Need advice on how to handle a situation with Solidoodle (Page 1 of 5)

Wow, that's quite sad. I would most certainly suspect you have received a refurbished unit, considering those are built in Brooklyn and that school district is in Vista, California. Sorry to hear that OP but it sounds pretty Solidoodley to me. I doubt your machine was inspected in any way.

If everything else in the machine is OK, aside from that fan, you might as well keep it - but check the frame for square because your machine has been through a lot of transit now. It'll probably be more hassle than it's worth to return it, and who knows when they'd send you a replacement, if you even want one. I'd only return it if you for certain don't want a workbench.

They've discovered that their customers make better repair techs than the ones they forgot to hire, and they've shipped you a unit that came in for repair.  Please ship it back to the school district when you have it running smoothly, and don't forget to file a W-9 form.  8*|

I would send a forum mail to Soliryan and link this thread.  That way it goes to his regular email.

I do like the Apprentice and I'd like to keep it, but I'm concerned about this unit. I don't like the fact that it was in someone elses possession and was somehow sent to me without any inspection in between. Aside from the broken fan, the y-axis belts were so tight when I received the unit that I could not even move the carriage by hand without an excessive amount of force. Even if the fan issue gets resolved, which will most likely involve them sending me a replacement and having to install it myself, who knows what else could have been tampered with or what could go wrong in the future? As much as I don't want to go through the hassle of an exchange, I think that is probably what I would prefer.

I would feel the same way, insist on an exchange.

Wow . You are right if you pay for a new  item it should be new . not a return or refurb unless stated and discounted.

I purchased  my sd4 as a used machine and it has done well . yes had to tweak adjust etc.

Some times with certain Chinese imports slightly used is better. As the first owner has worked out the bugs and made the adjustments. Cleaned off the burs and made the final fit and Finnish the factory neglected.
You need to decide the best course of action  How long will an exchange take? 
Best of luck.
Tin

Those are assembled in Brooklyn.

Seriously???

When is the last time you looked at the place of manufacture on most your appliances or electronics?  Just because it has a Japanese, American or Korean or whatever-else brand name on it, it doesn't mean it's made there.  What about your computer components  I'd venture to say most of them are made in China.

Then again, maybe the Solidoole is made in one of Brooklyn's Chinatowns ?

I like to use knife and gun companies as examples. Anytime one of them ever ventures out to China the product turns to crap. Anything mechanical they cheap out on. Their electronics are pretty good. But nothing mechanical they make is worth two cents, motors, bearings, any metal products. China just puts out poor quality mechanical products and I'd argue the Solidoodle is their latest screw up. Also solidoodle severely needs a service center. Their customer care is terrible.

Solidoodle is now marking all my open tickets as solved with no response...

I pm'd him a link to this thread last night. No response yet.

Well considering there's no option to buy refurbished units