Discontinued The Oracle Infrared Vaporizer

[Ganjananda]

Wait--you mean buy a high-tech vaporizer from a new company? Like the cloud? Fuck no! I've wasted too much money on vaporizers which were defective or short-lived. I'm not going to throw good money after bad on the chance that the company will be around to stand by its products. And I have yet to find that "saving money" on less expensive vaporizers really saves money.

I have been in contact with Vapor Nation and they have been unable to reach BMI. I just inquired whether they will honor their return policy for defective products under warranty. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Slightly Medicated]

I have been in contact with Vapor Nation and they have been unable to reach BMI. I just inquired whether they will honor their return policy for defective products under warranty. I'll keep you posted.

I walked to VaporNation yesterday as well. VaporNation said they are still selling the unit. They tried to contact the manufacture last week but could not get a hold of them. BMInnovators has not returned their phone calls yet. One might think they are to busy working on the next model they are not paying attention to anything else. They could also be out of buisness and just not alerted anyone yet. Either way it is bad customer service to not tell your client base what is going on.

 

[oldiebutgoodie]

Wait--you mean buy a high-tech vaporizer from a new company? Like the cloud? Fuck no! I've wasted too much money on vaporizers which were defective or short-lived. I'm not going to throw good money after bad on the chance that the company will be around to stand by its products. And I have yet to find that "saving money" on less expensive vaporizers really saves money.

I have been in contact with Vapor Nation and they have been unable to reach BMI. I just inquired whether they will honor their return policy for defective products under warranty. I'll keep you posted.

Whoa, easy there hoss. "Like" the Cloud meant just that, "like". Just an example. At that price point you might be able to get more for your money; that's all I meant.

Yes, please do post back the outcome. I agree that the inability of anyone to contact BMI - especially one of its retailers - is a bad omen. It might be worth an innocent phone call/email to planetvape and halfbakedgoods since they are still listing the product but show it "out of stock", they may know more than vapornation.

 

[Slightly Medicated]

I posted on their Facebook page asking them if they are still in buisness or not. I mentioned that their customers are getting concerned about the lack of communication and their in ability to receive units for repair. I figured that Facebook is one of the more public places. If they don't respond to that post then I would assume they are no longer in buisness.

 

[Ganjananda]

Whoa, easy there hoss. "Like" the Cloud meant just that, "like". Just an example. At that price point you might be able to get more for your money; that's all I meant.

Sorry man, just feeling really burned by this whole thing.

Yes, please do post back the outcome. I agree that the inability of anyone to contact BMI - especially one of its retailers - is a bad omen. It might be worth an innocent phone call/email to planetvape and halfbakedgoods since they are still listing the product but show it "out of stock", they may know more than vapornation.

VaporNation said they're going to keep trying to get in touch with BMI and they'll let me know if they do. In the meantime they have offered to give me a discount on a new vaporizer. On one hand it's cold comfort to have to buy a new vape, but it shows that VaporNation is a stand-up company who will take care of their customers. BOOM, customer for life. It's that easy.

EDIT #1: I'm not sure that a volcano is in my budget right now -- any suggestions for an alternative from a reputable company that's been around a few years? It doesn't necessarily have to be a bag though.

EDIT #2: I'm thinking of the Volcano Plenty vaporizer. It looks like a cool take on a whip vaporizer.

 

[oldiebutgoodie]

Sorry man, just feeling really burned by this whole thing.

Sure. Anyone would be royally pissed off.

. . . I'm not sure that a volcano is in my budget right now -- any suggestions for an alternative from a reputable company that's been around a few years? It doesn't necessarily have to be a bag though.

My previous daily driver, and still backup, is the Extreme Q. It has terrific flexibility, is rock solid, and the price is quite good for all it delivers.

 

[PlanetHaze]

We also have lost contact with BMI, even the owners personal cell phone inbox is full so no more messages, company email bouncing back and warranty units being returned because office is closed. We still have a listing on our website mostly for the parts and accessories we sell. If you have an Oracle, consider buying extra parts while they still exist.

If BMI is really out of business, which we are not saying they are, we are very saddened. The Oracle was a fantastic vaporizer and their planned version 2 model looked to be even better. BMI's customer service was excellent as well, several times we met them on a Sunday - even when they are closed, to exchange / buy parts and supplies for customers in urgent need. Not very many manufactures would open up just for a few urgently needed parts on a Sunday. Once when we could not make it to their offices, they actually hand delivered same day to us in a different city!

BMI was very dedicated to the Oracle, so it would be a little surprising to us if things just ended like this. Hopefully if BMI reads this, please contact us.

PV

 

[dime]

There's no way BMI is giving up on the Oracle, it is too good of a vaporizer.

Keep in mind the main contact for support (and sounds like distribution) is the President of the company, he's probably busy getting the next iteration of the Oracle ready to go, and maybe doesn't have anyone that can step in on the customer contact side of things at the moment.

Personally I'm hoping I can trade in my v1 for a v2, or work out some sort of deal despite now being out of warranty.

 

[oldiebutgoodie]

There's no way BMI is giving up on the Oracle, it is too good of a vaporizer.

I don't want to be the proverbial wet blanket, but there are many reasons a start-up goes out of business none of which have to do with the merits of the product. It's one thing for the limited staff to be backed up and so a bit slower to respond. It's quite another when retailers aren't responded to; that has very bad consequences. I hope you're right, but the odds are that something serious is awry.

 

[Slightly Medicated]

I don't want to be the proverbial wet blanket, but there are many reasons a start-up goes out of business none of which have to do with the merits of the product. It's one thing for the limited staff to be backed up and so a bit slower to respond. It's quite another when retailers aren't responded to; that has very bad consequences. I hope you're right, but the odds are that something serious is awry.

I also still have yet to have any response to my post on their Facebook that I made 12 days ago. I wrote:

"Are you still in buisness or have you closed up shop? People are concerned about your lack of communication. Customers are sending you devices, but they are not being received or signed for on your end. People can't get in contact with you through any means. I even spoke to a retailer who said they have not hear from you since they tried to contact you a week earlier. What is going on? "

Usually someone in the company could take a moment to answer a the question of "are you still in buisness" on such a public/official page.

I am not holding my breath. I think it is likely they ran out of money, and can't cover their obligations.... so they closed up shop and diapered. Just the feeling I get. I could be completely wrong. If they are still in buisness, and this is how they run the company... then I would still be very worried about how they run things.

 

[oldiebutgoodie]

. . . so they closed up shop and diapered . . .

Diapered???

When a company closes down in responsible (and legal) fashion, it may be done thru bankruptcy or a form of mediation or other negotiating framework. Only if the company has not been operating for quite a while, will there not be financial and other obligations outstanding which must be resolved.

When a company runs out of money and the principals are unwilling to unwind the business thru a responsible process, they . . . skip. And then creditors and customers are left holding the bag.

I can see how, if under a lot of pressure, there might not be a response on Facebook. IMO Facebook is not a professional venue for this sort of thing unless there isn't actually anything to it.

The giveaway here is the silence to the retailers. Companies like BMI which are dependent upon indirect sales/distribution channels, live or die dependent on channel allegiance. Retailers have intensely strong feelings about this, as they may be invested in inventory, have made support commitments, have customer relationships now jeopardized, etc. Hardly anything could be more stupid than to leave its channel partners hanging, so either BMI has a helluva lot to learn about business or it's bad news.

 

[Slightly Medicated]

I just wanted to update this thread:

I have yet to hear anything from BMInnovators. Their website, Twitter, Facebook, and general web presence has been stagnant since around the end of April/May. Their phone numbers don't work. Last I checked, distributors can't get a hold of them. Warranty returns are being returned to the sender because no one is accepting them at the address they are being sent. I made several public posts on their Facebook page asking if they are even in buisness anymore and have received no response. Personally, I think the company is gone... folded up shop and cut their losses.

I strongly suggest that if you are thinking about buying this product anywhere that you take all of that in to consideration.

 

[oldiebutgoodie]

I strongly suggest that if you are thinking about buying this product anywhere that you take all of that in to consideration.

Thx for the follow-up SliM. I agree completely.

 

[max]

It does look like they've folded up shop and called it quits, and not in a good way. Too bad. It's a quality model.

 

[Mynameismud]

Yeah really glad i didnt get this, i had it between this and the vivape and chose the vivape...i dont want to give any owners false hopes, but if anyone followed the stealthvape they took preorders, sent out a few horrible units, shutdown website, stopped responding to emails, phone calls, twitter/facebook and then came back a couple months later with a new website that says HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS COMING...

That being said nothing has changed so far and its been about a month since that happened but a similar thing may happen with this company, just saying

 

[scientificsmoker]

so I broke down and bought a volcano to replace my oracle, and while it is a quality piece of equipment, its just not as satisfying as the oracle w/ bubbler.

Cons:
it takes a long time to heat up
the vapor seems dryer (i can only smoke out of it by using my bong with the bag held up against the stem)

Pros:
it works! and is slightly quieter

In any case i'm still going to miss my oracle. i took it apart to try and fix it and found the tube i need to replace to be nearly impossible to attach (the tube is attached in the chamber with some glass/epoxy).

Also a little energy info (using kill-a-watt meter): the oracle drew about ~6 amps on power up and dropped to ~4, and this was only on for a few minutes; the volcano uses ~1 amp but needs about 10min with warm up, often though it is left on for extended periods (like hours in the evening) even though it does turn off the heater periodicly it seems to consume more power than the oracle overall.

 

[IAmKrazy2]

Saw Vapornation still has these in stock with an FC discount... i am slightly interested, but it seems they had two high of a failure rate to risk such a purchase...

for a slight better pricepoint id certainly consider it... anyone know of any sites trying to drop oracles at an even lesser price?

 

[karotene]

I've also wanted to experiment with infrared and request here that any of you with an Oracle (working or defective) could share with me me any info on the IR heat source used. Were they LEDs? If so what wavelength(s)? Anyone got a minute to open theirs up and take a picture of the heating elements, if possible with a part number?

It should be pretty easy to achieve what they were advertising (ondemand vape production in < 10s). Whether that can be done in a commercially viable unit that ticks all the other importand boxes is another question.

Cheers.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

@karotene As far i remember it was a 400w halogen bulb that was glowing in the red spectrum.i suspect due to some kind of light filtration.

 

[PoopMachine]

I had one of these for a while. It had a lot of potential but the final implementation just wasnt ready for prime time. If it had something like the Volcano EZ Valve it probably would have done a lot better. The bag system was clunky at best.

Its still kicking around here somewhere in a box with all my other discarded vapes.