out of my main supplies and at least have something for a back up... This most likely happens during hours that the supply shops are closed. 3 bags of stuff is a little much though.. Im happy with one bag here and there as opposed to everytime i go in lol

Metasynth said:

I used to go to this one shop that had tons of reps from companies giving them free samples for all kinda of stuff al the time...They would never put them out cause they were lazy I guess, and once in a while I'd pop in and ask for samples, leave with like 3 jumbo bags of stuff.

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Yes i agree most shops are way over priced when it comes to Big equipment like lighting my shop has fair prices for the line of nutrients i use but i will be switching that soon as the company i hear was or is being bought out. Plus if i go in to Buy 2-3 bottles of what i need, they will give me one of the bottles for free... Im definitely thankful for that since supply costs can add up quickly!

And as far as customer service goes.. Most are terrible. Thank god i found a good spot... Sorry to hear your shops are this way. They need to realize consumers pay for them to be able to exist in this market. I see a lot of shops open but close rather shortly after...

ebcrew said:

my hydro shop is over priced on some of the stuff, especially the lighting. Decent prices on soil and nutes though thats why i go. Terrible customer service and i feel like they could careless if a customer comes back or not. I dont know why because every time i go im the only one there.

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Yea but these shops aren't making the profit margins that the product manufacturers are... Most of these local supply shops starve to even survive. When they aren't making what they should be(the shops, not the product manufacturers) and still take the time to appreciate their "loyals" that says a lot about them, at least in my book. I remember when i used to use department stores to Buy what i needed but if you think about it either way you are still supporting big business since the product manufacturers and box stores are both corporate entities... So in reality when you purchase from a LOCAL shop you are supporting the needs of a community business person rather than Just stuffing money into big wig corporate pockets. You're helping to put food on the table of a local person in the community, not silver lining the suits of rich corporate cock sucker...

keeper1981 said:

So they should give something back with all the money they make off their unnecessary products. Then again gullible people buy all the crap. Been there done that experimented now all the stuff i need for my indoor grows come from my local hardware store...fraction of the price.

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This is true and half the reason small local business struggles to survive.... The internet is far more competitive than small business... I mean who wants to Pay for quality when you can Buy quanity? To me I'd rather pay more and get the experience of personal interaction with these people rather than an email that says "thank you for your business"

Blueback said:

They take care of us very well at our shops. But shit they better we drop ass loads of cash in there. They damn near kneel down when we walk in cause we'r faithfull to them. Knowing we could get all our shit cheaper through the internet if we want to

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I don't plan on acquiring large amounts of free samples everytime i enter the shop...so again, i agree that the worst thing to do is pack rat shit... I do not plan on being on hoarders anytime in the future lol

WeedFreak78 said:

I just want a shop that's fair priced with a knowledgeable staff. I don't care about free crap, I buy what i want, just make it reasonably priced. My shop was giving my free samples every time i went in, I just threw out 2 milk crates full of unopened nutes/additives because I'm sick of it sitting around. Every time they try giving me stuff now i tell em, if you can give that away you can take another $10 off my tab, I'd rather have that.

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My shop is the same exact way with Cash payments... Its a blessing and me being a business owner it is always nice to collect Cash payments for 100% profitability than it is having to pay MORE taxes to the feds and State... They get enough as it is from ME!

jerryb73 said:

Mines pretty decent, very knowledgeable however gotta keep it discrete cuz not a legal state.. Only been there a few times cuz I'm fairly new at this but she gave me free cloning gel and cuz I pay cash and don't need a receipt she give me good deals, well seem to be good cuz I get it cheaper than advertised and pay no tax and she does bulk prices too even on my first visit when I needed everything

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