Solidoodle Support Issues (Page 3 of 3)

I think the vast number of us are more upset over the stupid issues of a >$1 resistor failing and waiting weeks for replacement and direction and dealing with a new person on the matter every time. And icing on the cake the loose term "expedited" is tossed around like it's useless adjective. I didn't expect a Porchse, I didn't expect work out the box despite the words on the site. What I expected was a machine that would work with very little effort. What I got was an expensive paperweight, a massive headache and the down time while waiting for a resistor and hot end to source and build another machine and design a larger replacement for this machine. Mind you these parts came in from all over the world within days while it took weeks to get a part from SD which is a 3 hour drive from me. Again it's not the "work in progress" that pisses me off it's the lack of progress. The ignorance of issues and the mishandling of solutions. Excuses don't change the issues. If it's shipping that causes damage you change carriers, if its low quality resistors you find a better distributor or scream at your current one. The jigsaw is notoriously weak and it's a constant issue you change the design, you don't keep it in production for almost a year. Customers emails don't come in because of gmail blocking them you change email providers. It's not brain surgery, it's lack of ownership and direction and this continued path will result in nothing good for them...

We try to get thorough documentation on every part that fails. This is important to us. We try to be flexible about what we send out, but this is easiest for us with very thorough documentation.  In the case of sending out resistors versus hot-ends, this is actually completely unusual and discouraged. While the part is quite cheap and easy to get, it isn't a "pop in" part." The fix isn't as sure as simply replacing the hot-end itself. While I am sure many of our biggest fans are very competent installing electronics, doing the heat resistor replacement can be tricky, and it is certainly possible to ruin a part or two doing it. Thermal paste must be applied correctly, and leads must be correctly spliced in. While this is certainly within the abilities of a technician, we would not want to subject an every day user to this. If you feel we are hesitant to send out a cheaper part, this is part of the reason why. Our policy is to retrieve all failed parts, and we shall ask all customers with broken parts to send them back. This helps us with our own QA, and with our suppliers. Most customers are perfectly happy returning the parts, and the stringent application of the policy has helped our QA immensely.

That said, we are reasonable people. We can find a way to work with you if the policy doesn't work for you. 

Now as for the wait time, we hear everyone loud and clear. Part of the reason for the wait time is the sudden demand for repair parts of all kinds, as well as filament. We have hired an employee who's sole job is to ship repair parts. This will speed up the process considerably. That said, we have a significant backlog to work through.

We love the constructive criticism here, so please let us know how else we can help you.

Here's some things we have done since the inception of the thread:
1) We have instituted policies to make sure that support e-mails are most often dealt with by a single person.
2) We are investigating options for tracking support requests.
3) We are working harder than ever to get things out fast.
4) We are looking in to options for comprehensive documentation.

We are also looking in to ways of getting your questions answered faster, and decisions on repair parts made more quickly.

What else can we do to help things along?

if you can't find it, grind it!

seriously though driving stick, or as the rest of the world calls it a normal car isn't difficult!

i could go on an on about the terrible engineering of the solidoodle but will try to be brief and helpful. the folded metal case is the one good design aspect of the machine as long as they get the parts assembled correctly. it is unfortunate that the most important assembly (the extruder) is a total piece of garbage and it is difficult to imagine that anyone who wants to print high quality parts can get by using the original. mine caused problems from the beginning and started clogging and getting worse. shortly after the acrylic parts failed.

i replaced all the acrylic parts other than one that was just a spacer. i made some improvements as well to make it easier to disassemble, using threaded holes instead of loose inaccessible nuts. making all the parts fit in with the few original parts that i left was very difficult and i should have replaced even more parts and will if i ever have trouble with the extruder.

i have had no problems since i did this mainly because i replaced the horrible original hot end with one that is beautifully designed and made. for those who do not want to completely redesign the extruder, the new hot end can be installed without doing this.

i can't find the mfg of this hot end but it was made in the UK. i found several promising looking other ones online. everything is better than the crap SD uses. if anyone is interested, i will try to find who made the good one i have.

yes, thats the one. without this my solidoodle would be a worthless pile of garbage. reading all the posts about clogged extruders on solidoodle's forum make me laugh. i never had a single clog or other problem from this hot end together with my aluminum extruder parts.

solidoodle likes to make all their parts in house even if they have no idea how to do so. i would think that buying this hot end wholesale would save them money in the long run. they would have a much more reliable product, less support and a better reputation. they are so short sighted they thing that saving a few dollars in production cost it the only goal.

the whole extruder is garbage, being made of acrylic that is not at all forgiving especially the way they made it.

i have been using only high quality filament. no clogs with the E3d. if it does clog, i feel much more confident that i could remove and replace the nozzle than with the original SD version.

Applause for reviving a year old thread...

I also have the desire to share and request the following of Solidoodle and every other bleeding edge 3D print manufacturer:

This statement should be placed on the FRONT WEB PAGE OF SOLIDOODLE as a DISCLAIMER:

This printer is a NEW Semi-Tested technology and has the following FEATURES:

1. Arrives in a cardboard box, packaged reasonably well, shipped by UPS, guaranteed to fall 36 inches at each transit station.

2. As a direct/indirect result of this shipping, re-calibration is required. (Not for the faint of heart or technology impaired)
If you do NOT have the time, patience, and engineering background to figure out/learn for yourself how to properly use this device, DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. This is NOT a stable technology. This is a NEW-BLEEDING edge technology. This is NOT a stable print device. This device may require daily/weekly/monthly time consuming mechanical calibration and adjustments for proper operation depending on use and operating environment.

3. This printer has no warranty and has no promises made that you as a user may ever even be able to successfully print anything in your life without a lot of research, and hard work. (May the force be with you)

4. The printer is designed around an Arduino processor. The interface is USB and under each operating system may behave or misbehave appropriately. This means to get the unit to communicate properly, be ready to reboot both the printer and your computer numerous times for normal operation. 

5. Remember note 2? Calibration requires proper tension-ing the rubber bands (cogged drive belts) that are used for precise positioning of the print head. When not set exactly correct you cannot print round or square objects, and like with my brand new unit, could not even move in the "Y" Axis without making a horrible transmission grinding sound.

6. As this is manufactured by a bleeding edge technology company, we cannot and will not provide you with our telephone number as we really don't want to deal with your problems unless we determine the problems to be real. Go look on the web and good luck finding solutions to your print problems, but if you do really really have a problem with your machine, please send us your customer order number, your date of purchase, mother's maiden name, SSN, (twice) and we eventually may respond. (remember note 3. NO WARRANTY, No guarantees with the purchase of this product)

7. There is no organized user guide or troubleshooting manual for this 3D printer. So, if you do not have a good web connection, you may be unhappy as a result. As we at Solidoodle provide a minimum of technical support, we strongly suggest you get an account at Soliforum where you can search endlessly for solutions for the common problems all of our users have encountered. Our user base will provide free technical support, which enables us to manufacture low cost no warranty no guarantee 3 D Printing machines.

I would have been more appreciative if Solidoodle had been more honest and provided ALL that I stated above about the machine before I purchased it.

I STILL would have bought this machine knowing all of this BEFORE my purchase.
(I would have done 3 months more research before the purchase.)

(It is just frustrating to find out later.... they apparently do not have adequate staff to support all of the issues from each and every customer on a timely basis.)  Even my order was promised by a specific date and was weeks late without even...."we are sorry".

I have less respect for Solidoodle as they have falsely advertised this machine and its specifications. (the print capability is not 8" X 8" X 8" as advertised. IT is less because of poor mechanical design issues noted clearly in this forum. The print head fan runs into bearing blocks at the edge of it's travel, limiting the maximum size by an unspecified, and undocumented amount.

Thanks again Solidoodle for all of the fun and the challenge you have provided me.

I would like to ESPECIALLY say THANK YOU to ALL of you on this site who have provided ALL of the USEFUL repairs, upgrades, modifications and other instructions that Solidoodle did not provide. Without all of the USERS on this forum and all of YOUR support, I would not have been able to print my "square circle today". Maybe someday I'll be able to print round objects that are actually round and square objects that are actually square and cubelike.........

Sincerely,
J

Copied quotes from Solidoodle website"
out-of-the-box 3D Printing — starting at just $499.
Now more reliable and accurate than ever!
Clean lines and easy operation
This is the printer for people who just want to print, not assemble a machine
At Solidoodle, we take the hassle out of 3D printing by shipping every machine fully assembled and ready to print -- right out of the box.
World Class Engineering
designed by aerospace engineers to be extremely strong and precise at the same time
designed so that they will move smoothly and never bind.
We work hard to ship your printer as soon as possible while still maintaining our rigid quality control standards.
Trouble-free custom acrylic extruder with stepper motor
Spring loaded extruder drive virtually eliminates the need for adjusting the extruder
we work very hard to ship it to you as soon as possible while maintaining our stringent quality control standards

Agreed, ticket system is trash.

After an email, I spoke to one of your employees over the phone for a simple question. Like a yes or no. I was told he or someone else would respond with 48 hours.

That was a month ago.
And no, I was not given a number.