Question to those getting their Production Glowforge, how did the referral refund go?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Was the process painless?

Did you need to request the money? Was the amount returned what you expected?

probably not many (any?) referral refunds yet. not that many machines actually out there and probably few, if any, were referrals yet.

Probably zero refunds so far. Most of the referrals were used by people much later in the order cue. The company can not give a refund unless the person who used it has actually received their Glowforge. This is because they can ask for a refund any time up until it being ready to ship.

2 Likes

That has nothing to do with it. You get your referral when YOURS ships.

no you don’t, you get the referral refunds when their machine ships, and this has been pretty clear from the start. otherwise you could get a refund and then they could cancel theirs. this isn’t a commission for sale, it’s a refund based on referral and successful order.

gf specifically mentioned that if someone cancels an order, any referral bonuses associated with that account or sale are rendered null.

edit: were i in charge of the referrals program (clearly i’m not, take everything with a huge grain of salt), i’d wait until your final referral shipped, or close to it, just to save on banking and staff trouble.

4 Likes

Wish I was wrong. My opinion is usually in error, my memory, rarely. Of course every post in every topic is open to interpretation.

4 Likes

Right. You lose the referral. As it was explained to me by a Glowforge staff member. If you had 4 referrals and one canceled, you’d get credit for 3 when YOURS shipped.

So, unless that’s changed…

In your scenario what happens when one of your referrals cancels after you have already received your refund? You would be obligated to return that referral money and we all know how much of a nightmare that would be. The only safe way (for GF) to deal with it is to send out refunds after the referral orders have shipped.

3 Likes

why would you expect them to give you money they haven’t collected yet? one would think/hope that someone you got a referral from would be getting their machines after you since you ordered first. if you want to wait until all your referrals have shipped/been paid for, i’m sure they’d be happy to do it when yours ships, but if they pay you for a referral that they haven’t collected payment for yet, then they’d have to come track you down and try to make you give them $100 for each referral to cancel.

can’t imagine that makes any business sense at all. and it’s unreasonable to expect them to do so.

my guess is you misunderstood the way they explained it. or they did a poor job of explaining it. or some combination thereof.

3 Likes

Business sense? Well, let’s just stop and think here. If you got a referral two years ago now, you essentially raised money for the company. How much you think they got in interest in that time? Certainly more than enough to cover a paltry $100 to someone who essentially did the money raising for your company to get off the ground. Just my .02 though.

Ok, maybe you guys can clear up a little confusion for me. When I ordered my GF I used a referral code and my credit card was charged the amount of the GF + shipping - refund.

So…I don’t believe I was ever charged that last $100.

If the person who’s referral code I used drops out. Would I be charged that final $100?

It could be that my situation is one where I used someone else’s referral code to get in line, so for me that was an immediate benefit. But if someone were to use MY referral code, I would have to wait until they got their GF before I would get a refund. Is that correct?

1 Like

I think you’re confusing using someones referral code to get the $100 discount. That won’t be charged back to you, even if the person who gave you the referral code cancels.

I’m talking about the refund you get if someone uses YOUR referral. You don’t get THAT refund until the orders are shipped. Provided someone used your referral code. Hope that clears up the confusion.

2 Likes

I don’t think so because it makes no difference to your sale. You simple get it $100 cheaper. They paid the other person $100 for advertising but if they cancel they don’t get it. Yours is a discount for doing nothing.

2 Likes

i think you’re wrong. if the person who gave you a discount code cancels, you lose that discount, too. this has also been stated once or twice.

assuming you understood the staff member correctly, they were mistaken on that fact.

(of course that’s also assuming i understood the guidelines correctly, i’m happy to be corrected by a staff person).

2 Likes

and if you have 10 referrals and they all cancel, you think you should keep $1000 if they back out? because plenty of people have as many as 10 referrals.

the money you raised for the company will come back to you when the referral people go past the point of no return for refunds and have their machines shipped. you’re still getting the money if they don’t back out. being angry won’t change that.

i know we would all prefer to get it up front, but i’ve never seen it in writing from glowforge that you would get all referral money when your machine ships. and while everyone is somewhere on the disappointed to unhappy to angry scale about the shipping delays, deciding to front everyone the referral refunds has never been part of Dan’s announcements and additional benefits given for the delays.

1 Like

Here is a real world scenario.

I have an (unspecified in public) number of referrals, and have received notice that my Glowforge is ready. I have agreed to take delivery of my Glowforge. They have not sent me a refund for any of those referrals.

I do not expect to receive referral money until those who used my code agree to take delivery. That is how I interpreted the program from the beginning.

5 Likes

No, you get the credit for 3 after each of THOSE units ship. It’s never changed. This was all detailed in T&C’s when we placed our pre-orders.

3 Likes

Guys, It’s black and white in the FAQs section of the main page.

“When someone uses your referral link, they’ll save $100 off their Glowforge! You’ll get a $100 refund too - up to $1,000 maximum. We’ll issue your refund when your friend receives their Glowforge shipment (they must receive their shipment for you to get your refund).”

10 Likes

You are referring to the $100 savings for using a discount code? I don’t think that disappears regardless if the original holder of the discount code cancels; I have never seen that aspect of it stated, at least.

1 Like

oh good, i don’t plan on cancelling, but it’s nice to know that if someone refers people and cancels, they still get to save!

1 Like