I feel like I got hosed into thinking I was receiving the best pricing by pre-ordering. I paid over 3k for my basic unit in december and had to wait until march to receive it. I thought I was receiving the best pricing by pre-ordering. Now after I waited for 3 months and having had my unit for less than 2 months, I find that you can now order a basic unit for immediate delivery for $500 less than what I paid for mine. What was the point of pre-ordering if the pricing was going to be cheaper if I had just waited? I would have gladly waited another month and a half to receive my unit if I would have known it would save me $500. I was led to believe that the prices would only increase after pre-ordering concluded, which is why I pre-ordered in the first place. I was not pre-ordering just to be charged $500 more than others and also have to loan glowforge my $3000 for 3 months without any interest. This sucks, all the pre-order perks don’t add up to the $500 I now feel hosed out of. Thanks a lot for the misleading information regarding the benefits of pre-ordering my glowforge.
I dont work for glowforge, just another person here who bought one, but I’ve seen at least two places that they said they would compensate people. Send an email to support is probably better than the forum complaint though.
Yeah, it’s a good idea to read the announcements when they come out…@dan has said that Glowforge will credit that for people who ordered in December while the price was temporarily higher.
Send an email to support@glowforge.com with information including the date you ordered, the kind of machine (Basic) with or without filter, and the price you paid for it. They will work something out if you qualify.
Kind of a bummer for those that don’t follow these things closely…
Apparently, you only get refunded the difference if you know to ask.
That update was also sent out via email - not just posted on the forum (like some of the others have been).
The email says this:
We were able to lower the price of our Glowforge Basic even more. There are a few Glowforge Basic customers who paid more but have only just received (or are still awaiting) their Basic unit. You do have the double warranty, $150 of materials, $20/month gift certificate, $50 Inventables certificate, $50 catalog certificate, 10% shop discount, and so on. But it still doesn’t quite seem right. If you only just received (or haven’t received) your Basic and paid more than the current Basic price, please email support so we can take care of you. (We’ll be a little swamped this week but will get back to you as soon as possible.) (emphasis mine)
Yes, I was in this same situation. I was very excited to think they’d refund $500. Very fair. I wrote in and told them I thought I qualified and they responded very quickly and told me that they had added a $500 credit to my account. While I’m grateful that they did anything, I have to admit I was a little disappointed to get a credit instead of cash. It will take me a LONG time to use this up as I use my own material. But as mentioned, you have to ask for it. Write them a note!
Yes, but if you purchase an expensive product, it’s always wise to read the updates so you know about potential hazards or other issues. It also doesn’t seem like a smart business practice to automatically credit or refund a bunch of people months after a purchase. Credit cards change, products change hands, etc.
I guess somehow my email must have gotten “lost in the mail” because I never received any message telling me about the lowering of prices.
Dan usually does a monthly announcement here on the forum to fill us in on what is going on, latest schedule changes, etc. and if it’s an important announcement he mails it out to all owners. The last one was at or around April 23rd, I think . (I seem to recall that one was mailed out, but I didn’t keep it.)
Make sure you have *@glowforge.com white-listed so you don’t miss anything important, but you can also read it in the Announcements section on the forum.
Update: No longer feel screwed, glowforge has taken care of me. 
I was actually given the option, and chose to be refunded directly to my original form of payment.
Really??!! I would have preferred that, but was not given the option. I think I’ll write and try to get them to change it!