Flashforge Filament super Fail

Well, I have written about Flashforges fantastic service for nearly 2 years, time to bring up some of the bad :(

If you have read the Black filament thread here you would have seen the issue I had with the flashforge filament, black in that case.

They were very nice and quite some time later sent me out a new one free of charge, so I don't want to sound like an ingrate, but the spool they gave me, well it's actually been the most problematic spool I have ever tried to use (besides the black one lol)

When I started using it, I posted this picture, as it was splitting because of too much pressure and a bad lock.

Flashforge ignored me completely. Everyone. Amazon, China, America.. no one answered emails. The only person that actually seemed to be concerned at all was my contact at Flashforge Phillipines, and even he was powerless as a reseller to make any headway.

Now, let me for the record state, I said in my emails quite specifically, I don't want another replacement, I just need an acknowledgement you understand you have a problem with your Filament rolls. A simple YES WE ARE LOOKING INTO it would have sufficed. This is a company I have literally advertised for free for, sent countless people their way, let them use my images for examples in selling their printers - all I wanted was a reply.

Anyway, months later I finally got around to trying to use the roll. About every 5-10 rotations it would split apart, pretty annoying. But.. I sat there, fixing it everytime for nearly 1kg of prints.

It started like this...

http://www.devogeninteractive.com/pi...6_53D27784&jpg

And when it got to this point after fixing it I kid you not hundreds of times, I just gave up and I will use this for scraps...

http://www.devogeninteractive.com/pi...9_53D27784&jpg

The moral of the Story is, save yourself my pain and buy filament elsewhere.

I think I would have wound the filament onto another spool. And/or taken the filament off of the spool, and glued the spool. But it is good to hear this kind of information from somebody who has done business with this company. Based on what you have said, I won't ever buy anything from this company. I don't care to be victimized by a company that won't even admit there is an issue.

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Originally Posted by Roxy

I think I would have wound the filament onto another spool. And/or taken the filament off of the spool, and glued the spool. But it is good to hear this kind of information from somebody who has done business with this company. Based on what you have said, I won't ever buy anything from this company. I don't care to be victimized by a company that won't even admit there is an issue.

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To transfer it to another roll impossible - as I said every 5-10 revolutions it would split and tangle, to swap rolls would have taken more time that it was worth! also once these are split, you get filament falling through the cracks, literally needs complete dismantling.

you also will notice they are all steering clear of this thread :)

That's ok, check the view count on the Flashforge forum versus the other manufacturers :) I'm sure someone will get the message.

Geoff,

The work you've done in the 3D printing community has been tremendous. It saved beginners who are new to 3D printing a lot of time and headaches. I'd like to thank you for it as I've learned from some of your tips as well.

FlashForge does not have an official 3DPB forum rep that's chiefly in charge of checking every thread and reply. This is why the FLASHFORGE USA contact info is in my signature in case anyone needs direct assistance. I also do my best to come on here once a day, but sometimes I can't go through every thread.

FlashForge knows the importance of offering excellent customer service. It has been and always will be the number one goal that we aim to go above and beyond.

The R&D team is aware of the issue with some of the filaments. They are in the process of making improvements. Regarding communication problems with reps from FlashForge China, I will forward this issue directly to their management. But sometimes, it could be that e-mails are sent to their junk e-mails.

Customers are the life blood of FlashForge. We are in the business of introducing 3D printing to the world and servicing our customers, not jeopardizing this relationship.

P.S. still waiting for your PM so I can have one of my sales give you a shipping quote for the hot bed and glass plate :)

Peter

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter@FFUSA

Customers are the life blood of FlashForge. We are in the business of introducing 3D printing to the world and servicing our customers, not jeopardizing this relationship.

P.S. still waiting for your PM so I can have one of my sales give you a shipping quote for the hot bed and glass plate :)

Peter

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Would it make sense to make the previous issue 'Right' and then move on to new sales?

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Originally Posted by Roxy

Would it make sense to make the previous issue 'Right' and then move on to new sales?

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Hi Roxy,

I totally agree with you.

When Geoff had issues with the filament, I told him to e-mail me the issue directly, and I'd forward the concerns to FlashForge China he bought the filaments from. As far as the type of reimbursement FF China offers to Geoff is out of our scope of control here in the U.S. office. We cannot decide on the reimbursement for them. That was the only time I've ever communicated with Geoff regarding this issue. Therefore, I am left in the dark regarding any further communication Geoff has with FF China.

As mentioned in my previous response, I will address the communication issue to China's management team.

Peter

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter@FFUSA

Geoff,

The work you've done in the 3D printing community has been tremendous. It saved beginners who are new to 3D printing a lot of time and headaches. I'd like to thank you for it as I've learned from some of your tips as well.

FlashForge does not have an official 3DPB forum rep that's chiefly in charge of checking every thread and reply. This is why the FLASHFORGE USA contact info is in my signature in case anyone needs direct assistance. I also do my best to come on here once a day, but sometimes I can't go through every thread.

FlashForge knows the importance of offering excellent customer service. It has been and always will be the number one goal that we aim to go above and beyond.

The R&D team is aware of the issue with some of the filaments. They are in the process of making improvements. Regarding communication problems with reps from FlashForge China, I will forward this issue directly to their management. But sometimes, it could be that e-mails are sent to their junk e-mails.

Customers are the life blood of FlashForge. We are in the business of introducing 3D printing to the world and servicing our customers, not jeopardizing this relationship.

P.S. still waiting for your PM so I can have one of my sales give you a shipping quote for the hot bed and glass plate :)

Peter

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Hi Pete, I don't require the glass plate anymore, as you recall I inquired about it several months ago now, and the shipping was too much ($150 for a glass plate and hot bed...) We discussed shipping and you guy's said there wasn't a lot you could do at the time about it, which was fair enough and I gave you some information regarding cheaper shipping options, and that's where it was left.

You have asked for my shipping address a couple of times, If you also recall you already have my shipping address, twice, in two emails. :) (the filament replacement?) both emails of which you didn't respond to? remember those? I had to email you again to see if you received it, to find a message on here from you saying you forwarded it to Amazon flashforge - I then get an email with the trail from Flashforge amazon with your messages to them so I thank you for forwarding it but a reply would have been nice, that's sort of generally how I deal with customers. "Ok no worries, we will pass that on, thanks" it's not rocket science. If you do indeed pride yourself on how you do business, you might even try and dig them up? just a thought.

My emails are not marked as spam, well at least I know they are not when I order something form you or contact FF regarding a sale...

Now, I did wait patiently for a while, and then combine that with another month or so of trying to contact people regarding the filament, I sort of got over it. I have put more into Flashforge than I normally would as a customer, so I felt a little peeved.

I did feel we were the lifeblood of flashforge up until that point. Instead of getting cranky, I just gave up and started shopping elsewhere. I didn't expect special treatment, just the sort of treatment a long standing customer would normally have. I worked in Sales for many years, so I am a bit tougher than your average customer. You guys had been so awesome, it was like your customer service radar just switched right off.

Now, that same $150 got me from China, for Free delivery, an entire 3D printer Prusa I3 kit minus the rods and frame. It came with the Glass plate,alum bed, gasket (20cmx20cm - alot more useful than 22x15!) ) heat bed etc.. Jhead, the lot. then for a little extra, the rods and a mega prusa board LCD screen etc.. Had one of you managed to figure out that it doesn't cost $100 to ship a hotbed to Australia, we could have avoided this, but no one even tried. The first time ever someone couldn't ship something to me from the U.S, but even sadder as I said no one really tried an alternative option, I just wasn't worth the time. Sure, it's only a pissy hotbed and glass plate, but the principle was more important. I probably could have then chased all the other Flashforges across the world to see if they can help me, but in my eyes, you all represent the company, and if Flashforge USA can't help me, then I guess no one can. And if I am having so much trouble getting parts for my Flashforge, heck I might as well just build my own.

I wasn't just after Glass, if you read the thread, you would see my heatbead has been completely warped since day one - that's why I wanted a hotbed replacement also. I don't have months to source the right size - that was my problem, the glass I could get anywhere, it's that heatbed size that was always hard to get. and still today, the bed is no good. So I thought, stuff this, let's just buy a whole new one. I had no set budget, just wanted to get the good gear.

How much did it all weigh? 11kgs. Free delivery. What does a heatbed and Glass plate weigh, even with super duper packaging? I don't care who sends it, $100 postage for a $50 package that's light as a tissue box , I expect Santa himself to hand deliver it to my door.

I know china is a competitive market and hard to beat... but In my simple mind, it would have been an INTERNAL email from you guys to FF China or elsewhere to source a cheaper option. I know, call me crazy.

With all respect, I tried my hardest to stay a Flashforge customer, I really did. I've never had anything but good words to say about the company and the machine. I even asked about starting an Australian Branch, but was told it was only ONE distributor per country. That's BS. We have several chains selling them here, and they are doofuses, sorry. I have a couple of them email me for support and I cringe helping them, they jumped on the bandwagon and have absolutely no idea how the machines they sell even work.

I looked at the creator X thoroughly. Ironically the same thing that led me to buying your Flashforge Creator is what turned me off buying the Creator X. It was too expensive. (Like Makerbot pushed me toward you guys originally) I paid $1135 for my Flashforge nearly 2 years ago, so upgrading to a metal case and what appears to be more problematic electronics did not seem worth the extra money (and the extra money turned out to be more than buying an unassembled machine - I got my entire prusa kit for under $500.) I already have my perspex at the metal cutters making me an Aluminium 5mm frame for under $100, so basically the entire thing is less than a refurbed flashforge, with the option to add my own dual extruder if I so desire to print one out (got plenty of spare parts now....) I look at the components and then break it down and for me, all that money was in the metal case, a metal case I can have made for much much less.

I have pulled this flashforge apart so many times - there are so many design issues that you could fix, but if no one will listen to a filament roll suggestion (sorry, if no one will reply to a filament issue suggestion) then probably not worth giving too much input in design, I mean what would I know, I've only done 1500+ hours on this machine :p (not including failures!)

So yeah, If I see people with an issue for the original flashforge i'll still be happy to help them, but as for buying another one, sorry mate you lost me as a customer :( Should customers try so hard to be retained? I don't think so.

p.s Is this where I mention (for the 8th time) I now have two destroyed nozzles from some sort of resin that was in that bad black filament? that I have already bought a second extruder for $400 to fix that issue, (as I now I have another dead nozzle because I was testing it to send photos to you guys?)

You need to put all above into one package to truly understand where I am coming from.

anyway, that's my rant over lol

Well said, must add it was a lot more pleasant than I would have been given the circumstances.

Hi Geoff,

I replied the very next day after I received the first e-mail from you in this thread as I thought you'd see there since you were active. I wanted everyone on the forum to know that I was actively assisting customers. My apologies for not sending a duplicate response via e-mail.

I take everything that you've said (and suggestions from any other customers) very seriously and will talk to my team here about changes we can make. I hope that you will see the improvements we make in the near future and give FlashForge another chance to earn your business.

Peter

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Originally Posted by Peter@FFUSA

Hi Geoff,

I replied the very next day after I received the first e-mail from you in this thread as I thought you'd see there since you were active. I wanted everyone on the forum to know that I was actively assisting customers. My apologies for not sending a duplicate response via e-mail.

I take everything that you've said (and suggestions from any other customers) very seriously and will talk to my team here about changes we can make. I hope that you will see the improvements we make in the near future and give FlashForge another chance to earn your business.

Peter

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I don't generally check my forum inbox for replies to my Gmail Pete ;)

I know it sounds really trivial to you, and to a certain extent it is, but I guess that was the point about customer service I was trying to sink in. If you were truly interested in retaining me, or increasing the chance of a future sale, then you wouldn't have kept asking me for my shipping address. I know it was back in April, but to save you the hassle, here is my direct quote, from the Black filament thread on the 11th of April

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Thanks Pete,will send you another email with my details. I ordered mine direct from FF3DP.com

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with emphasis on the "another" in that quote...

So yes you have my shipping address, you had my shipping address. I didn't think I would need to give you the nudge, but here we are my friend. So while this particular situation can't be salvaged, use the experience as a re-seller and Customer service rep to make the improvements. Don't make another unhappy Geoff (or Bob or Shazza or whatever their name may be..)

Also the fact that no-one seems interested in user input in the design of your machine is also a little frustrating. If Flashforge had the machine perfect, I and many others wouldn't be here, I think that's a pretty accurate statement. To be fair it's not just you, I have made many suggestions, emails, but I have never received a reply from any emails except for ones asking about pricing (and warranty)

I'm sorry Peter, as I said I gave you many chances to earn my business again, but we are well and truly beyond the point of investing in Flashforge again in the forseeable future.
I do hope for the sake of the machine you do make the improvements and business continues well, it really is a good entry level machine.