When combined with no changes to the top of the forum it really did lead me to believe I would get my Glowforge in December. After re-reading it I did mention in a Facebook post that I had fears they were going to push again though, but until I get an e-mail that my Glowforge is shipped, I will always have that fear 
This is what camping looks like about 5, 8 hour paddling days away from the car. Since one of our wives took the photo, it is pretty clear who put in the lion’s share of the paddling effort during that Algonquin Park canoe trip!
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Gators are carpet-phobic? I learn the neatest stuff here!
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You’ve earned the rest after 8 hours of paddling dude! ROFL! 
The Cardinal Rule of Change Management… 64% of all change (in the workplace) fails because of user resistance
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Can we add a camp 4, or maybe it’s camp 3b. Or is that just way too many camps? Because there’s also the group of people who would normally be in camp 2, but see the delays and other changes as an ominous sign of worse things going on behind the scenes. So, they aren’t the group of people who feel lied to or mishandled (by a lack of communication or last minute announcements), they’re the group worried that it’s a scam, or there are no glowforges, or everything is a mirage.
So, they’re upset because of the changes, but not really about the changes.
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This is the first time for me to participate in a crowdfunded or pre-release purchase of a hardware item. I had expected from the original information and the video’s that had been shown that the Glowforge was for the most part a finished product. I had assumed that the point of the crowdfunding was to raise the money to put the product into production. I likely would not have paid up front for my Glowforge if I had known that it was still in an early state of development with no real chance of being delivered at the time that was indicated.
For now though since I have waited so long and have already paid off the credit card more than a year ago I can afford to wait. It may end up being a much better product then I every expected but time will only tell.
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Yes, i think some of the friction being generated at the moment is because of the disparity between those used to backing new technologies and those who are first timers who jumped on this because of the awesome promise of the Glowforge. (I am not suggesting this is your case, it is just a general observation)
I am not surprised at the delay and would MUCH rather a complete, bug-free system than an early delivery. I have mentioned elsewhere that every tech i have backed (bar one) that prioritised delivery time was sub-standard in quality.
For a first time backer i can imagine this might be a scary experience hence the cries of ‘scam’ or ‘mis-management’ from a minority in that camp.
I (personally) think you have made the right call to stick with it, and i think the Glowforge will be a winner. I have cold hard e-cash backing that up with my own order!
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bdm,
I am not one who is crying scam or anything else. This was the first time I had backed a product pre-release.
The issue I wanted to express is that they have bad timing of revealing news and have brought most of the issues on themselves. If Dan had said in a post in early November when the problem was discovered that they have discovered a quality issue that needs to be resolved before full production is started. Instead he kept silent until people started to wonder when they would be receiving what they had already paid for and then dropped the bad news. If you have promised a delivery date that was at the time less then a month away and you have not even started to manufacture in numbers to meet those orders then you kind of deserve the complaints you are receiving. At the time they were also still releasing press reports that said the product would be shipping in December.
Mostly I think that Glowforge is trying to do the right thing in building a product but is failing on the PR side with the early backers.
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Gyday Ken,
I specifically mentioned i was not saying this was your case!
But yeah, right from the beginning, one of my first posts IIRC was about just this.
I have seen so so many kickstarts (which Glowforge is not) struggle because of poor communication, especially with delivery time. I said way back then that i thought an open or regular set of updates would serve them better than their current model… but it is their business, their choice and some might say they are paying a price for that decision now, but who is to know what goes on behind closed doors?
As a Marketing Consultant i see some decisions made by clients that are baffling to me… on the other hand i see decisions by clients that are made because of an internal procedure, once i understand the reasoning i cannot but agree with their choice though their customers complain non-stop; i assume Glowforge is in this category.
Glowforge is essentially a tech-based company, tech-skills do not necessarily transfer into people/Sales skills. Maybe they will change they way they go about this, maybe they will not.
It certainly makes for an exciting ride!
In either case it is essentially irrelevant, we are Consumers (we are not actually backers) of their product our only choice is to have faith & patience or bail on the product.
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The problems I see from my perspective are all on the PR side as stated. I think Dan has a done a great job in selling his vision of what the Glowforge can and will be when it is ready.
Where they are failing “in my opinion” is they waited too long to disclose issues that are affecting the shipping date. Mostly they have been very good in explaining after the fact why they are having the delays it is the initial disclosure that has been the problem. When you disclose matters just as much as what you disclose. At this point in time I would say that they started the crowd funding of the Glowforge at least one year too soon. Since Visa and Mastercard limit charge backs on purchases to a maximum of 120 days that deadline has expired more than 300 days ago in my case.
It also seems “in my opinion” that they have spent a considerable amount of time making improvements to the product such as the removable magnetic head. This was not a feature that was disclosed early on and is most likely a great idea that was added. I would have assumed this would have been something they would have talked about and promoted from the start if it has been a planned feature.
I am one that has the time and resources needed to wait for production. I am also very glad that I did not try to get any of my friends to purchase a Glowforge as I would not want to be in a position of having to apologize for something that is outside of my control. I know that it must also disappoint Dan to have to make an apology again. I do not doubt his sincerity or honesty. I just think the delays could have been handled better.
It looks like you are more displeased with the communications from Glowforge than the refunds, but in case the refund is an issue then here are some details.
Outside of exchange rates and any interest charges (if you didn’t pay it off right away), there is no need to worry about charge back limitations.
You will be refunded your total purchase price (before actual shipping of product) and the Cancel Order explains all the details.
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Can you send us our money back and just bill us when you are ready to ship? Last announcement says you got funding and that should cover your expense without our money being hostaged.
Of course they can do that… you just pay full retail price for your Glowforge instead of the introductory price (or hostage price if that makes you feel better)
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The Cancel page refers to losing the discounts, bonus material, place in line and other items. Those are the things that you get for pre-ordering the Glowforge.
You are free to Cancel as your choice, but then you buy at your convenience at retail/MSRP pricing.
There really isn’t anyway for them to validate funds once the you have them back and I don’t think you would want a surprise withdrawal when you had earmarked those funds for something else (6 to 8 months from now).
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No, they will not do that. If you take a refund now, you will need to pay full price for it later.
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Ever heard of Terms & Conditions?
You are upset because you want the cheap price with no risk attached. Read Item 5 on the T&C YOU agreed to
No point getting upset at me (or anyone else) because you signed up for something you do not understand and now do not want to take responsibility for that
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They could send us our money back as a sign of good faith since it’s their screwup that landed all of us in this mess then just charge us when it’s ready. A lot of companies do it that way. I would understand that they can’t do it if they didn’t get any funding the last time around but they did so they don’t necessarily need the money they raised yet as they are not in production mode yet.
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Being upset is perfectly understandable, and most of us are, actually.
If it will help to ease any fears that you might have - there are a lot of answers in the Live Q&A that Dan and Rita did a couple days back, and several answers fleshed out a little in the recent comments at the bottom of that thread.
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Honestly the only thing that could ease my worry is when I get the product 4k is not exactly chump change for me. I will probably cancel because I have lost faith in the company. I am still trying to justify a 3rd delay which is really unacceptable especially since it’s been more than a year. It makes one wonder what they had to begin with.
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