Opd's Smileys Shisha Website

[ahwahoo2006]

Would that really make a huge difference SmokeMojo?

[mushrat]

OPD:
You have made several fatal errors upon entering the forum. Lemme explain..no time, i sum up.

You came representing a product with a hit or miss quality problem and a manufacturer who left in such a way as to produce hard feelings all around. You announced all was different now like waving some majic wand and expected people to just accept you at face value. While the general public may act like a herd of sheep, what you have here are some hard core hookah smokers like you have never encountered in all your 11 years of sitting and smoking with Smiley. We are mostly well read, intellegent, sneaky, and do NOT like being fed a line and are on the ball enough to know when a line is being offered.

You can't just say "because I say so." and have it work with this crowd. We also pay VERY close attention when a new vendor starts making claims about product, price, quality, etc. So once you make a statement, you had better be able to back it up with more than "because I said so.". And if you backpeddal or try to change your claim, then its like saying we are all too dumb to remember your earlier claim. This damages your credibility with us in a way that is hard to recover from.

You said you were here to answer questions. And then answered them with platitudes, evasions, and outright misinformation. Eventually you gave ONE piece of info out, MSRP on the 15g. shot. But only after being asked a bunch of times. You can't come in saying you are the new distributor for a product and then not tell where the product can be found and how much people can expect to pay for it. If you aren't the one who can tell us than you are simply another fly by night shisha hawker who might as well be from china selling handbags. Again, we aren't sheep or idiots and can tell when we are being handed a line.

You made grand statements that the biggest concern everyone has, consistant taste of a particular flavour from batch to batch, and have waffled several times on whether this problem has been rectified and thus the product is worth the new price. Defective shisha is shisha that doesn't taste like it should. I assure you, as many bolws as I pack in a day at my shop, if I get a batch of Horchatta that doesn't taste like the previous batch, then it's defective. Not my set up. My customers expect and deserve the same taste of Horchatta no matter when *I* got the particular shipment. And for what I am going to be paying I deserve the same product each and every time. I have opened dozens of cans of Starbuzz peach and everyone of them has smelled and tasted like the one before it. That is quality and that is professionalism and that is what you are going to have to deliver if you are going to charge 2x what starbuzz costs wholesale. If you can't deliver a consistant product, all those companies that are orderign from you are going to start getting complaints from their customers and they will stop carrying your product so they don't have to deal with pissed off customers. As you mentioned, getting one sale is easy, getting the repete customers is the real trick. So don't split hairs about quality, defective shisha, and taste being seperate issues. They are one in the same when it comes to this product. You pay for Horchatta, you expect Horchatta.

As for your web site, you put it up on a public server to "work on it"? Once you put it out there, it became public record, as I said, we are smart and sneaky. If you don't want the public to see it, then don't put it on a server connected to the internet. Your intentions mean nothing when faced with the fact you put it out on an accessible server. And Now you have let out the one thing you were so careful to keep secret, the wholesale prices for some of your product. Now anyone who sells it will have atleast part of their audience knowing what they paid for it. And that's bad for business. The responsibility for that rests with whoever put it on a server that could be accessed through the web, not the people who found it.

Lastly, since im sure most people have nodded off by now, you claim this forum represents only a fraction of your market. I think you underestimate the shere volume of people who actually just read this forum. Any search you do on google or yahoo on a hookah related product will point to several threads here on the forum, leading people here. If you don't think the 8 or 10 people who are activly participating in this discussion are important, don't forget the other 600 to 700 who just pop in and read. They are seeing everything you say and do as well and will be judging your company and the product by what they read. While It may be great that Superhookah.com is considering carrying Smileys, If john Q hookah smoker doesn't want to buy it, that oen sale is all you get.

So while this crowd is exciteable, plain spoken, and often insulting, We aren't Dumb.

I think I'll give this thread a little while longer and then time will just have to tell.

BTW Booberry FTW.

[SmokeMojo]

Sure could.. The heat distribution is completely different in glass than it is in metals, clay or ceramic. His tobacco may need to stay cooler to smoke to its potential. Glass distributes heat more evenly but it cools off a lot faster. Therefore the overall temperature of the bowl may be lower, and it may also be cooking the shisha more evenly. Glass also has a lot cleaner taste than metals, clays or ceramics.

The screens they use on smiley's bowls make for a completely different airflow than using traditional tinfoil or metal screens.

To use another familiar brand to a lot of us, Tangiers, it is a low moisture tobacco that requires less heat, and a higher bowl pack than other brands. Plus you get a way better smoke out of it with a phunnel, than you can even get close to with a traditional bowl type.

I've noticed that Starbuzz smokes better with less holes than more in the foil, then Havana smokes better with more holes than less. Smoke density and flavor can change very quickly when using different bowl and screen types...

Just a thought, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here.

Edit: Also.. I do remember Smiley giving the advice to put the tobacco in the freezer to several people.. Though this practice is not common among shisha smokers.. The lebanese, and moroccan families I grew up around both stored their tobacco in sealed containers in both the refrigerator and freezer.

This is a hint to me that his tobacco should be burned at a lower temperature..

[mushrat]

Oh, and before I forget, we've received samples of HH,soex,Romman,Al Amir, Tangiers, Amaren,starbuzz, and Fusion not to mention Smileys, from Various manufacturers, distributors, and retailors. So you may want to avoid making sweeping statements about what happened at times you weren't present. Just a thought.

[SmokeMojo]

I still feel like lack of flavor is lack of flavor.

There is a difference between lack of flavor and setup though. I'm not saying this is the problem, but if you don't pack Tangiers right (no offense Eric) it doesn't taste too good. In fact the first time I smoked Tangiers on my own I had 2nd thoughts about it, but once I figured out what I was doing wrong and fixed it.. It changed the experience entirely.

Perhaps Smiley is overlooking some important instructions, or rituals he does when packing/making a bowl. Something as simple as packing it looser or tighter can change the smoke dramatically.

I'm not defending OPD's claims.. I'm just saying perhaps people should try a few different setups and see if that changes the smoke.

[ahwahoo2006]

I agree with you: I certainly wouldn't smoke al-Amir and Tangiers in the same way. But there is a difference between having a flavor/smell and burning it and not having a flavor/smell at all.

[SmokeMojo]

I agree with you: I certainly wouldn't smoke al-Amir and Tangiers in the same way. But there is a difference between having a flavor/smell and burning it and not having a flavor/smell at all.

I haven't personally experienced Smiley's yet, so I'm just going based on reviews.. And advice I've read that Smiley and other members have given. I'll soon have a few 150g tubs in my posession and I'll be able to try them out for myself.. Perhaps then I'll know better as to what the no flavor/no smell problem is. Lets hope that, that is not the case though.

I could see where no smell would be a problem.. Then it means there is a lack of flavoring for sure. Now if it smells like it should but it doesn't smoke like it should.. I would have to attribute that slightly to setup.

[mushrat]

Ok, we have already beat several dead horses here.

He's given us his answer on quality. There is no answer and we're not going to get any more out of him, so lets quit trying.

Price: we know the msrp on the "snaks" and now we know the wholesale as well.

Web site: it was out there, its gone now. the information on it has been saved all over the place, nothing to be done. Lets drop that as its going no where.

DJNick had a legitimate question that is getting lost in the shuffle. He has 3 bad cans that don't taste like anything and wants a refund or replacement. THERE is an issue that OPD can address directly and we can watch what happens.

Does anyoen have anything to say that doesn't keep hammering away at the same subjects we either don't like the answer to or aren't going to get an answer to?


Horse beating questions will be made invisible to make room for any other legitimate comments or questions.
Vote with your pocketbooks folks. You don't liek what yu hear, don't bloody buy the stuff. You are willing to give it a shot, then go get some and report back if it's worth it. But you aren't going to change his mind and you aren't going to get anywhere by being insulting/badgering/abusive. Half you folks didn't like the stuff anyways and more hadn't gotten aroudn to trying it because it was too expensive even at the old $7-$9 price so why should he care what you think of a higher price? Hate to rain on the parade but lets get back to real issues. Like anyone who has a flavourless jar they paid good money for perhaps.

[ahwahoo2006]

Likewise, I have not tried it (but am TRYING to), but what I gathered was that some batches smelled and tasted great and others did not.

[ahwahoo2006]

Ok, we have already beat several dead horses here.

Sorry, Mushrat.

My real issue is that I have gotten no answer as to how I can purchase this new Smiley's

[SmokeMojo]

I'll be recieving five 150g jars of the supposed new recipes by the end of next week. OPD took care of a problem I had with an order I placed nearly 3 weeks ago that never came. He did so professionally. He also said he would include some "extras" to compensate for the wait, and screw up. By the end of next week I hope that I'll be able to give some feedback on Smiley's Tobacco.

[SmokeMojo]

Good news for everyone and for OPD.. I just recieved five of the new recipe Smileys when I got home from work... New containers and all. They don't really look like 150g but with recent events and changes in company/distributor I'll let it slide. Now.. As for Smell so far before smoking this is what we got..

Naughty Cow: I don't know what it is supposed to smell like, but it does have a distinct tangy/sweet smell.

Watermelon: Smells pretty damn good, unlike most other watermelon smells.. Not quite so "jolly rancher" smell... More natural.

Bubbleberry: Smells like blueberry with a hint of bubblegum in the "after smell" if that's even real..

Peach: Ehh, not a very strong smell.. Faint peach smell but we'll see..

Prickly Pear: The lid was cracked and a bit of juice stained the label and box.. but the shisha still looks plenty wet.. We'll see how this goes. The Smell is there, it's something different.. Not quite Pear.. Maybe this is what Prickly Pear Smells like though..?

[mushrat]

Mojo: a prickley pear is a cactus fruit, nothing to do with a pear. The bubble berry used to taste like clueberry,raspberry,and strawberry as close as we could figure. Naughty cow is a combination of 7 flavours, and Smiley used ot change the 7 from batch to batch. The batch I have now shifts through different flavoursas you smoke it kinda like a gobstopper.

[mushrat]

Ok, we have already beat several dead horses here.

Sorry, Mushrat.

My real issue is that I have gotten no answer as to how I can purchase this new Smiley's

My guess is there answer is you CAN'T. he's already said he'sin negations with several big companies, but the only place you could really get it from befor e was MN and tye have the "old formula" jars if you will. That would be th eplace to find the stuff at the moment.

[SmokeMojo]

Mojo: a prickley pear is a cactus fruit, nothing to do with a pear. The bubble berry used to taste like clueberry,raspberry,and strawberry as close as we could figure. Naughty cow is a combination of 7 flavours, and Smiley used ot change the 7 from batch to batch. The batch I have now shifts through different flavoursas you smoke it kinda like a gobstopper.

Thanks a ton Mushrat.. I didn't think Prickley Pear was actual Pear but I thought it would smell sweeter. It still has a good scent though.

I should be able to analyze the flavors a little better with that explanation.

Anyone have a request for what they wanna hear about first? I'll light up right now and give a puff by puff review.. I'll probably do 2 tonight.

[oggie505#2]

cool, Mush should make a new review section for the new smileys, and def in the review put if it is worth paying the estimated prices for 15 grams too, i am sure that would be helpful

[symptom CY]

Ok guys I went and watched some Blue's Clues, flipped through some old notebooks, and I think I figured it out -- this whole thing must be some kinda 7th grade business class experiment! Right? ... it's just too unbelievable to be serious....

Macho and Mush pretty much said everything I wanted to say regarding the website and OPD's comments in this thread, and I'm glad because I don't even feel like digging into it. What a disaster...

[aldonb1]

Hmm... i think we have all been hounding OPD with questions left and right. He claimed to have come here to inform us of his new product (accomplished... well... as best as he could) and to find out information from us.... So i was just wondering if he had any questions for us, or was it just to tell us new smileys is the shit but we dont represent a large market. Edited July 12, 2007 by aldonb1

[MechAnt]

As Lee Iacocca said, "To establish oneself back into a market where your, my, company has gone to hell is to restore consumer confidence." If you read what I wrote on the other thread, I wrote a lengthy piece that in order to win market share back, you must restore confidence in the hearts of consumers that the product really has changed and become that much better. "If you can find a better car, buy it!"

[oggie505#2]

Peach: Ehh, not a very strong smell.. Faint peach smell but we'll see..

The last time I had the peach, the old stuff mind you, the flavor was almost non existent