New glowforge broke down after about an hour of run time (<3 days). Things happen, I know. Support is saying it can’t be fixed remotely and is having me send it back, but they want to send a refurbished unit to replace it. Not all that happy with that , but was wondering what everyones experience with the refurbished units. Do they put new laser tubes in the refurbs? I know they have a limited life, so I’m pretty concerned.
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It’s common practice. If your smartphone, tablet, or smart watch is broken beyond repair and under warranty, they replace with a refurbished unit, not a new unit. Most other electronics (TVs DVD players, etc)) if sent in for “warranty” work after 30-60 days are replaced with refurbished units.
Refurbiushed doesn’t mean “used.” usually the manufacturer have replaced components that wear out. I can’t attest to what all Glowforge replace. I know Apple replaces the external case and glass on their devices (so you are really just getting a used circuit board. Everything else is new).
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Warranty is the same. Everyone would prefer a new unit if it came immediately. It won’t, and it’s not an option anyway. So just pretend that the refurbished unit is aligned and tested better than new from the factory. Don’t stress over something that is probably OK and you can’t change. (No tube has worn out through use yet that we are aware of.)
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I read something, somewhere that said often a refurb product is even better than new because of rigorous testing and repairing…perhaps more so than when it was originally built. I bought a refurb DSLR camera once that had a 5 year warranty on it in lieu of the normal 3 year on a brand new one.
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I’m very sorry for the frustrating experience. I see you already emailed us about this and we’re working on it there, so I’m going to close this topic and I’ll follow up with you with more details about your replacement Glowforge.