Island Dyes

Totally rude and unprofessional, avoid this shitty place at all costs. I decided to give them one more chance because I work nearby, but after today I won’t ever be back. What kind of business is closed at 4pm on a Friday afternoon for inventory? One run by idiots apparently. The big OPEN sign was on and it was right in the middle of business hours but they rudely told me to go away and acted like I was bothering them. I will take my business to friendly, responsible places like the Glass Stache or Captiol Hemp.

I am
ISLAND DYES in OBX and was excited to hear thry were opening in DC
Unfortunately their quality has gone down over the years. Bought what they claimed was a quartz basket 3 seperate times due tl it breaking after the second use. Ridiculous. The quartz basket i bpight offlije has lasted 4months!

Island Dyes is a solid shop with very high quality, medical grade products and some of the strongest glassware I have ever seen. However, their ability to run a professional business leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of their products you can find for far cheaper online or in other stores but because they are local and are one of the only shops in town I was willing to spend some extra money to support the business and encourage growth of the local marijuana business in Washington, D.C.
The first time I went to Island Dyes, I walked in to find the store totally empty and completely unattended. It was only after being in there shopping by myself for a few minutes that an employee threw the bathroom door open, leaned out while still taking a shit to let us know he would still be a few more minutes. For some reason I still made a purchase that day…
The second time I was there I came with a few questions about vaporizers but the employee who was working (not the pooper, a different guy) seemed far more interested in being in the back room then helping a prospective customer make a purchase. I ended up leaving that day empty handed and made a vaporizer purchase online later that day. I would have loved to have given them my business once again to support the local cause but i wasn’t getting much help in the store and it wasn’t worth the time or money to figure it out on my own in the store.
The third time I went, and unfortunately probably the last time was yesterday, Sunday June 28, 2015. Their website and the Google business page both say they open at noon but when I arrived there was a hand written note on the door saying «due to employee reductions, we won’t be opening until 1:00 today.» I might add that it was 1:30pm when I arrived… My friends and I decided to go get a bite and swing back through after to see if they had opened their doors yet. Unfortunately, by 2:15 the door was still locked and the hand written note was still up saying they would be open by 1:00.
I’m not someone who normally writes Unilocal reviews, especially negative ones but the people of Washington, DC have worked to hard to get the marijuana laws changed in our favor to let our few legitimate businesses act this way. It plays into negative stereotypes about people who smoke and that’s unacceptable, especially at this pivotal time. Maybe since they are a part of a chain of head shops coming in from the Carolinas they aren’t as vested in the laws and aren’t aware of the effort everyone has put forward to get the laws changed and therefor don’t particularly care but they should know they are making us all look bad by having bad business practices.
Capitol Hemp has always been a little pricey but at least they were open when they were supposed to be, available to help with questions and cared about marijuana policy in the district. I’m very much looking forward to them reopening their doors within the city limits again soon.
I will say again though, Island Dyes does have an amazing glass line, I just wish they made it easier on those of us who want to give them our business to do so.