RBT shipping thread

[Bravesst]

At this point I just need an RBT product to try, so I can contribute to this thread in a positive way. I really can't even talk about my future Zion (Pandora) anymore - need to just forget I even ordered until they (also ordered the single batt model) arrive.

Mom always said, patience is a virtue. See you guys in November.

Quick question before I lay low on this thread; @RastaBuddhaTao, or anyone else who knows. Where in NY is RBT, love to see the operation, or are you hiring ?

 

[pakalolo]

Anyone with any idea on which of the Zion family will be available for international shipping first? Makes sense that the Zion since it's almost in production, then I heard it will still be a while and the single bat beta will be International... Just don't wanna bet on the wrong horse is all!

That's easy: the Zion. The other designs are just at the alpha test stage. They will go through the same beta test phase that the Zion has been through, so all we have is a vague guess as to when they might be ready for delivery.

 

[MrPeanut]

Rise up this mornin',
Smile with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', ("This is my message to you-ou-ou: ")

Good morning FC community. This is my message to you! A little birdie told me that most likely the first unit(s) MAY be hitting the mail this week. Everyone send RBT good vibes that production continues on schedule

 

[Bongologist]

I have really been trying to avoid this thread, but the wait is killing me. New glass is arriving, new batteries await, elb's are on their way, now I just need my Zion. I ordered August 8th, any guesses on time frame?

 

[MrPeanut]

@Bongologist October, November, December? I really cannot speculate. I have no way to know how many people ordered before you. I am pretty sure @RastaBuddhaTao posted in one of the threads about his plans to release the units in batches so that beta testers and the first people that ordered can give the final green light. 10 or so, then 25, then 25 more etc (or something like that). As mentioned above you will get an email when it is your turn to play. I am new to this forum and how intense you all are when it comes to VAS and all that comes with it. Sorry for the teasing, well maybe not

 

[Likes2vape]

ok we invest in the future, we give our money to the development and with our help encourage new vaporizers ... but I've made 3 orders in 3 different times and nobody writes to me and gives me confirmation for my purchases? It is so difficult? ?? Please at least consider a minimum who believe in you ... I wrote at least 5 times in your feedback form without receiving answers and hoping at least to have bought something, is this normal? It just happens only to me? I can wait several months for your great products if you at least confirm my orders... thanks for "attention"

Yeah I found it very strange that there was no order confirmation was sent, just a payment receipt from paypal. There are no invoice/order #'s either. I agree RBT should either reply to web form submissions himself or have someone reply for him. I really think RBT has let customer service go by the wayside to focus on production. I'm not the only one who's noticed it either.

I am getting a bad vibe from the Beta crew. It seems if you question about shipping or lack of response you are a bad guy! I get put on blast from the Zion 10 about how I need to be patient, RBT is working 20hrs a day for you, Oct isn't even over yet, he's a one man show, stop whining, even this thread was made in spite and bad taste (here's a shipping thread because you all deserve it, is what i believe was said when this thread was started) etc.

To me RBT is just some stranger I found in some on-line forum that I gave money to. I have no reason to trust him. He is not an established company that has a track record of producing proven reliable products. I have faith he will deliver but it's dwindling.

 

[MrPeanut]

Your comments, opinions, speculations are your right. With the exception of me I am pretty sure all of the beta testers are paying customers like you. You can also trust whomever you want. I do not speak for RBT nor do the folks from the beta team. I have disclosed several times that RBT is a personal friend. I simply am trying to pass along positive tidbits. RBT has written that everyone will get an email confirmation soon. I am glad you still have faith because I have not seen any reason to lose it. If I get a receipt from a company I consider that confirmation. I can not relate to all of you but I have never pre-ordered things. You don't have to be patient that is your prerogative. Patience and positivity will certainly be beneficial for RBT, you and the rest of the people that ordered. P.S. RBT may not be an established company but he has many patents under his belt and has worked for some of the biggest tech companies in the world.

 

[pakalolo]

I am getting a bad vibe from the Beta crew. It seems if you question about shipping or lack of response you are a bad guy! I get put on blast from the Zion 10 about how I need to be patient, RBT is working 20hrs a day for you, Oct isn't even over yet, he's a one man show, stop whining, even this thread was made in spite and bad taste (here's a shipping thread because you all deserve it, is what i believe was said when this thread was started) etc.

If someone is breaking the rules, report it and do not reply. If you must respond, use a PM.

I created this thread because otherwise the main thread would be cluttered with talk about when people expect their Zions. I asked multiple times for people to avoid that sort of talk but they didn't. Now people are griping that this thread exists, and to that I say again, you get what you deserve. No apologies here.

Your description of the reaction of the beta team is your perception. As someone who's job it is to look for the sort of behaviour you describe, I don't see it the way you do. The Beta 10 responses are not abusive or rule-breaking, they are simply repetitious. If they seem impatient with you, that might be because you seem impatient to them. There's no doubt that it would be ideal if RBT had an order confirmation system in place, but he can only do so much.

If you've lost faith in @RastaBuddhaTao, you can ask for a refund. I'm pretty sure that request would be answered promptly, but if you're still not satisfied then I will give you your money immediately. I'm not a part of his company but I have absolute faith that I won't have to do that, and even if I did I know RBT would make things right when he gets time.

 

[Bravesst]

2

 

[Bongologist]

Even in my zeal to get my hands on a Zion I try to keep in mind that no promises were made when I made my preorder other than "starting to ship in October." It's not even half way through October though and it seems the first batch are on the verge of shipping. We all know the struggles the GH is having and I attribute most of their problems to promises not kept, dates not met. I don't find this to be the case with RBT at all. If we see no units go out this month then I will rethink my opinion, but until then I don't see a problem. I would love an update, an invoice number, or a ballpark shipping date, but i didn't need any of those things last month, only now that it's October and I have VAS am I thinking about these things. Of course we all want it now, but nothing was promised and I'm sure a full refund is available at any time. Maybe next month I will feel differently if it's not in my hands, but, at least to me, everything with the Zion seems to be on schedule and honest. As a small business owner myself, I could use about six more hours in the day to deal specifically with customers. For me, customer contact is vital, but there are truly only so many hours in a day and even after 20+ years, it's a struggle to find a balance between getting the work done and customer service. RBT and the beta testers convinced me to invest in this project and I have not thought about a refund once, which cannot be said about another vaporizer on preorder, so someone is doing something right. Let's all be hippies and keep up the good vibes man.

 

[Fission]

Yeah I found it very strange that there was no order confirmation was sent, just a payment receipt from paypal. There are no invoice/order #'s either. I agree RBT should either reply to web form submissions himself or have someone reply for him. I really think RBT has let customer service go by the wayside to focus on production. I'm not the only one who's noticed it either.

I am getting a bad vibe from the Beta crew. It seems if you question about shipping or lack of response you are a bad guy! I get put on blast from the Zion 10 about how I need to be patient, RBT is working 20hrs a day for you, Oct isn't even over yet, he's a one man show, stop whining, even this thread was made in spite and bad taste (here's a shipping thread because you all deserve it, is what i believe was said when this thread was started) etc.

To me RBT is just some stranger I found in some on-line forum that I gave money to. I have no reason to trust him. He is not an established company that has a track record of producing proven reliable products. I have faith he will deliver but it's dwindling.

I can relate to this, to a degree. I think that some of the discontent is stemming from the feeling that we should be getting rapid fire updates this month, since production units are supposed to be shipping out, but we are getting less, because RBT is so busy trying to meet the promises made. IMO, it would be great if we heard a smidge about what has been holding things up in the past ~2 weeks, since the vibe was that the first set of production units should have been going out around then, and yet something has held things up a bit.

I think there's also a bit of a disconnect between the Zion 10 and the rest of us, as many of them have their beta units to use while waiting for the production model, and they are assured of getting their production units in the very first batch. The rest of us are waiting until they get their units before we can even know that shipping has started, and we know ours will be a few weeks/months later. I don't think that the relatively slight delays to this point are an indicator of any sort of big problem, but for those of us who are waiting a little longer for our Zions, the slight delays have shattered a bit of the excitement and unbound positivity about the Zion, as the reality of situation is that it may take a bit of time beyond what we originally thought to get our units (and by a bit of time, I mean just that, not GH scale delays). It's obvious that the beta testers are closer to having their units, so it's certainly easier for them to say to be patient. I think this is where the "bad vibe" comes from. People are just in slightly different situations in regards to waiting for their units. I think it would be useful for the beta testers to keep this in mind as well, because it is easier to be patient when you know you are first in line.

tl;dr it would be nice if RBT would pop in to let us know if we should expect further delays/what has been holding up the first wave, but I can completely understand that he's more concerned about getting them out the door. Beyond that, I think it's important to keep things in perspective. There's no reason to think there will be big delays at this point. I think we will all have our Zions soon.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Even in my zeal to get my hands on a Zion I try to keep in mind that no promises were made when I made my preorder other than "starting to ship in October." It's not even half way through October though and it seems the first batch are on the verge of shipping. We all know the struggles the GH is having and I attribute most of their problems to promises not kept, dates not met. I don't find this to be the case with RBT at all. If we see no units go out this month then I will rethink my opinion, but until then I don't see a problem. I would love an update, an invoice number, or a ballpark shipping date, but i didn't need any of those things last month, only now that it's October and I have VAS am I thinking about these things. Of course we all want it now, but nothing was promised and I'm sure a full refund is available at any time. Maybe next month I will feel differently if it's not in my hands, but, at least to me, everything with the Zion seems to be on schedule and honest. As a small business owner myself, I could use about six more hours in the day to deal specifically with customers. For me, customer contact is vital, but there are truly only so many hours in a day and even after 20+ years, it's a struggle to find a balance between getting the work done and customer service. RBT and the beta testers convinced me to invest in this project and I have not thought about a refund once, which cannot be said about another vaporizer on preorder, so someone is doing something right. Let's all be hippies and keep up the good vibes man.

To be fair I don't remember it saying "starting shipping" in October, all I've ever seen is "Oct 2015".

I took that to mean I would receive my unit in October, as I'm sure many others did.

I will wait as long as it takes but let's not pretend we weren't given some kind of time frame for when we would have our units before we ordered.

 

[MrPeanut]

From @RastaBuddhaTao on Oct 5th.

"The Beta Team units will ship over the next week. After a week or two we will begin to ship the initial production units. If all goes to plan we will ship between 25 and 50 units in October.

After the first 50 units are shipped we will take 2 or 3 weeks to ensure that the first 50 are running without issue. Once we are satisfied that the reliability of the production units meet or exceed that of the Beta units we will begin shipment of the next batch of 200 units. We anticipate that these units will take us into 2016 as we will slowly start production and ramp up as we grow more confident."

Again, as mentioned above the first unit(s) will most likely ship this week. If I were a gambling man I would bet units start hitting the mail tomorrow. Please remember that he did not sell 200 units.. the 200 he mentions are above and beyond what he has sold to the FC community.

 

[Bongologist]

Hi @Frank Reynolds, I don't want you to think I'm trying to be argumentative as one of the things that drew me to the Zion was the community surrounding it. I am speaking strictly for me and my opinion. I think it is up to each customer to find there own threshold for patience, and I am by no means suggesting my experience is the only "true" one. But, on my receipt it says "Zion Vaporizer- Production Shipments Starting October 2015"

When I found this project in late July at no point was I led to believe that it would be in my hands in October, only that it was a possibility. Which is reiterated on my receipt. My feelings may change by the middle of November, but "shipping in October" could mean shipped on Halloween, and I was open to that possibility when I preordered. From the GH experience, I'll reconsider my stance at a later date if shipping is not going well, but twelve days into October, I am just excited and anxious.

@Fission that was money.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Hi @Frank Reynolds, I don't want you to think I'm trying to be argumentative as one of the things that drew me to the Zion was the community surrounding it. I am speaking strictly for me and my opinion. I think it is up to each customer to find there own threshold for patience, and I am by no means suggesting my experience is the only "true" one. But, on my receipt it says "Zion Vaporizer- Production Shipments Starting October 2015"

When I found this project in late July at no point was I led to believe that it would be in my hands in October, only that it was a possibility. Which is reiterated on my receipt. My feelings may change by the middle of November, but "shipping in October" could mean shipped on Halloween, and I was open to that possibility when I preordered. From the GH experience, I'll reconsider my stance at a later date if shipping is not going well, but twelve days into October, I am just excited and anxious.

@Fission that was money.

You don't receive a receipt until after you make your purchase, meaning you wouldn't have that information until you gave them your money.

On the website that you purchase it from, the place 99% of people would be looking for information on the product being sold, it says "Oct. 2015", which could reasonably be taken to mean you will receive your unit in October of 2015. That's all I'm saying and it's perfectly reasonable.

 

[Bongologist]

Everything you have said has been perfectly reasonable, please don't think I was implying otherwise. I do have my PayPal receipt though, with an item number, and receipt number, which is where I quoted that from. Also, please note that I have no interest in this one way or another other then wanting an awesome new vaporizer. I don't know RBT or anyone else from the beta team and would have no reason to make up "starting to ship in October" that was my impression only.

 

[Likes2vape]

I can relate to this, to a degree. I think that some of the discontent is stemming from the feeling that we should be getting rapid fire updates this month, since production units are supposed to be shipping out, but we are getting less, because RBT is so busy trying to meet the promises made. IMO, it would be great if we heard a smidge about what has been holding things up in the past ~2 weeks, since the vibe was that the first set of production units should have been going out around then, and yet something has held things up a bit.

I think there's also a bit of a disconnect between the Zion 10 and the rest of us, as many of them have their beta units to use while waiting for the production model, and they are assured of getting their production units in the very first batch. The rest of us are waiting until they get their units before we can even know that shipping has started, and we know ours will be a few weeks/months later. I don't think that the relatively slight delays to this point are an indicator of any sort of big problem, but for those of us who are waiting a little longer for our Zions, the slight delays have shattered a bit of the excitement and unbound positivity about the Zion, as the reality of situation is that it may take a bit of time beyond what we originally thought to get our units (and by a bit of time, I mean just that, not GH scale delays). It's obvious that the beta testers are closer to having their units, so it's certainly easier for them to say to be patient. I think this is where the "bad vibe" comes from. People are just in slightly different situations in regards to waiting for their units. I think it would be useful for the beta testers to keep this in mind as well, because it is easier to be patient when you know you are first in line.

tl;dr it would be nice if RBT would pop in to let us know if we should expect further delays/what has been holding up the first wave, but I can completely understand that he's more concerned about getting them out the door. Beyond that, I think it's important to keep things in perspective. There's no reason to think there will be big delays at this point. I think we will all have our Zions soon.

Thank you for saying that in such an eloquent way. I wish I could be more eloquent at times!

 

[Mixio]

I am ready to wait is not my problem, I would have liked just a little bit of attention in those who invest their own money in a project, because right now it's just a project, it is easier to wait knowing that your request has been confirmed. I do not want controversy, but I just wanted to express a simple opinion ... good job RBT!

 

[Tommy10]

That's easy: the Zion. The other designs are just at the alpha test stage. They will go through the same beta test phase that the Zion has been through, so all we have is a vague guess as to when they might be ready for delivery.

For international shipping? Seems if that's the case I'll be kicking myself for not getting in at the lower price point, but if anyone could say with half confidence the zion will be available internationally before the single bat beta testing I'll change my order, or keep it and order a zion too!

Cheers. Also exciting news there mr peanut.

 

[HD Springer]

I want to apologize if I've come off harsh. I see your guys point but you need to realize that we beta guys have waited for our turns to get a unit. I personally waited about. 6-7 mos between my first contact with RBT till I received my beta. The only difference is we had contact with RBT so I absolutely see every ones point. I've never received a confirmation for my purchase. I realize I'm dealing with an individual not a corporation. And this is the very infant stages of said company. Once RBT has a chance to take a step back I would guess he will set up any and all ideas and suggestions from his customer base. At least that's what we have grown accustomed to. So I won't say be patient but getting upset over a confirmation email that no one has received is futile to say the very least. Waiting is my least favorite thing in the world but when we go into a situation knowing that we have to wait then I see no reason to get impatient. It's a double edge sword for all involved. We have worked very hard to have that happy,peaceful,hippy vibe that some other threads for the new up and coming vapes have failed miserably at. Have we always been peaceful,absolutely not. But it always gets back to that happy place.
Other then the lack of a response for recent purchases I see no fault in how RBT has handled all of this.

 

[Tommy10]

Oh course HD!. One would just like to know which horse to bet on so he doesn't miss it across the finish line . Given waiting times, purchasing orders beta testing and so on, I just wanna put my money on what's gonna get me a wood block around a zion heater of some type! One two or twenty bats! Haha.

 

[Scrimshaw]

From where I'm sittin'

But the anticipation is palpable...

 

[HD Springer]

@Tommy10 I personally am a bit confused on the shipping over seas. I'm not sure on exactly what the rules are. If it was me I'd order the Zion and if it's not available to ship overseas then when RBT informed me of the issues I'd tell him to put me inline on the next one to go out. That way you won't be left out in the cold. The only other option would be to wait it out till RBT resurfaces and then we all will know whats up.
When RBT started the Zion 10 I was promised a spot at the table. I missed the alert and thought I was fucked. I got with RBT and told him what I did and said I'll wait till it was released. He said fuck no it will be the Zion 11 now. Although that name never stuck. Lol. These type of actions is what RBT has proven to myself time and time again. Not to mention this fucking vaporizer that he has produced is hands down my favorite to use(when I had it).

 

[max]

even this thread was made in spite and bad taste (here's a shipping thread because you all deserve it, is what i believe was said when this thread was started) etc.

Shipping threads are made when people insist on littering vape threads with endless speculation and complaints about delivery dates. Once the vape has been released and is readily available, such posts have zero value to the vape thread, and people don't appreciate having to deal with them. We've been creating shipping threads, whenever we feel it's necessary, for many years now, and your claim that it was started "in spite and bad taste" is totally untrue. If we wanted to be spiteful we could easily have given you a warning point for breaking this rule- "Public discussions of staff decisions are not permitted on the site. If you have any concerns or queries relating to a staff decision please take it up in private with a staff member."

You can also consider my post to be a staff decision. No reply is necessary to a staff post that's simply stating how our forum has been operating for years, and spelling out one of our rules.

 

[Tommy10]

@Tommy10 I personally am a bit confused on the shipping over seas. I'm not sure on exactly what the rules are. If it was me I'd order the Zion and if it's not available to ship overseas then when RBT informed me of the issues I'd tell him to put me inline on the next one to go out. That way you won't be left out in the cold. The only other option would be to wait it out till RBT resurfaces and then we all will know whats up.
When RBT started the Zion 10 I was promised a spot at the table. I missed the alert and thought I was fucked. I got with RBT and told him what I did and said I'll wait till it was released. He said fuck no it will be the Zion 11 now. Although that name never stuck. Lol. These type of actions is what RBT has proven to myself time and time again. Not to mention this fucking vaporizer that he has produced is hands down my favorite to use(when I had it).

Awesome, I heard the single bat beta stage would be ready for internstional before the zion so I ordered that (dunno if I got in at beta stage or not) but obviously as soon as we know more I'll order a Zion or at least see if I can pay the difference and change it. Damn this big body of water keeping me from it! Getting to the stage where I might have to fly to the states buy one and take it home with me! Ha.... Which would still surely be worth it!