IMakr Removes MakerBot Printers From Shelves Because of Dissatisfaction

[Brian_Krassenstein]

In a recent announcement, iMakr is moving MakerBot’s latest lineup of 3D printers out of their stores due to discontent from their 3D printing customers. They will continue to sell the MakerBot Replicator 2X but will no longer retail the Replicator Fifth Generation and Replicator Z18 3D printers in a move meant to adhere to their strict dedication to customer service. For more details on what iMakr is and is not carrying, check out details in the full article: http://3dprint.com/23136/imakr-removing-new-makerbot/ ‎

What do you guys think? Was this a smart move? Any MakerBot 5th Generation printer users out there? iMakr's London store:

[janeg]

I have a 5th Generation Replicator, and I had an issue with my first Smart Extruder, but it was swapped out in 48 hours and has worked fine since. i've also bought previously from iMakr who I have found to be universally rude and unhelpful both in the store and afterwards for support

[wpilgrim]

All I can say is... About time. I am happy to see a store dropping the new 5th gen printers. janeg of 1 post, if what you say is in fact true you appear to be in the minority, as countless people that I know are having issues with their printers, "smart" extruder after "smart" extruder later, and still air prints. MB's ludicrous $100 per support issue policy and spin doctoring their extruders problems as "natural wear" is a joke. I hope more stores follow suit and maybe just maybe it will send a message that MB's consumers haven't been able to send and we can get back to the great company that sold great machines that Makerbot used to be.

[Geoff]

No surprise, and I hope more re-sellers follow suit.

[jfkansas]

Yep, a kid I know saw me post some stuff on facebook that I had printed. He took a snap shot of his schools 5th Gen printer. LOL. I said oh boy, those teachers are in for a headache. Makerbot is trying to be an Apple of many years ago. Lets get them into all the schools then they will be makerbot customers for life....

[GearSting]

Wow that's crazy that MB would actually release faulty products like this. Probably a good thing as long as it's turning more people away from MB printers.

[Alibert]

http://www.tridimake.com/2014/06/do-...-printers.html ......

[bongodrum]

I am not surprised that IMakr are doing this, and to be quite honest, I am very surprised that my local Makerbot vendor has not yet done the same. The only reason I can think of is that they have not sold that many Makerbot fifth gen printers yet, so they are just beginning to experience the pressure from their customers.

I am surprised that Makerbot Industries have not stepped up and been more proactive. The only way I see them dealing with this where they might get out on top is to admit that the fifth gen was a disaster and start to work really hard to make sure their customers are satisfied. This is what separates good companies from the bad ones -- the good ones focus on the customer and when they make mistakes they do right by the customer even if it costs them money. Because the alternative here is that the Makerbot brand is irreparably tarnished and Stratasys will have pissed away hundreds of millions of dollars on what is about to become a toxic brand.

I think this is in the process of happening. Pretty much everyone I know who is in some way involved in 3D printing, be it on professional systems or as a hobbyist, is now deeply skeptical about Makerbot Industries -- and by extension: Stratasys. You could not give away a fifth gen Makerbot to most of the people in the know. (I know, I just asked a hackerspace if they wanted one of our fifth gens and they didn't even want to waste space on it).


One way they could resolve this would be to offer ALL their fifth gen customers to trade in their product for Replicator 2 printers, which are actually pretty good machines. Another way they could deal with this is to a) provide multiple extruders with each printer (including the ones they have already sold), and b) just allow people to service them themselves and make sure the spare parts and instructions on how to service them are available. Of course, this won't fix the host of other problems the machines have, but it would be a show of good faith from Makerbot Industries.

Because right now, all people see is an arrogant company that has made a defective product and who are not ready to stand by it and who are not doing anything to fix the situation. Nobody wants to do business with a company that does not stand by their product.


I'm still in the process of trying to work out how to get the Replicator 5 gen to work with Makerbot Industries and I have made quite an effort to allow them room to fix things, but I am not seeing convincing efforts from Makerbot's side. I've held off blogging about my experiences thus far in order to give them a chance to put things in order, but I've realized that I might be doing others a disservice by not reporting on my experiences as they unfold.

Either way I have been thinking about writing up a more comprehensive article and offer it to the membership magazine of one of the major engineering organizations in the country I live. Because I think that if people's first exposure to 3D printing leaves them with printers that are broken and which they cannot possibly fix themselves, that is going to turn a lot of people away from 3D printing.

[wpilgrim]

@bongodrum I agree with your post here, especially about makers and 3D print enthusiasts being turned off from the brand, I don’t know a single person from these groups who is happy with MB’s current line up (plenty are happy with their gen 4’s and below, I am one).

I think this goes even further though and quite frankly has more potential for harm. Right now the people that I know of that are actually buying gen 5 machines are those that are new to 3D printing. They know Makerbot, because let’s face it, it is certainly the biggest name in the consumer grade 3D printer world, and they have sat around long enough and finally have decided to invest their money in this technology. And instead of getting the plug and play machine that they believed they were going to get, they get a machine that is already more complicated and presents more problems than 3D printing already presents. So now they are turning away the next generation of adopters, because quite frankly they don’t know any better. They believe they are paying top of the line dollars for a sound machine that is far from sound.

Also this is happening.

but I've realized that I might be doing others a disservice by not reporting on my experiences as they unfold.

I know person after person who is “giving MB” a chance to make it right, I mean honestly who wouldn’t after spending that kind of money, but by not letting others know of the problems, we are allowing a crappy company to continue pulling the wool over the eyes of new adopters. We need to get the message out there and THEN they will hopefully start to change.

[JRDM]

There's a lot of stories already out there, but people don't seem to investigate actual user experiences. They're out there, just waiting to be found.

And Make Magazine review doesn't mention these issues either.