Schedule update (December '16)

[dan]

@philip1

Sometimes in business you have to make tough calls, and some times more than once, knowing customers will be upset, trust me calling them is worse

It’s painful to make that decision but it’s not a close call.

@arthur.sugden

How will you gives us timely information (weekly or at worst monthly) about the shipping schedule? What has taken so long?

We’ll continue to post monthly updates, answer questions daily in the forum, and continue to finish the process of manufacturing thousands of units. I’m so sorry we let you down.

@psyborgue

I won’t cancel if you post a photo of that line of broken glowforges you claim exists. Show me there is more than one or two and I won’t cancel.

If you’ve lost faith in us, you should cancel. I wouldn’t blame you.

We ran out of space in the office and moved them to our basement storage, but if you ping me in a few days, I will see about going down and getting a picture.

@info4

Question about the 10% off - I believe it was originally for 2017 now that we aren’t getting the GF until halfway through the year is that being extended?

That’s a really good question, and it didn’t occur to me before. Let me talk to the team about that and get back to you.

@nathansouriyavong

Although im real sad that there will be another 6 month wait

I truly apologize for keeping you waiting. I’m going to spend today (Friday) focused on communicating with everyone here, then get back to work trying to bring that date in as soon as we can without compromising quality.

@dicken12

just worry got a announcement say burn out all of money and bankruptcy the company 1 year later

We’re fortunate to have one of the best hardware investors in the business. I shared these details with him this week, and he’s fully supportive. We have more than enough money in the bank to operate without spending a penny of the funds you’ve paid us, which are reserved until we ship your Glowforge.

@stilts

as a small business we have little to no money and have been waiting and waiting and waiting for 410 days, 11 hours, 39 minutes and 40 seconds

I’m so sorry, @stilts. I admire your work and apologize profoundly that we will not be there this month to help you as we planned and as you paid for.

@Sam

Scaling up manufacture without introducing problems is hard, but I don’t think they are going to fail at this point.

Thanks, Sam. We’re amazed by what our pre-release units can do but I know that’s little consolation to people who don’t have their Glowforge yet.

@mary_jimfier

Hey @dan just a quick question… to be clear for those of us who purchased the GF on the 30 day campaign we will be receiving it bye the end of July???

And does everything else stands for us the international buyers and by that I mean the $50 dollars gifts and everything else??

Yes, and yes, pending any regulatory hangups - we’re still working through all our international approvals.

@leftsockrightfoot

Even if you were to refund everyone their money by now you would have make a nice chunk of change just on the interest.

I’m so sorry, @leftsockrightfoot. We’ve made $22 per person in interest; we’re spending that (and a great deal more) on the materials we’re sending you because of the delay.

@mad_macs

I think I signed up for a beta eons ago. Any way to check we are still on the list?

I just checked for you - you’re good!

@lgibson

The detachable laser module has me very concerned. When was this feature introduced?

It was in the system in the original video. We glued the connector in early units. To be clear, the detachable portion is the head with the autofocus, camera, depth sensing laser diode, and turning mirror, not the laser itself.

@lgibson

At this point I would believe you are experiencing EOL (end of life issues) as the market for electronics is very fast pace. Are you?

We’ve designed the Glowforge hardware around parts that are either widely available or completely custom made for us. Fortunately, that’s insulated us from that problem.

As for the rest of your questions, I completely understand why you’re asking, and don’t fault you for wanting to know. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons including legal and competitive concerns, those are the only ones I can answer right now.

@psyborgue

Cancelled. And I better get my money back. I’m a Seattle local.

I understand, and I’m sorry we let you down. We will have your refund processed in ten days or less.

Please note that your account was flagged by other users due to profanity in your subsequent posts, so your account has been automatically blocked from posting further. I don’t blame you for being upset, and I apologize for coming up short in delivering your Glowforge on time.

@pomwah

Hang tough.

Thanks @pomwah. It’s a hard day at Glowforge HQ (I’m here with @rita answering folks now) but we’ll get back to building your Glowforge soon.

@ade

Sorry, but we’ve heard the “I’m so sorry”, “We’ve let you down” and “we want to ship the perfect product” so often it starts to ring hollow.

I understand, and I wish I had better words to describe how terrible I feel for letting you down. I don’t fault you for being frustrated with us.

@tim1724

Wow. This is disappointing. You guys are so close, too, going by the photos and videos of the pre-production units.

We feel the same way - so close we’re dearly tempted to just go for it, but know that doing so would ultimately come back to hurt the people who supported us even more than taking longer to do it right.

@ylene

hope that I spend my summer holidays glowforging

We’re going to work night and day to make that happen.