My carriage belt broke Aug. 22 and I tried to order one, but they were out of stock. I “called” support and the lady was very helpful and said she would put an order in for me for free. A month later I called again and the very nice lady apoliged and gave me a gift card. Then I posted on a Facebook group asking if anyone new of an alternitive way to get the carriage belt and helpful people connected me to an Etsy store that sells Glowforge and other laser parts.
I plan to install my belt on Friday and hope to be printing again by the weekend…BUT I am wondering if this is an ongoing issue with Glowforge, or if this is something unusal with a particulal cause. The part is still out of stock as are several other parts.
They’re definitely not yet good at keeping parts in stock. It’s rarely all of them, but I think because of this, when parts are in stock the resellers buy them out since they can mark up the price :-/
I’ve not yet (knock on wood) had to replace anything, but if I were running a business I’d buy one of each of the replaceable items and keep them on a shelf for when the bad thing happens!
It’s sad. I’ve been waiting for almost 2 months for at least one of the parts i need. I finally gave up and bought a different machine. I just couldn’t wait any longer. I was going to invest in a second glowforge but i wouldn’t do that now after knowing this. I’m sorry you are going through the same thing. Good Luck.
I can’t even begin with how outrageous this is! I just broke a v-carriage belt wheel (a rather flimsy plastic piece) and not only are they out of stock with no estimated date, they are out of stock of what appears to be HALF OF ALL REPLACEMENT PARTS.
Any car dealership can get the part they need in a day or two.
They seem to be putting all of their money into advertising their new baby Aura and neglecting all of the users of Glowforge. This is really pathetic.
Have you contacted Support - they sometimes have stock when the store is out.
Sadly, at this point is popular enough that everytime they get stock in the resellers buy a bunch because they know they can get people to buy it at 10x the cost :-/
Thank you for everyone for your patience! The best way to be alerted when parts are back in stock is click the “Email me when available” link and you’ll be the first to know. We’re working on getting back in stock as soon as possible.
I already contacted support and they put in an order to ship whenever the part comes in. It is the “whenever” that feels unacceptable to me. Glowforge sells machines that businesses are built around and how do you expect your users to keep their customers happy when they’re shut down while waiting for a part that you should always have in stock.
That’s a bad comparison to make… there are hundreds of thousands of cars waiting on parts in the US alone right now, sometimes for months. Supply chains for car parts still have not fully recovered from the pandemic disruptions.
I custom ordered a car from VW in 2022. It still hasn’t been built, as they still don’t have parts needed to build one of the packages they offered.
I agree completely. Those of us who have already laid down a chunk of money should be prioritized in getting outright parts under warranty before any buyers. Same answer every time from support “I am checking every day. Unfortunately we are still out of stock”. While I am completely down from a bad print head for 2 weeks now. This is after I was down for 3 weeks 2 days before the print head went down on my replacement. I bet you anything, they are not short of parts for newly purchased units though…… and, why am I paying for Premium when I cannot even use it? This is amateur hour for Glowforge. Ridiculous.
Thanks for your unsolicited critique, but my analogy is fine. Yours sounds like an unusual situation.
My point is that GF should have regional dealers with parts departments, and make parts available to authorized resellers. This would kill the grey market resellers and make these parts readily available. We shouldn’t be punished because they control everything and are bad at forecasting supply and demand.
They’re not tiny. I am a tiny company and I’m saying there are moves they could make to strengthen their business model. I don’t think it’s expecting too much for them to stock their parts more consistently.
Wishes and horses. We don’t live in should. Should may be true, but what does that get us today. A lot of people would be far happier if they let go of should for what is because they don’t do anything but complain about should instead of working to make should is.
You’re expecting them to manage part supply chains better than the largest automakers. They’re tiny by comparison to most businesses one could name. I don’t think they own a single building.
No really what I expect is some consideration for a business that is now down for almost 3 months. They still have a page on their site advertising for new sales and buyers to start businesses with these machines. Here’s what might help to control the inventory for all of us that are waiting… allow us to put in orders or be on a waiting list before the inventory is available. So when the inventory is available it’s not all bought up right away to these big resellers that sell for far over the market value of these parts. It seems to me that would be good customer service. And might stop some of the anxiety caused by not knowing if we will ever get parts. 3 months and no parts is far too long. I understand supply chain issues but what I don’t understand is the lack of help and communication in the matter.
The other thing I think would be a show of good faith and better customer service is for those of us paying for premium creative service to refund our money back for the months we aren’t able to use the service because the machines can’t run.
is popular enough that everytime they get stock in the resellers buy a bunch because they know they can get people to buy it at 10x the cost :-/