Solidoodle Support Suggestion Box (Page 1 of 5)

Use a ticket system to handle support, so requests are handled by the same customer service rep, instead of haphazardly bouncing them around as is the case now.

I would hope they use a ticket system now.

nevermind^^

A big part of the reason this happens is that Solidoodle has multiple CSRs, probably with no CS training, and customers get bounced between CSRs - it is then impractical for the CSR to remember the case details, and it seems they don't have an easy way of looking them up. A ticket based system keeps all the info in one place, for each case.

You might add a rush processing box, for like +$9.99. Of course, you guys better stop what you're doing, walk over the parts bin, and ship one of those whatevers out. Adding a rush processing option and not making good on it is bad news.

I needed a hotend because mine broke, and I ordered one from SD. Given my prior experiences with them, I decided the next day to just buy a SD3 from a forum member. Shipped it UPS ground.

The SD3 showed up today. The hot end hasn't even shipped yet.

I can't tell you the exact numbers, but there are lots. Most of this is not tech support. Sales, and general tech inquiries are far more common. Of course a large part of what we see is requests for quicker shipping, and shipping status updates. We receive helpful suggestions from customers as well.

Of course we do our fair share of tech support.

what he said^

Ok, so how are all of these organized when they come in? are they sorted and delivered to different people?

Assign 1 CSR per case
Keep accurate inventory so people will know if the item is in stock
If the item is in stock, ship same day

That's enough to get started...

Just to clear things up:

1) Most users who have significant troubles will deal with multiple CSRs. This is intended, as I and Raff will typically only get involved in tougher cases. The vast majority of customers already only see 1 CSR.

2) There is some legitimate confusion here. In case there is confusion, we are heavily backordered on parts. You have reason to be frustrated that our cart system system always reads "In stock" for all items. Support does not have control of this fact. However, if it were the case that the part was "in stock" as it were, it would go out the same today.

Just like the printers, the support parts have a line. We ship a very large number each day. It is not as if people are simply being forgotten, as some might assume. There is simply a line.

Oh boy, I would love to. Sadly, that is not under the purview of support. However, I *can* change any part of the main website that you would like me to. We are making improvements right now!

My SD3 is still pending, so I have no experience with the printer, but I will shortly. I used to operate a Komo CNC machine a number of years ago, so I do have some experience running a complex CNC system.

I do, however, have experience with this forum, and I put in a lot research time before buying my SD3. The reason I went with Solidoodle was, primarily, the hundreds of users contributing their comments for fixes, hacks, improvements, techniques, etc. A big hats off to the amazing super users in this community! I also went with Solidoodle because they use Repetier and other open source software and electronics, which go through their own improvements on a weekly if not daily basis. It now makes me really happy to see that Solidoodle is firmly standing alongside their "online" community, looking for ways to better connect, and improve. Furthermore, Solidoodle is rolling out an all new aluminum z-carriage and new extruder design. These are substantial product improvements, done in a relatively short amount of time, and this gives me a lot more confidence about this company.

I truly believe that no matter which printer you buy, you're going to go through an awful lot of trial, error, frustration, and learning. Every company I researched suffers the same maladies. At least with Solidoodle we have resources. We can download and reprint nearly every bracket on our machines, and make them shiny and blue -  for about 20 bucks in materials. We can go to ten websites and get new motors, and controllers, and hot ends, etc - for cheap. Even after adding enclosures, and glass beds, and filament spool holders we're still in the money. What makes this all possible is the Solidoodle community - guiding us, reprinting a part for us if our printer is down, warning us when we're doing something less than advisable, suggesting cool modifications, etc.

I shutter to think that with so many higher end printers the only resource I would have would be myself and the company. Crash your hot end and ruin three brackets? No problem, just pay the company a lot of money or get out your calipers and prepare to spend 8 hours designing a new one, and hope to heck you can find somebody to make you one. These types of scenarios go on and on.

In my opinion, the only 3d printer companies that will still be around 5 years from now will be the ones that are amenable to outside development, more or less open source, have strong online communities, and stay in contact with their communities. For my printer to fail would mean that we in the community would all have to fail.

My positive changes for support is this: keep asking us, your customers, for help - like you're doing. This is awesome customer service. Second, get your own version of Thingiverse for downloads and sharing, and start with a category for printable improvements to your own printers. Finally, why not put more emphasis on your blog, and begin with more timely updates. For example, why not include the following topics: "modification of the day" or "printing tip of the day" or "top 5 most asked questions this week" or "best user mod of the month" or "factory tip of the day", etc. To build excitement, it might be helpful to run a contest every now and then for user submitted modifications or tips. Good luck!