SoCal Co-Op - The Syndicate Woodland Hills

Tore a ligament in my knee tonight so I tried to come down to the syndicate for a joint. It was 9:52 and it states online that they close at 10pm. Now, I work in food service so I understand the pain of last minute customers, but I was prepared to be in and out in a minute and leave a nice tip. Instead the security cut me off at the door and told me they just closed. I suppose the staff pre-closing takes precedence over staying true to their schedule. Been a long time customer but this was such a great disappointment.

The atmosphere of this shop is very unique. I loved the layout of the store and they had prices clearly marked on everything, making decisions a wee bit easier. And they have good-to-okay prices, some great deals but the products they recommend are definitely sub-par. On my 1st visit, I took advantage of a recommended special on a vape cartridge and resin sauce and the vape cart tasted off. It tasted unnatural. I did not like it at all. But I did try them again, they had good specials, lol. I did tell my budtender of my experience and displeasure from my last purchase. They recommended another special on vape cartridge (different manufacturer) and had the same issue ~ the "flavor" tasted synthetic or unlike any terpene I've ever smelled, tasted or smoked. Ever. In almost 40 yrs. And then something kind of unusual, I'm an artist and I'm currently working on a project and will be using the packaging of cannabis products I've collected over years and from many different dispensaries as part of the project. As we talked about this the cashier scraped off the lab result stickers from my two purchases. Kind of discreetly, but still right in front of me. What a strange thing to do, right? With the very real threat of death from untested, unlicensed or black market vape cartridges, I am not taking chances. It isn't worth it. No deal is that good.

This was my normal place to go for a while. The staff is generally terse, but I didn't mind too much. This vape crisis has got me freaked though, so I wanted to double check that they were licensed. It isn't listed on their website like most of the other places in my area, so I call them up and ask for their license number. The person on the line starts asking who I am and why I want to know. I say I am one of their regular customers and that I shouldn't need a reason, since it should be posted and easily accessible. This person keeps asking me questions and doesn't answer, but I shouldn't have to give up any of my personal info for just a license number and I tell them no. He gives the phone to a woman, who runs me through the same gambit. She also won't give me the number, and keeps asking my name and who I work for. Finally, she passes the phone to the owner of the place, and he puts me through the same questioning! He says he doesn't know it, and that if I want it, I should check Leafly. So I come to Leafly, look up the license number listed here, and it's expired. Through that, I was able to find the name of the owner and looked him up again in the state database and finally found a current license, but damn, if they're legit, why were they acting so shady? Why did they ask me my name over 10 times after I told them I didn't want to give it? It's California law that they have to have their license posted. I shouldn't have to pull teeth and get treated like a cop just for trying to get basic info that every other legit place makes easily accessible. Never going back. They act like they've got something to hide, so they probably do.

Ok so this place is a mixed bag. So close to being a perfect spot. So the entrance is awesome. You enter and start talking to this really funny and friendly security guard. You’re cleared and you walk through a book shelf. The store is well organized and everything looks great. The best part is how they have their pricing. It’s right below each product! That’s really the only way I was able to buy anything! I wanted to ask a few questions about concentrate and they guy was friendly for my first couple questions. After about 5 min, he looked annoyed and pasted me onto another guy who really couldn’t have cared more. He didn’t even look at me. I was able to crowbar some info but I was really put off on how rude they were. They had a good deal on vape so I had to flag another guy down to get me the vape then had to find another guy to ring me up. Sucked that they didn’t take credit card too. I’ve been here a few times and have had a similar experience every time. I’m giving one extra star on atmosphere because of the set up, negative the rest because of the consistently terrible service.