I like the pieces on their sprue. So orderly!
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Limited Run Doctor Who 8th Doctor Alternative Sonic Screwriver 3d Printed Model Kits 2.0!!!
- Thread starter Doctor Octoroc
- Start date
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- Tags
- doctor who
doctorwholittle
Well-Known Member
It's like a beautiful Sonic Screwdriver factory!
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
I heard back from the rep at Shapeways. According to them, because I chose the 'print it anyway' option, they're refusing to reprint any of the parts. I'm giving them hell about it because they're abusing the PIA option by passing off mistakes on their end as being the result of print it anyway. It would make sense for design flaws but the issues I raised with them concern pieces of certain parts missing entirely from the order and others that printed fine in every other instance except for a few that clearly indicate a machine error on their end. I've seen this before, they lead with 'form' responses until you fight them, then they actually look into fixing the issue. If they don't respond through emails I'll take it to the forum and try to get the community behind my cause.
It may take a little while to settle the issue, apologies for these delays, everyone. If I can't get them to cooperate by the end of the weekend I'll eat the costs myself so you don't have to wait any longer and continue to the cause for justice after the fact.
It may take a little while to settle the issue, apologies for these delays, everyone. If I can't get them to cooperate by the end of the weekend I'll eat the costs myself so you don't have to wait any longer and continue to the cause for justice after the fact.
doctorwholittle
Well-Known Member
Again, big bummer to hear that SW isn't stepping up to the plate and owning their share. Is there anything we can do to help?
Mr Mcgoo
Well-Known Member
I'm just generally hearing more bad things about Shapeways nowadays. A few years ago I wouldn't have heard a bad word against them.
The situation just generally sucks with this, but I am patient enough to wait and hope Shapeways resolves it without them trying to make it seem like they didn't goof up.
The situation just generally sucks with this, but I am patient enough to wait and hope Shapeways resolves it without them trying to make it seem like they didn't goof up.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
They really have gone downhill in just the last few months.
When I did my first run of 3d printed Doctor Who props two years ago, they refunded the cost of the ENTIRE order I placed because the parts didn't fit right (I attributed this to a change in their printing process but never did get a definitive response on the matter). Needless to say, their customer service circa 2012 and before was amazing but once they changed their pricing structure at the end of last year, a whole bunch of even poorer decisions followed and every question/criticism was met with an explanation with the underlying message of "but that would make us less money". These days the forums are blowing up with complaints about bugs on the site, problems with the consistency of the prints, and customer service being of no help. It really sucks because 3d printing is such a cool technology and I hate seeing a company that started out doing it so right now getting it all so wrong. I used to recommend them to everyone, and you'd think they would treat a customer who has sunk roughly ten grand into their service over the years with a bit more tact than they are now.
I don't see them lasting much longer in this ever-growing 3d printing market if they continue down this path...
paulidale
New Member
Sounds like totally crap customer service 
Hope you do recover costs or get reprints done for free.
I want one of these for 3D printing
- Pauli
Hope you do recover costs or get reprints done for free.I want one of these for 3D printing
- Pauli
You would hope that the rep would have looked into your account history and realised you are a not only customer who is experienced but also one worth keeping. But it seems only too frequent that companies wish to dismiss unhappy customers. "The customer is always right" seems to have been replaced with "how can we lower the quality of our goods/services." Good luck with the fight Doc they will see sense in the end.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Sounds like totally crap customer service
I want one of these for 3D printing
- Pauli
Holy amazeballs! That's an insane breakthrough in speed and quality! Bet these suckers will go for at least 20k when they hit the home market.
greatwazoo42
Master Member
Take no prisoners Doc! Give 'em 5 shades of Hell!
The Valeyard
Member
HI, just wondered if there was any update?
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Nothing yet. I followed up with customer service over the weekend and have yet to hear back. Hopefully they respond soon so I can get this all settled. Worst case scenario, I'll pack up the kits that I can based on who put their orders in first and send those out first.
The Valeyard
Member
That sounds fair.
(Although annoyingly I seem to be very near the bottom of the list!
EDIT: Oh wait - they are in alphabetical order - Duh! )
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
That sounds fair.
(Although annoyingly I seem to be very near the bottom of the list!
Yeah I wouldn't worry, you were one of the first to order - and if it weren't for your buddy taking their sweet time, would have likely been one of the first to pay as well haha.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Update! So Shapeways was reluctant but they offered to give me a credit for a reprint of the parts that were missing. I'll be putting in that order once I hear back from them (I'm waiting on a confirmation that they'll reprint the two that didn't fuse). Hopefully, there wont be any delays with that order as I will NOT be using Print it Anyway lol.
doctorwholittle
Well-Known Member
Fingers crossed, and thanks for the diligence.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Well these were parts that were sprued together and the sprues broke, causing some of the pieces that were attached to others to go missing while some did not. The description of the "Print It Anyway" option is vague and therefore can be interpreted in a number of different ways. I always saw this as an option to print parts that might break but that those parts should all be included, even though they separated during removal/cleaning. According to Shapeways, this is one of the risks associated with PIA.
My main issue was that the parts that were missing were quite large and presumably very hard to miss, and that it was almost as if they purposely left them out of the order out of spite. My point to them was that since the PIA option is described as a way for designers to test their prints so they can see what went wrong, if a part breaks (be it along a sprue or a weak point in the actual design), all pieces of that part should be included to give the designer as much insight into the issue as possible. Leaving a large piece of the print out of the order isn't giving the designer the full breadth of information they may need to asses their design properly.
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