A story and a warning to creators

Glowforge Laser Engraver purchased late 2020

So, I had planned to spend most of January designing and engraving boxes for both the 2024 Oddities expos and our online shop. I deliberately cleared my schedule of everything else. I had only gotten about 5 boxes done when I began getting some strange error messages from our laser engraver. And then it just stopped working entirely.

We bought this machine only 3 years prior. At about $6k it was the priciest model (we paid extra for a pass through slot that is practically useless) and we used a good chunk of the money we made from the sale of our house to do it. (Up until inflation went wild, $6k would snag you a decent used vehicle.) In other words: this was not cheap. In fact, besides our cars and our home it was the most expensive thing we'd ever purchased.

We also didn't realize when we bought it (totally our fault), that an internet connection was actually required to use it, along with their awful, clunky web-based software. All designs a user uploads are sent to their servers to “process" before downloading to our actual machine. And if that wasn't frustrating enough, it was implied that during times of high server usage amongst their customers nationwide, whenever we uploaded a design to be engraved, we would need to enter a queue and may need to wait quite a while until it was our “turn". To bypass that, and if we also wanted the software to retain our files for longer than 30 days, we would need to pay for their monthly “premium" membership at $25/month (which I believe is now an insane $50/month). Reluctantly, we did. But we weren't thrilled about any of this, and it felt very scammy or shady.

For anyone keeping track, that's $5,900 for the machine, $25/mo for 36 months, totaling $900 for a grand total of roughly $6,800.

So when this thing broke down, we did the logical thing and contacted the company, telling them what was going on, asked them if they could access the machine's logs to let us know what was going on, and asking how we could fix whatever the problem was.
We were told they "reviewed the photos and the logs, and the Glowforge looks to be having issues communicating with the printer head" and offered one suggestion for something we could try. It was essentially something we had already done - with no results - but he tried it again, and again, the machine wouldn't work. We returned to our email thread with the customer service rep, made sure to mention that we needed this machine for our business, and asked what other troubleshooting ideas he could offer.

Specifically we said, "What do the logs say? Would it tell you if there was no response from the gantry motor? Could that be a bad motor, or possibly just the cable? We are likely out of warranty and short on time, so a straight forward series of troubleshooting and testing steps without having to wait a day for an answer would be very much appreciated."

Their response?

"Thank you for taking those steps. The logs show that the Glowforge is having issues communicating with the printer head. The logs are pretty limited on the details, so that is all I can tell since the connection to the printer head looks correct, and nothing else seems to be damaged; the cause of the issue could be a short or another issue deeper in the Glowforge, so it will need to be sent in for repairs."

We were then told we could send our machine back to them - which they would keep - and then we could buy a "refurbished replacement discounted to what the repair to your printer would cost" for close to $2k. (Super sketch that they're quoting us on the cost of the repair when they claimed to have no idea what was wrong with the machine; we later learned many people with similar issues have been sent this offer all with wildly different yet high price tags.) ...On top of the $6,800 we've already given to this company in only 3 short years which would make this thing a nearly $9k investment. That was a hard 'no. It was decided right then and there that if we couldn't fix this thing, we just wouldn't create engravings anymore, at least not until we could afford a new machine, most definitely made by another, more ethical company.

So Mike did a little research and found a good possibility for what the problem could be: a major design 'flaw' that wears down the head ribbon cable when it moves back and forth, rubbing on the texture-painted metal shield above it, until it shorts out, and is no longer functioning properly. No longer capable of transmitting information. We found someone online who sold the replacement part for this, for $70.

We bought it, installed it, and just like that, the machine was functioning normally again.

Seventy bucks.

We also learned soon afterward that there are actually VERY detailed logs the company has access to, that lists exactly what's going on. Not only that, but we found out how to access those logs for our machine and we confirmed it. Why wouldn't they just admit that? Educate their customers about how these machines can be repaired? Even sell these replacement parts in their own shop?

I can't say for certain but it's hard not to suspect that it's because they can make bank on getting people to return the machines they already spent thousands on, so the company can spend a few bucks to repair it and then sell it "refurbished" for thousands more to some other sucker who may not know any better.

It is truly inexcusable how greedy and wasteful this and so many other companies have become in this clown world. I am so fucking exhausted of shit like this. It feels appropriate to call out Apple as the leader in these garbage practices; their contributions to planned obsolescence and their longtime battle against the #righttorepair, but shit, even iPhones don't cost SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS.

In summary, don't buy a Glowforge. And if you have one and start experiencing the same kind of error, get in touch with us and we can offer some guidance on how to potentially fix it and save you loads of money.

We were so excited about this company and this purchase 3 years ago and it has just been one let down after another. (I won't go into my rant here about how the laser head is consistently off by up to a quarter inch meaning everything engraves a quarter inch to the right of where it should.)

One last heads-up: this company inexplicably has some hardcore fanboys that do not tolerate complaints or negative posts about this product in the company website forums. If there’s one thing this business has done well it’s building an army of die-hard defenders.

PS: They charge $250 for just the cardboard boxes if you did need to send your machine back for any reason and didn't have the original boxes.

$250.
That's not a typo.

PPS: That and other "user servicable" parts on their "parts" page, are perpetually SOLD OUT which again, feels shady.