VooPoo Drag - Not Accessible via PC App

[Gandalf Vapes]

Well I sent them the completed form together with THESE pics. So we shall see what they have to say. Best case scenario, new mod! Worst case scenario I'll have exactly what I have now

Holy crap! 95W into 0,12 ohms?!?!?! Have you got steel lungs or something?

 

[SHiBBY]

Holy crap! 95W into 0,12 ohms?!?!?! Have you got steel lungs or something?

ROFL You see, I never smoked cigarettes in my life. I only klapped a hookah and went straight to a dripper on a mech from there for my first vape. As a result my preferred vaping style calls for decent airflow and short, high-capacity drags. Fat coils heat up slowly ergo in order to get what I require, I need to gooi the watts to get the clouds going quickly.

I'm running dual Vandy Vape NI80 fused claptons in my Blitzen, 3mm ID, 6 wraps.

 

[Gandalf Vapes]

@SHiBBY

Wow! you have me reeling in shock here If I understand you correctly, you went from never touching a cigarette in your life to a one time hit on a hookah where every puff is equivalent to a box of cigarettes????? Just out of interest, why did you puff on a hookah in the first place? Was it peer pressure?

I took my first puff on a cigarette way back in 1987 while I was doing basic training in our then very capable SADF. During basic training, we weren't allowed to drink at all. That cigarette made me uncomfortably high and I threw it away vowing never to touch another one ever again, and I didn't until about the middle of 1988.

In 1988 I was on the border with the rest of the squadron I was with. There were no limits on drinking then, and one night I got fairly drunk with the rest of the guys. Again, one of them tempted me to have a smoke and to please them I took it and smoked it. I took another one and I smoked that too. This wasn't too bad I thought.

The next day, I bought a box of cigarettes and I didn't stop until the doctor who did the mandatory medical examinations on us called me in, and sternly warned me that if I didn't stop smoking soon, I was going to suffer from Emphysema. It took me years to discover vaping before I finally gave up, and all that was purely due to peer pressure way back in 1988.

I thank God for giving me the means to getting off those death sticks.

 

[Spyro]

Just a guess here but some USB cables only have +- enabling charging without any data transfer. You've probably already tried this but perhaps just a different USB cable is in order?

 

[SHiBBY]

Wow, that's quite a background! I think a lot, perhaps even most people who started smoking analogs did so as a result of being at a braai, party or otherwise where social interaction inevitably leads to it, be it peer pressure or willing participation.

When I was about 4, I saw my uncle smoking and thought it was awesome. My dad promptly gave me a lit cigarette and told me to take a nice big drag (he had a plan). I coughed and cried and never touched them again.

Fast forward 12 years and find 16 year old me in the midst of a hookah frenzy. Every single braai or outing sees 2 or 3 of these badboys going up, tobacco for sale at just about every cafe to anyone looking for it. Its accessible, it smells and tastes nice, the lung hit is forgiving and it's an acceptable social catalyst. More so than cigarettes or alcohols at least at the time. Parents of highschool kids have no beef with the so called hubblys and turn a blind eye to them showing up everywhere.

Then vaping suddenly shows up as a cleaner, healthier alternative. No more holes burnt in carpets or smelly hubbly water to clean up. Here was an alternative that provided a consistent, portable experience with no warmup time and a much lower, almost non-existent risk of hot coles and black water hitting carpets.

It was a no brainer

 

[SHiBBY]

Just a guess here but some USB cables only have +- enabling charging without any data transfer. You've probably already tried this but perhaps just a different USB cable is in order?

Yup agreed, did try at least 4. Checked for phone comms, then tried my mod. No luck.

 

[SHiBBY]

Some feedback on my ticket logged with VooPoo:

Nothing. At all. Not a peep.

I sent them a Facebook message as well as an email to follow up, and heard nothing in return. Took to twitter today to up the ante a little so hopefully the public nature of it will force them to respond, even with a "f*ckoff!" then I'll at least know where I stand.

 

[Gandalf Vapes]

@SHiBBY

That is very sad to hear. What it means to me is that they (VooPoo) don't care about you. They don't care about getting bug reports and maybe they don't even care about the product they are selling us. One would think that if they cared in the slightest degree they would at least send you a "Thank you for information, we will look into it".

I must say, my Drag mod works like a dream, but with a report like that, I won't buy another one of their products. Maybe Tesla or Smok will offer a better service.

My advice is: Take the mod back to where you purchased it if it is still under guarantee and ask them to replace it. Maybe they will pressure on VooPoo to do something about it. They may feel safe to ignore the end user, but can they ignore their retailers????

 

[Gimli]

I have heard that Voopoo has really bad after sales service, one retailer that told me he gets the mods straight from them even has problems sending back broken mods back to them, with them saying the mods are clones. That made me decide to go with the Vandyvape pulse 80w instead of the drag when I was looking at getting another mod.

Sorry you having such a rough time with them

 

[SHiBBY]

The sad thing is that the Drag really is a fantastic device. That Gene chip is the tits, but it appears that VooPoo's business strategy revolves solely around making money, ergo once the mod is paid for, you're dead to them.

Being interested in the Pulse 80W myself, I watched this the other day which just confirmed my suspicions about VooPoo:

 

[SHiBBY]

Slap me thrice and hand me to me momma! They actually replied via email this morning, asking for a clearer picture of the VooPoo app with the device plugged in. Let's hope this leads somewhere...

 

[SHiBBY]

UPDATE: After some back and forth between myself and the now-responding VooPoo after-sales support staff in China requesting that I try disabling antivirus software and reboot my PC (they obviously did not know that I'm a software engineer by profession so... duh), they finally came back stating that they would need to have the device in their workshop in order to investigate any further, and seeing as that would require a device being sent back and forth between me and Shenzhen China, whether I would be willing to accept a 50% discount coupon to their online store instead.

This of course begs the question... What should I get?!

What I find concerning is this:

THIS is a new Drag Resin in the VooPoo online store ($85), and THIS is a new Drag Resin sold by Fasttech ($45), and THIS is a new Drag Resin sold by GearBest ($50). All of these stores will arguably mail from a warehouse in Shenzhen China. If I get 50% off a Drag in the VooPoo store, that's $42.50 which is almost what Fasttech charges, and they don't owe me anything.

On face value, this leads me to believe that VooPoo online store prices are structured in such a way that they are able to offer discounts such as these without suffering any losses.

Opinions?

 

[craigb]

UPDATE: After some back and forth between myself and the now-responding VooPoo after-sales support staff in China requesting that I try disabling antivirus software and reboot my PC (they obviously did not know that I'm a software engineer by profession so... duh), they finally came back stating that they would need to have the device in their workshop in order to investigate any further, and seeing as that would require a device being sent back and forth between me and Shenzhen China, whether I would be willing to accept a 50% discount coupon to their online store instead.

This of course begs the question... What should I get?!

What I find concerning is this:

THIS is a new Drag Resin in the VooPoo online store ($85), and THIS is a new Drag Resin sold by Fasttech ($45), and THIS is a new Drag Resin sold by GearBest ($50). All of these stores will arguably mail from a warehouse in Shenzhen China. If I get 50% off a Drag in the VooPoo store, that's $42.50 which is almost what Fasttech charges, and they don't owe me anything.

On face value, this leads me to believe that VooPoo online store prices are structured in such a way that they are able to offer discounts such as these without suffering any losses.

Opinions?

you've already wasted money on one dud. The drag is nice, but it's not that great IMO. They claim to be offering you 50% discount, but in effect, they are charging you 50% (actually, in real terms 100%) more to finally possess a fully operational device.

If it was me, I would say FOAD to voopoo, live with what does work on the device you have, and save up that $42.50 towards something really nice that is more likely to work. Were you planning on using any of the more advanced features that require connecting to the PC?

 

[SHiBBY]

you've already wasted money on one dud. The drag is nice, but it's not that great IMO. They claim to be offering you 50% discount, but in effect, they are charging you 50% (actually, in real terms 100%) more to finally possess a fully operational device.

If it was me, I would say FOAD to voopoo, live with what does work on the device you have, and save up that $42.50 towards something really nice that is more likely to work. Were you planning on using any of the more advanced features that require connecting to the PC?

I don't NEED to make use of any of the features offered by the PC app, but being unable to do so bugs me because it means that if I ever sell the device again, I'd have to mention that that bit doesn't work and that will inevitably affect the price I can ask. What I really want at the moment is a Vandy Vape Pulse 80W, but can you imagine that conversation going down with VooPoo given the above video I've shared LOL

I sent the above examples to VooPoo in my defence, telling them that their discount barely makes it to Fasttech prices and they asked what discount I would be happy with Can you say... 100%?

 

[craigb]

I sent the above examples to VooPoo in my defence, telling them that their discount barely makes it to Fasttech prices and they asked what discount I would be happy with Can you say... 100%?

nice one

I don't NEED to make use of any of the features offered by the PC app, but being unable to do so bugs me because it means that if I ever sell the device again, I'd have to mention that that bit doesn't work and that will inevitably affect the price I can ask.

You're totally right. Ironically, you'd end up shaving off the price to sell to someone that won't use those features either. And damn, was going to try pawn mine off onto you. Guess I'll have to use the classies like everyone else

What I really want at the moment is a Vandy Vape Pulse 80W,

Club meetings of the 'Nice Regulated Squonker Wanters Squad' are Tuesdays & Fridays, 8pm - 10pm. @Silver is chairing tonight. I'll be leading next weeks gatherings.

 

[SHiBBY]

Had a look at mods on offer on the VooPoo store now, did some calculations on what the prices would be at various discount percentages and made a motion for 75%, as that would effectively be half of Fasttech / GearBest retail (that's exactly how I phrased it to them). There's no way they'll go for 100%, but a solid argument for 75% should do the trick. If it flies, I'll get me the biggest BAMF they make!

Disclaimer: I'm sharing all of this information as it comes out of the woodwork with the hopes that anyone experiencing similar issues, with any retailer, understands that you can ALWAYS do something about it. Don't feel powerless if you don't get local help. The world is small nowadays and social media is a fantastic motivator for otherwise non-responsive manufacturers. VooPoo is slowly coming to the party and their willingness to offer anything at all shows that they do care about after-sales service and public image after all. They could have easily told me to "get f*cked" and I would not have been able to do much more than share my experience on the likes of Twitter etc. While I need to spend some cash now, I'm getting something that's worth more than I'm dishing out, and that's always a win in my books, especially considering I bought my Drag off this here forum.

 

[SHiBBY]

***SOLUTION TIME***

Hear ye, hear ye! It lives again!

First things first, VooPoo used ye olde "wheres your invoice" trick to zing-zang back under that rock I coaxed them out from, ne'er to be heard from again.

So I did what any sane person would do... And bought another Drag! Plugged the newcomer into my pc and it worked as expected, loaded my custom profile and disconnected. Then looked at my old one like "y u no do dis?!" and plugged it into the same cable and port I used for the other one and voila! It connected as well!

My theory is that somewhere something was unplugged mid-connection and a port open/close command of sorts went into the void. The plugging in and removal of the other device may have corrected this on my pc in the form of trace elements left in the registry or somewhere that a simple reinstall did not achieve.

Long story short, what was broken is whole once more!

EDIT: As a matter of interest, the new mod was on FW version 1.0.0.2 whereas my previously malfunctioning one is still on 1.0.0.1.

 

[Mboxer511]

I found another solution:

I had this same issue with my Drag X Plus. I would connect it with the included USB-C to my PC running windows 10, same with a laptop using windows 10 and the connection would fail. The way I got it to work was I pulled out an older laptop running win 8.1 that has USB 2.0 ports. It connected no problem. I think the included wire (for some reason no other USB-c works except the one included) has issues with USB 3 ports. Once in a USB 2 port it connected fine. I';m not sure if using win 8.1 also helped but if it did I just wanted to mention that was also a difference.

So basically a PC/laptop with USB 2.0 ports (and possibly win 8.1) gets this thing working.

I also wanted to add that their USB-C cable has a little arrow on the side that connects to the vape. Make sure it is facing down. The cable doesn't connect otherwise.