The Grasshopper Shipping Poll

[tubasco]

Yeppers, that's me. Confirmed address 12/1/15. Emailed them over two weeks ago and told they were expecting parts anyday now, and I should receive mine "shortly after the holidays"
So, in other words, the same old bullshit we've grown to expect from GHL....

...except why would they add more address confirmed backers to the already existing list if they weren't about to make a shipment? I'm hoping that my confirmation from yesterday means they are about to hit the post office...

 

[zymos]

Because it creates the illusion of progress?
Why confirm my shipping address weeks before they know they'll be able to ship it? I don't believe they received my confirmation (and extra ten bucks!) and then walked back to the shop and were suddenly shocked to find out they had no more purple Ti bodies left...

 

[tubasco]

Because it creates the illusion of progress?
Why confirm my shipping address weeks before they know they'll be able to ship it? I don't believe they received my confirmation (and extra ten bucks!) and then walked back to the shop and were suddenly shocked to find out they had no more purple Ti bodies left...

I don't believe that they/we have really only been waiting on parts. There has obviously been an issue with all the failures, but if they announce that they would kill preorders.
I'm looking at the new address confirmations as a sign of progress rather than further backlog, but I understand your negativity and am not trying to convince you otherwise. I'm just remaining hopeful.
When's the last time you wrote them a "what's up?" email?

 

[zymos]

I'm going on what they've told me- that they were waiting for parts- with maybe a tiny bit of speculation. I think that's actually more positive than imagining "other reasons" for the delays, even though I certainly wouldn't be surprised if there were other things they aren't telling us.

I see where you are coming from- there WAS a delay, but now it's resolved because they resumed sending out confirmations. My last communication with Caroline was 12/22, been trying to resist bugging them too frequently- but if all was peachy I think they would have shipped mine by now....

 

[fft]

I'm going on what they've told me- that they were waiting for parts- with maybe a tiny bit of speculation. I think that's actually more positive than imagining "other reasons" for the delays, even though I certainly wouldn't be surprised if there were other things they aren't telling us.

I see where you are coming from- there WAS a delay, but now it's resolved because they resumed sending out confirmations. My last communication with Caroline was 12/22, been trying to resist bugging them too frequently- but if all was peachy I think they would have shipped mine by now....

If I were running GHL I would never want shipments to be held up because I was waiting for address confirmations / shipping labels when I had grasshoppers in inventory ready to ship. So I'd try to stay a little bit ahead with address confirmations even if there was some risk that I would run out of GHs in the near term and make a few people wait a little longer for shipping. Of course, I wouldn't get too far ahead with address confirmations either in order to keep expectations in check. Nobody ever *plans* to be out of parts, so I agree its likely that the long waits after address confirmations were due to an unexpected holdup or quality issue.

 

[JigMelon]

I heard back today, definitely good news.

"We are very close to getting your Grasshopper shipped. We received the anodized parts. I would expect your Hopper to ship on Monday."


Also, I don't agree with the recent consensus of a new issue. They were absolutely still sending out normal Ti and SS units when they were waiting on the anodized parts, and I have a buddy who ordered 2 days after I did that can confirm (he got his a few days before Christmas). The recent lull in received hoppers/notices was just from Xmas and New Years; they were out of the office. I said this before and was criticized, so I'll try to reexplain:

The likely cause of them running out of anodized bodies, even though they claimed to have had all parts necessary to fulfill the rest of the backers, is that they allowed people to make major changes to their order upon address confirmation. If they had only ordered enough parts to fulfill the backers (which would be wise, since they intend to change the model based on our feedback), they would obviously run into an issue when somebody requests to change their device from SS to Ti. Now imagine 20 people doing that. And 40 people changing their color from blue to purple. And 10 people that ended up adding extra hoppers to their order for friends/family. This is likely the situation at hand. They ordered the necessary stock to satisfy backers, and had a slight oversight in regard to people editing their initial order. It's a simple mistake, and it happens with a lot of new products.

 

[fft]

I still have a 'January 2016' Estimated Ship Date. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, but man that would be a sweet way to celebrate my birthday at the end of the month.

My advice from someone who has been at this for 2+ years is not to get your hopes up. I've optimistically hoped that I'd have my GHs for summer 2014, summer 2015, holidays 2015, trips, concerts, plus countless other situations where I really could have used this vape. I've told friends at least 3-4 different times that I optimistically expect to have my GH in hand within a month. I like the GH folks, I truly empathize with how hard it is to do what they are doing, and I always hope they will have that production breakthrough that will allow them to finally meet or beat their promised delivery windows. But that hasn't happened yet. If you're lucky, maybe they will finally finish the rest of the backers by the end of January and start pre-orders in February. If you're behind a bunch of other pre-orders, you might hope to have yours by late spring / early summer. My estimated shipping date still says November 2015 and I just got my address confirmation. Most likely your estimated ship date will get changed more than one more time. Again, I hope they get that production breakthrough soon, but...

 

[Vapington]

hey guys,

is there an outlet other than the GH website that is selling these? GH site has expected shipping of March and I would naturally like it sooner.

sorry if this info is somewhere in the thread already; the conversation has centered on dogs as far as I looked back.

thanks!

 

[Bass Vaper]

I hate this thread.

 

[Mister G]

And here I thought they'd start pumping 'em out when they got that screen foot bending thingamijiggie...I'm such a dumbass

 

[zymos]

I hate this thread.

I have a love/hate relationship with this thread.

 

[Mr. Me2]

hey guys,

is there an outlet other than the GH website that is selling these? GH site has expected shipping of March and I would naturally like it sooner.

sorry if this info is somewhere in the thread already; the conversation has centered on dogs as far as I looked back.

thanks!

None that have been identified here yet, and have gh's in stock. I think some retailers will have them but I haven't seen a list yet.

If you really have vas, can't wait and don't mind paying a crazy premium, gh's have shown up on eBay.

 

[seaofgreens]

There is a guy selling them for $500/piece i believe. He is also selling batteries for $50/piece...

I think he/she might be one of the commercial backers, currently making a killing...

 

[zymos]

I wouldn't even spend a hundred bucks if I didn't have a warranty....

 

[CapitalFlower]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend just pre-ordered me a Grasshopper!! Isn't she the best?!

So I now have the good old 3-month wait before it gets here

She ordered an extra 3 batteries with it, so am thinking of buying a charger. I read on here that the XTAR VC4 and NiteCore i4 are decent, compatible chargers.

The XTAR is the more expensive of the two, but has much better reviews. Should this be the one to go for?

 

[vapen00b]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend just pre-ordered me a Grasshopper!! Isn't she the best?!

So I now have the good old 3-month wait before it gets here

You might be married to her when the GH arrives. Good luck on both

 

[virtualpurple]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend just pre-ordered me a Grasshopper!! Isn't she the best?!

So I now have the good old 3-month wait before it gets here

She ordered an extra 3 batteries with it, so am thinking of buying a charger. I read on here that the XTAR VC4 and NiteCore i4 are decent, compatible chargers.

The XTAR is the more expensive of the two, but has much better reviews. Should this be the one to go for?

I sure don't want to rain on your parade, but you may want to prepare for a bit of a wait. I'm sure it'll be worth it when it arrives, but there are still people from Feb 2015 that are waiting (myself included).

 

[zymos]

Hah- there are still people waiting since Dec 2013- like me!

 

[tubasco]

You might be married to her when the GH arrives. Good luck on both

Ha, thats what happened to me! I proposed, got married and honeymooned... all while being a backer, lol

 

[Likes2vape]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend just pre-ordered me a Grasshopper!! Isn't she the best?!

So I now have the good old 3-month wait before it gets here

She ordered an extra 3 batteries with it, so am thinking of buying a charger. I read on here that the XTAR VC4 and NiteCore i4 are decent, compatible chargers.

The XTAR is the more expensive of the two, but has much better reviews. Should this be the one to go for?

What great gf!!! But be prepared to wait 6-12 months for it. GHL has yet to meet any of their shipping estimates and it's highly unlikely that's going to change anytime soon.

 

[JigMelon]

Another update, my hopper shipped last night. December 12, 2013, Purple Ti. Should be here Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[Kalessin]

Whoo, maybe things are about to pick up again. God I hope they can finish backers this month.

 

[Nube Scrutator]

I am still trying to wrap my head around the 75 minute assembly time. That's like 10 a day max per employee in an 8 hr shift.

Makes sense, 2 assemblers (Trevor & Matt), 20 per day @ ~180 work days (since the 1st started shipping) = 3600 units shipped to date. All speculation on my part of course...

 

[JigMelon]

Makes sense, 2 assemblers (Trevor & Matt), 20 per day @ ~180 work days (since the 1st started shipping) = 3600 units shipped to date. All speculation on my part of course...

That actually isn't a terrible lead time if they compile significant stock before going retail. 3600/year at $200/unit is $720,000/year, and that's not including accessories.

 

[minnemike]

I heard back today, definitely good news.

"We are very close to getting your Grasshopper shipped. We received the anodized parts. I would expect your Hopper to ship on Monday."


Also, I don't agree with the recent consensus of a new issue. They were absolutely still sending out normal Ti and SS units when they were waiting on the anodized parts, and I have a buddy who ordered 2 days after I did that can confirm (he got his a few days before Christmas). The recent lull in received hoppers/notices was just from Xmas and New Years; they were out of the office. I said this before and was criticized, so I'll try to reexplain:

The likely cause of them running out of anodized bodies, even though they claimed to have had all parts necessary to fulfill the rest of the backers, is that they allowed people to make major changes to their order upon address confirmation. If they had only ordered enough parts to fulfill the backers (which would be wise, since they intend to change the model based on our feedback), they would obviously run into an issue when somebody requests to change their device from SS to Ti. Now imagine 20 people doing that. And 40 people changing their color from blue to purple. And 10 people that ended up adding extra hoppers to their order for friends/family. This is likely the situation at hand. They ordered the necessary stock to satisfy backers, and had a slight oversight in regard to people editing their initial order. It's a simple mistake, and it happens with a lot of new products.

Congrats on your prospective shipping soon! What was your approx order date if you dont mind me asking? Just to add some more info, I was one of those who contacted them to change from SS to TI and I specifically asked her not to do it if it meant a slower delivery of any kind. She reassured that it would not change my delivery speed one bit (pre-order late March). I even asked about rumors that less desirable colors would go sooner and she shot that down too.