Discontinued The Grasshopper

[JCat]

Yep, that's what mine looked like at 4.2 on the first hit through water. Absolutely wonderful powerful vape until they "fixed" it. As said above, my newly returned GH runs cold to the point of it not being really usable.

Opened another RMA....so this is an RMA on my just returned RMA and I received this from Hopper. IMO, polite and responsive. No need to brutalize Drew, he's just trying to do his job and I can't ask more from him. I just want a well functioning GH back.

From Hopper:

We sincerely apologize for the trouble with your Hopper. Our upgrade has been a move to start producing the heating element in house as apposed to outsourcing. We admittedly do not catch every issue out of the door, but we are working and developing to improve this phenomena. I will attach a return label so you will not have to pay for shipping again. You will just need to print this out. We will get this fixed up and shipped back to you within several days of its return to us.

USPS shipping label link was here

Thank you,
Hopper Labs​

So, we will see what happens now but I did reply with this (no use yelling at the guy, right....won't help).

Thank you, Drew. Your response was polite, humble and responsive and I can't ask for anything more (well, except a well functioning GH back, of course).

I recently retired from a long career as a Program Manager in tech. Mostly very high end telecom core network equipment and a LOT of software. I am aware of how hard it is to build in testibility and fault isolation ability and how difficult it can be to find all faults and failures. in a production run. But I also know, from long experience, that doing just that is absolutely essential to success.

Please do ensure my GH comes back with some spring in its step. As I said, it runs very cool even at temp 5. I would FAR prefer it to run hot as I can always roll the temp down. But with it cool at temp 5, there was no place to go up.

Also, when I turn it on, red goes to solid blue as expected but the blue light flickers when I actually draw. I the past that would indicated to me that time to change battery was imminent. I don't know if this is now expected behavior or indicative of the issue with my GH.

My OG GH did indeed work perfectly for almost 18 months. Milk on the first draw at 4.2 through a water pipe and very nicely even AVB after the session.

Not used as a daily driver and definitely babied and kept in the house, but it was a vapor producing machine and was everything a GH should be. I would love to have it back with that type of performance. :-)

Thanks again and try to keep an even strain out there. But I do really hope you guys can get your production and test issues worked out as a reliable and repairable GH would be a killer in the market place.

Please do reach out if you have any questions of me or any confusion/issues once my GH arrives.

And thank you for the shipping label and the promise of a fast turn-around time. I appreciate your fulfilling my requests in those areas.

Cheers​

This to me is a significant improvement.

1. They are owning their problems and not trying, at all, to blame the customer

2. They are doing what they can to make it right by making the requested concessions

I really do hope this plays out right.

 

[Baron23]

This to me is a significant improvement.

1. They are owning their problems and not trying, at all, to blame the customer

2. They are doing what they can to make it right by making the requested concessions

I really do hope this plays out right.

Agree 100%.

 

[Baron23]

Sorry for double post but edit timeout ran out.

So, I agreed with whoever it was that said that Hopper probably wouldn't see my note added to the RMA of the GH that they already shipped back to me stating it was running cold and not useful.

So, I opened a new RMA for this and posted their response above.

Well, today...what, a couple of days later, Drew (same guy) comes back in the OG RMA to say that they will now send me a new body.

So, is it ship it back under the new RMA or they ship me a new body under the old RMA? I have asked but wow, more confusion.

--------------
From Drew in OG RMA:

Thanks for the detailed response. It sounds like we need to replace the body of your unit. Perhaps there is a poor connection in there that came loose during the transit process. We do extensive testing on every unit and I can assure you it was working well when it was here. We have shipped over 1000 of our new units and have not seen many problems. We cannot control every variably but we will do our best to make this right for you.

We will send out a new body for the unit to remedy the problem .​

 

[wkndwarrior]

Agree 100%.

I have been following closely - it sure seems (as an outsider) that the company is trying to do right and correct its course. Seems at this point it’s like turning a freighter-make the adjustment and wait a long time. I am interested still to get a hopper but I feel like I’ve been checking in every few months for a long time waiting for the storm of rma’s and changes to clear.

 

[ktmstick]

Sorry for double post but edit timeout ran out.

So, I agreed with whoever it was that said that Hopper probably wouldn't see my note added to the RMA of the GH that they already shipped back to me stating it was running cold and not useful.

So, I opened a new RMA for this and posted their response above.

Well, today...what, a couple of days later, Drew (same guy) comes back in the OG RMA to say that they will now send me a new body.

So, is it ship it back under the new RMA or they ship me a new body under the old RMA? I have asked but wow, more confusion.

--------------
From Drew in OG RMA:

Thanks for the detailed response. It sounds like we need to replace the body of your unit. Perhaps there is a poor connection in there that came loose during the transit process. We do extensive testing on every unit and I can assure you it was working well when it was here. We have shipped over 1000 of our new units and have not seen many problems. We cannot control every variably but we will do our best to make this right for you.

We will send out a new body for the unit to remedy the problem .​

I think (and hope) they will just send you a new body to get you fixed. Caroline did this for me last year, took less than a week to get to me here in the uk.

 

[Baron23]

I have been following closely - it sure seems (as an outsider) that the company is trying to do right and correct its course. Seems at this point it’s like turning a freighter-make the adjustment and wait a long time. I am interested still to get a hopper but I feel like I’ve been checking in every few months for a long time waiting for the storm of rma’s and changes to clear.

I think (and hope) they will just send you a new body to get you fixed. Caroline did this for me last year, took less than a week to get to me here in the uk.

Thanks guys...and I agree...they are trying and part of this confusion was caused by me putting my new post-fix failure info in both the OG and new RMAs. Can't really fault them too much but most ticket systems allow you to associated tickets and make one the master in order to handle situations like this.

I'm sure it will all work out. I just want my high performance GH back.

Cheers

 

[fogbank]

Yes, exactly.

I understand the purpose of going from the "split" cable to the single, reinforced connection - it's sturdier and less likely to break at the connection point(s). Any idea why the angled hole in connecting ring though?

BTW, I also notice that the ring only connects magnetically from one side now. The old ring was 'ambidextrous' - either side of the ring would connect magnetically. It doesn't make any difference to me really, but I'm curious as to the reason for this change.

I'm not sure why the changes were made (beyond the cabling), but your observations are correct. The newer charger only connects firmly from one side.

 

[Baron23]

Latest back from Hopper...all good. We have the ticket confusion cleared up and they are sending me a new body rather than shipping back the whole GH. If it fixes the issue, I will be more than happy.

From Drew at Hopper:

I'm sorry. That was a communication mess up on our part. We will be sending you a replacement body. You will not need to worry about sending in the whole Hopper. I will be voiding the label that I originally sent you and your body should be shipping out soon.​

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

The transit process? Fuck me.

 

[Baron23]

The transit process? Fuck me.

Huh?

 

[RaK427]

I asked them beginning of the month how long would it be with UPS they answered back saying 5-7 business days.

EDIT: I’m not in the USA

Please let us know when you get it and how is it. I’m thinking of buying one myself.

Hey, finally received it on Friday, that's about 5.5 weeks from the order date. With a weekend's worth of experience under my belt, I can say it's awesome! Size, convenience, and temperature adjustability are the main pros for it, while it makes impressive clouds as well. I'll have to see how it holds up, I'll be on vacation with it next week and am looking forward to experimenting with different packs and draw speeds.

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

Huh?

You mentioned Hopper Labs suggested your unit may have been damaged in transit. I was speculating that it would seem very unlikely.

 

[Sonicboom1991]

This is what I just sent to Hopper about my inadequately repaired GH that runs cold. I'm getting kind of sick of all of the excuses and caveats. These guys are just fucking up, and I don't care how nice and sincere their neighbor thinks they are. This is business and business is about execution.

Dear Hopper Labs CS – I recently received my GH back from a long and languishing RMA process a few days ago and I can hardly express my disappointment in quality of the repair and with Hopper Labs.

This is GH serial number GT001671, and RMA reference number 54514675.

Please understand, I moderate one popular vape forum, curate a sub-forum on another, and am a respected and active member on a third one. Further, I have almost a dozen vapes of all sorts. My point is that I know vapes and I know what should be the expected performance. I also know how to properly dry, prepare, and load my herb and I used the exact same herb that I have very successfully used in my GH before it failed and which I use in all sorts of other vapes. What I’m trying to say here is that lack of knowledge or a bad payload is not the issue here.

Previous to its failure, I would run my GH at slightly over 4 on the temp dial. I could even go down to mid-3’s and get decent vapor but I used it mostly with water and 4-4.2 gave me thick vapor and very nice ABV. Also, this temp setting still gave me head room in case I wanted to push a load very hard by increasing the temp to 5 on the dial. My AVB came out nice and evenly dark brown (not charred, just nice even brown) and the loads were fully extracted as demonstrated by putting the AVB into a desktop like the EVO and finding there was nothing useful there.


NOW, however, with my repaired GH that supposedly came out of your retooled production and test line with your new parts runs VERY cool. Unacceptably cool. I have to turn the temps all the way to 5, anything less and I get absolutely nothing. However, even on temp 5 the performance is substandard and not at all acceptable in a GH or any other vape. What I get with my repaired GH is nothing at all on the first draw (prior to failure I would milk on first draw), slight wisp on second draw, middling vapor on the third draw (meh), and nothing thereafter. And this is with long draws through a water tool which gives the best opportunity for thick vapor.

The resulting AVB was still very green…alarmingly green. I have attached a picture of it but it’s not a good color representation. Between the camera, compression, and monitor display differences the picture looks a lot darker than in actuality. In person, it’s very green. But, I am sending it to you in the spirit of full and honest communication.

Putting that AVB into an EVO resulted in a huge thick draw of visible vapor. As you know, the average load for a GH is about .1 - .12 g and my repaired GH left at least half of the goodness still in the AVB while pushing the unit at its max temp.

I cannot understand how this unit got out of your door with your supposedly improved test lab and processes. This repair is a clear and utter miss and, from looking over the boards, I’m not the only one getting RMA’d GH’s back with disappointing performance. I’m speechless that after all of the delay you put your customer base through for your re-engineering, you still put out a defective product. At this point, Hopper has very little reserve of goodwill among its customer base and even less trust and confidence. With your long history of reliability and testability shortfalls and extraordinary delays, IMO Hopper cannot afford to be sending back GH’s that are not adequately repaired.

I would like to return my GH and have it fixed correctly this time.

I paid to send it to you last time. I think that since this lack of performance is a result of Hopper’s inadequate repair, that Hopper should send me a pre-paid shipping label.

Also, since this is a return of a recently shipped RMA, I do not think I should go back to the end of your RMA queue and have to wait another few months to get it back.

Please reply and let me know what Hopper’s position is on the above and how we should proceed from there.

I've been going through this exact same problem for the last couple of months.

 

[newVaper420]

Latest back from Hopper...all good. We have the ticket confusion cleared up and they are sending me a new body rather than shipping back the whole GH. If it fixes the issue, I will be more than happy.

From Drew at Hopper:

I'm sorry. That was a communication mess up on our part. We will be sending you a replacement body. You will not need to worry about sending in the whole Hopper. I will be voiding the label that I originally sent you and your body should be shipping out soon.​

It was me who suggested to open a new RMA. Anyway glad they got it sorted. But if shipping it could break it, this is even worse than before. LOL.

 

[JCat]

Just wanted to share something more positive in here ... my beloved Zapubler broke earlier this year, so I sent it to @PlanetVape for repair ... it was broken on the inside, so instead of repairing they made me a replica (maybe a little stronger )

I just received it back on Monday and couldn't be happier!

I love the frosted PV logo on the stem as well! It's really a "must-have" companion for my Hopper for travel; now if only I can get consistently working hoppers! On that note, I sanded down the back of the body a little too (like @Cheesequake ) It was getting crazy hot, and the flashing lights were intense! The lights still flicker, but not rapidly like before, and the heat seems to be resolved for now. I've had a # of really nice bowls with it on ~4.2. Really milks it up nice!

Anyways, PV has made extras and will have them available for sale soon as well!

I know a lot of you have other small bubblers like the Pinnacle Pro one ... however, where the Zapubler really, really shines, is it's really spill-proof. You can hold it at greater than horizontal without any water spilling out the top, or out the bottom when you put it back upright. I put it in my front jeans pocket when walking down the hall and stairs and out the door at hotels when travelling, and never worry about any water spilling out in my jeans (which would look pretty bad! )

This is really the ultimate travel companion/water tool for the Hopper

Highly recommended!

 

[Rel2018]

Just wanted to share something more positive in here ... my beloved Zapubler broke earlier this year, so I sent it to @PlanetVape for repair ... it was broken on the inside, so instead of repairing they made me a replica (maybe a little stronger )

I just received it back on Monday and couldn't be happier!

I love the frosted PV logo on the stem as well! It's really a "must-have" companion for my Hopper for travel; now if only I can get consistently working hoppers! On that note, I sanded down the back of the body a little too (like @Cheesequake ) It was getting crazy hot, and the flashing lights were intense! The lights still flicker, but not rapidly like before, and the heat seems to be resolved for now. I've had a # of really nice bowls with it on ~4.2. Really milks it up nice!

Anyways, PV has made extras and will have them available for sale soon as well!

I know a lot of you have other small bubblers like the Pinnacle Pro one ... however, where the Zapubler really, really shines, is it's really spill-proof. You can hold it at greater than horizontal without any water spilling out the top, or out the bottom when you put it back upright. I put it in my front jeans pocket when walking down the hall and stairs and out the door at hotels when travelling, and never worry about any water spilling out in my jeans (which would look pretty bad! )

This is really the ultimate travel companion/water tool for the Hopper

Highly recommended!

Link please ?

 

[JCat]

Link please ?

They don't have them up on the site yet for sale, but I'm sure if you contact them they will be glad to help you out. Might still be in production as well (apart from the one I have received)

http://www.planetvape.ca

 

[Rel2018]

Thanks!

 

[newVaper420]

They don't have them up on the site yet for sale, but I'm sure if you contact them they will be glad to help you out. Might still be in production as well (apart from the one I have received)

http://www.planetvape.ca

Any idea on the cost? That's amazing! :-)

 

[JCat]

Any idea on the cost? That's amazing! :-)

I think they will be $119.95 CAD (ie. $90 USD). @PlanetVape would be the one to say for sure though ...

Really, for Made-in-Canada custom glass, with a company like PV to stand behind it, this is a great price (and actually about what they cost when they were sold by Aromazap I believe). From what I understand, they are very complex to produce!

 

[newVaper420]

I think they will be $119.95 CAD (ie. $90 USD). @PlanetVape would be the one to say for sure though ...

Really, for Made-in-Canada custom glass, with a company like PV to stand behind it, this is a great price (and actually about what they cost when they were sold by Aromazap I believe). From what I understand, they are very complex to produce!

That's not bad at all :-).

Too pricey for my blood at the current moment, but would love one.

I'm just hoping I get a working hopper back soon before my trip at the end of July.

It's been there since Feb 2nd.

 

[jerseydvd]

Got a shipping notice finally!!
We'll see how a repaired GH holds up...
They received mine Feb. 3, FYI

 

[Easywider]

Received my 2 RMA's back from forever ago, honestly forgot what to expect. Happy to report ( knock on wood ) both are working nicely! Also forgot how much I like the vape signature from the hopper. Unfortunately they forgot to ship the 5 new batteries I paid for in my order.

 

[Hjalmark]

Just wanted to share something more positive in here ... my beloved Zapubler broke earlier this year, so I sent it to @PlanetVape for repair ... it was broken on the inside, so instead of repairing they made me a replica (maybe a little stronger )

I just received it back on Monday and couldn't be happier!

I love the frosted PV logo on the stem as well! It's really a "must-have" companion for my Hopper for travel; now if only I can get consistently working hoppers! On that note, I sanded down the back of the body a little too (like @Cheesequake ) It was getting crazy hot, and the flashing lights were intense! The lights still flicker, but not rapidly like before, and the heat seems to be resolved for now. I've had a # of really nice bowls with it on ~4.2. Really milks it up nice!

Anyways, PV has made extras and will have them available for sale soon as well!

I know a lot of you have other small bubblers like the Pinnacle Pro one ... however, where the Zapubler really, really shines, is it's really spill-proof. You can hold it at greater than horizontal without any water spilling out the top, or out the bottom when you put it back upright. I put it in my front jeans pocket when walking down the hall and stairs and out the door at hotels when travelling, and never worry about any water spilling out in my jeans (which would look pretty bad! )

This is really the ultimate travel companion/water tool for the Hopper

Highly recommended!

That got to look good filled with clouds !

also much nicer mouth-piece then the standard cheap hydrotube, mine after nearly years of use is looking extremely dirty and smelly and overnight ISO soak barely helps

is that the "cheap glass thing" ? lt getting easily dirty and hard to clean?

I am already on Planetvape looking at stuff ... pfff remember why I buy cheap stuff

 

[johnnyCanuck]

Finally got my Hopper back since sending it in beginning of January.

I was just about to give up on these guys and thought I’d be fine using my M, SB Jr, Square or OG Arizer Solo.

But after having my fully loaded Green Hopper back in my hands, it felt awesome. Then I proceeded to take two pulls and NOW ALL IS FORGIVEN! Hopper Labs can do no wrong by me! Back to storage my collection goes.