Discontinued The RBT Milaana (unregulated single 18650)

HellsWindStaff said:

On the topic of RBT's team, I actually thought Mr. Peanut was a company rep.

A bad assumption, but I can't be the only one who made it. I mean, he basically did join the forum as an unpaid customer service rep, to tout the wonders of the Zion. With TKW and RBT. Not like he joined and was asking questions about other vapes, he joined and was touting the Zion. Least that's how it came across, as a member of RBT's team a bit more informed on the Zion/Milaana. I could of read it wrong, I am very medicated always here

Whose the karma whore? Says "Manufacturer" under his name. Maybe that also contributes as to why I would lump all 3 of them together as a group, since 2 were denoted as manufacturers? Unless he's making another product I"m unfamiliar with? If not though, makes it seems like he works for him.

Was bad on anyone including myself to assume but that was always my impression.

I hope people aren't getting up in arms about him missing the 30/31st.....give him a little leeway in that regard. We can ultimately judge whether or not there was anything "worthy" of an update if/when he decides to give us one.....but....seeing as how he said he would give us an update, it's not up to SS to text him, or TKW or Mr.P to hit him up, but it us up to him to let us know that there is nothing new going or or no new developments.

No news is still news, when you say you'll update monthly. But I don't think people should get hung up on the fact that it was the end of the month, as that ultimately detracts from the point. Let his actions, or lack of, speak for themselves. If there is nothing worth saying, I can understand why he wouldn't update, but IMO that's a dumb move if he wants to qwell people worrying about it/him and maintain some level of transparency into the operation.

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Well put, and let me clarify, RBT is really the only true rep for the company here. Karma has the manufacturer label bc he helped RBT with the 3D modeling and design of the Zion and Milaana, but he is really just a good friend vs employee or all out partner. He has the manufacturer label bc that's how he joined here, but as evidenced in the VapCap thread he has become an avid vaporist now that Zion got him to fuckcombustion. MrPeanut really is just a tester, and always presented himself that way here imo, he has shared some insidery info (as has karma, like those early development stories) but not to promote Zion or Milaana imo. Just to share feedback for the eager masses, we all demanded it of him and he delivered in spades. He is patient zero for testing RBT vape tech, simple as that, a good buddy with medicinal needs and rugged testing conditions out on the farm and the ice. Perception always in the eye of the beholder, but those are the facts at least.

little maggie said:

I can see why people who preordered the Milaana have more reason to be optimistic than those who ordered the Zion.
Still, I wonder how many of those who are writing to be patient in spite of lack of communication have been part of beta testing or have a milaana or zion.

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Honestly it seems to be a mix to me, for Milaana it is actually mostly people who do not have one I have noticed, since there are only a few in the wild. If someone is posting concern over missed deadline or lack of communication, it is only natural someone who is confidently optimistic would try to reassure them, to help them feel more relaxed and wait patiently as they are able to do. I am just surprised when anyone is surpised by that, what is the person who expressed concern expecting to happen? It's either people come in to agree it's troubling, or come in to disagree and say it'll all be okay... Or just ignore it all as most seem to do, bottom line is we'll know when we know, but imo there is still nothing to really be worried about yet, April could prove to be a very big month for RBT

I probably would not have ordered either the Milaana or Zion if I had waited and watched this process. Just as I chose not to order the GH. I was one of the first to order both back when RBT was actively communicating. And yes I know I can get my money back.
I know that he quit his job and is working full time on this and so production is very important. At the same time I can't help but compare his behavior with that of other inventors of new products- like George from Dynavap or the Boundless folk. They manage to communicate and still work on development of new ideas and production of orders.
And I still think he owes the 3 of us who had to have our Zion's repaired to have ours fixed and returned. They were not Beta's and are under warranty. What does that say about any repairs needed once he starts shipping Milaana's?

little maggie said:

I probably would not have ordered either the Milaana or Zion if I had waited and watched this process. Just as I chose not to order the GH. I was one of the first to order both back when RBT was actively communicating. And yes I know I can get my money back.
I know that he quit his job and is working full time on this and so production is very important. At the same time I can't help but compare his behavior with that of other inventors of new products- like George from Dynavap or the Boundless folk. They manage to communicate and still work on development of new ideas and production of orders.
And I still think he owes the 3 of us who had to have our Zion's repaired to have ours fixed and returned. What does that say about any repairs needed once he starts shipping Milaana's?

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Absolutely sympathize, as an early pre order you probably presumed like me this was more like HI UD and Triihouse, handcrafted one by one transparency. However his grander plans for mass scale production should mean that once products can roll out things should go much more smoothly and consistently. I wouldn't worry about warranty service down the line, I am certain he will employ the necessary representatives as soon as he is able, part of what comes with establishing a larger company. It is a shame the project now has more similarities to GH, but they (and Boundless) do have a much larger team as well. I am always amazed by how much George can do mostly just by himself, but his project is ofcourse very different just like the people are. Bottom line for me is the vapes kick ass, the path hasn't been easy, but once they are complete we will see the company become what we all expect imo. Each of these creators and companies have their own path, it is all so new, let us see how things progress bc we are still in product purgatory where to me any judgements not related to product performance are a bit too hasty (even after all this time waiting as the products and their production are fully developed and established). I do wish he would communicate more, especially to those of you who are waiting on the returned Zions to hear their status, but for some people that is just not their strong suit, it takes too much time and energy for certain types of people, even the smallest update spirals into a carefully worded diatribe (I am guilty of doing this all the time in case anyone didn't notice) so I can understand neglecting it in favor of working on the project itself, that is clearly where his expertise and comfort zone lies, so I say let him keep at it, get these things where they need to be finally, and then build the rest around that fantastic product(s) as that is the only lasting impression that truly matters in the long run

So apparently you all suck with the memory game. RBT last provided an update on 3/6/16 in the following post. His website says the update is from 2/27/16 but that info was not there on the 27th. It was put on the 5th or 6th and he never updated the date. I think you all should apologize for your poor behavoir first and second, reach back into your jar of patience cause I have a feeling RBT is only planning to silence the masses. While I agree an update would be nice, it is wasteful to complain about the lack of one and it makes me think RBT is giving us an early update when in fact its just more waste of thread space...mods could we get a clean up? J/k

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/zion-vaporizer.17061/page-203#post-937908

@nosmoking

RastaBuddhaTao said:

Zion shipments will resume this coming week

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Was that true?

i agree with @nosmoking . let's all ignore the missed ship date (which IMO is the thing to actually be concerned about), focus solely on a small caveat about the update date, and apologize to RBT. Don't forget to thank RBT for letting you order his vape!

I was having a little fun in my post so I would advise you dont take things I say to seriously, however a predicted shipping time frame is not a ship date and sometimes far off from the actual ship date.

@jojo monkey - all apologies but I believe we are in the Milaana thread but I do believe that has been addressed since by someone (not RBT although it should have been) informed us that a new part was being purchased. Your memorymay vary?

Also, the 4th beta tester just got his unit and I seriously doubt RBT would fo through all the trouble to send him a beta unit and then not get feedback? This feedback could be essential to the last step before sending out a mass of units.

Sure there is plenty of room for concern or whatever, but for Milaana all this gripe and such seems very uncalled for.

nosmoking said:

Also, the 4th beta tester just got his unit and I seriously doubt RBT would fo through all the trouble to send him a beta unit and then not get feedback?

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If you're talking about pak he just got his unit back iirc. Regardless, a delay in a single units shipping shouldn't hold up everyone else's.

You can make excuses for him till you're blue on the face, but that doesn't make any of them valid.

nosmoking said:

So apparently you all suck with the memory game. RBT last provided an update on 3/6/16 in the following post. His website says the update is from 2/27/16 but that info was not there on the 27th. It was put on the 5th or 6th and he never updated the date. I think you all should apologize for your poor behavoir first and second, reach back into your jar of patience cause I have a feeling RBT is only planning to silence the masses.

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Lmao. That's the Zion thread for one, two he said FC is no longer an official means of communication and to check the website and his twitter for updates.

nosmoking said:

but for Milaana all this gripe and such seems very uncalled for.

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What warrants "griping" then?? Not trying to beat a dead horse but being shamed for expressing opinions is ludicrous. Who are you (or anyone for that matter) to tell us how to feel?

@WakeAndVape Since you're my new cape connect I was curious if you could hook me up with a pair of these rose colored glasses going around!

I don't believe you recall correctly. I made no excuses, just stating what I am observing from afar and understanding how things work a little I guess.

@pakalolo Is your Mi a totally new beta unit or is it a returned unit you already had? Not little bugger, the beta looking Mi you have now.

@nondarb I would have replied, but instead shrugged and decided not to get bated into a multi-post debate about who is 'entitled' to express their opinions or when it's approriate...I'll leave that up to the pro's.

I don't know if they're rose colored glasses or brown colored nostrils ...when analysis is complete I will add them to the costume set!

Hopefully when the milaana (no I'm not with the IF crowd...if there is an if crowd) arrives...my attempt at jokes will get better

I think that rbt will satisfy everybody by tuesday with an update, on schedule, which I didn't realize was the 5th of the month until we were all recently updated to that fact, since the website is off by a few days.

Pak's unit was built before me Krazy Ed and VaporWarehouse got theirs (mine was actually built before those 3 as it was RBT's own personal Mi, but he wanted to send one to VW so I got his), after MrP's first one, distinguishable by its special turtle brand, RBT posted the pics long ago and sent it a while ago but it was already explained it was held up in customs for some reason in Germany, the package also contained the return of Pak's alpha Zion unit, one of the earliest ones ever made which had had a potentiometer issue after much use.

There is nothing to excuse and no one is being shamed for their opinion, others are merely sharing their point of view for reassurance. I guess some see an attempt to help as patronizing, and maybe people just don't agree with other people's style or perspective, but imo there's no reason to go back and forth when someone new comes in to express themselves just like the others before them did...

Ok, I have to criticize some posters in general. To much positiveness and commands to blindly trust rbt is sickening me. It is only misleading for critical information seeking lurkers.

"Praise rbt! Dont question him!"

Instead of giving him god status and accept any kind of behavior, if everyone asked for a refund, we probably would have had some kind of answer about what is happening(and rbt would probably keep my money in the end). I would understand if it was simple as: "Im waiting for chineese suppliers to deliver x part". That would buy me a month of patience.

He had the time to remove the 80% probability on his web site, he could have communicated a little paragraph about what is happening somehow. Not time consuming at all. Instead, he decided preorderers werent worthy of communication. Thats a lack of respect.

If rbt didnt need our money, he wouldnt have done presale. I think respect should be given with preorderer's trust. Instead, we get the silent treament and accepting that is not having self-respect. Encouraging to trust hard earned money to that kind of behavior is misleading minimum.

Now we should blindly trust a silent man? Please, have some judgement and responsability. I know I bought my solo, my 1st vape, because of reading well deserved positive users experience on fc. There is a lot of lurkers looking for infos here. Or rationnaly explain to the community what is trustable in that line of action.

If I feel the need to come out like that, its because I was lulled in trusting w9 by the general positive vibe of its tread and feel I was scammed. W9 sells faulty equipement (v3 persei and the core), and the community accepted that and thats not right imho. My v3 persei couldnt fire 3.7v cartridge like it was supposed to and the 1st answer I got itt was to buy an omicron

I just want half the high standards set by haze, vapman and solo to name a few. We can barter for that as a group, or accept the bread crumbles falling on the ground and blindly praise the god when he remember we are hungry for information

edit: "He had the time to remove the 80% probability on his web site, he could have communicated a little paragraph about what is happening somehow." was simply wrongly created by my imagination. I apologize for that. The rest coherently express my point

RBT updated!
Instead of copy/pasting here, I'll refer to my Zion post.
Zion vaporizer

I'm oot

I am very confident about this April shipping date... Milaana is coming soon.... Lots of dopamine in my brain...

nondarb said:

If you're talking about pak he just got his unit back iirc.

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You do not.

nosmoking said:

@pakalolo Is your Mi a totally new beta unit or is it a returned unit you already had? Not little bugger, the beta looking Mi you have now.

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@Shit Snacks has it exactly right. It is one of the earliest betas that was lost in Germany for a month.

nondarb said:

What warrants "griping" then?? Not trying to beat a dead horse but being shamed for expressing opinions is ludicrous. Who are you (or anyone for that matter) to tell us how to feel?

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I just explained that you don't get to beat certain dead horses. If you think someone is shaming you then feel free to report the post. A public challenge like this is inflammatory and does not help.

WakeAndVape said:

@nondarb I would have replied, but instead shrugged and decided not to get bated into a multi-post debate about who is 'entitled' to express their opinions or when it's approriate...I'll leave that up to the pro's

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I like the way you think. As soon as people start discussing these things, flame wars erupt. Many forums have a zero-tolerance policy about discussing the forum or other members. We don't, but that does not mean it's a free-for-all.

no word back about my order yet, soon I hope! Rumours of this maybe in the next couple months is exciting.

AJS said:

RBT updated!
Instead of copy/pasting here, I'll refer to my Zion post.
Zion vaporizer

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I saw that...woo fucking hoo...

I'm not impressed with the update at all.
The initial estimations were 80% sure all pre order units would be shipped by end of march.

But instead of giving real estimations there's more percentages and probability, with no real explanation for the hold up.
Don't get me wrong, hold ups are likely and forgivable...but history in account, 80% might as well be zero.

And we get to find out that the reason milaana is still for sale is not because there are still preorder slots, but because they are taking production orders as well...the thing about that, is when one orders from the site...there is no mention of that before you fork over your dough...strangely enough though zion is 'sold out'

My cynical side tells me that's because the people who paid $125 for Milaana will be less noisy than the people who paid $250 for a zion.
And RBT cares nothing of complaints, but i'm sure refunds aren't fun at all...

My uncynical side says relax, genius takes time...the man quit his job to build these, so he wants them out faster than anyone else.
And when a storm hits sometimes shelter is first and confronting the elements is second.

Anyhow...having a good time debating meself.

pakalolo said:

You do not.

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Yeah that was your Zion you received back, my mistake. Gotta hunt down that mailman, rumor has it he held up all our orders .

spoutti said:

"Praise rbt! Dont question him!"

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AJS said:

update

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More percentages!? That's not much an update, he didn't even say what went wrong or what held him up (or own his mistake in any capacity). He's talking about "several hundred units" in varying stages of completion and yet the units (initial 40) we've been waiting on are only 80% complete.

The old saying learn to walk before you run comes to mind.

nosmoking said:

So apparently you all suck with the memory game. RBT last provided an update on 3/6/16 in the following post. His website says the update is from 2/27/16 but that info was not there on the 27th. It was put on the 5th or 6th and he never updated the date.

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It doesn't work like that. RBT can not shirk coming here and say "I don't check FC use my official URL for all communication and updates" and expect any of us to check here for his update. If he was active here, maybe people would look for it, but he's been adamant that this place is NOT the place for updates or communication with him, you must use the official email channel and then that email must go through the trial by fire of RBTs validity test, and then maybe if the mad genius can manage to wipe some sweat off his brow and bandage the calloused fingers he can afford the 5 minutes to respond. But it's only through his official channels we should get updates , he's been very adamant about that.

I don't think people should of been bent up about it being a few days late, but IIRC he posted that 3/1-3-2. Don't take what I'm saying too seriously either just had to throw that out there....we can't possibly of been expected to see an update here. By his own words.

Sounds like ol' RB needs a T-break.

I can picture him twisting the tips of the handle-bar mustache...too ripped from personally testing every vape to mail shit.

Just like ones man trash is the next man's treasure; one man's villain is the next man's hero...I think that's why there are so many conflicting feelings.

When the day comes...rather you snatch your unit from his hand or bow and kiss his hand as he blesses you with his invention, the concensus is...we all want our shit, and we want it right...NOW, that is.

WakeAndVape said:

one man's villain is the next man's hero

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i think this perfectly sums up the dichotomy in both this and the Zion thread.

EDIT - "...with 70% of the workforce trained" 2 employees would mean that he's got 1.4 of them trained? sounds legit.

Our first rule is Be Nice, specifically:

• All members must be treated in a respectful and adult manner.

I would like to point out that sarcasm is not respectful and is not a circumvention.

Why should he explain or apologize for a hold up from a rough estimate? Doesn't seem like any issue was encountered, just that it's taking a bit longer than expected is all, wouldn't be the first time, but he said it's close to done. Maybe he did want to see Pak's impressions first too as @nosmoking said, the fact is all we really know is what he said there, and he seemed to say everything is running smoothly and we're close. Not much new, but still more positive than negative to me. As always many ways to interpret... I'd be more upset about the Zion delay but that wasn't so unexpected now either due to the potentiometer/knob redesign. For Milaana orders, it seems like good news for April still, and allowing more pre orders again seems like a positive for those that do want to jump in early at a low price (which will also probably be higher at retail like Zion, but available to ship next day in May)