Copy of complaint I sent to Lava World.

[OSOLAVA]

I felt the need to air out my frustrations, thought you might like to read what I had to say. (Inspired by my recent Mathmos purchase and hearing yet more complaints from others who have been burned by Lava World)


To whom it may concern:

First off, I would like to introduce myself. I am an avid lava collector. I have around 70-80 lamps, last I checked. I recieved my first lamp in the 80's and with the advent of ebay, started acquiring vintage lamps along with new ones. I am also a member of oozinggoo.com which as you should know is a forum for lava lamp collectors as myself. I sincerely hope that you watch what your collectors have to say because there is a wealth of valuable feedback available to you here. Such as, recently, another complaint about the lack of quality in your products. First the cloudiness of the newer china-made lamps. Then the barage of problems with the Colossus (seal problem, dye leakage, scratched glass) I would dearly love one, but not willing to risk the investment especially when I hear from those who do have them that lavaworld has not resolved their issues. Now, lava sticking to glass in the new rainbow lamp.

Next, are you aware that someone claiming to be from the factory in china, that produces your lamps, has posted on the forum? They are soliciting direct sales. If anyone bites, that is going to hurt your sales! So much for the idea of saving money contracting the manufacturing to china. I think its going to cost you in the long run. Then, not to mention, anyone that goes to their website (yes they posted their website) will see that the same factory that produces your lava lamps also produces the knock-offs! This being the case, why should we pay more for yours??

Lets talk about the quality of Mathmos vs. Lavaworld. Despite the fact that Mathmos does not sell here in the US, we do have access to their products, via internet and ebay. Many collectors, myself included, have acquired Mathmos. I own six Mathmos lamps. This number would be higher if the high cost of shipping and the value of the dollar to the pound did not have such an impact. There is no mistaking the marked increase in quality of today's Mathmos over today's Lavaworld lamps. Recent lamps that I have purchased (new) were received with crystal clear liquid (despite being shipped overseas), flows like vintage lava, and not one aberration in the glass. Absolutely beautiful. Makes me want to take a trip to UK, just to stock up on Mathmos.

My comparison of Mathmos vs. Lavaworld

Mathmos: Clear liquid, good fluidity of flow, & quality build.
Lavaworld: Sometimes clear, sometimes cloudy liquid, poor to average and stiff flow, craftsmanship is hit and miss. typically glass is flawed.

My result, Lavaworld will be in trouble if Mathmos starts selling in the US. If Mathmos can do it, why cant you?

Finally, it is my sincerest desire that Lavaworld finds its way back to the standard of quality that the original Lava Lite company used to produce. Rather than feeling like purchasing from lamps from lava world is like gambling our hard-earned money away, all we want at the end of the day is to happy in knowing that we can be confident in purchasing from you and proud to own quality lava lamps produced by our country.


Sincerely, Jennifer *********

[Brian]

That was a great letter! Now, I hope someone answers you back on what they plan for the future. I highly doupt they will do anything since the ratio of good lamps to bad are still good and they still make a decent profit. I don't know if I would want Mathmos to start selling in the states. If they start doing the same thing to sell here by outsourcing to keep the price resonable then there will be two great companies with crappy lamps. That would really suck! But in any case, I hope that lava brand will start making better lamps. after i get the chrome series and 40th anniversary series, that is all the new "China" made lamps that I will buy. I will be an avide Mathmos and vintage advocate after this.

[OSOLAVA]

i second that

[chad]

Well said, I sent a similar letter to them about 5 months ago and never heard a thing back. I honestly think they dont care,Its almost as if there are enough idiots out there that also dont care and are content with mediocrity. I wonder if that keeps them in business....

[Brian]

if that is the case, we need to raise the awareness. "OPERATION, LAVA AWARENESS" and get the word out to as many people as possible! A lot of people just don't know that lava word has outsourced its product to China and how the quality has gone done. And then there are people that think that they are just "novelty lights" and don't really care. But I think if enough people make a stink about it and make it known that a mass majority won't buy anymore, then maybe they will do something about it.

[Mark Goo]

Hi everyone. Good letter Osolava.
I think maybe that manufacturer originally wrote their post in a way to infer that they were the Chinese makers of the Lava World products, then edited their post later. I saw that post pretty quickly, but i may have missed the edit.
I never saw them mention lava world on their site. The lamp they show on their site is the *shape* of a lava brand lamp, but in China anything goes with knockoffs. I dont think these guys are the same manufacturer for 2 reasons: 1. the real manufacturer surely has a clause in their contract preventing them from selling on-the-side. 2. they only offer one size of the familiar shape, not the whole line.

That's my 2 cents.
;-)
MG