I am so upset!! I called what I thought was someone here in the USA to talk about my options because my Glowforge tube is starting to go. When cutting acrylic, it cuts on the right and it burns and catches fire on the left side. Instead of someone who actually knows anything about them I get someone in the Philippines who has to look everything up from a manual and is following a script!!
I told her that I was one of the founding owners and she had no idea what and she admitted she knew nothing about the machine. I have questions to ask and she said someone would get back to me by email soon.
I initially got my first Glowforge because it was an all American company, so now does it even matter if where I get a new laser form? 
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I’m sorry you’re upset and I don’t have any answers for you on how to rollback globalism to the point where almost every company isn’t using outsourced tech-support, that’s well beyond my abilities.
What I can offer you is a link that tells you a little bit about the problem that you’re seeing.
Check out #21 on this list if you haven’t seen it before:
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All I will say is I hear you. My mortgage company is called “Citizens Bank”, and yet it is impossible to speak to anyone from this country. The only people you can talk to are all in India.
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named Paul or Phil too.
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Sorry for your frustration. The decision to outsource support was announced here in the forum quite some time ago and it was an effort to improve customer service.
Many of us in the forum are also founding owners. At some point our support and decision to purchase a Glowforge 9+ years ago is no longer a badge that gets us to the front of the line. I think we have gotten our reward and most of the benefits that were promised.
Regarding your current machine issue, did this start suddenly? If it only happens with acrylic and not wood or paper it is pretty odd behavior. Usually when the right side cuts less efficiently than the left it is because it is the furthest away from the laser source. Give special attention to cleaning the window on the inside left of the machine and the window on the left side of the printhead. What happens if you assign different speed/power settings for designs on the left and right sides of the bed?
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First, I wasn’t trying to be rude and I’m not asking for front of the line service. What aggravated me is that she couldn’t understand what I was saying.
My machine starting to not cut most materials.It started acting up a while ago. It doesn’t cut through a lot of the time and The tube is amber and the mirror in the print head is discolored.
Have you considered replacing the mirror? If it is discolored that would certainly be a reason things are not cutting through. You can try cleaning it more vigorously. It is possible your tube is fading as it was originally thought that tubes would last in the neighborhood of two years.
As a fellow original owner, I purchased replacement optics long ago in the event that I would need them. I also have other spare parts that are known to need replacing like the black lid cable, pulley wheels and carriage plate wheels.
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The optics must stay crystal clear, if you’ve allowed debris to build up and get “baked” on, then the major components can be replaced. If it is the same with new components, then the tube is likely on its way out.
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That’s what I figured about the tube. This is a refurbished one they replaced for me in 2020 and it sat for a year because we sold our house and moved. But they did say that when you get a refurbished one, the tube is around the same usage as the old one so that wouldn’t help me.
That’s unfortunate, but not unexpected.
The only cause if the power is that different on each side is that this window is messed up…
If you cannot clean it they can sell you another one though ATM. I would scrub very hard with Zeiss lens wipes, and then go over all the other stuff. You are likely to discover that it is not your lasertube at all.
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