I don’t know that you should feel betrayed here. Dan is probably one of the most gifted salesmen ever to have walked this earth. In my entire career I have never encountered his equal in that line and I have seen a few great ones. And that is not meant as a criticism of Dan, more an observation. And an explanation as to today’s post.
I think she was suggesting a refund on the Glowforge and the purchasing of this other unit. (we would be sad to see you go)
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Thanks for the response, figured so much.
You’re owning this and it’s hard to not associate that with your commitment to the product itself. Nothing but admirable if not amazing.
I can’t do that either, because the money wouldn’t be in my pockets. I had to do a balance transfer to continue paying the bill on the GF. I’m not going to give up on the GF now, I’m just really freaked out right now. This took me by shock. I thought a delay might be a couple months at the most.
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I don’t think people are actively trying to sound holier-than-thou. The Glowforge team has expressed time and time again that they empathize with the plights individual purchasers are going through.
They’re giving away free material. They’re literally giving away their profits from material and store sales for a year by offering 10-20% discounts.
Even at 18% interest for six months, a $2000 purchase is less than $187.
If anyone is in the position of having put (and leaving) a crowdfunding purchase on their credit card, then I’d offer this financial advice: DON’T. Get a bank loan for the amount at a lower interest rate and pay off your credit card.
If you can’t get a loan or you’re still so “bummed”, seek out the no-questions-asked refund. Food is more important.
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I’m just glad I’m not @dan today. I want a easy to use laser cutter that’s why I’m sticking with glowforge. Can’t wait for march!!
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The materials are appreciated. You’ve sort of answered one of the two big Crowdfunding forum questions. These are
When?
Why?
It is still a problem of transparency with the Glowforges. And you really suck at that.
We still don’t really know When? We could be staring at October when we see another announcement stating that you would be shipping in…more like June 2017.
If you haven’t started manufacturing, then you’ve probably known for AT LEAST a month that you weren’t hitting June. Just shipping from China takes two months for a container.
That’s because Why? is important. It helps us believe the When? Right now, I’m not sure what to think, except that you SO aren’t telling us everything. I’m sure of that.
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BTW: For those of us that ordered in the first 30 days, we saved 25% off of the now Basic cost. Pretty good return on our money even if delivery is Dec.
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Thanks for proving my point. What are you even talking about? I didn’t reference credit cards or GF giving stuff away, or paying for food. Why is the fact that people are disappointed being taken personally by so many? Thanks for reminding me why I don’t visit and comment on message boards.
My point was that it’s ridiculous to blame people for not understanding crowdfunding when on the surface, this didn’t look much like most crowdfunding. You might want to read the comment I was replying to. I knew it was, but I can see how others wouldn’t. It’s like saying ‘I told you so’ in an argument… doesn’t mean much and certainly doesn’t help.
I’m disappointed but I saw it coming. I have thought about canceling a ton of times and I’m still not sure what I plan to do, but I think everyone has a right to feel “bummed” about their announcement. Why would that be a surprising reaction?
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Who do I contact to cancel my order? March of 2017 is not going to work for me. Best of luck getting all the bugs worked out. I hope you all don’t end up as disappointed as I am right now.
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I had no interest for 6 months at the time of purchase, and was expecting it a few months ago. I understood then, and still understand delays, and have done a balance transfer to another zero interest account. If I still had a job, paying those bills would be simple, but getting fired put a pretty huge wrench in those plans.
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Disappointed? Yes. But also strangely reassured. That we were getting to within 2 months of when product delivery had been promised and so little information had been getting shared definitely was cause for concern. With beta units supposedly now shipping (only 5 months late), I hope to see tester feedback posts, pictures, and video start trickling out.
My partner and I would ask for greater transparency - instead of hiding the fact that a major component was many months behind schedule (as is the case with the power supply), respect your customers enough to be upfront and honest. Keep us posted on progress - we don’t need minutae, but broad strokes like x components are done and ready for manufacturing, or y is behind schedule because we aren’t going to cut corners on quality (and so on) is important… especially on such a large scale crowdfunded project.
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I’m staying.
It still feels like I’m getting a great deal. I can’t buy a $15,000 machine.
I’m delighted to be part of something that, I believe, is going to be a disruptive technology. I wanted the first iPhone because I knew it would disrupt. My first iPhone was a 4s. I’m pretty happy to be a Founder on this new and disruptive innovation. It isn’t just the price - it’s the access for non-technical, non-hacker, non-artistic, non-makers to become artistic makers. There will be copycats and all; but Glowforge is the disrupter.
I’m staying.
I remodeled my basement with a new office/workroom and installed a 4" dryer vent on front of my house. It looks only a little bit funny from the street- maybe other people don’t really notice it, though.
We are now talking about moving before end of year, so that poor vent won’t even get the joy of connecting to a Glowforge before we sell it to somebody who isn’t planning to buy one. (If you accept the map is complete, which I know it isn’t.)
Anybody want a house in a suburb of Salt Lake City that’s all prepped for a Glowforge?
I’m maybe seeing myself as a corporate cheerleader; but there are worse things. Like @printolaser, I’m a bit of an optimist.
I appreciate the gifts. They are totally not required, but I’ll take them and enjoy them.
How many folks were dying to get a GlowForge for Christmas? Well, now it looks a lot like we will.
Do you suppose UPS and Fedex will charge extra for delivery down a chimney?
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This kills the Glowforge.
In all seriousness, Christmas is the perfect time of year to receive a Glowforge. I always get take 2 weeks of vacation, so really, really hoping it will get here before that starts so I can play with it non-stop.
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Well if you’re seeking validation of one’s feelings that “it sucks”, yes, it does suck.
Does that help? No? Sorry. (I’m Canadian)
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Thank you Dan and the Glowforge staff for the update! It is greatly appreciated. I will also to wait for my very own Glowforge in March 2017!
I will continue to believe in you and the Glowforge staff as you produce a quality (amazing) product that I will not regret purchasing.
Thanks again and take care.
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Better burning ourselves out than burning out your power supplies. 
Me too. I’m so very sorry.
Yes. When someone cancels, everyone else moves one step forward.
For the curious, so far today, one half of one percent of preorders have canceled.
I am so sorry. I don’t fault you for being annoyed with us, or worse.
We sat down with a clean sheet to figure out the best schedule to deliver a quality product. You may get your machine sooner, but I don’t want to set false hopes - december (pre-oct 25) or march are the right dates to plan for.
Yes, we will use the date of your original order if you upgrade.[quote=“npgraphicdesign, post:166, topic:1908”]
I’m disappointed with Dan’s curt response.
[/quote]
I apologize for it coming off that way. I was trying to be direct and it came out curt. I’m sorry. I want to be clear about what we will share and what we won’t, and unfortunately, our work list is sensitive enough that we’re not comfortable disclosing it.
I’m truly sorry to have to make you wait even longer.[quote=“KitCameo, post:177, topic:1908”]
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.
[/quote]
Oh no, @KitCameo. I’m so terribly sorry. If a refund would help, please let us know and we’ll get that processed for you right away. It breaks our heart that we let you down.
Believe me, we didn’t make those decisions lightly. But we thought this through very carefully before making these decisions. You can read our investors thoughts in this article.
Yes, I’m involved - and as you probably guessed from @jkopel’s posts, one of the things we considered is making sure someone got a beta early on that would post about it (often) here. There will be more.
There’s a point at which you go from trying to hit your date to trying to figure out the backup plan; that point was roughly last week. Part of moving from China to the US was to reduce the shipping latency, as you said.
I know that some people would prefer a full “look over our shoulder” accounting where we share daily or weekly technical and production updates. If that’s what you need to feel comfortable with your pre-order, I understand, and we’ll get you a refund as soon as possible. If you’re willing to stick with us while we finish production, with the same level of communications we’ve given you to date, then we’ll work our hardest to make your Glowforge amazing.
You do, and I am truly sorry. You have every right to be bummed. I am so very sorry I let you, and everyone here, down.
You can cancel here. Thank you so much for supporting us this far, and I am so very sorry we let you down.
Refunds were a frustrating process because of email changes, so we built a page to automate it and make sure we processed them quickly. Full instructions are here.
I will inquire on your behalf.
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