Can anyone tell me how to return a Glowforge? I received it on the 17th, unboxed it on the 21st, tried to set it up on the 22nd and have yet to make a test cut. It just says “centering”. It’s said that for 6 days now. The camera does not show me what’s inside the machine. I know I will have to pay shipping and a restock fee, which quite frankly sucks since the machine will not work, but at this point, I just kind of want to be done with it. I have spent so many hours this past week just trying to make a test cut and nothing. I don’t think this is the right machine for me. Too many problems so far and no timely method of support.
I have been back and forth with support and I’ve done everything I’ve been told to get the machine working, but nothing has worked. I’ve been told by Glowforge that there is no number to call, everything must be done through email. Do I need to email them to get this returned? I kept all my packing material as instructed, including the box.
If you truly wish to go through with it, they’ll probably see this(it opens a ticket same as an email) and respond by saying they’re sorry and that since it will involve personal information, they’ll be e-mail you.
There could just be an issue with your machine and it is a decent machine once it’s running. We(the community) think the WiFi card may have been a bit cheaped out on so they can be a bit finicky with the entirety of the data path. It doesn’t seem to do well with dropped packets from the servers.
Dropped packets of data could result anywhere from the WiFi to the isp to the various hops to get to the servers and back again.
The biggest issue(we think) is GFs don’t seem to do well when challenged with other devices on the same channel whether on your own network or someone nearby using the same for theirs. And once we have seen it fine with a router, fine with a new router, then complain about the new router on an update, switched out to the old one, it updated, then worked fine on the new one again. They just don’t seem very robust in being able to listen for the their own WiFi data from routers.
Many of us have dedicated routers just for the GFs and it works for us(I’m one of these-an old apple time machine). Others have no issues with them running along with other devices.
Not knowing what all they’ve asked you to do, we, the community, could take a crack at helping if you’re willing but if you are locked into returning, that’s okay too.
Thank you, I really appreciate your willingness to help. I’m just at the end of my rope. I have moved my Wifi to be in the same room as the Glowforge, I have disconnected everything from it, I have checked all the connections inside the machine, I have made the room dark, I have cleaned the lenses even though it’s never been used, I removed the material I was going to cut from the bed, I have restarted the Wifi and computer and Glowforge. It’s moved me to tears quite a few times the last few days lol. It’s a lot of money for something that doesn’t work when it’s advertised that you can make something 20 minutes after unboxing I even tried again after my initial post. Same thing, “centering” the whole time. The head moves but does not center up quite with the bed camera. Then it doesn’t move again, the machine runs, the bed image does not show up on my computer. I’ve never had it do anything else, it’s the same thing every time. I wanted a Glowforge for so long and it took forever for me to save up the money. Now I just feel so defeated. I’ve been back and forth with support. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve read everything I can online.
I’m so sorry for the rough start. Unfortunately, this doesn’t look like something that we’ll be able to solve remotely. I’ve already followed up with you in email so I’m going to go ahead and close this thread, but if you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to email us at support@glowforge.com.
I even tried again after my initial post. Same thing, “centering” the whole time. The head moves but does not center up quite with the bed camera. Then it doesn’t move again, the machine runs, the bed image does not show up on my computer. I’ve never had it do anything else, it’s the same thing every time. I wanted a Glowforge for so long and it took forever for me to save up the money. Now I just feel so defeated. I’ve been back and forth with support. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve read everything I can online.