a........6

I have shopped at this store on about a dozen or so occasions. I was thrilled with the service, selection, and quality at first. The location is near my office, so it was an easy on­the­way­home stop. However, in recent weeks, I’ve been convinced never to shop here again, for a couple of reasons. They have a tiered product selection, as do many dispensaries. However, they’ve recently had very few items in their “Tier 3” (read: affordable) range. I am happy to pay a premium price for a premium product, but this leads to my second complaint: ALL of their products are pre­packaged. This absolutely BAFFLES me. In a city that prides itself on individuality and cool experiences, I find it very odd that this company wants to run like a pharmacy. When you walk into the back room, you can see nicely displayed glass jars full of product. Everything looks good and fresh. Then you place your order, and the budtender (more like “cashier”) reaches in a DRAWER and pulls out a pre­filled container. Part of the excitement of this whole thing these days is the experience itself. Older generations had to secretly pass money and goods behind closed doors, with questionable quality. We don’t have to do that anymore­we’ve evolved! I want to stand at the counter and have a conversation with a budtender while they measure out my product and place it nicely into the container. I want to see and smell the product. Granted, they’ll pull the jars down from the shelf and let you examine and smell the product, but that’s NOT the product going into the container. (Also, the Tier 3 products are ONLY prepackaged... literally, they have clear glass jars of black plastic packages. WHAT?!) You won’t know about the quality of the actual product you purchased until you leave the store and it’s too late to change your mind or return it. I’ve come home on several occasions and found my product to be dry, or to have very small buds. This is not something I would have chosen from a jar. If I had a budtender talking me through a selection and had me smell and check out a bud like that, I would very likely opt for something else – it might even result in an up­sell to a higher, more expensive Tier, which would benefit them! I would opt for something a little fresher, a little moister, and with bigger buds. Very disappointing all­around, and for these reasons, I will not be going back unless they change to an all “live” experience with fresh product.