Availability of Nicotine-Free Options
Gonna be straight with you here… if you're after nicotine-free vaping, Lost Mary ain't your best bet right now. They're brilliant for that initial switch from cigarettes when you need that nicotine hit, but they haven't sorted out a zero-nic range yet.
Another customer visited us, who has been on a proper journey with her vaping. Started with Lost Mary disposables at 20mg about a year back when she first ditched the cigs. Then, after about 6 months, she wanted to drop down the nicotine, so we got her onto a refillable pod with the MaryLiq 10mg. She's now looking to go down to 3mg and eventually to zero, so we've had to switch her to a different brand for that last stretch.
It's a shame, really, 'cause Lost Mary could clean up if they offered a full spectrum of nicotine strengths. I've mentioned it to our rep a couple of times when he's popped in, but who knows if they're listening, eh?
That said, Lost Mary is dead good for what it's designed for - helping smokers make that initial leap away from cigarettes. And let me tell you, that first step is the hardest by far. I remember when I quit the fags myself back in 2011 (practice what you preach and all that), and those first few weeks were proper rough.
Most of my customers find that the physical habit of smoking is half the battle - you know, the hand-to-mouth thing, having something to do when you're waiting for a bus, that sort of lark. Lost Mary gives you all that without the burning tobacco, which is why it works so well for so many people.
Another customer tried everything to quit… patches, gum, hypnosis, even those weird little inhalator things that look like a plastic ciggie. Nothing worked. Then he tried a Lost Mary BM600 last Christmas (his missus bought it for him, fed up with him stinking the house out), and he's not touched a cigarette since. Still on 20mg, mind you, but Rome wasn't built in a day, was it?
Enhanced User Safety Features
Now, if you're new to vaping, you might be a bit worried about the safety side of things. I get it - you're putting something electronic in your gob and inhaling vapour from it. Sounds a bit sci-fi when you put it like that!
But Lost Mary have actually thought about this stuff. Their devices are properly leak-proof, which might not sound like a big deal, but trust me, it is. Back in the early days of vaping, leaky tanks were the bane of my life. Nothing worse than reaching into your pocket and finding your phone, keys and wallet covered in sticky e-liquid. Not only is it messy, but it's actually not great to have nicotine juice on your skin.
I remember this one poor sod came into the shop with a big red patch on his leg where a cheap disposable had leaked in his pocket. Nicotine can be absorbed through the skin, so he'd basically been getting an extra dose without realising. Not dangerous levels or anything like that, but still not ideal, especially if you've got kids or pets around.
Lost Mary's stuff is all sealed up tight. Their disposables are completely self-contained, and even their pod systems have these magnetic pods that click in securely. Proper job they've done with the design.
The simplicity of them is another safety bonus. I've got quite a few older customers who were put off vaping because they thought it was too complicated. All those tanks and coils and wattage settings - it's a bit much when you've just been used to sparking up a ciggie.
With Lost Mary, it's as simple as it gets. Their disposables are ready to go straight out of the box, and even their rechargeable pod systems are dead easy to use.
We have one customer, lovely old geezer called Frank, 73 years old and smoked since he was 14. His daughter brought him in, desperate for him to quit for his health. His hands were all gnarled up with arthritis, so he couldn't manage anything fiddly. We sorted him out with a Lost Mary BM6000 - big enough for him to hold comfortably, no buttons to press, just inhale and you're away. He's been using it for about 4 months now, with no problems at all. His daughter came in last week and bought me a box of Celebrations as a thank you!
The built-in safety features are worth a mention too. All Lost Mary devices have short-circuit protection and automatic cut-off to stop the device overheating. This is proper important stuff that people don't always think about. The last thing you want is something going wrong when you've got the device right by your face!
