This was helpful - i picked mine up and see the same grease and scratches and the rubber feet are also coming loose…
I’m worried now if i have some old case from earlier testing that was just repainted, what else is not new in the machine?
How did they handle this with you? I’m pushing for a response before the weekend but they have not gotten back. Was your tube clear or orangish? Did you get a refund? A new unit (did it have the same cosmetic issues?)?
Lastly, in reading the thread i DO like that the refurbed units are actually tested multiple times, which can save me future headache - but I feel like i deserve reimbursement for this or to be shown that these features and “problems” cosmetically are on ALL glow forges. Can not tell if others have had the same experience, as i think some people will be so excited they will not even notice… but I feel like I’ve found so many, that I really think I was sold something that is not new…
I looked at it as If they claim your machine is new, they won’t let you send it back, therefore getting a refurb would be moot. Unless, the workmanship defects rose above (below?) an internal level that required them to replace it.
I agree that if they allow you to send back a new machine just to placate you, then sending out a refurb may be allowed. But I think they would have to indicate that is what they were doing, but in nicer words. A couple weeks ago I had a warranty repair on my vehicle done and the invoice said it was for customer good will. Not sure what was up with that.
And I’m not saying the issues documented above are minor or anything. This has moved into the hypothetical for me. I once received $300 off an appliance because the install guy pointed out a “defect” I could barely see, which he said meant it wasn’t new. I never would have noticed. It wasn’t a dent in the metal, more like a slight wave.
I was just warning them, they appeared to be a new user. Also, local car dealerships/shops have much more to lose from bad publicity, potentially getting sued, etc. With GlowForge we’ve signed away all our rights, likely even our right to sue, by agreeing to their EULA.
Yay 'merica.
edit:
Most EULAs, including GlowForges, have a binding arbitration agreement, that waves most of your legal rights and requires you to settle privately and then never be able to talk about it.
I’ve never seen customer good will in place of warranty before. It made me feel like they did because I complained and not because the caliper was making incomplete contact with the rotor resulting in rust pits. You know, a defect.
As an update, they seem willing to send me a “new” machine - but now on to repacking it up, and waiting… I gave my phone number so we could resolve it before the end of the day Friday but they just followed up via email, so I guess i’m waiting till Monday for new information
Unfortunately they don’t call customers. I’ve had support issues drag for way longer than they should that could have been solved by a 15 minute phone call
Can that tell human views vs ticketing system processing? I hardly think they have someone monitoring one huge inbox copying and pasting to a ticketing system. Would rather think it comes in and gets the content moved to a ticket system that processes the information. Ran into something like that in the past, Gmail does something that causes the email to be ‘viewed’ at least twice before I ever open it.
Just to clear up a misunderstanding - laser tubes do not ship clear; there are coatings on the tube that are essential to proper performance. As far as I know, there’s no visual difference between a tube with an hour of operation and one without. And if there was, it wouldn’t be helpful, because tubes are “burned in” at the laser tube factory by running for long periods of time, and then tested again at our own factory.
Here’s a picture from the burn-in room at a factory we didn’t work with but considered - this step is them running current through the tube to burn out impurities before the final gas fill.
Why is staff commenting here but not responding to my emails? Last I heard from anyone was Friday, my last message outbound was shortly after that and now it’s Wednesday…
Some of us staff are more capable than others, and unfortunately I rank in the low end of the usefulness scale. I don’t know the answer and don’t have the tools installed to get it, but I’ve asked the team to take a look and they should be back in touch.
The more useful folks watch the problem in support category and reply to every post there within three business days, usually much faster.
Note, however, that if you have an email or forum thread open already, then doing anything other than replying to it tends to slow things down. So the best approach is to stick with whatever channel you are currently using and reply again to that thread. That also helps the team know if they are having their emails eaten by the spam folder monster.
“Quality? We’ve heard of it. Windows? Who needs those to be in one piece? See this laser-tube here, it works just fine with all these fractures, same as that window!”
