@dan For the people backing out and getting refunds, can I move into one of their spots so I can get my GF sooner? 
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When I read the email I was excited to see shipping…Then as I was reading it, my heart just dropped. I was actually expecting it september time so march does seem a long way away as its a best part of a year away. ill admit im having mixed feelings about it. I appreciate shit can happen, But from 5 months away and excited to 11 months and annoyed are the things im fighting with. is this exaggerated time slot just so if there is a delay…again, then you won’t need to set the shipping back again or what??
Thanks for the honesty though!
I must say I appreciate the info and the honesty better late with less bugs than early with major bugs. I can imagine how much work you guys are putting into the product. Again keep up the good work and thank you for your updates.
Well, for every refund requested your spot in line goes up one(Unless they ordered after you).
Being in a job where there is never an end, makes me able to deal with this. Try working with animals, for 20 years been able to go ok, next problem.
If Wilbur Wright said you want to buy an airplane. I said sure, then he said hey there is a slight problem with the engine (power supply) because everyone wants one now. do you want me to get it right or do you want something that may break and cause you harm… I’m all for waiting.
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That was a fun conversation with our investors, but they were 100% supportive of doing right by all of you. We’re fortunate to have good investors.
Thank you for the heads up - we’re not sure if leather will be included in the sample pack, but if it is, we’ll have a solution for people who’d prefer not to receive it.
I don’t think it’s fair to our customers either, and I agree that we can’t make up for missing our schedule.
I think about this every day.
I know the timing is remarkable and all, but we just got permission to share this last week, so it’s not that I was holding back. I was hoping to be able to announce the manufacturer last week too, but stay tuned for that.
Original date.
No plans but we’ll look into it. We’d love to visit.
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I’m really tired of hearing things like this. The project wasn’t presented like a traditional crowdfunded idea. You saw an amazing video with a product that looked ready to ship. The wording led people to believe they would be getting their order soon. If so many people weren’t fooled then I would listen to your argument all day. I read things 5 times so I understand exactly what I’m getting myself into so I saw past all of the fluff and knew I wouldn’t see it for months. You can blame people for not thoroughly reading, but not for not understanding how crowdfunding works. One thing I cannot handle is the holier than thou attitude by some on this board. I am not trying to be rude but maybe you should try to see things from another perspective when people are rightfully bummed out.
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Is our place in line (crowdfunding campaign) still safe if we choose to upgrade at this point to a pro model?
yes
I asked a similar question several times via email, a question about disclosing a list of potential problems (because of all the delays), so that customers know exactly what the weak areas were, and after going back and forth with a few customer service reps, I finally got a response from Dan himself: (FWIW, my initial question for the customer service rep had to do with disclosing a full list of problems that were fixed before the final product was shipped out)
Hello Nikita - as you can imagine, we’ve found and fixed thousands of problems already, and are still making improvements. We do not share those change lists publicly.
That didn’t exactly inspire me with confidence, and I’m disappointed with Dan’s curt response. While I’m not banking my life savings and career on GF, I was hoping to get it this year, formulate a business plan and actually start my business, so I could eventually make it my full time job. As consumers who are paying several thousand for a product, we have a right to know a. what issues (that caused delays) arose in the process, b. how they were fixed, and c. what precautions are taken so those issues won’t arise in the future. I realize this update was very difficult for Dan to write, and him and his team are trying their best, but it would be nice to have more transparency about what exactly caused the delay and how they fixed the issues, or how they are planning to fix them.
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So second Chicago, please, please.
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@npgraphicdesign, I have to disagree–Glowforge is a privately held company. Customers don’t actually have any rights to confidential business information, and the items on your list all fall within that category. As much as I genuinely empathize with any negative feelings you have about this situation–and I have plenty of my own–that’s just the nature of business.
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Upgrading to Pro has no effect on your ship date. Of course @dan will reply and his word caries more weight.
I am not entirely surprised, as it seemed like only in the last week has a real beta tester been able to use the machine, so having all that testing wrapped up and items starting to ship in a short few months seemed tight. In the end we all want a machine that works and does what it says, so I understand taking the time to get it right. I’ve had to inform customers of delays and it’s decidedly not fun, so I feel ya @dan The free materials are appreciated, it’s more than most companies would do.
I’m still disappointed though, as this puts a serious delay in a product release that I was really planning for the middle of the year. The Glowforge and its capabilities are an integral aspect of the design and the only realistic way I can produce the item to my standards (yes, technically I could pay a 3rd party ridiculous fees per piece but the cost, amount of experimentation needed and lack of control just doesn’t make that viable). Not having the GF until the end of the year is going to put a big ding in my release schedule. There’s nothing I can do but wait now (unless they toss me on the Beta bus at some point) but now I probably have to develop some new product to fill the gap so I have something in front of my customers. Crumbs.
I know we’ll get them and I’m sure they will live up to the expectations we all have, but not seeing it for another 8-9 months is going to feel really long.
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@joker, have you looked into renting time on a laser at a local makerspace? Makerspaces are opening up all over the place, and while it won’t be the fastest method, you’ll pay minimal fees.
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Morgan, agreed. But if you’re doling out a good chunk of money for a product, and there are frequent delays, and some of those delays are due to product issues, that’s something that the people who are paying that money deserve to know about. If you bought a new car, and it was recalled later for ‘unknown reasons’, fixed, and returned to you, wouldn’t you want to know if it was for brakes cutting out vs. the threading on the car seat fabric coming undone, and if it’s an issue that may arise later, again?? I know it’s an extreme comparison, but it would be ‘nice’ for the consumers to know exactly what caused the issues, and whether those issues have potential to affect actual functionality of the product, or it’s something that’s more cosmetic? To use an example that may work with this scenario:
Let’s say if in their testing, the GF team found out that the 45W laser gives out after XXX hours of use (just making up numbers, but bear with me here), and that happens to fall on the time after the warranty expires, isn’t that something you would like to know? As a consumer, I wouldn’t want to know about every single issue, but if it IS a major one that may affect the promised functionality of the GF in the future, I DO want to know about it.
Bottom line: as good as it is of the Dan and his team to offer perks to soften the latest issues, it’s simply frustrating to hear about yet another delay.
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I, like everyone, am really disappointed. I had a strong feeling that when SO many people invested in the original campaign it was going to have an effect on shipping. Hard to imagine how an ‘order of magnitude’ difference in demand would not cause SOME delay. I also feel like it shows that this thing is really a big deal. The capability this will put on my desk is something I have LONG been waiting for. It is clear other people see its potential also. The product promised will be shipped - I have a lot of confidence in that
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Well said Brandon. I am hoping that will also be the case.
Thanks. It may happen a lot but that doesn’t make us feel any better that it happened to us. Or more to the point, to all of you.
Right now we’re focused on all of you, but I see no reason other laser owners can’t place orders for it as well. We’re really proud of the materials we’re having custom-made and I don’t think there’s anything like it available right now on the market.
I’m so sorry, Hannah. I don’t blame you for being upset and I wish we hadn’t let you down.
Thank you. As a dad who spends a lot of time thinking about what kids are going to do during the summer, I know how important this can be, and I’m so very sorry we let you down. We’re going to redouble our efforts to make the product worth waiting for.
I am sorry. I don’t blame you for being upset, and I truly apologize.
@bailey is sitting next to me investigating this with our email provider directly. We’ll get it set right ASAP.
Thank you. Right now we’re planning to send everyone the same assortment, as individually packing and shipping materials could take longer.
It will definitely be available for purchase (and it’s a dream to work with as you can see from some of the leather projects we’ve posted), we just haven’t figured out if we’ll be able to include any in the materials we send you.
Yes! Just email support@glowforge.com and we can get you set up with the ebook version.
We’re not including the shipping cost (which we’re going to pay on your behalf) when we say it’s $150 worth of materials.
I apologize for the confusion; the top part was meant as a summary. Glowforge Founder status is permanent; that will get you a 10% materials and designs discount through 2017. We may do more as well later.
and I <3 your reaction gif.
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Oh no! This puts me up shit’s creek without a paddle. I lost my job recently, and I was desperately counting on using the Glowforge to make up that monetary loss this year. I have no idea what I’m going to do now.