Sorry, but I don't think you are all that lucky. This thread is a perfect example of what is wrong with internet forums. An individual who is persistent enough can keep a minority opinion on the first page forever if they want to. That gives the false impression to many that there is a problem when factually there really isn't. It is my opinion that the Cuboid is no better or worse than many of the other devices that have been offered here as being significantly better. My opinion however is not based on my personal experience with a single unit, or my personal preferences. If customer returns to retailers and wholesalers gives an accurate measure of a products quality and overall consumer satisfaction with a product, then the Cuboid is in fact a much better device than many others. In fact, it has fewer returns than the Wismec RX-200, the Eleaf iStick TC-100W and the Joyetech VTC. They are all made by the same parent company and have all been mentioned here as some how being superior to the Cuboid. I verified my stores statistics with one of our distributors and they mesh almost perfectly. And after doing this exercise as a result of this thread, I think I will start recommending the Cuboid. After all, facts are facts. And opinions... well you know.
Your very post in which you claim draws its "factual" conclusions from empirical statistical data contradicts the very basic principles of statistical and quantitative data analysis based upon which your conclusions are statistically invalid, unreliable or ultimately false despite you claiming you speaking of facts, and the fact that a few members have liked, supported and even extended the idea shows exactly what is wrong with internet forums, where an obviously ignorant individual (to a trained eye) who on the surface appears to be speaking of truth and wisdom gains the support of like-minded individuals creating a bubble of what appears to be a popular factual opinion blinding the average reader from the actual truth, this is why in any review site i sort reviews by worst/negative first because most often than not this "minority" opinion reveals what is wrong with a product more accurately than the popular fanboys opinion bubble, and that is a statistical fact.
Here is an analysis of your false, inconsistent and highly inaccurate statements:
An individual who is persistent enough can keep a minority opinion on the first page forever if they want to.
Inaccurate Observation: the OP of this thread which in this instant happens to be ME was not persistent at all, i actually lost interest in this thread and the related product the second day this thread was created, once i made up my mind i am returning the product and not getting another one of the same, this thread became an unnecessary source of headache and a gateway to constant nastiness.
What kept this thread alive and constantly popping up on the first page instead of being all buried by now, is that it has been a magnet for fanboys, trolls, assholes, nasty, retarded, ignorant and coward individuals (the type of anonymous people who would just sign up to write "oh your butt still hurts hahaha") or just regular sane and reasonable individuals who every now and then express an opposite experience or try to be helpful despite the issue being long dead and done.
That gives the false impression to many that there is a problem when factually there really isn't.
You have no statistically reliable way of assessing the magnitude of the problem neither one to arrive at absolute facts (more on that below), and you mis-gauge the impressions this thread give, if i would to read this thread with fresh third party eyes i would find one individual (frustrated and disappointed at the time) express with anger their personal experience with one single early sample of a product and some other people later shitting on his problems and flaming him for daring to express his experience with such an anger, and a bunch of other people later stating they have no problem with their samples, in statistical terms the sample size overall is very small as i would count less than 10 observations in total if you filter all the noise of trolling and nastiness out and is a rather biased sample due peer pressure being exercised to shape opinions in a certain direction.
So in statistical terms this thread is unreliable and is not representative of the population, the only logical impression that would be taken out of this thread is, if you must purchase a Cuboid, proceed with caution, hope for the best and be prepared for the worst, buy from a reliable vendor who will honor a replacement if you end up getting a lemon, this would provide a factual benefit to unwary buyers if they know how to critically read and extract information from a thread like this one, and in this case internet forums would not be as problematic as you stated.
It is my opinion that the Cuboid is no better or worse than many of the other devices that have been offered here as being significantly better.
Here is when your statistics start breaking, and your statement contradicts, logic, rationality and reason, when the other products are clearly more innovatively and reliably engineered than the Cuboid, in statistical and modeling terms they exhibit design robustness which makes them less prone to failure with less than perfect manufacturing/assembly processes, and exhibit superior unanimously desired features.
In fact, it has fewer returns than the Wismec RX-200, the Eleaf iStick TC-100W and the Joyetech VTC.
Your comparison time period window and quantities are not normalized trying to compare products with varying periods of market availability and market share (represents sample size):
Joyetech VTC Mini has been available for almost a year and has the largest sample size
Wismec R200 available for 6-8 months second largest sample
Joyetech Cuboid available for 2 months third largest sample
iStick TC100W available for one month smallest sample size
How can you compare raw number of returns without accounting for number of units sold and expect your results to be valid (if you even have the actual data in hand)? if you can get accurate and reliable data of the number of returns as a percentage of units sold, when in the ownership life-cycle the return occurred, and the return reason, only then we can talk about facts.
An example of how such statistics will yield false conclusions is in the case of the Wismec RX200, been in the market long before the Cuboid and probably sold a lot more, if you only observe the number of units returned as a raw value you may think that the RX200 is less reliable than the Cuboid, but if you calculate the RX200 returns as a percentage of all units sold and observe the point in the ownership life-cycle in which the return occurred, you may arrive at a totally different conclusion and discover that the Cuboid has a higher return percentage due to pre-mature failure or bad quality on arrival.
They are all made by the same parent company and have all been mentioned here as some how being superior to the Cuboid
false assumption: Source does not determine superiority, every product stands on its own, the IPV5 is more superior than any product before it from the same company, iStick TC100W is much more superior than anything eleaf has ever produced, the corporate legal and financial structures under which these products were designed and manufactured is irrelevant for our purpose
I verified my stores statistics with one of our distributors and they mesh almost perfectly.
Invalid Statistics: unless you tell us:
1- What is the name of the distributor?
2- Where are the data sheets?
3- What are the ratios in percentages? % of units sold, % of returns?
4- When did the return occur in relation to the purchase date and the reason for the return?
5- To what market regions and groups this distributor is selling? and what are the demographics, expectations and buying patterns of these groups.
6- Is your sample data varied and randomized? different regions, markets, age groups etc...?
And after doing this exercise as a result of this thread, I think I will start recommending the Cuboid. After all, facts are facts. And opinions... well you know.
Recommend the Cuboid all you want, but at the end your recommendation is based on your personal opinions and preferences and in that it is as valid as any random person's opinion for that matter, either they actually owned the product, tested it or not.
Your statistics are broken and unreliable, data source is undisclosed and most likely all the data you've got was out of a phone call with a random guy who did not actually show you any data, thus your conclusions are not remotely factual, on the contrary, your conclusions contradict with rationality and logic that all the aforementioned mods are much superior to the Cuboid in terms of design and engineering innovations and these are actual facts that do not require statistical verification, only reason and objectivity and a liberation from public trends bubbles.