Discussion of Dec 2021 Update

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. ) :roll_eyes:

Good luck with it!

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To bring this back to actually being on topic: Has anyone heard whether shipping for repairs will be covered? What if my box was damaged and I need a new box? Is that covered as well?

as far as I can tell : YES

(but if your box is damaged, I think you gotta buy another box)

Jonathan

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Not sure about warranty for the box. But the box is nothing more than a container to hold all the foam protective pieces in place. The cardboard provides minimal protection. If the box is crushed on a corner, has holes,scrapes rips don’t worry about it. Patch it up with tons of packing tape and it will serve it’s original purpose.

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I agree with @rpegg and I don’t imagine the box is covered, but unless it’s damaged beyond all repair, you can just tape it up. Back when the very first GFs were shipped, I had to send back a few pretty damaged boxes covered in unicorn duct tape, and it was fine. :slight_smile:

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And screw the people that got it previously huh wow. I’ve seen so many people complain about glowforge and now I see why. Terrible company would never purchase from again. Can’t get phone support takes a month for anyone to get the issue resolved. Now you only want to offer only certain people a extended warranty.

Literally anyone who still has a current warranty going…unlike most companies that won’t let you add on a warranty unless you do it the day you buy it.

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it’s very unusual to extend a warranty that’s already expired.

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I would have bought the extended warranty when offered at the discount, had it not been December which was consumed with family, holidays, a covid surge, and not necessarily my GF - so I missed the deadline. Would be great if they made a discounted version available again when not in the middle of all of those other distractions. I love my GF but it’s not my #1 priority and not constantly monitoring :frowning: