Guess I'll just settle for the Venus Apollo.
tl;dr
Sorry, (in Soup Nazi voice) "No summary for you!"
Wall Of Text Version
Not to detract from the Milaana ......which I am eagerly awaiting and hope will live up to all the overwhelmingly positive user reports.
But
@Kanyayweest you will certainly not be "settling" if you choose to purchase a Venus Apollo.
It is an amazing vape that fits in niche that is different from RBT's vapes.
When Ville goes on holiday though.....he does it right and it might be a little harder to reach him. Those Finnish sure know how to enjoy their summer holidays!
But under normal circumstances he is easy to reach, and is very open and approachable and will appreciate your feedback and get back to you and engage in a real dialogue.
I am sure that you will enjoy your interactions with him.
@MrPeanut
I am sorry to see you go. You have provided quite a bit of great user feedback and your enthusiasm for the performance of RBT's vapes seems to be borne out by the feedback of those who own one. You are also a good friend, which means that although you have been very objective in your usage reports, you are also going to want to defend personal attacks on your friend.....even though on the other hand you might understand some people's frustrations to some extent because more than anyone else - you know your friend's weaknesses - as well as his strengths.
There is nothing wrong with defending your friends. Those are the kinds of friends that I want in my life.
When I first arrived on the Zion thread, I only stopped in and read a few posts before leaving since I thought it was still in development.....and didn't realize what the whole pre-order scene was all about since I was also new to posting on FC.
I had been "lurking" ....but not really following FC. By lurking, I mean using FC as an internet information resource for the vapes that I had .....or were interested in at the time....like the Mighty. It was only by chance that I read about log vapes and got curious about them thinking to myself, "What the hell is a log vape?"
I wasn't really using FC to explore other options......which I soon realized that this was just cheating myself of the information becoming a more knowledgeable vaporist and maximizing my experiences.
Since then I have come across the Underdog, the Venus Apollo and the Supreme as examples of some very high performing vapes that you just won't see for sale in the mainstream B&M or online stores.
When I returned to the Zion thread a little later and realized that wow, here is a device that has gotten extremely high praise from the same people that who has provided great advice on other threads....that I realized that I wanted one.
I then tried to purchase one from the RBT store when it was still available for International sale & with the lifetime warranty still advertised on the webpage - just before the "blackout" period last fall.
I actually had it in my cart and shipping was all calculated and all I had to do was click a button and my PayPal would have went through with a payment. But then I saw the note requesting those looking for an international shipment to send in their information via a form....which I did.....and waited.
.....and waited......and waited.
Then I tried to contact RBT through PM on FC.....
.....nada, nothing - no response, so I posted in the thread hoping that RBT might be monitoring and then check his PM's as well as the inquiry made to his website.
Nope......same deal. Then other FC member's who had seen my posts then PM'd me with RBT's PayPal email address so that I could contact him directly to explain the situation ......and I had intended to.
But then my computer crashed and I spent almost 2 mos getting it back, recovering data, dismantling the laptop and learning how to install/repair things from internet and YouTube tutorials.
By the time I returned to FC - the Zion was no longer even available for sale in the store.....and then when it came back in the New Year it was at an even higher price.
A price that I was unwilling to pay for a vape that wasn't on the market - and although I had high hopes for based on the opinions of others didn't really think could be really that much better than the Underdog and Mighty.
The Underdog was incredible! .....and the Mighty was almost as good ....but portable.
I resolved that I wouldn't ever buy a vape from someone who had disrespected me by not ever replying to my respectful inquiries.
But then the Milaana came along and I fell in love with the form factor and thought - wait a minute, this might even be a better fit for me than the Zion
So I pulled the trigger.
Then I was on RBT's Twitter page later and saw his comment asking if anyone wanted to take some 14mm glass off his hands....cheap.
Since I have an Underdog that uses 14mm glass as a gong - I thought hey great, I'll try to contact him about this and see if he still has it kicking around....or whether someone else contacted him with an offer to purchase it from him.
At first Ryan thought that I was looking for extra glass mouthpieces for my Milaana and offered me a 5-pack special for $40 (3 short, 2 long) which was a good deal over purchasing them all separately.
When I explained what I had meant - he got a kick out of the misunderstanding and offered to just throw in the extra 14mm glass that he had on hand for no charge. ....which was something that I was willing to pay for and which was what my whole intent on contacting him was all about.
I am sure that he never even connected me to my prior international shipping inquiry, and followup PM's and postings on FC.
But then I also realized that some extra 18mm stems would come in very handy....but just hadn't thought to purchase them when paying for my Milaana - simply because I had no idea what the Milaana would come with.....so I made that purchase too.
Then another purchase of the 6-screen pack.
I would have bought a Zion at the original price .....and if I had not seen the International query request and went through with my payment - I am sure that Ryan would have honoured the purchase. After I get my Milaana, perhaps that will want to make me want the Zion even more?
Perhaps......we'll see - but I really don't see myself buying one at the PlanetVape price ....which is reasonable for what you are getting compared to other vapes out there like the Mighty.....and FF.
I have also spoken to Robert from PV many times on the phone and he is a really nice guy that has always been happy to sit and chat about vapes with me. I hope that he does very well carrying RBT vapes and believe that he can provide excellent customer service for these products.
I have also supported his business with some other purchases and have even been down to the warehouse to pickup an order.
I would have liked to have met him.....but he wasn't in at the time. I even brought my Apollo down with me to demo it. I think it was Ed and Michael that I was speaking to at the service desk .....and both of them seemed very impressed with the looks and operation of the Apollo.
So will my free 14mm glass come with my order?
I hope so ......but if it doesn't - I don't believe that there would be any malice or deception involved - just something that slipped between the cracks.
.....and after all, I won't have actually paid for it - so the most that would happen is that I would be disappointed that it got overlooked and then contact RBT to see if he could send another package and that I would be willing to pay for shipping it of course.....and even pay $ for the glass as well since he would have to perform some additional work - rather than just tossing it into a package that was right in front of him anyways.
So while I can't speak for other people's experiences......I can tell you that while I was not happy to not be responded to initially.....when I did communicate with Ryan - he was a really nice dude in his interactions with me.
I can also empathize that his life is going through some major changes that doesn't leave him with a lot of time to do both CS and build a viable business to help support himself financially.
He has also has contacted me afterward (after some waiting) to reassure me on my order - as I was trying to get a friend in on a Milaana purchase at the time that I was intending to add to my order and have shipped at the same time as my order. But money was tight for my buddy at the time due to personal reasons and a nightmare ex.
I can understand why people who haven't been able to communicate with him are frustrated .....but if, or when, you do communicate with him - I have no doubt that if you communicate with him respectfully .....that you will get that back.
I don't know what happened in Ed's case......that is definitely too bad and I was sorry to hear of it.....but since I don't know the communications that took place I can't cast judgement.
But I do understand those who are offended on Ed's behalf ......especially those who have had really great interactions with Ed and have past experience to support their respect for the man.
In any case, if there are any International Pre-Orders for the Zion that purchased at the $200 price with lifetime warranty that are unwilling to wait a few more months and are thinking of asking for a refund......then please PM me.
I would most likely be happy to purchase it from you ...... if RBT would be agreeable to this change and not mind switching the shipping destination.
and to my credit I'm not doing it here on this site. No one wants to see the gripes in this thread......would kill the "vibe" and would be "getting off track."
hope he takes the advice given.
apparently I'm just trying to turn it from a cordless Nano into a cordless PD!
