The trouble with Square Trade and Asurion that neither supports business/commercial use.
i think I THINK they have business plans available, I also am waiting on some official word from glowforge, inc. on that
Jonathan
OK, official message from Glowforge Tech:
Here’s what the offer is: For the month of December 2021, we’re partnering with Extend to offer up to 3-year warranties for US Glowforge owners who are still under the original manufacturer’s warranty.
So as long as there is still an active warranty on the machine (and they are within the US), the printer would qualify regardless of whether it’s being used for business, a hobby, or anything else!
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Looking for a clarification reply from Glowforge on the Warranty offer–
I really love the idea of the protection the warranty offered based on the announcement, but I want to be sure before I jump in with $1,199 for my Pro…
The announcement says the warranty includes basically everything, including the tube are covered in full…but the fine print (when you click the warranty link) under “What is not covered” 7.1.6 “parts requiring replacement or repairs due to normal wear and tear…and normally designed to be periodically replace by YOU during life of product” are not covered.
AND
What about all the crafters who sell their stuff on Facebook, Etsy, their own websites, etc.? Under what’s not covered section 7.1.13 “any product purchased for or used at any time for commercial purposes…unless a Commercial Plan has been purchased.” Is this a commercial plan, and are we covered if we ever use the Glowforge to make something we sell?I’m having the same issue. What did you have to do to resolve this?
Oh the way glowforge wants to resolve it is by me buying a refurbished machine for close to 4k. They just don’t care. I’m reporting it to the BBB.
[mycraftsandartstudio]
(Discussion of Dec 2021 Update - #48 by mycraftsandartstudio)
Oh the way glowforge wants to resolve it is by me buying a refurbished machine for close to 4k. They just don’t care. I’m reporting it to the BBB.
MY, that escalated quickly . . .
You can, of course, report anything you wish to the BBB which is a pretty lame organization in my experience. If you want people to understand why you are so upset, you could provide a more complete narrative. From what I can determine, you got a machine last January. It caught on fire a couple of weeks ago and the solution provided to you is to purchase a refurbished? Is that about right from your point of view?
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It’s fairly unusual to be able to buy an extended warranty after the item is broken.
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I received my Machine around the beginning of march of 2021; really like it and learned a lot from the various FB groups. My first issue ever. my machine caught on fire; I opened the lid and unplugged it and tried to get the materials out as fast as I could but everything was burning so it was hard to do.
GF stated that it was the material I used that caused the fire, but it was not. The head was not moving and was just firing a laser in the same spot. GF states that you can use any materials and that does not void the warranty, however, the way they get out of this is by blaming the customer for using non certified materials that according to them, it’s the cause of the problem.
I am still paying for that machine and for them to tell me that the solution is to buy a refurbished machine at almost $4k, it is absolutely ridiculous. Their customer service is practically non-existent and it takes forever to get an answer, even calling is a nightmare because in my experience, I called many times and after hearing their recorded message 3 times each call got dropped. When I finally was able to connect, it was just to leave a message and absolutely nobody called me back.
I am extremely upset and disappointed; I have to pay for a machine I don;t have, I can not afford to purchase another one. All the money I was going to make between last month and this one is gone as I have to decline so many orders and I practically don’t have inventory to bring to all the shows I signed up for therefore, losing money in those areas as well.
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What was the material?
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The first thing that was destroyed when some material in my Glowforge caught fire was the belt for the carriage plate. At which point the head was just firing in the same spot, since the belt was no longer connected to move the head back and forth. Luckily all I needed was to replace the carriage plate (which includes the belt and air assist fan that also melted) to get back up and running in my case. Which I paid for, since the fire was caused by my non-PG material (and my negligence).
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For the short term, I would look around for a maker space near you or put out feelers on facebook for friends or friends of friends that may have a laser you can get some time on to remedy those situations.
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From what I have seen over the years they have been out fires are pretty rare. Those that have destroyed the machines have been ignored long enough for the fire to really get going. As @dan84 pointed out the first thing to go will almost always be that belt as the fire will almost always start where the head is working. When the belt goes the head stops moving. If you lift the lid it will cancel the operation.
If you have a wet washcloth or a spray bottle of water any fire not engulfing the entire machine can be put out quickly and easily. Even before starting the machine will point out potential problem areas if found and ask if you want to go anyway and you have to push yes to continue. The machine is way over-cautious and in most cases not a problem but it is a signal to pay special attention.
There is a record of everything the machine has done, what the settings were etc. to give a diagnosis of any problems that the machine has. If your claim is wildly different from that record it would be obvious to anyone looking at that record.
A refurbished machine is often better than a new one especially as it was worked till something broke and then was fixed and tested again (often it was a misunderstanding by a new owner and there was nothing wrong at all). My new one was from the first months of production and I “made do” as I could and used the warranty just before it expired. What I got back was a “refurbished” machine indistinguishable from new containing all the minor mechanical design changes. Almost three years later I had a severe enough issue that it had to go to the shop for what totaled a bit over 1K as it was long out of warranty. The price was based on the estimated cost of repair. I opted for a refurbished machine and it was accurate enough that it did not need recalibration. And it too was indistinguishable from new.
The 1k was a chunk of cash but I got 7k worth of machine vs a desk ornament. You have a burnt desk ornament and have been offered a refurbished machine at well under retail price. You could sell it without opening the box and be ahead of where you are now or use it and pay attention during any cut with a spray bottle of water close at hand knowing exactly the cost of not doing so.
Also, a violated extended warranty is no better than a violated original.
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What was the material and were you watching the machine when the fire started?
How long did the fire continue?
It sounds very much like the belt was damaged first, as others have mentioned.
it was wood and I was there in the room; it definitely was a faulty part but GF is blaming that on me so they don’t have to honor the warranty. The fire continued after I open the lid and unplugged it as the belt and other pieces were burning.
well, that’s your opinion and I respect it but I was the one here with the machine when it caught fire. They are offering me a refurbished version for almost 4K which I don;t have. I am glad you had a better experience than I did.
It was a lot harder than I would have thought to come up with the 1k. I am on SS only so it was hard, but as I am able to sell some I hope to sell more, where otherwise I could sell none. If they allow time payments, and if you already have a good marketing system you are better off than me. As noted any other Glowforge owner might just charge you per hour or piece to do the cutting and if the fire did not make the lid explode (if left long enough the fire will usually get to that, often the first notice to people ignoring their machine too long get ) you might still have a cheaper repair than new.
It feels sometimes like a nudist in a mosquito colony, with all the scams and actual conspiracies, (like all the Med plans charging $75 or more for meds that are a part of my plan, and they all did it at once, or making me go to the pharmacy when the meds are for the reason I cannot walk or stand except in intense pain, while happy to deliver all the other drugs). It is a long list of big and little things and that may indeed give me a different perspective on my issues and attitude with Glowforge. Dealing with the 3D printer company makes Glowforge look really good.
I hope you will find your best solution soon as tearing yourself up over anything hurts only yourself, and is about all you can really control. I can only make suggestions.
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It sucks, but I have a nice comfy chair sitting right next to the machine where I can look right in on it and make sure nothing is flaming up. And I park my butt right there for ANY material that can do so until the job is done. I will occasionally wander off if I’m etching ceramics, glass, slate, etc… but if THAT catches on fire I must have cleaned it with gasoline or something. So not much chance of that happening.
You state you were in the room, but were you standing/sitting there watching it? Or were you doing something else and just checking up on the job every so often? Fire can get out of hand in SECONDS. So if you check on it every couple minutes or so, that’s long enough for a rubber belt to bite the dust and allow the head to stop and fire in one spot as you describe.
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Glowforge has records, logs and video captures of every print, and they use them to determine what caused the issue each time…they have always replaced warranty machines at their cost if there was a physical issue with a machine part. (They’re not exceptionally quick about it due to the current structure, and other world-wide system failures, but they are very fair and persistent.)
What this all means is…the offer that they gave you is in all probability the best one you will get from them. You can use that to make your decision as to what you want to do now.
I’m guessing you have a Pro model since they offered you a replacement for $4000, and that’s not a bad deal at all. But if you don’t have the money for it, you would need to consider your other options.
Reading through your other posts on the subject, you have another option that you might not have thought of…you can take the money that Glowforge refunded to you on your Extended Warranty purchase attempt and buy a cheaper laser. There would be a much smaller learning curve now that you know more about how a laser operates and you could use it to get back to business a lot more quickly.
Or maybe you could negotiate on a Basic model, if you want to stick with the Glowforge…if I were in the same position, I would ask them very nicely if they would consider a slight discount on the Basic instead of the Pro model. They’re very generous people, they might consider it. (You have nothing at all to lose by trying.)
The important thing for you is to get back to a position where you can start bringing in income again, because that’s the lifeblood of your business. (Once you have the Basic paid for from the business profits, you can look at getting a second one, or a Pro if you need it for larger jobs. Grow into it when you can…having a backup machine is critical for a small business, and nobody ever tells you that when you’re starting out.)
Setbacks unfortunately happen in every successful business, you pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and make a decision to go forward the best way that you can. When things are better, you can look back on the setbacks as a learning experience. (Although I do have to admit…they really do suck when they’re happening. ) 
Good luck with it!
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