Possibly both materials and poor manufacturing quality control, who knows? For whatever reason(s), I can no longer recommend the Pax-3 as a preferred product in my vape lineup.
I initially found this device to be the epitome of the perfect dry herb vaporizer, for me: Quick heat, long charge, intuitive, easy design. The big selling point that got my money was the warranty. They started these things with a lifetime warranty, for some reason. How could you go wrong? Then it went to ten years. Then it went to whatever they felt like supporting, which in my case was three replacements, with outright denial on the fourth, all occurring over the past two years. They haven’t even been in the market ten years yet.
First failure was the on/off button. I got a sense of things to come with the initial push-back received on that claim. It was interesting to note how the warranty evidence criteria level-of-difficulty increased to near-impossible levels. That 1st warranty claim was eventually resolved, but not before being met with this response:
“…your device would not be eligible for warranty services as the PAX 3 Limited Warranty states, “Any device where the serial number has been tampered with, erased or obscured or is not genuine.” Full text here. Interestingly, they want a pic from under the mouthpiece, because they know it is susceptible to leakage into the case, and will blame it on you, saying it wasn’t properly cleaned.
Nothing about the serial number was tampered with, erased, obscured or not genuine. The defective faux powder coat finish was worn away. The number was still almost readable and at the very least, a near perfect match with the order# either way you read it, held at the proper angle to the light. So why the hassle? Counterfeit Pax devices? Seriously?
A couple defective batteries later, and my FOURTH warranty claim for the NEAR NEW device was simply ignored, after receiving the requested video evidence. The interesting part about the warranty evidence requirements shows up on that claim here:
“Please send the video as an attachment with your next reply. I am unable to view links, drives or clouds.” The part they don’t mention is good luck trying to record an .mp4 or .mkv with your cellphone to create a file-size going through email without a “link, drive or cloud.” I guess they don’t account for people who know about ffmpeg. The same format .webm submitted last time can no longer be accessed for some reason. Ya think?
So a near-new device is charged, just refusing to turn on, in a way different from the first power-on failure two years ago, emitting only a quick haptic buzz and light flash, no error code sequence or anything. These things are junk, and the warranty is a fraud. Stay away.