Wow. First I feel like I posted too negative, and now I'm being told I'm too positive. I think the most powerful thing in the world is forgiveness. And I forgive Hopper Labs for their shortcomings. That doesn't excuse them. I believe that's an important distinction.
In the interest of full disclosure, I will share a story I have been holding off on until now. I didn't want to share it before for the simple fact of being too negative, but I also believe the truth should be shared so it was a hard decision.
When
@VapoShop got hoppers in stock I purchased one. I already had a Nitecore D2 and other accessories I purchased waiting for my preorder. I purchased an extra battery from Hopper Labs and a leather sleeve. I asked them to ship it separately from my preorder. The order shipped in a couple days and I got it a couple days after that. Great experience so far.
So a while later (transatlantic ocean voyage + customs purgatory) I get my hopper. I use the battery that is in it and use the other battery I got direct from HL. I charge them in my D2. The next day I realize the wrapper on one of the batteries has a small tear. I'm almost positive it was like that when I received it, but unfortunately I didn't inspect either battery when I received them. I have since learned my lesson.
Pro Tip: check new batteries immediately!
I would like to note that batteries from Hopper Labs have no warranty at all.
I sent an email to grasshopper support with a picture explaining that it was a brand new hopper and brand new battery used once. I asked if it was safe to use. I will paraphrase Caroline's reply because of the rules about private conversations. It was basically a stock "don't use torn batteries" answer. No concern at all about my experience with a brand new product from their company. No "I'm so sorry that happened, I'll send a new one out right away."
I replied back that I was disappointed I couldn't use this brand new battery that had only been used once before. I didn't say too much else, at this point I was honestly testing their customer service.
I got no response and after I got sick of waiting I ordered a new battery. I waited and waited for the shipping notification. After a week I got sick of waiting and emailed back, being overly polite, thinking maybe they were just holding it for the preorder, even though throughout the whole ordering process they tell you if you don't choose free shipping it will ship
immediately and to disregard the estimated shipping date.
I did get a response from Caroline that my battery would ship the next day. So eight days later they finally shipped a replacement battery to a brand new customer. Not the best first impression.
It was a messed up experience in many ways. I had tried to be prepared and be all set up when my hopper arrived, and yet I was stuck with only one battery for roughly two weeks. Any hopper owner will tell you one battery is less than ideal to say the least.
I felt I should have been more aggressive and upset in my initial email and I may have got a free replacement battery. I'm confident my battery was torn when I received it, there's no way I did that damage. I almost understand not having a warranty (shit, give me a day or two at least), but it should be functional upon arrival. Batteries are cheap and $7 isn't going to break the bank, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth like they don't care about me as a customer.
At the same time I didn't want to post anything too negative on here. I struggled to decide what to do and ended up not posting this story.
The reason I'm posting it now is that I feel it is important to share the truth about the situation.
I also think it is important to forgive HL for their shortcomings. I wish them the best of luck and think they have the best intentions.
I stand by everything I have said previously on this topic, both positive and negative.
The important thing about forgiveness is that we aren't all great at everything we do right away. It's a learning process for all of us. As long as HL continues to work towards improvement they deserve our support. And they have shown they can gradually ramp up production so I'm sure they will improve the customer service experience too.
They have put in an immense amount of work to bring us an amazing vaporizer. Once they fill these orders they will have more time to focus on improving everything else. And I really think the addition to customer support staff is going to make a huge difference.
This is pure conjecture, but I feel the main limitation to HL so far has been funding, and I can't help but feel they could easily find outside funding with such a great proof of concept. So the only logical conclusion is that they are refusing the outside funding so they can do things their way, which is making it a lot harder in the beginning, but gives them much more control.
I for one would much rather deal with these admittedly minor growing pains than have some conglomerate come in and cut corners and reduce performance to save money. They would probably raise the price too.
The Grasshopper is one of the most cutting edge vapes with top tier performance and is also the most affordable battery powered convection vaporizer. That is worth supporting in my opinion.
)
. Life could be far worse. Have a great Veekend all.
). But, all these fine details exist and have done for over a year.
