Is Glowforge a con?

After all the delays and patience with the incompetent Glowforge team who hide behind ‘openness and apologies’, my ‘expected’ shipping date has been rolling from March and now is stands in May. Will I get it in May? I doubt it. The Glowforge team are very clever, by being apologetic those who have been lied too repeatedly (by moving the delivery dates often). I am left feeling like I’m a horse chasing a carrot on a string, everytime it swings closer it then swings away leaving me thinking ‘it can’t be much longer’. Glowforge, you wont stop these under hand tactics, I wouldn’t expect you to act with any morel back bone, just comply with your commitments, we have a contract, stop breaking it!

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If it’s a con, it’s a pretty silly one, given that they’ve gone through the trouble to actually build and manufacture the thing. Which is not typically how cons work. And we have quite different definitions of “very clever”.

I get that you’re frustrated, and I don’t have a nice answer or reassurance for you unless you want a pretty meaningless platitude. But it’s not a scam.

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Oh boy.

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It sounds like you need to cancel your order and get a refund.
No, it is not a con. It is a new product that was developed. You purchased a pre-order on a product that was in prototype stage. It is unfortunate that the scheduling wasn’t better predicted. I have a Glowforge, it works as advertised, excepting the software features that are still under development.

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You can get your money back at any time. Or, you can wait and be amazed at what you can make.

This was worth the wait,

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In the latest update Dan said most of the US orders have shipped, so I’m guessing you’re outside the US? I work in developing medical devices. As everyone gets sick and injured we think about making it for the whole world from the first day. Most companies, especially US ones, don’t do this. Even with our experience, and intentionally designing for the world, stuff happens and certain countries wind up with delays. I’m expecting that is what happened here. It sucks.

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No.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your 1st post.

Given your statement above, I can’t see why you wouldn’t just go ahead and cancel your order. You might want to re-read the pre-order agreement before even suggesting breach of contract. There are literally thousands of GF in the workshops of users, so sure – it must be a scam if you haven’t received yours yet, right?

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It’s unfortunate that your first post out of the gate is so negative. It doesn’t seem like you’re in the right state of mind for this forum. I LOVE my GF! It was well worth the wait, and yes my date slipped a couple times. Please remember when they set up the date estimator it said that it was in beta.

There are plenty of others that would be more than happy to take your order if you cancel, but I would think you would be very unhappy to miss out on this amazing machine.

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No. :wink:

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I’m sorry you don’t have yours yet but the proof is in the pudding.

image

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If you think some part of the agreement has been broken you should probably re-read the agreement.

Regardless of reality, I think if you truly believe Glowforge is in breach of contract, and suspect it might be “a con,” you should immediately request a refund. Of course, if you don’t truly believe what you’ve written, you should delete it.

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It is no con. It will become your best friend.

Slow coming? Yes.
Is it a con? No.
Was playing around yesterday and just for fun, I made an escutcheon that gives good advice here.

panic-2

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Patience and trust were the price we all paid to effectively take advantage of a unique opportunity to obtain a great piece of hardware for much less than typical costs. I’d wager that very few here are sorry, but as stated, you did agree to the terms and can cancel at any time.

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Yes! All the angst of that 2 year wait vanished within minutes of pushing that button the first time. New horizons! Then, the price doubled… Wow!
Sometimes I’m so lucky, it still puts a smile on my face every time I look at that machine.

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I bought mine almost two and a half year ago, and it might (partially) arrive in June, or not. So, yes me too I have already imagined that the product and this whole forum is fake, everything written by Dan from his private paradise island. :slight_smile:
I try not to go into the forum too much and try to forget about Laser technology in general by staying at home and avoiding the internet so I won’t see any cool stuff produced with laser. With extremely patient regards from Europe :slight_smile:

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Not at all I have been working with Glowforge from close to the start and followed everything. Had a great prerelease unit. Met @dan and the crew at Maker Faire in San Mateo. They are shipping thousands by now. In love with my forever forge.

It’s a question that has been asked though usually folks say scam.

It seems that the consensus is that it isn’t a scam or con. It’s a real company that has a bunch of people working to make this a reality. The delays have been rough for everyone. Look at the posts in Made on a Glowforge and you will see some great evidence of the reality.

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There are no underhanded tactics and there has been no lying to anyone.

You failed to set your expectations appropriately and your disappointment is largely of your own creation.

That’s OK, btw. I’m actually much more sympathetic than my words indicate.

If you aren’t happy, get a refund and move on.

Not true. 0.5" focus range is a lie.

I don’t have the same neuro-chemicals as most people, so I don’t get an emotional reward for venting. For that matter it escapes me why some folks are thrill seekers. Why would I intentionally try to scare myself? Still, most folks are different and just because it doesn’t work for me doesn’t mean others are wrong.

I have been reading a little to understand. Found this interesting. https://www.daveursillo.com/the-folly-of-venting-in-public/

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