I just thought of a possible reason for the six weeks. Perhaps they have a cash flow problem and it gives them access to our money sooner.
Because this speculation is worthwhile and beneficial…?
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I don’t like mysteries so I try to find explanations for unexpected phenomena that I encounter. I have never come across a company with a shipping system as inconvenient and awkward as this. They must have a reason for it but are unlikely to ever tell us.
I doubt when they have filled all the pre-orders and switched to a retail model they will have such an inflexible scheme though.
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This, this so much.
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while it’s not out of the realm of possibility, I have trouble seeing that as a real
probability considering all the funds raised, who the backers are, etc. While I don’t like the terminology and I too think it’s misleading my guess (which isn’t even worth 2 cents) is that one - They are counting the verification email as shipping because that is when they are locking your purchase money (refund no longer available) and when they are cutting off the bonuses for waiting, though some at least have had to wait another month before actually getting their machine.
As far as the 6 Weeks lead time thing goes, I think on the whole we’re making too much out of it. I know there have been some who have had to wait close to that time, but anecdotally it seems most have cut that wait in half. I think that has more to do with giving themselves a cushion to protect themselves against laws that require an order to be delivered within a certain timeframe, which I’ve been told exists here in the U.S.
The sad thing is this kind of communication is the only thing that tarnishes my perception of this company. I love their product and their interaction with their customers (shipping information aside). Even the delays don’t bother me as much because they legitimately seem to be trying to deliver something that works and not give in to the pressure to finish–which is more than we can say about a lot of other companies. So it’s the good with the bad. I’m looking forward to when this part of the conversation ends and the next part begins and all of this can be a fuzzy memory 
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I ordered my basic on Day 4. 3+ weeks ago I got “the email,” and I still don’t have a Glowforge.
As frustrating as it is, I’m completely fine with the potential six week wait that I was warned about in the email.
What I’m not okay with is the lie in the header every time I sign in that they’re shipping Day 9 orders. “Shipping” has a plain-english definition that 99 out of 100 people would agree on, and the remaining one who doesn’t is most likely suffering from smoke inhalation due to the improper venting of their Glowforge. There is no other company that any of you would be okay with their saying they’ve “shipped” when the most they’ve done is collect addresses.
Glowforge being weaselly on this term makes me lose confidence in them, because then I wonder what other common terms might have different meanings in Glowforge-land? “Repaired?” “Warranty?”
Like @chris1 says, my complaints would cease if they were just honest and changed it to “processing orders.”
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I had a job where I often got to see the full spectrum of the decision-making process: the inputs, the outputs, and the reactions. It was highly frustrating but also eye-opening. Prior to that I would generally be the person sitting in the department all-hands meeting grumbling to my co-workers about the idiotic thing management just announced. What were they thinking? How could they not have considered X? Don’t they realize nobody wants this? And they’re just going to change the plan next month anyway.
But then I ended up participating in the lead-up to those announcements, where I saw how much work went into considering not only X, but Y and Z and ZA-ZF as well, and that the thing everyone thinks is the obvious right answer at first is the same thing we also thought was the obvious right answer at first. But it turned out not to be that simple, and it couldn’t be salvaged. Often these changes were attempts to make people happy and give them what they asked for, but not everybody wants the same thing, so some are going to be unhappy no matter what. So then you start worrying about how to convey the message and there are multiple rounds of tweaking tiny and subtle word choices. Finally it’s time and the announcement is made, and I’m still sitting in the back of the room but listening this time, and I hear my friends and coworkers grumbling about those idiots who didn’t consider X and did something nobody wants that will never work. And if the plan ends up changing because of new information or feedback, it generates the same set of complaints from the people who wanted the other thing and the people who are never happy.
I guess what I’m saying is that there’s obviously more to it than meets the eye and I’m looking forward to the tell-all book @dan is going to write in about 30 years reflecting back on this, because I bet there are some very interesting details behind the curtain. Super nerdy technical details for sure, but also just the story of running a company during the strange days of the early twenty-first century, half in public, with the crowdfunding and the social media and the what-not.
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I finally received my golden email last Fri. Responded via iPhone & posted news of email in this forum.
My concern is that the posting here never showed up, so I’m worried that the response to Glowforge may not have gone through either. I can now access the catalogue…does that mean that Glowforge DID receive my shipping info and I’m good to go?
BTW, ordered the Pro on Sept. 24 @ 1:11pm
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If you can access the catalog and shop.glowforge.com - you should be good.
When you responded via phone, you mean you went through the acceptance process on the website, right?
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Yes, that’s correct. Also noticed that if I try to accept a second time, it only shows what I am to receive (Glowforge & accessories + proof grade stuff). I think I’m OK, just a little skittish after 2 years of waiting!
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@dan has said repeatedly that all units would be delivered by the end of November (unless you want to wait for the air filter) and campaign period units would be delivered by the end of October.
The recent [September] announcement said all campaign units would be shipped by the end of October (actually wanting to be delivered, but that it was difficult to track delivery or something like that).
So far the timeline has not really shifted, however the slow trick of actual unit has me worried, too.
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It sounds like you’re good (don’t think you’d be able to access the catalog if your order/acceptance had not been confirmed). Still, wouldn’t hurt to send a quick email to support, just to confirm + set your mind at ease.
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Yes!
I agree the terminology “processing for delivery” would more accurately describes this aspect of operations, but arguing semantics … Well, I’m not obligated to attend every argument I’m invited to, and my perspective is tempered because I have a machine at my disposal - so carry on.
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It would be arguing semantics if it were a matter of days. But it can and at times has actually taken 6 weeks from the time that people get the “Shipping” email. 6 weeks is ridiculous. In my opinion its not nitpicking terminology but a legitimate frustration with dishonesty.
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They’ve been very straightforward with their definition of shipping. Delivery can take anywhere up to 6 weeks from the time you join the “shipping” line. The dishonesty happens with the late updates to shipping/delivery deadlines. At this point, I’m fairly certain there’s another delay planned. By planned, I mean they know they won’t hit their current deadline. They really really want to, and they probably feel there’s a slight chance they might, but they know with a high degree of certainty that another delay is coming. There will likely be a group of us still without a Glowforge at the deadline. Glowforge will then tell us how hard they worked and how close they came to hitting their deadline. Then they’ll give us a new deadline, which they may actually meet this time. I fear this deadline will be another 3-6 months in the future. All I want is honesty when it comes to actual delivery of what we ordered. Stop setting unrealistic, unreachable goals only to fail at attaining those goals over and over again. Stop getting our hopes up when you won’t actually be delivering the product on the current schedule. If you know you’re not going to hit the current deadline now, tell us now, not at the end of October. The whole “We’re sorry, here’s some free stuff while you continue to wait” routine is great, because everyone likes free stuff. What I really want, aside from my Glowforge, is real, honest communication in a timely manner. We haven’t gotten that up to this point, and I don’t think we will in the future. At some point, the overly optimistic delivery schedules need to be brought into reality. I hope I’m wrong, and that we all have our Glowforges before the current deadline, but I just don’t see it as a realistic possibility at this point.
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They are moderately straightforward on this forum, but only when they have been asked for clarification. Anyone who isn’t on the forum regularly enough to see that can only go by the updates given and the banner on the page. Which says “Shipping”. IMO is dishonest to put “shipping” on the banner, on the forums main page if you are using a definition of shipping that virtually no one else uses and isn’t remotely intuitive. I cant speak to how straightforward they are in their shipping email as I haven’t received it yet.
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Definitely agree on this.
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I suspect that may be true. That’s from my experience in product development and logistics. But I’m not privy in any way to the realities of the Flex assembly line. My (uninformed by data) guess is the post-assembly processing required for QA and calibration is the hold up - and that’s a guess only based on my knowledge of assembly line mechanics and the things Dan has said about those processes and the tooling they’re doing to make it easier/faster.
If we’re right then we’re in that place between knowledge and communicable action plan. That’s a tough place to be. They can’t officially acknowledge any change because they haven’t figured out what they’re going to do about it or haven’t gotten it cleared by the appropriate constituencies (VC, Board, FNLs). Until that happens no matter how much they would like to be able to say something, they can’t.
And that’s not a GF specific conundrum. What is specific is we’re exposed to some amount of sausage making detail that we are not when you look at just about anything else we buy (with the possible exception of building a house). So some here look at it as dishonesty when it’s all about freedom to discuss the issues. At the end of the day it’s the other constituencies who drive the bus because they’re the ones with disproportionate skin in the game and they own the outcome - we’re along for the ride and although we’ve bought the product, that’s not even in the same league much less ballpark no matter what people think about customers being what it’s all about (true in aggregate, generally not true in specific - you or I or 1000 of us could walk away and have no long term impact).
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