Hey, hope everyone is doing well. Block of text incoming. I hate to bring bad news but unfortunately Ryan has proved once again why he can't be trusted. I love these products but Ryan isn't capable of running a small business. When I started a couple months ago Ryan had every intention to shut down and considered the vape industry dead. I convinced him to give it another try with me but his behavior became too much to handle. I had to fight just to get adequate customer service for our customers, he seemed more interested in trolling customers/makers.
Together we were able to make some headway and gain sales but Ryan was never happy, claiming the industry was worthless. He kept threatening to quit and move on, I would have to convince him constantly not to rage quit. After another argument this past week regarding business practices he decided to ghost me and disappear. I tried my best to reason with him but unfortunately he doesn't care. When I convinced him to do the 4Mi preorder my intention was that we would work hard to stick around and get this company running so we could support customers for years to come. Truly Ryan only cares about making as much quick cash as he can so he can "go get a real job/apartment and disappear"
It pains me to say this but I highly recommend asking for a refund on any current orders you may have. He has no intention to support any of these products after he disappears fully by the end of the year. He claims you'll be able to repair with his diy kits but that's not true, there are many issues that can occur. He should refund your order if you ask via email but I would do it soon as who knows when he'll actually disappear. I would refund/return any orders you've already received too as issues are already occurring and there's no way for him to handle both the front and back end of the business on this year plan we laid out together. It is likely there will be more issues/recalls, the preorders will likely arrive late if at all, and he absolutely won't support the products--especially once he's already moved on to the next one.
I wanted to believe these were heirloom products designed to last forever but unfortunately both my OG Milaana and Zion are broken and Ryan refuses to fix them. These products may last a few years but definitely not forever. He is rushing through these builds too quickly and making mistakes like he has with the 2ZM joint issue that's now occurring. Instead of handling things appropriately with a recall he's putting the responsibility onto the customer so he can move on to the next project and disappear quicker. There will absolutely be issues with the upcoming products; the 4Mi and the 4MD, as is normal, but you won't have any way of getting them fixed. He has changed the password to my Herbaltherm customer service email and also kicked me off the Instagram page I helped build. He refuses to pay me as well. It really is a shame as I'd love to support these products/community for years to come.
Please, whatever you do, avoid these Herbaltherm products and get a refund asap. I disagree entirely with Ryan's thought that the "industry is dead" and vapers have no choice but to buy his products. There are many wonderful vape companies run by wonderful people and I recommend everyone go support them instead. Ryan has no respect for this space or the people in it and I refuse to support that. Whatever glimmer of hope I had for Herbaltherm is lost now that Ryan has decided to say F U to everyone again. I know there is a small community of RBT supporters, including me, that continue to support his efforts but let me say honestly as one of those former supporters--don't meet your heroes and don't support jerks. Seeing how he actually talks about customers behind the scenes has shown his true personality and I don't think its right to make fun of passionate customers or take advantage of them like he does.
He has a history of fighting with other makers, stealing their work, and then playing the victim. He told me himself about his multiple issues. He stole from RogueGlassWorks, had issues with Vgoodiez, has blocked multiple people on IG for asking reasonable questions, not to mention he's completely banned from FC. He took advantage of the fact that I had an FC account so he could have a positive presence here. He even treats his friends badly, using them to shill post on FC then telling them to F off if he doesn't like the results. His latest scam idea was to buy a bunch of terpcicle clones from china to sell and undercut RogueGlassworks. He intended to do the same to all the stem makers I've been trying to support through giveaways and collabs. Truly, he will screw over anyone, even his own 'partner', if he thinks it'll help him out or if he's having a temper tantrum.
Our original plan was for me to work 10-15 hrs a week handling the entire front end. Turns out he was more interested in having 4 hour meetings 3x a week where he could rant. This used up 12 hours every week, not including the Live streams I did weekly on his behest. Unfortunately I had to work much more than 15 hrs a week to properly serve the business and actually handle the customers he was ignoring. I don't care that Ryan refuses to pay me for my work but I do care that he led me, and the customers, on for so long. The second I turned the customer spirit around and got the preorders set up he swooped in and kicked me out. He's absolutely a user and unfortunately it's cost him RBT and now Herbaltherm.
Now that Herbaltherm is shutting down and Ryan has gone awol, I won't be able to support you lovely customers via email or instagram. Please take everything you read via herbaltherm email or on the herbaltherm instagram with a huge grain of salt as Ryan is going to lie through his teeth to get money out of people. His intention is only to collect money from fans and deliver something that 'looks' artisanal, he does not care if it becomes a paperweight in a year.
Please feel free to reach out to me here on FC or dm on my personal instagram @steamtender. You can also email me at steamtenderyoosh@gmail.com. I'm happy to help support these products any way I can. I'm helping some people with usage on IG so if you're having issues I'm here for you.
I love FC and I love the vape community at large. I was so sad when RBT closed and I thought this would be an opportunity to bring more life to the vape industry but I was wrong. I'd rather lose months of pay than allow someone to take advantage of us. There are many wonderful makers out there and we don't need to slum it and support the unsavory ones.
These are my thoughts so far. This all occurred very quickly, if I still had access I'd email all the customers regarding his behavior. I'm sure he will try to respond on his forum with lies or trolling but who cares. Follow the history of his behavior and you'll see it repeated time and time again. To his true fans, please consider how he's treated you as a business over the years and realize you deserve better.