Do smart Astros still have a problem?

[Anson Cheung]

Because I'm planning to buy one.  Do they still have bubbles in goo?

[Autumn]

I am also interested in this. I dont want to pay $180 for a piece of junk!

[Mattmos]

Go down about 16 discussions to: "New Run Smart Astro". Some people have complained about the heating plate and the LED's going bad.

[Arne]

Even though all the guys from the uk will hate me now but mathmos is steering in the same direction LL did years ago.
I've had so many sad experiences in the last 4 years that I almost lost faith in them coz they caused me more trouble than fun. Lava lamps are supposed to relax instead they caused me stress...you think I'm just a nagger? Here's a list:
Several globes got cloudy, some after just one or two runs, worst of all the "turquoise"...which is basicly light blue btw and a purple clear custom lunar globe I paid a lot for arrived cloudy.
The lunar globes got a tad bigger and damaged 2 of my lunar bases from the inside. One didnt even fit at all. I called there and they told they never heard of it and its impossible coz they buy it from the same factory...well why do I know at least 3 people who complained about that too? Lies? Really mathmos? Is that how you handle stuff?
My smart astro had a broken heat element after just a few runs, now I can only use it for glitters in a jet...looks cool but not meant to be this way. The smart astro are not supposed to overheat...but they do after a short time and the texture of the wax looks like shit. I specificly ordered reflector bulbs for the fluidium and paid 5€ for one bulb and got standart 99p bulbs for
25 €. The finish of the lamps looks cheap, its not chromed ots just cheapass aluminium which goes dull over time if you dont polish everyday. They had chrome in the 70's why not now? Also every used globe I bought from the nineties flows better and is clearer than everything I got directly from them in the last years...I dont care if its hand poured or not, I just want them to be clear for more than a few runs! The glitterversion of the fireflow failed after a few runs...them they axed it...dont they test run their shit? Are we beta testers? Also they need month and month to wire lavas for the us although they already sold fluidium in the us? Seriously? I have no idea what they do all day, but I guess a main part of their work is drinkin tea.
What I can say is that their return policy is still good and the girl on the phone is very nice, but they have no idea what they are talking about, they don't know about lamps older than 3 years since markus left.
I want to belive in them coz they used to make the best lamps ever but I guess those times are over. Sad but true.

[Anson Cheung]

Arne said: "...Several globes got cloudy, some after just one or two runs, worst of all the "turquoise"...which is basicly light blue..."

So does that mean clear/turquoise gets cloudy all the time?  I'd better steer clear of it.

[Arne]

I know mine and a friends got cloudy very fast...can't speak for others but from what I saw I'm not the only one with this issue...and I really dont wanne piss on mathmos, I love their old stuff but IMHO they have some serious problems at least in the last five years...or lets say since craven walker died...I guess his policy of quality died with him...he would cry if he saw what happened to his company...

[Anson Cheung]

Oooh, I should steer clear of Clear/Turquoise.

Do they still make Clear/Blue?

Also can you pls post a picture of the lamp?  craven walker would be proud, not...

[Simon Lloyd]

This rings so true - recently bought a new fluidium vase - it arrived with a low liquid level and sticking wax. They asked me to send a photo in to show - & when i did they asked me if I was using a mathmos cap and base. They asked me this again, so I had to explain that Fluidiums come in Orange too!

Arne said:

What I can say is that their return policy is still good and the girl on the phone is very nice, but they have no idea what they are talking about, they don't know about lamps older than 3 years since markus left.
I want to belive in them coz they used to make the best lamps ever but I guess those times are over. Sad but true.

[Erin]

Arne, I'm really sad to hear about all this. What's odd, is that I am seeing an increase in the # of complaints about Mathmos. I watch their FB page and I see questions and problem unanswered constantly. Not good at all. Are they still hand-made and poured at their UK facility? I know the kiss of death for Lava Lite was went they sent production overseas. 

What I don't understand is this - both companies had a formula that produced beautiful, stunning lamps. Why on earth would you tinker with that? Why would you ever tweak that and sell those lamps to the public? 90s and older Lava Lites are gorgeous, so why would you ever mess with that? 

I can attest that their customer service (well, potential customer service) has been absolute crap. 

I hope Mathmos turns it around, but sadly these signs are usually pointing in a direction where things get worse, not better. Many of us are patiently awaiting Mathmos in the US. I hope they do not disappoint. 

[Tim Gill]

Yea I hope mathmos do turn it around - I think the way to steer this around is if we all pull together and get heard by Mathmos. It seams as though they are spending much more time thinking about the ambient lighting, I have to say its good but what they were started and know by (lava lamps) is on the brink of going down hill and if Mathmos goes then it is most cerantly the death nail of decent lava lamps.

I think its time to start trying to get mathmos attionchion and try and save things before its too late as we really don't want it to go the same way as lava lite.

I know it shouldn't be our job as customers but I think I speak for everyone on hear when I say that I wouldn't be able to cope another company going going bad and un retrivable.

[Arne]

@Erin, yes the bottles are still made and poured in the uk. I've had some long talks with Cindy, the german customer service at Mathmos, she is very helpfull, polite and tries her best to make us customers happy. One thing she told me is that for instance the capacity has drasticly decreased and the guy who mixes the lava has to work with a way too small bucket to mix the lava in and I think this is one reason why the results vary...the bigger the container, the easier to keep the mix the same every time....I mean if you have a 50 litre container a difference of 5ml of one componant is way less important than in a 5 litre container...my english isnt good enough to explain it in better words but I guess you know what I mean.

As for the mixture itself it could have at least two reasons. 1. some substances may have been banned over time. 2. the costs...I know propylene glycol, glycerin etc arent that cheap, at least not for the single customer like me...5 litres glycerin are 50 euros here...5 litres of "crap" might cost 5 and so on.

@Tim: I'm all in...I'm wiling to start a petition or whatever to bring the good stuff back, but as we collectors are only a very small part of their customers it might not have an effect...but worth trying anyway. As I said, I dont write this to just shit on mathmos' good name, I love this company! They say they lost the old formulas but OH surprise : for their "expo" in london they somehow brought back the liquid lava mix for the princess and since the glitterball fluid is just glycerine it cant be that hard to figure the wax. And as their line up today gets cloudy even faster then the glitterballs this isnt an argument to not bring them back anymore...if you like I can write a letter, post it here and than everyone who is up for it should print it, sign it and send it to them...I think that is the most effective way to have a real piece of paper than just have a petition here where everybody sais: yes I also think so....but we should try to do it at the same time and don't start sending them off as long as we don't have a significant number of people on board...makes no sense if 5 people send it in a period of 2 month...it should be a flood in their mail box, so they see the singnificance of the issue.

[Arne]

yeah thats just a bad joke. could also be part of the petition...but the worldcup mini was even worse! I mean it was nothing but a clear red vase in a standart base and a crappy piece of paper and a number sticker on the box...not even on the lamp itself.

WaggS said:

Here's my tuppence worth, Just look at the most recent lamp Mathmos have created - The Queens Jubilee - Astro. Say no more!

.

[Erin]

The same things you're saying Arne, are the same things Lava Lite said - substances banned or cost increase. This sounds just like Lava Lite in some regard, and that makes me sad as hell. You may have someone great in customer service (we did at Lava Lite, I think her name was Paula) and despite her being great, the company just went in a different direction. If demand is down, I can see why they'd scale back production. That makes sense. But, they should be testing their lamps if they're making smaller batches; testing to make sure the formula is correct. 

Here's an old post from Oozing Goo in re: to Tim Haggery and what he had to say about Lava Lite going to China:

http://oozinggoo.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b-gb/m-1195315797/ 

Scroll down and read the whole thing. It sounds familiar, eh? 

I would definitely send a letter to Mathmos. Just let me know when and where. We tried and tried with Lava Lite, but their CEO just doesn't care, plain and simple. They haven't changed, they won't change and that's that. Unfortunately, most of the people who buy their crap aren't collectors. Since they don't know the history of Lava Lite, what they see is "good enough" and hey, it's only 20 bucks, so yeah. They'll buy it.