Disappointed! future buyers beware (Page 1 of 2)

Nemesis,  PM me.  I might have a spare board at home.  I will check tonight for you.

Sorry you had a bad time!

I had a chat with customer support, and had a look over your case. I'm not sure if there's anything we can do for you. You've had the machine for a while, and from what I could tell it has worked fine up until now.

We don't do free replacements after a certain time. This time frame will be different in different cases, but most times it is 1-2 months.  Very rarely is it more. The idea, is that we want you to be safe from an immediately defective unit. We are not protecting against wear and tear, or operator error. In nearly all cases, we would not replace any part of the machine whatsoever after 10 months of use.

In your case, we wouldn't be able to do an exact replacement, because we no longer stock that motherboard. If your printer had been immediately defective on arrival, or within the first few months of use, we would have been able to help with a replacement.

These machines have a lot of the electrical parts exposed, and there is a great deal that can happen to one in 10 months. As you know, we do not provide a warranty at this time.

I wish there was more I could do. I can understand the frustration of a beloved piece of technology being dead. Any time my  Solidoodle is dead, or my laptop needs a part, I am quite frustrated as well.

It may be little solace, but Solidoodle is having a massive sale right now. For not much more, you could replace your entire printer. Failing that, there are other providers of Sanguinololus, and printrboards. You could even save some money by soldering together your own printer controller.

Anyway, I wish I could help. Sorry for the broken Solidoodle, and good luck finding a solution that works for you.

I'm curious, SoliJohn.
What is the exact number of days that you stand behind your product for?
I ask because in Australia it's rare for a business to get away with having blazé warranty specs.

This is a crowd funding thing that I'm running: http://www.gofundme.com/bvi140 It's for pretty selfish reasons

Why doesn't Solidoodle offer a protection plan then? Sell the warranty to people if your not going to offer one...

Having a fixed cost for repairs is extremely important for some people.

Huff,
I'm glad you feel that  800.00 for 10 months of use is  worth the price of admission, I however do not.  No one  expects  any one to replace electronics after  "years"  of  use but I also expect that  a company look out for its customers  since  10 month on a main board is a defective main board.  This is not a  motor that is always moving or a hot end that this  heating up and cooling or belts  that wear out. There are plenty of retailers that offer  warrentys on electronics for  1 to 2 years as well as extended programs. But my point was that SD should State  how  long they back there product for and not be so  elusive with the information. They obviously know the  time frame is 60 days as they stated above  but dont want to make that information avalible since it could effect the decision of prespective buyers.

Hazer,  I'm on it,  Already PM'd Nemesis

I am very glad someone not only had a good experience, but also that level of experience.
I own close to $70k worth of musical and recording equipment and their supports would have given less that 1/4 of what you reported.
It seems, especially by the many threads (even comments made by myself) that SD support can be a hit or miss. but ghosting in to your computer to properly analyze the problem is spectacular! Keep that up, Solidoodle!

Jawhn,

Only ones I have found for $25.00 come in kit forms.  Amazon has quite a few that range from $52.00 and up for fully assembled and tested.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke … n7u7ovic_e

Not to be a jerk solidoodle.  You do have a warranty! I had this exact same battle with you guys a year or so ago.  Fortunately your CEO Sam stepped in and just finally replaced my machine. This was after several months, of course the machine was defective from purchase date.  According to New York State law, you have what is called an implied warranty.

Section 2--314. Implied Warranty: Merchantability; Usage of Trade. (1) Unless excluded or modified (Section 2--316), a warranty that the goods shall be merchantable is implied in a contract for their sale if the seller is a merchant with respect to goods of that kind. Under this section the serving for value of food or drink to be consumed either on the premises or elsewhere is a sale. (2) Goods to be merchantable must be at least such as (a) pass without objection in the trade under the contract description; and (b) in the case of fungible goods, are of fair average quality within the description; and (c) are fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used; and (d) run, within the variations permitted by the agreement, of even kind, quality and quantity within each unit and among all units involved; and (e) are adequately contained, packaged, and labeled as the agreement may require; and (f) conform to the promises or affirmations of fact made on the container or label if any. (3) Unless excluded or modified (Section 2--316) other implied warranties may arise from course of dealing or usage of trade.

http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSS … ARGET=VIEW

You need to stop telling customers you don't have a warranty. That's just plain not true.

And I would say a random motherboard failure after 10 months is pretty chinsy quality if you ask me.  Correct me if I am wrong, most computer manufacturer's offer a year long warranty from random failures.

Now I appreciate that you can argue that a failure after 10 months is outside your implied warranty. 

But honestly if he hasn't done any upgrades, or fiddled around with his machine other than using it to print.  I'd be crying fowl too after 10 months and a broken machine...

They have apparently updated there policy since I last dealt with them.  I suppose I stand corrected.  Although I must say that is in my opinion a sad policy for a company that says on their homepage...

So ya know... kind of not affordable if it breaks after 10 months and needs a $150+ part.

Just seems a very unfriendly user practice. ya know... "Easy to use and affordable, but if it breaks mysteriously get out your wallet. Cuz we're not going to."

Also one quick note, i'm not sure there disclaimer necessarily vindicates them from any legal responsibilty for faulty product.  I'm pretty sure it still has to be delivered as per described, which would mean a printer free from manufacturing defect.  But again, a broken MB after 10 months may very well pass muster on not not being considered a manufacturing defect.  Again though, I find is slightly deceptive that said policy is not listed clearly on their products page.  Legal perhaps, but in good taste.  Not particularly.  And in the end it's a sad statement about quality control of the product if they have enough defective MB's etc... that they find it too costly to replace them when they break from normal use, etc after 10 months... Which seems a bit short of a life span for a $800 dollar machine at the time of his purchase.

Right not a charity, but a business claiming to make affordable and easy to use printers.  Hardly the case if they are breaking after 10 months which is a very short time for such a large purchase. Especially given the normal use the user states. 

And again, if they can't stand behind a normally used product that has such a significant failure after 10 months there is no way i'd recommend anyone purchase one and not expect to shell out a few hundred more "just in case" it breaks. 

If they don't want to deliver on a quality product they are welcome to do that, but not being able to provide customer support on a significant failure well below what I am assuming is there average life expectancy on the MB's is a sign that they have significant failure rates, and are not terribly interested in educating their customers on the true cost and risks of owning a solidoodle.  Which they are not obligated to by any means.

But than again those are the companies I avoid giving money too.  If you aren't going to be upfront with me about your products failure rates, etc... that is the sign of a company who just wants money, and doesn't want to solve customer problems.  Which is the reason I give my money to any company.  I need help solving a problem I don't have time to. 

Also of course not for the entire product existence. But at least to make it comparable to their average life expectancy.  10 months is a horrible average life expectancy that should make people wary of buying their product.  Especially on such a major component. 

And again all of this can easily be fixed by appropriate customer education upon purchase, as opposed to after they have a broken $600 + paper weight.  They can say it's the consumer's responsibility. But I'd never do that to any of my customers for my business.