Discontinued The Grasshopper

[vapviking]

That fact that you - and me and many of us - need to remind them means they are indeed underwater and overwhelmed. See my previous post about logging the return and receipt of my Ti RMA. The jury rests with their overall customer service experience...

Yes, they have been overwhelmed (they admit it themselves!) but I don't know about underwater. It's painfully clear that they have made some really tough, really unorthodox business decisions about how to keep the company afloat. Like, limiting the amount of human resource they will apply to warranty work; they've decided that, to survive (hopefully eventually thrive) they have to prioritize new units ahead of repairs. Whether we like it or not! It further pisses off folks who expect different behavior. The only thing that's to their credit in these strategies is the fact that they are not dead yet.

I think it's also very possible that some self-imposed financial rules are hampering their refund process, too, something like, "We will only issue return of funds once per month, and only after being reminded."

As far as the recording of 'date received' of a Hopper into their system, I had a similar experience to yours, upon sending one in a couple of months ago. I could see via USPS tracking that Hopper had landed about 3 days after I posted it. Then, it took about 2 weeks for it to be posted on website as 'received'. Okay, 'Date Received' may not be an accurate column header but, in other times, they were much more efficient with this log and so this heading was appropriate. They just haven't changed the language (to "Date Entered in System"). Given the fact that we all know the service itself will take almost forever, does it make any difference? Only in the customer's comfort level. I was able to get over it very quickly, just took some patience, which has been one of the main watch-words of Hopper ownership.

Many folks, understandably, have become very frustrated by HL's practices. Especially newer customers (folks other than pre-orders) who may not want to be on the beta-test train, they just want the satisfaction that all good money-spending capitalists deserve. My perspective is still that of one who has been supporting some young folks' vision to launch a very, very cool vaporizer. The money I laid out initially was definitely discretionary capital and I assumed at the outset this was a very risky venture. So, I am actually pleased that HL is still in business at all, and I am still hopping. Not to say that I agree with all the funky 'business practices', but I do give them a lot of latitude, in the hopes they'll survive.

 

[Vaporific]

Yes, they have been overwhelmed (they admit it themselves!) but I don't know about underwater. It's painfully clear that they have made some really tough, really unorthodox business decisions about how to keep the company afloat. Like, limiting the amount of human resource they will apply to warranty work; they've decided that, to survive (hopefully eventually thrive) they have to prioritize new units ahead of repairs. Whether we like it or not! It further pisses off folks who expect different behavior. The only thing that's to their credit in these strategies is the fact that they are not dead yet.

I think it's also very possible that some self-imposed financial rules are hampering their refund process, too, something like, "We will only issue return of funds once per month, and only after being reminded."

As far as the recording of 'date received' of a Hopper into their system, I had a similar experience to yours, upon sending one in a couple of months ago. I could see via USPS tracking that Hopper had landed about 3 days after I posted it. Then, it took about 2 weeks for it to be posted on website as 'received'. Okay, 'Date Received' may not be an accurate column header but, in other times, they were much more efficient with this log and so this heading was appropriate. They just haven't changed the language (to "Date Entered in System"). Given the fact that we all know the service itself will take almost forever, does it make any difference? Only in the customer's comfort level. I was able to get over it very quickly, just took some patience, which has been one of the main watch-words of Hopper ownership.

Many folks, understandably, have become very frustrated by HL's practices. Especially newer customers (folks other than pre-orders) who may not want to be on the beta-test train, they just want the satisfaction that all good money-spending capitalists deserve. My perspective is still that of one who has been supporting some young folks' vision to launch a very, very cool vaporizer. The money I laid out initially was definitely discretionary capital and I assumed at the outset this was a very risky venture. So, I am actually pleased that HL is still in business at all, and I am still hopping. Not to say that I agree with all the funky 'business practices', but I do give them a lot of latitude, in the hopes they'll survive.

Well said! I'm not enamored of HL's customer service and, again, the fact that many older, i.e. pre-order, units as well as some newer ones have had issues and have gone in for RMA, leaves a lot on the table. I do understand they're a relatively new company and only have one main product under their belt - not sure if Stainless vs. Titanium truly counts as the same or different - however their methods that you alluded to are indeed unconventional and their monthly newsletter info is vague, cryptic at times and more of the same month after month (two steps forward and 1.5 steps back). And the RMA cataloging - a few folks herein have claimed their units have been lost or mixed up with others at HL - and administrative/customer service deficiencies is emblematic of an immature business model, one that exemplifies bumbling operations and carelessness in execution, spanning assembly, quality control and customer success.

I'm not entirely bashing them, only giving them a good ribbing which they still need to drive home many of our points. To your point that they've not invested heavily in warranty manpower is a bit disappointing and an admission they have problems and certainly would drain any revenue regardless whether their profitable or not at this point. That their still in business is a good sign but I don't think they're doing that well given the sample size of this thread (I've posted earlier on this too). Sure there are many units that work but there are also many in RMA and folks still having issues with their units (posted herein).

BTW, even we pre-order folks (myself included) are capitalists too spending (hopefully) discretionary funds on vapor devices. Pending getting back my Ti (GT3xxx) in working order sometime down the road, I will only spend money on HL for batteries. Their accessories don't appeal to me or lure me in any further. They need to grow up, mature and hopefully can launch a 2.0 version or another product down the road and learn from their experiences.

Peace.

 

[mario]

After 1 week update:

I have been using the Hoppper all week since I got it. I have barely used anything else except for my Mighty when I was passing it back and forth with some friends. I have used it on 2 - 5 for different things. Works amazing on my glass, and is giving me perfect hits on 3 with no cooling.

1. Back end stays cool.
2. ABV is even and cooked every time.
3. Heating time is fast and consistent.
4. Blue lights flicker when I inhale, but the way it coincides with the clicking of the heater, it makes me think that the lights are actually just an indicator of the heater getting power.

So over all, no issues what so ever. I have used 3 different batteries, charging with the cable and with my nitecore charger. Mixing every different possible situation that I could think of. Spent an entire day with it in my pocket. Vaped an entire bowl back to back to back, no problems. I can’t think of any other situations to put it in to test it out. It has performed perfectly and reliably all week with no indications that there is any issue whatsoever.

There is hope for the V5 bodies my friends. There is hope.

 

[Zow237]

Yay have two coming to me next week. Sucks when you see bad cs for some but for me it's been nothing but smooth sailing.

 

[newVaper420]

Ok, unlike @mario - I've had my hopper since September 24th. The beginning was amazing. No issues. Very hot. Awesome.

However, these past few days, it does not feel like it's getting as hot as it should be. Maybe it's me... but I just feel its not working the same. I'm going to try the sandpaper to clean the backend. I do think it's something with the backend as there are now black marks on the back end, and when I first got it, it was completely clean.

We will see.

 

[Baron23]

Yes, they have been overwhelmed (they admit it themselves!) but I don't know about underwater. It's painfully clear that they have made some really tough, really unorthodox business decisions about how to keep the company afloat. Like, limiting the amount of human resource they will apply to warranty work; they've decided that, to survive (hopefully eventually thrive) they have to prioritize new units ahead of repairs. Whether we like it or not! It further pisses off folks who expect different behavior. The only thing that's to their credit in these strategies is the fact that they are not dead yet.

I think it's also very possible that some self-imposed financial rules are hampering their refund process, too, something like, "We will only issue return of funds once per month, and only after being reminded."

As far as the recording of 'date received' of a Hopper into their system, I had a similar experience to yours, upon sending one in a couple of months ago. I could see via USPS tracking that Hopper had landed about 3 days after I posted it. Then, it took about 2 weeks for it to be posted on website as 'received'. Okay, 'Date Received' may not be an accurate column header but, in other times, they were much more efficient with this log and so this heading was appropriate. They just haven't changed the language (to "Date Entered in System"). Given the fact that we all know the service itself will take almost forever, does it make any difference? Only in the customer's comfort level. I was able to get over it very quickly, just took some patience, which has been one of the main watch-words of Hopper ownership.

Many folks, understandably, have become very frustrated by HL's practices. Especially newer customers (folks other than pre-orders) who may not want to be on the beta-test train, they just want the satisfaction that all good money-spending capitalists deserve. My perspective is still that of one who has been supporting some young folks' vision to launch a very, very cool vaporizer. The money I laid out initially was definitely discretionary capital and I assumed at the outset this was a very risky venture. So, I am actually pleased that HL is still in business at all, and I am still hopping. Not to say that I agree with all the funky 'business practices', but I do give them a lot of latitude, in the hopes they'll survive.

Well said! I'm not enamored of HL's customer service and, again, the fact that many older, i.e. pre-order, units as well as some newer ones have had issues and have gone in for RMA, leaves a lot on the table. I do understand they're a relatively new company and only have one main product under their belt - not sure if Stainless vs. Titanium truly counts as the same or different - however their methods that you alluded to are indeed unconventional and their monthly newsletter info is vague, cryptic at times and more of the same month after month (two steps forward and 1.5 steps back). And the RMA cataloging - a few folks herein have claimed their units have been lost or mixed up with others at HL - and administrative/customer service deficiencies is emblematic of an immature business model, one that exemplifies bumbling operations and carelessness in execution, spanning assembly, quality control and customer success.

I'm not entirely bashing them, only giving them a good ribbing which they still need to drive home many of our points. To your point that they've not invested heavily in warranty manpower is a bit disappointing and an admission they have problems and certainly would drain any revenue regardless whether their profitable or not at this point. That their still in business is a good sign but I don't think they're doing that well given the sample size of this thread (I've posted earlier on this too). Sure there are many units that work but there are also many in RMA and folks still having issues with their units (posted herein).

BTW, even we pre-order folks (myself included) are capitalists too spending (hopefully) discretionary funds on vapor devices. Pending getting back my Ti (GT3xxx) in working order sometime down the road, I will only spend money on HL for batteries. Their accessories don't appeal to me or lure me in any further. They need to grow up, mature and hopefully can launch a 2.0 version or another product down the road and learn from their experiences.

Peace.

I don't disagree with just about anything said in these posts....but would like to point out that this is the same stuff we have been talking about with Hopper Labs for what....almost two years.

Sorry, but they have had many chances to recognize their errors and reboot....matter of fact, they have claimed to have sort of rebooted their process at least twice (and yes, this time it will really fix the issues.....NOT) and yet after 5 months of waiting for an RMA, I still have two GH that run too cool.

Although you make reasonable observations, they seem like excuses more than reason at this point.

Personally, I don't want to hear a fucking thing from them...I want to see CHANGE and that hasn't happened in any significant and observable way yet. Talk is cheap....

 

[Vaporific]

I don't disagree with just about anything said in these posts....but would like to point out that this is the same stuff we have been talking about with Hopper Labs for what....almost two years.

Sorry, but they have had many chances to recognize their errors and reboot....matter of fact, they have claimed to have sort of rebooted their process at least twice (and yes, this time it will really fix the issues.....NOT) and yet after 5 months of waiting for an RMA, I still have two GH that run too cool.

Although you make reasonable observations, they seem like excuses more than reason at this point.

Personally, I don't want to hear a fucking thing from them...I want to see CHANGE and that hasn't happened in any significant and observable way yet. Talk is cheap....

@Baron23 Hey - I agree with you! I'm semi bashing HL here without getting angry or using any foul language. They need a swift kick if you know what I mean. My pre-order Ti just went in for it's first RMA although it should've gone in the beginning of the year or perhaps last year (but that was more out of necessity since it was my only vape - that has thankfully since changed hence, finally, sending it in). Now it's in RMA purgatory, like yours, and I'm a bit anxious to see if it will really be fixed. I don't know, I just don't know and hold out some hope but I won't be surprised if it's not as good as new when I get it back. Again, hearing all the RMA horror stories and even newer owners on this thread still complaining, leaves me cold and doubtful.

I however do want to hear from them - about my RMA! But I won't hold my breath or nag them for a while since I know they're backlogged on RMAs. It's a shame really but there's not much we can do. Unless you count reading their hollow monthly newsletter, which I've been doing for 2.5 years. Sigh.

At least I'm contributing to this thread which I hadn't until recently (I've been a LONG time lurker).

 

[JoeMama]

I couldn't help but get onboard here and chime in...

I've been very rarely on here ever since I surrendered to buying at least 2 hoppers... Before that, I would get Hopper Withdrawal Syndrome and you all would talk me off the ledge.

But even as I continue to manage to keep 2 hoppers running everyday (one that works shitty, the other that seems to have more heat than it should. Meanwhile, two friends who bought one on my recommendation each had failures within the first month, and they are still waiting now for over 5 months for them to come back. It also gives me anxiety about losing my own hoppers. I don't want to feel that way anymore!

Coincidentally (?), I recently discovered that the oils for vape pens are available in a lot of different strains...
I know next to nothing about these products, but I'm reading up. There are cartridges that have no additives (if you can find a medical care provider, bingo), and I've seen like 23 strain labels. And each cartridge is labeled with the breakdown ratio. I know I must be stating the obvious to many here, sorry, don't wanna sound like a newb, but I'm quite naive on regarding this type of the cannabis experience.

If this all checks out, and I can truly obtain strain-based, non-additive oils, then I may outgrow my need for daily use of the Hopper... maybe even completely if the high is as full-spectrum as using flower. I do love the flower.

The use of Deoxit was discussed often and at length much earlier in this thread. Folks were using it to clean the threads on the back end and the body. It seems like it fell out of favor quickly. I think that HL may have advised against it.

Does anyone think that maybe it's just screwing and unscrewing the back end that may be changing the way the Hopper works? Some users have posted that they adjust how tightly the back end is screwed on and the Hopper starts working better. I've tried unscrewing and removing the back end each time I fill the chamber and it seems to help a little. I know that when my oldest SS Hopper starts "acting up" (takes a long time to get blue lights, weaker hits) I will unscrew and remove the back end, screw it back on, and it goes to blue in under 5 seconds.

The use of DeToxit is completely the RIGHT thing to do. HL did not "not recommend" it, though I'm sure they didn't "recommend" it either. Nor did they have a problem with Blue-Tac. I still use both of these items. DeToxit maybe monthly, and Blue-tac on the battery threads every time I replace a battery. Easy Breezy.

On unscrewing and screwing the backend... I've witnessed this "apparent" thing myself, and I do think that the tightness and smoothness of the fitted threads is extremely important. This junction is THE only connection the battery has to complete the circuit. You will invariably notice a hotter back end when this connection isn't well-made.

I'm thinking about getting some thermal paste for the barrel terminal. Just put some on the button (tiny bit) I've noticed the golden contact film is now silver ? Any one try this? I used to bake Mac book gpu chips and add thermal paste to"reflow" the chip.. worked so maybe it will be similiar

Come on 6 dollar fix! 99.9% silver
... didn't have any laying around so I'll come back in a few days and let you know if it's working again.


FuckRMA


Edit : @Foghorn I think it does have something to do with the twisting of the battery against terminals. In my case at least

Is this a conductive grease? or a THERMAL grease? It can't be a thermal grease... Thermal grease is not necessarily conductive. Nonetheless, I definitely don't recommend this... This topic had been addressed back in the DeToxit days of conversation, like over a year plus.... Do not gunk the threads with anything. Keep them clean, and use Detoxit. You won't get a better connection.

 

[newVaper420]

Ok I’m trying the 600 grit sandpaper. The gold coating definitely got lighter. All the black marks are gone. Some micro scratches now on the backend piece. It’s not a smooth surface anymore. However; seems to be working way better. On temp 4

 

[ktmstick]

Email from hl when enquiring about case.

"Hi Michael
The Stainless Case is expected to ship later this year. The exact date is not yet known. We have completed the design and testing phases and are just waiting on production and delivery for these items. Once here we will assemble and test each unit, then ship them to customers. We will have more progress updates as we go forward. Once released the pricing will change from pre-order prices to the higher normal pricing.
Thanks,

Hopper Labs Support"

More vagueness!

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

Email from hl when enquiring about case.

"Hi Michael
The Stainless Case is expected to ship later this year. The exact date is not yet known. We have completed the design and testing phases and are just waiting on production and delivery for these items. Once here we will assemble and test each unit, then ship them to customers. We will have more progress updates as we go forward. Once released the pricing will change from pre-order prices to the higher normal pricing.
Thanks,

Hopper Labs Support"

More vagueness!

They are shameless.

 

[Vaporific]

Email from hl when enquiring about case.

"Hi Michael
The Stainless Case is expected to ship later this year. The exact date is not yet known. We have completed the design and testing phases and are just waiting on production and delivery for these items. Once here we will assemble and test each unit, then ship them to customers. We will have more progress updates as we go forward. Once released the pricing will change from pre-order prices to the higher normal pricing.
Thanks,

Hopper Labs Support"

More vagueness!

The stainless steel case was supposed to ship 1.5 years ago!! A buddy has one on order that long. Ridiculous!!

 

[Shrike]

^^^Actually, the SS cases, along with the Ti cases were "supposed" to be shipped in early to mid 2014...soooo, we're coming up on 5 years fairly soon...

 

[Vaporific]

^^^Actually, the SS cases, along with the Ti cases were "supposed" to be shipped in early to mid 2014...soooo, we're coming up on 5 years fairly soon...

I stand corrected. It’s a friggin case however - design it, get parts,
assemble and ship. How hard can it be? Lest we create our own which many people already have or found suitable alternatives. Yeeesch!

 

[Cannabiker]

They are shameless.

I'd have to agree on the shameless point. They're still posting a 6-week delivery time for an SS--I'm just about to hit six months, still waiting. I sure hope this thing works as well as promised.

In the meantime, I've ordered both a Mighty and a Vapcap from Puff It Up, and each arrived within two days. It's been a joy to hit the Vapcap forum (and the Vapcap itself), where everything is sunshine and lollipops, compared to here, where the mood is a little darker.

 

[Hogni]

Patience is the virtue of real hopperheads

 

[elykpeace]

So I hit up sachin from theherbcafe and he told me any bought through him will be warrantied thru him so 3-5 day turn around instead of the shit show at hopper labs ... Can't not have a GH but I can avoid hopper labs for a little longer.

 

[duff]

Once here we will assemble and test each unit,

Case testing is a job I'm definitely over-qualified for!

 

[fogbank]

The use of DeToxit is completely the RIGHT thing to do. HL did not "not recommend" it, though I'm sure they didn't "recommend" it either. Nor did they have a problem with Blue-Tac. I still use both of these items. DeToxit maybe monthly, and Blue-tac on the battery threads every time I replace a battery. Easy Breezy.

On unscrewing and screwing the backend... I've witnessed this "apparent" thing myself, and I do think that the tightness and smoothness of the fitted threads is extremely important. This junction is THE only connection the battery has to complete the circuit. You will invariably notice a hotter back end when this connection isn't well-made.

Ok I’m trying the 600 grit sandpaper. The gold coating definitely got lighter. All the black marks are gone. Some micro scratches now on the backend piece. It’s not a smooth surface anymore. However; seems to be working way better. On temp 4

@JoeMama Good to know about the De-Oxit. Thanks for clarifying.

I have three working Hoppers in rotation. I use them in different situations. All are working satisfactorily, none have had RMAs, all perform slightly differently.

In February 2018 I purchased another Ti Hopper. When I received it, I stuck a battery in it, powered it on and off to make sure it was working, and threw it in a drawer.

Last night I finally decided to test it in actual use. Stuck a battery in it, clicked it on, and nothing. No lights, no sounds, nothing. I tried a different battery and got some lights to come on when I "fiddled" with the clicker, but still not operating correctly. Tried a third battery and had it actually come on and heat up.

It seemed to me that the back end would screw onto the body a lot further before starting to get tight, at least when compared to my other Hoppers.

So I broke out the Blu Tack and went to work on the back end and body threads. I removed a LOT of black residue from both the back end and the body threads. Seemed like more than I've ever seen when using Blu Tack on my other Hoppers.

I also lightly scrubbed the negative terminal on the back end with a pot scrubber pad.

After the cleaning I can now get it to turn on and heat up with different batteries. I do occasionally get some red lights after I click it off, but overall it's working better than before the cleaning.

So how does a brand new Hopper, that was only powered on once or twice, get so much residue on the threads? I always imagined that the residue was deposited on the threads when current ran through the back end.

I do feel like there are variations in the manufacturing process that result in some Hoppers just working better than others.

 

[JoeMama]

@fogbank , glad to help...

Interesting about the black stuff... I have noticed that whenever I'd get a hopper back from HL, the threads were blacker than at any other time I'd used it. I don't know why; I just figured they "really put it through some paces" and used that battery heavily... But, after you saying that you see this stuff after a long storage of the unit with the battery in it... well, I can only guess it's just natural oxidation that develops...

 

[Hogni]

They should clean it before sending it back at least. It's a no-go that a device returns more dirty than before.

 

[vapviking]

So I hit up sachin from theherbcafe and he told me any bought through him will be warrantied thru him so 3-5 day turn around instead of the shit show at hopper labs ... Can't not have a GH but I can avoid hopper labs for a little longer.

Shout out to Sachin, I went this route and things have worked out rather well. Check for possible discount codes! Note that they are in Canada prices listed are CDN.

To clarify somewhat, they are not doing the work of RMA repair in-house but, if necessary they can get you a replacement part or unit, as long as the supply chain holds up -- and so far this link in the chain does seem to be holding up.

 

[elykpeace]

Shout out to Sachin, I went this route and things have worked out rather well. Check for possible discount codes! Note that they are in Canada prices listed are CDN.

To clarify somewhat, they are not doing the work of RMA repair in-house but, if necessary they can get you a replacement part or unit, as long as the supply chain holds up -- and so far this link in the chain does seem to be holding up.

yeah he said he's got a rep in Toronto who takes them back to the vape lab for a diagnosis and less time in RMA so even with the shipping back and forth to Canada I'm thinking if in a few months it quits I can send it that way to be fixed rather then get HL to stash it away for a year for a little fee.

 

[mario]

So far mine is working fine, but at first i was getting some hot back end issues from time to time. So I checked the connection between the body and the back end and something didn't look right.

I took a closer look at the top edge of the body and realized there was a piece of flash metal on the end. I ran a knife over it and the sliver came off. I took some sandpaper to the rest of the top of the body to smooth it over, and I haven't had any backend problems since then. I'm going to run the sand paper over the gold contacts and see if it gets even better. Though I don't know if it can get a lot better than it is doing now.

Massive pulls on 4.25 through glass are amazing and the abv comes out perfect. At 3 without any water, I get huge clouds for 4 or 5 pulls, tasty thick clouds.

So as of right now, I have no complaints other than the slight QA check that seemed to miss the bit of metal leftover from the lathe on the end of the body. When the hopper is working, it really does astound you every time you take a hit.

 

[newVaper420]

Ok my unit is not working the same i don't think. I'll find out next week when I'm in San Francisco again. I'm not a fan of the strain I currently have, but I am on temperature 5 again. This sucks.