Having trouble finding that quote from @dan. But I understand where your coming from.
perhaps not from today’s update but its not the first time dan just replies that.
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With all due respect, I hope you’ll rethink that. Addressing this issue is not merely a “distraction” for your team - it’s a significant issue for many of your customers, and it merits attention. While I appreciate that your team has a long list of priorities and goals to address, I really hope that this level of customer concern will bump this issue up on your priority list.
This bit of news has many of us rethinking our purchase. We’ve stuck with you through substantial delays, and many of us have invested quite a bit of time into watching (and hopefully helping) this product and community evolve. That level of support and investment goes far beyond the money we gave you 18 months ago. Please show us the same level of regard, and address these concerns quickly.
As usual, your community is giving you excellent feedback and suggestions for solutions. Listen to us. Hopefully one of these ideas (certification, traveling techs, regional hubs) can be viable. We want to stick with you, but this news (and your response above) make that a tall order. Again, with all due respect - you can and should do better.
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Have to chime in here as another international customer that will almost certainly cancel if this stands. Those of us that are still here have stood by you guys with the delays, even though shipping will make many of the apology bonuses much less valuable. Even the initial order was a stretch given shipping costs, and that’s from a Canadian (everyone in EU/AUS/etc is an absolute trooper). We’re paying more, waiting longer, and getting less. Either make this happen or go on record that GF is US only, because that’s clearly where your priorities are and you guys should stop stringing us along.
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Perhaps we should start a quick poll on how many will cancel in full if the tube problem persists…and this hopefully makes them react?
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booooo beaten 
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Is that in contrast to those who will partially cancel 
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The voting seems way too complicated! I would have stuck with less and shorter options:
- I’ll keep my preorder/order
- I’ll cancel right away
- I’ll await xx days until they change that policy. otherwise I’m out
Nothing else!
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I can’t really imagine how upset I’d be if I were an international customer. Even being on the East coast of the US, this seems extremely prohibitive as a business model, not just for the end-users, but for Glowforge themselves.
If Glowforge takes on even part of the shipping costs, it becomes prohibitive an unsustainable long term from a business standpoint. Tube replacements would cost them too much.
If end users have to pay full shipping both ways, it becomes not just prohibitive, but completely unfeasible for many users (international and domestic). Meaning bad reviews, general dissent, etc.
Additionally, the more cost prohibitive it is for end-users, the more likely it is that some other manufacturer will reverse engineer the “custom” tubes and offer a replacement. Easy income if there’s a large population of users who can’t afford to send their unit in.
Regional service centers or local techs is an improvement, and I’d certainly get myself certified for it, but I know that I’d be hard-pressed to support more than my local NJ area.
If it is, in-fact, a liability issue, there are numerous ways the company can divest itself of responsibility (waivers, terms of use, warnings, etc.), and a good lawyer should be able to pass the liability on to the end user fairly easily. Make the kits available, with heavy legal documentation/disclaimers/waivers. It’s the only real solution.
If I can’t get certified to replace a tube, and I can’t sign away liability, then I’ll probably have a very large, fancy brick after the tube dies, since I’m 99% unlikely to send it back unless it’s making me tons of money.
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@dan I really hope you listen to your costumers and give us a better response than “we won’t dedicate resources to this problem at this time.” I hope you realize this is a much bigger deal to all of us than you seemed to make it out to be in your update.
Guess what? THere it goes!
VOTE!
i have to say, this could be a show-stopper for me, too. adding two-way shipping costs / time for a heavy, bulky item (and across the country for me as an east coaster) just doesn’t make sense for me at all financially.
are there any other laser cutters out there that don’t have user-replaceable tubes? asking because i don’t know.
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If @dan will train me to replace tubes, he will only have to buy a one way ticket to Paris for me, or Frankfurt. GF would save $$$ and I would have a great working vacation in Europe @info3
I hope that is added to the Hopper!!!
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Instead of immediately spouting off, I actually took some time to think about this overnight.
I’m so, so, terribly sorry. For both the overseas international customers and for Glowforge. This is so particularly hard on the overseas customers who have continued to be supportive of the project, some of whom have become really good buddies. 
But… this is one of those times when the business side takes over, and in all honesty, I can’t let those customers continue to hold out for a miracle that isn’t going to happen. Regional service centers and travelling fix-it men aren’t likely scenarios from a business perspective. They’re not going to happen.
So to my international buddies…I now actively encourage you to take a refund, and try to look into a locally sourced laser option. Especially if you are counting on this for some kind of business endeavor.
Be furious, be sad … you have the right. But protect yourselves. Because the economics no longer make sense for you. If you feel you are mechanically savvy enough to reverse-engineer and switch out a tube on your own, you are savvy enough to use an ordinary laser.
(This is what it looks like when you get bad news far in advance of an expected ship date. Be smart enough to recognize it for what it is, and take the correct action. You will not force them to change their minds. It’s an economics issue for Glowforge as well.)
Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! 
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@dan: I’m pretty sure I understand why you can’t offer a kit for users to replace their own tube (hi, friendly neighborhood lawyers!) However, I’m sure you also understand that this introduces huge uncertainty for many people about the long-term viability of their product (which introduces uncertainty about Glowforge’s future in general.)
You have outsourced the creation of a custom laser tube. Will you permit that manufacturer to offer the tubes (and any other necessary replacement parts) for sale to Glowforge owners to replace their own tubes? Glowforge would then be absolved of responsibility (the Glowforges would be out of warranty anyway) and customers with the requisite skills would be able to DIY.
(Also, did you check in with your advisor Adam Savage about this? Pretty sure Right to Repair is one of his hot-button issues.)
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i can’t imagine it’s a pure economics issue for GF. it has to be a legal issue (which obviously has economic implications).
what many of us don’t understand is why it’s a legal / economics issue for GF but not for all other laser cutter manufacturers.
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You are such a love.
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I would also add that dan has said you can cancel all the way up to when you give them your shipping info. So if you WANT to hold out and see if things get elaborated upon you can safely get your money back in the coming months. If you need the funds now though, this is an absolutely understandable deal breaker
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I see your point but it really surprised me to hear it come from you. I guess that should make it mean that much more.
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