Mathmos rip-off

[Steve Melville]

Being fairly new and naive to this mass of lava obsessed people I have been aquiring a small collection the costly way - from Mathmos direct but some from eBay. I wanted a replacement colour for my Lunar (which was the bright green wax with blue fluid) so contacted the Mathmos factory. They informed me that they would not refill my current bottle as they could not guarantee the new wax would not stick to the sides and also that my bulb may not be the correct one for the Lunar. Being uninformed I ordered a violet / red bottle and new bulb from Mathmos.
They arrived yesterday and much as I love the new bottle colour (which ran for 16 hours with no sign of overheating) the bulb they sent me (which I paid £9.20 for!!!!) was EXACTLY the same as the two that I picked up in B&Q at the weekend for £1.48 the pair. Same manufacturere (General Electric) - even the same manufacturing factory in Hungary.
Is this the usual practice from Mathmos direct - to rip off the loyal customer - any advice would be welcome - especially as to where or how I could have my other Lunar bottle refilled or do it myself (I really fancy black metallic wax in clear fluid.
Finally after this diatribe many thanks to thos of you who welcomed me to this site - feels like a good bunch here!

[Bianca]

"could not guarantee the new wax would not stick to the sides". i had that from them to.

i cant help you on advice, others may.

[Kris]

From what I hear, that is typical of Mathmos with their bulbs. I have heard it again and again. Their bulb prices are insane. Get the bulbs elsewhere. As for not reusing the old bottle, makes sense.

[john]

Mathmos changed the fomula for all the lava lamps about 3 years ago, they will make custom lunar bottles at £119.00 little more than the violet/red. I do however agree that the bulbs from mathmos are expensive. But you can only get the fluidium bulbs from them.

[Modulo '70]

You're most welcome to oozing goo as a clear lava fan like the rest of us!

Wow. a metallic clear/black lunar could be absolutely awesome!

[IdOrU 02]

I think that just a clear/black would be!
Too bad that Mathmos will only make custom bottles based on what they already have produced by the past...

[Lava_Head_UK]

Ive had quite a lot of dealings with Mathmos over the phone and I've never really had a problem, my Lunar's have a 75W Bulb for summer use when things are nice and warm and I use a 100W in the winter :-) really does make a difference, going back to Mathmos Direct I always find Marcus very helpful but no way would I let anyone sell me a bulb for nine quid :-( Welcome aboard Steve