Wow… pay $4200 bucks for a printer. Then get scammed to purchase a monthly service. Not cool.
Welcome to the forum.
This is, in my opinion, not a scam. Your Glowforge will work as advertised without the subscription. Just like your cable TV works fine even if you don’t buy the premium channel line up.
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I bought a canon printer and they wanna charge me a monthly service fee to send me ink.
Good thing the GF premium service is completely unnecessary unlike the printer ink.
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Almost anything you purchase now days someone is going to try and sell you something else because of your purchase, buy a computer - the extended warranty, car - extended warranty, coffee maker - monthly shipments of coffee, get a pet - insurance, monthly pet food, medicine, etc…
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Everything is relative, if you paid $420 for a laser, a Glowforge looks pricey but if you were comparing it to a $42000 laser, and there are many, it looks very inexpensive. If they did not sell the premium service the Glowforge would look a good deal for the money for all that it did.
That there is an extra design package that you don’t absolutely need available increases the value, just as paying extra for a pro instead of a basic lets you do things a basic will not do. What is different is that the premium stuff works on the basic as well, and you cannot add anything to the basic to make it a pro.
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As there is nothing that support can do about your concern, this should no be in this area, but in the Everything Else category so I can move it there for you.
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You got scammed when you bought your smart phone, if you bought a new Chevy, a hell of a lot more then a GF, did you purchase OnStar that’s an extra, most cars have addons. So why GF if offers you one all of a sudden it’s a scam., sorry just don’t see it…
I just bought a NextWave Shark HD510 there are plenty of addons , yes that cost money, but not a scam, if they sold the CNC with everything it would be cost prohibitive for the average person to get started.
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Thanks for all your opinions and comments. I guess I should clarify my Opinion. If I had a big job to do. And my internet went out. I can not use or continue printing out that big job because I won’t be able to access the online GF software. In response to the other comments. You’d feel the same way if you got a nice little email telling me I won’t be able to access the GF control panel after my 30 day trial. And I have to pay $50 to keep the service. And everything there will be lost if I don’t download it asap. That is the ripoff I feel. This was an EMAIL I received last night. FYI I do Love the Printer
IKR… I got an email stating I won’t be able to access the cPanel unless I go premium and all that I created would be lost. And if I wanted to access it again. I have to pay the $50. I don’t mind paying the 50 bucks. But at least let me download the software so in case I loose internet access. I can continue to finish my projects. Thanks for your comment
If a storm brew up and your internet went out. Can you continue to use GF printer or your NextWave Shark HD510. ?
This is not quite what is going on- someone will be along who can explain the update better than I can.
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You can completely access your “control panel,” if by that you meant the interface. Just the premium features, such as text, shapes, images, won’t be there. It will roll back to exactly how it was a few months ago, when the rest of us were printing without premium services. That being said, when my internet has gone out, I was able to use my phone as a hotspot and continue my work.
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I’m not trying to disgruntle. GF is an awesome product. I Love it. I am just expressing my opinion. After seeing this email. I’ve only had my GF for 20 or so days. Unlike you all. You may know all the ins and outs. So I’m here learning and love to strike up conversations
I get it; unfortunately, there is no downloadable software. It’s cloud-based. They left it open for people to try and create a standalone software, but greater minds than my own have tried and have decided it wasn’t worth it to pursue any longer. You can check out openglow, that’s where it all was happening.
I’m happy with what I have, and if you’re doing all your design work in a separate software, and not using the premium features, then you’ll be fine without the subscription. Everything will still work, you’ll just lose the convenience of having some shortcut items in your interface.
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It is great to express your opinion, and this forum has the full spectrum of attitudes about Glowforge. I think what bothered me was how you used the word scam in your very first forum post because it isn’t an opinion, it was an accusation and implies bad intent on the part of the company. I hope you will become an active forum user and a happy Glowforge user.
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And for that I am sorry. I apologize for the “Scam” comment. FYI, I bought this for my wife. I get the emails from GF. Both my wife and I being retired military. Many things may come out of my mouth. I look forward to a long relationship with this product.
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You are going to love it, and so is she. There are several other retired military couples here and lots of helpful people.
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My internet has been down only once in the last 18 years I have lived here and that was due to a construction company hitting the line, lasted for about an hour. So as for my GF going down yes it would but now days with underground cable not a big issue. As for my CNC no, internet is not required just a dedicated computer (suggested) for the software and a USB drive.
As also being a retired Veteran, thank you for your service
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Thank you Sir… Internet cables are underground. But storms knock out service all the time here. Atleast 1-3 times a month in bad weather season. Which could last anywhere between 1 hour to a full day. Depending how severe. But it doesn’t have to be a storm. They are constantly building here also. So it’s man error most the times. Good chatting with you,
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I live in a rural area where we lose our electricity a couple of times a year. But when it happens i don’t complain to Bosch that my electric oven no longer works and my children are starving.
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