Hey all, it’s been amazing to see some of the cool stuff you’ve been cooking up with your lasers. I’ve been eager to get my hands on my own for quite some time now, as I first placed my pre-order exactly two years ago. I even talked to someone at my gym who’s father had received their laser. I know it’s a real thing, so it pains me that this is my first post, but I am feeling extremely frustrated with this whole scenario.
The “live” shipping estimates have felt more like a carrot dangling from a stick designed to keep us on the line. I’ve seen my shipping date pushed back from August…
to October 17th…
to November 17th…
to December 19th…
then the 21st…
then 27th…
then January 2nd…
and now it’s saying January 9th…
When it hit December I mustered my optimism and sent an encouraging e-mail, re-iterating that this delay was hobbling my business for yet another holiday season. I even got a response from @dan saying he was on his way to the factory to see what he could do, which was heartening but ultimately did nothing for me.
The shipping date has never moved up, only slipped back by a day or two, or a week, or more. There’s not even a visible history of how many times that date has been adjusted. All this seems to be designed to give us a sense that the laser is only being delayed by a little bit at a time, so we aren’t focusing on the massive failure to deliver, and the fact that I’ve tied up a lot of my own money in this and hinged my very dreams on this product only to be told again and again that it’s ALMOST shipping.
And what am I going to do? Cancel my order at the 11th hour, when I’m supposedly so close to having my laser in hand and putting this chapter of intense frustration behind me, while other people are happily etching away and showing off their goods? It’s been 18 months since my original delivery date, what’s just a few days, right? Or a few more days. It’s just another week, right? If cancelling at this point is your suggested resolution, I’ll thank you to keep your comments to yourself. I’m still excited for what I know I’ll be able to do with this tool, but the pills are increasingly bitter to swallow, and the past two years have felt like a whole lot of lost time.
What else can I do but publicly air out my frustrations and ask that they stop using the shipping updates as a handbrake to soften the blow of their endless delays. Give me a solid shipping date and stop jerking me around, please.
The predicted dates have yanked us all around - for years.
The speed of production depends on a bunch of variables, which is why it moves around… And why they cannot give a chiseled in stone date.
Sorry, Little consolation in your position, but I can tell you the memory of that condition essentially evaporates when you get your hands on one!
Hey @griddable, hang in there! My email notification just got pushed back another week as well. I suspect it has to do with delivery of parts in this brutal holiday season. For whatever reason, it is tough to keep waiting.
I am in the fortunate position of still having the pre-release Glowforge that I have been testing though. If I can help you out by running a design you’ve been wanting to test, please let me know!
The most recent delays seem to be all about shipping issues. I received my Forge in November. Since I received mine, I’ve seen a lot of posts about damaged Forges arriving and replacement Forges being sent out. It’s likely that what was going to be your Forge was shipped as someone else’s replacement.
The good news that that the holidays are nearing their end. Shipping becomes less urgent in January and not too long afterwards, the temporary workers are released. This should decrease the number of shipping issues and hopefully get your Forge on the way.
Exactly 2 years ago, as stated. Almost to the day.
The business has been in its nascent phase for quite a while now and for my main product (leather notebooks), personalization with the laser is just a major value-add. I’ve been trying to make do with borrowed time on others’ lasers and hacker labs, but I needed my own laser to be able to ensure that I am able to deliver on time to my own customers; as membership in those facilities climbs it becomes increasingly difficult to get any time on those lasers. I have a regular job that also limits the hours I’d be free to work on this stuff. I have a lot of other products I want to offer, but can’t develop and produce for this reason.
Dan had a good reputation and it seemed like a trustworthy investment. If I knew up front that it would take so long, I would’ve bought some Chinese lasers and had them paid off. By now, I would’ve been able to afford the Glowforge at retail when it was ready. The business itself isn’t hinged on having a Glowforge in hand, but it was a crucial tool in the dream of being able to leave my day job and focus on making cool things for people.
But this thread isn’t just about delays and the overall letdown of the laser not shipping on time, it’s about the abuse of the shipping estimate to constantly recreate the let-down we all experienced when the first delay hit. It’s emotionally exhausting.
The estimated shipping dates might have been a miss-step as it seems to be really frustrating for a lot of people. But if it was, that one is firmly on us. We asked, repeatedly, for more frequent updates. So they obliged and switched from setting a firm date for everyone to giving us soft, moving targets that are as up-to-date as they possibly can be.
Sorry if the continually changing dates has added to your frustration. I think theres a portion of us who find it really informative and a portion of us who find it really disheartening.
I know its cold consolation, but I waited, like, 2 years and 2ish months from the time I ordered to when I got it home, I think. And, having it now and knowing the long, long time it took to get it, I’d make the same decision if I could go back and do it all over again. Except I probably would have bought two.
Absolutely.
Don’t invest so much in the dates is my advice. Just know that it is coming. You know how when you get closer to the bathroom the worse you have to go?
Thanks for the reply. I agree, most of us had no idea we would be here 2 years later (plus a little)… Good luck with your business. A lot of us have a dream like that. Can’t wait to see what you make with your Glowforge when you get it.
Unfortunately, record production is reported all the time and the delivery dates are still going behind. Isn’t this rather strange and as a customer very annoying.
Some people’s dates moved up instead of behind. There’s no way to know what the actual balance is. The general rule on the internet is that more people complain than praise.
The general rule of life is that folk mostly note the aggravations and think little of privilege. There was a story of primate researchers that had a treat on the floor when the chimp came in. One got a raisin and the other a bit of lettuce. All went fine until the treats were switched and you did not want to be in the room with the chimp the expected a raisin and got lettuce!
You had the privilege of paying thousands less for a longer wait. If you got your money back you could pay the eight thousand and perhaps not wait more than six months.
Yeah, the wait was supposed to be about six months to a year. It has now been 2 years, 1 month, and 1 week exactly. But I got the golden ticket today, and could practically spit on the plant making it, sooo maybe printing by the weekend. Probably not but maybe.
Think of it as tripling your money in three years with all the benefits after that. Not many stocks would give you that, and they certainly would not be so useful at the end.
I was going to ask if anyone knew of anyone whose shipping date was actually moved up… and then…
On my way home from a much-needed vacation, I checked in yesterday (January 3rd) and saw that my shipping date was moved from the 9th to the 4th, and today I got an e-mail that led me through the labyrinth of legal agreements to finally say “Yes, Virginia, there is a shipping date.”
Caveats abound, including one saying it may take up to 6 weeks for it to arrive, and the air filter hasn’t budged from June 30th since they introduced the shipping status torture device… I mean, feature. Also, although the page says that it’s shipping now, I haven’t yet received the confirmation e-mail. I’ll update when it happens (tomorrow, probably?), and again when it’s in hand.
There’s light at the end of the tunnel, just don’t stare directly into it.
From my personal experience about a week after I got the email my Forge was sent out. First you get your proof grade materials.
Don’t lose hope! It is definitely worth the wait for how easy it is to use. It still has some workflow kinks to work out but it is completely ready to use out of the box with very minor setup.
The biggest benefit is that you get over $200 worth of free materials to play around with! It is definitely worth saving $2,000 and venting it out a window in the meantime.
My order date was pretty much the last day of the crowdfunding if that helps.
I got the golden ticket around 6PM on Jan 1, went through all the yes I want my GlowForge now paperwork on the computer and was finished with it before 7PM, and as of right now (Jan 5 @ 11AM) no shipping conformation. But I’ll give it till about the 8th or 9th before starting to worry about it. In the mean time I’ve started putting together my work room and supplies for when it does arrive.
