Has anyone struggled getting a response from glowforge?
Backstory: I received a non functional machine on June 11th and on the 13th they figured out it was a factory issue and I needed a replacement (100% not my fault but theirs). They stated they would ship out a new unit ASAP. I paid for expedited shipping for the first unit due to needing it at our house for a specific date.
It’s now June 20 and I still have not received my new unit nor tracking on it. I have sent multiple emails, and FINALLY Wednesday they said they were going to “expedite it out to me” I have sent multiple emails since this email three days ago with zero response.
This has been the most frustrating thing ever spending nearly $6,000 to be ignored and have a broken unit.
I know there isn’t a phone number, but seriously is there anything else I can do to get in touch with someone?
Email or posting here in “Problems and Support” both open new support tickets, but if you’ve been working with them already, then responding to those emails is the fastest way as it appends to your existing ticket.
Support doesn’t ship the machines, or know when they are shipped, so there is a bit of a disconnect between them and the company that does.
It typically takes a few days (as they don’t handle manufacturing and shipping.) The expedited shipping applies to time in transit, not how long before they have a unit available to ship out.
If you sign up for fedex and ups delivery notifications, you’ll usually see messages from there before you get any shipping info from support.
Support has already identified the issue, which is a mistake made in the factory. And it’s been a week since they discovered this defect and a week since they said they would “expedite” a new unit to us.
We have signed up for both, and when we purchased the original we paid for the expedited shipping and within 24 hours of our payment we got the shipping notification. So it’s not making any sense if they “expedited” a new one to us that we have not received a tracking update from fedex saying they even have a delivery coming.
There may not be any available of the model you ordered, yet. As @eflyguy said, the expediting applies to how long it takes to get to you once shipped, not how fast the machine is built.
They don’t have a warehouse full of GFs waiting to be shipped, they have a production line. There are a lot of unforeseen delays right now due to COVID, so what’s supposed to happen in 3 days doesn’t always go as planned. I don’t know any details, I just know that a whole lot of stuff in the world isn’t working the way it usually does, right now.
I completely understand, but at least be honest with your customers. When I tell a customer you will get your item you paid nearly $6,000 for in 3 days- i promise it will be delivered.
We have four businesses, and when we have delays we relay that to the clients as soon as we are made aware so they don’t have a bad taste in their mouth. If they also don’t have any in stock they should remove the “faster shipping” that you pay for in check out with the Pro. That would alleviate the problem. But saying one thing 7 days ago and then ghosting the customer isn’t the best business etiquette. Especially for this amount of money.
The company that builds the units for the company supplies their production line with the parts needed for which unit the are currently producing. If they are doing pros or pluses and you are waiting on a basic, that could figure in the delay, and as @geek2nurse pointed out the builder may have supply line issues. That’s just to say there are a lot of potential variables that might stack.
I can assure you of two things, the company is reputable and will make it right, secondly, yes, it’s no secret their support system needs to evolve.
I guess three things - you will enjoy the adventure of having a laser at your disposal.
I specifically ordered a pro due to the diversity of the unit and the “faster” shipping option which clearly isn’t the case when you are waiting on a replacement at no fault of your own.
I understand it’s two separate entities which is fine, but they clearly need to get on the same page so customers like myself aren’t waiting on a replacement for who knows how long.
I know these lasers are great, but we are starting to second guess ourselves with this poor customer service. We could have spent less, or more with other lasers who have far better customer service.
I’m going to throw this out here, too, and apologise in advance it’s not the most positive thing.
The main GF unit is in a very large and heavy box, near the max FedEx can handle before calling it a freight delivery. There have been a lot of reports of shippers poorly handling, mislaying, letting sit in shipping center, not bothering to ring doorbell before leaving again with your GF, on and on and on. In my own case it quickly became more reliable to route it to a nearby 24hr Fedex office as I could somehow never catch the driver at my house. Even then I had to speak to someone as it’s a bigger/heavier box then they normally allow at that location.
TLDR: it’s a big heavy thing that is hard to reliably deliver at a specific promised date.
My original one arrived in three days with no issues spoke with the fed ex guy, and he said it was no problem. They carry the large items in the smaller van so they are not “overworked” with a giant truck of large items. This may just be our local fed ex but I had zero issues getting our first non working machine.
I have seen some of the horrendous videos of others fedex deliveries though and they are scary!
This is the root of the problem. Support doesn’t have real-time availability or shipping information. It applies to all product, materials, and parts.
It’s unfortunate, but it’s the current reality. It’s a hobby-oriented machine with appropriate support. Business-oriented machines with business-level support cost several times more.
so no ticket opened.