Come on people. Very harsh for someone to flag the @bdm comment. It’s nothing but the truth (at least a validly perceived truth), as can be seen by the expressions of many other people here.
I also note that many US of A folks are thinking local solutions to their own dilemma. Can I suggest that thinking of an international solution will also give you a local/continental solution.
And the solution needs to be robust and economical. I happen to live in a remote area, where I’m 850km from my first major metropolitan area where a service agent just may exist in the future, if this type of model is adopted. It would still be hugely expensive to get my Glowforge sent away for a service, and returned. No doubt many others will be in similar or worse situations, so I personally don’t believe service agents are the way to go.
Personally, at the moment I can only think that a self service (laser tube) kit with instructions is the minimum that should be offered - just like maintenance kits for laser printers and a host of other equipment.
Thanks for the Update Dan, the Tube replacement is really a big Deal. As international customer (switzerland) shipping the whole Unit to USA and back is no option. I don’t want to cancel my order, but if there is no other option to change the Tube i will have to. Please come up with a solution! At the Moment it’s for me like bacon hanging in front of my Face but i can’t reach it, perhaps never…
As an European customer this update brings up 2 things. First is the tube case, which has been discussed alot. For international customers this is a priority to get this clear and should be a priority for your team to sort out. We can’t ship a unit back to the US for a $500 tube replacement when we have the glowforge up and running. It makes no sense from a businesspoint to have that much cost and downtime.
Second is you’re basically saying international customers will be shipped last, so our point in line makes no difference. Shame you and your team wheren’t upfront when I asked this 4 months ago and you basically told me that shipping would be by order date, also for international customers. @dan Can you atleast give us an update to which countries you can currently ship currently? I don’t want to get an email in July saying you can’t ship due to certification and regulation.
@dan, I just need to add my voice to the chorus of worried international customers here. Shipping the unit back to the US every two years is simply not an option, so it is of the utmost importance for us that some solution is found. Otherwise I need to cancel my order before it ships, as I simply cannot justify the costs.
Like many others, I’m happy taking on the replacement myself with full knowledge and acceptance that any resulting issues are my own responsibility, but I need to know that will be an option. These are not Chinese laser cutters with off-the-shelf parts; I expect the Glowforge laser tube to be a unique design that we can only source from your company.
Furthermore, many of the mentioned options are still an issue for those of us living (or planning to live) in areas without a lot of Glowfolk; travelling repairmen and local repair centres only make sense if there is a critical mass of customers in the area, and I’m pretty sure there won’t be in my case.
Can we please get some more clarity on this soon? It really is a deal-breaker, I’m afraid
@dan Will Glowforge as an company work on minimizing the tube replacement turnaround time and cost for international buyers. Will there for example be an EU service station we can ship to? Right now, although I know Glowforges intentions are good, I don’t like how Glowforge is doing it’s business.
I assume there’ll be product updates and improvements ongoing. Why not offer an upgrade path, where you send a new device, and we ship back what will become a “certified pre-owned” for you to replace the tube and resell to those who can’t buy the latest greatest at full price? This way the early adopters can get new equipment, and glowforges become more afffordable for those willing to buy an older gen 1?
Most of this update was very good news. I am very excited about getting a Glowforge. However, the tube replacement issue will require me to re-evaluate the total cost of ownership.
I was excited to learn about the Glowforge in 2015 both because of the ease-of-use promises as well as the value proposition compared to other lasers on the market. With the current plan, the value proposition has changed although I’ll need to make some calculations to determine how much it has changed. The more I know about the current status of the tube replacement plans at the time Glowforges are ready to ship, the better able I’ll be to evaluate the value proposition and determine whether to keep my order.
Regional repair depots or traveling technicians seem to be a better solution where there will be enough Glowforges in the region. I would also consider participating in a certification program for owners to replace their own tubes or even being part of a regional team to assist those who are not comfortable doing it themselves.
Pretty much amazed with this last updated. Quite shocked actually…
tube replacement is a no go
international orders ship last
small chance we’ll even hit september based on the “water drop in the sea” wording of “to meet our schedule of shipping all units in July/August”. There was much parsing of the “between May and July” target over the last couple of weeks.
That flag on @bdm sucked, btw He didnt shoot any offending words, not even sense of humor or irony in his words. He pointed out A FACT for int’l makers! pretty amazed lack of “community” im sensing here…
So how does this affect overseas users? It would seem ludicrous and ridiculously expensive to ship a unit half way around the world to replace the tube!
It doesn’t only affect international customers. It must be a major feature loss for domestic customers as well. I think tubes usually gradually fade, rather than fail, so a user could order a new one and have no down time rather than having to wait for two way shipping. Also it means one has to store the large packaging in perpetuity.
I still haven’t seen an explanation of how Proofgrade settings will handle tube fade.
You’re talking about my thoughts. As a mechanical engineer I will not send the Glowforge for a tube change to overseas (the costs are insane and the time for the Change much longer than i would be able accept!). In my opinion, technically experienced people must be able to Change the tube by themselves!
For me it would be no Problem if the Change of the Tube takes it’s time and isn’t easy to handle, but in my opinion, it must be possible for technical educated People to Change the Tube.
