NGØM

Upon their inception, MakerGeeks (MG) delivered good quality PLA and HTPLA.  As time passed, their customer service (response time, delivery time, even dispute resolution) diminished greatly.  My suspicion is that the company cannot keep up with demand between it’s monthly subscription box and its web-site orders.  It seems as though the more subscribers MG bragged about via social media, the worse their service got.

MakerGeeks now has (and has had for a while) an “F” rating with the BBB.  The link is here.  BBB has a warning banner at the top of the page for MG that reads:

Now, the products that were delivered were always of decent quality.  But Mr. Smith’s handling of the business is far from desirable.

My woes with MG began during the summer of 2018.  I placed an order in early June, and had to poke the bear about the third week of June to get my product.  MG proudly displays on their website that because of their location in the US that shipments arrive most places in the US in two days.  In this case, it was more than two weeks, and only after I prodded for answers.

I figured, okay – he’s human.  I placed three more orders on between 9/6/18 and 9/7/18.  On or about October 1^st, all three orders were marked as Fulfilled.  I contacted MG about this and they said they would take care of it.  I couple of weeks later I started emailing about the missing orders.

I was given all kinds of absurd excuses, including that they were out of resin.  Um – if you can fill the monthly “Geek Box” which is PLA, but not my order – how are you out of resin?  If you would have said colorant, okay – I can understand that.  “We’ve got emergency resin coming in, we’ll get this out asap.”

ASAP didn’t mean the month of November or December either.  I looked up Mr. Smith’s personal email address at MG ([email protected]) and the “support” email ([email protected]).

You see, Mr. Smith changed the support email from “support” to “geekhelp”.  My opinion of this change was to avoid talking to customers with legitimate concerns about their product.  It was easily found on his webpage though.

With the difficulty of emailing Mr. Smith – because he only replies once a week or so, and only after you send two or three emails – I decided to use the website chat option.  We reached, what I thought was a reasonable solution – substitute the colors I chose for ANY color you have in stock.  “Okay, we’ll get this out next week,” he replied. 

Next week rolled around and nothing was sent.  I chatted with Mr. Smith again.  He apologized and got 1/3 of the shipment sent out.

Another week goes buy.  I tried to chat with him again.  Low and behold – he removed the chat feature from his website.  So, I began another email campaign.  He seemed to respond better if the message was sent early in the morning.   I mentioned that the chat was missing from the website.

In his final reply, Mr. Smith blamed the “shipping department” for dropping the ball, lied about the chat still being available, and against our prior arrangement, flat cancelled the remaining 2/3 of my order.

I have documents to back up my claims of the arrangement that was reached, and will provide it if necessary.

Here are some links with similar stories to mine:

• https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/16464-springfield-3d-printing-supply-company-maker-geeks-fails-to-deliver-goods-bbb-warns

• Read Comments and Description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4cHyurW1Gg

• https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/makergeeks.com

• https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/8iwj03/makergeeks_think_twice_before_ordering/

Upon their inception, Endurance Lasers appeared to offer promising diode laser modules for CNC machines and 3D printers. However, my experience with their products and customer service has been disappointing, particularly regarding their claims about output power and support quality.

I purchased a laser from Endurance Lasers and discovered they were over-driving 5W diodes to achieve their output power claims. The support was lack-luster when I encountered issues, and the overall value compared to alternatives was questionable.

Issues with Endurance Lasers:

Overdriven Diodes

Endurance Lasers has been known to overdrive their diodes to achieve claimed power outputs. This practice can significantly reduce the lifespan of the laser module and potentially lead to premature failure. Their 5W diodes were being pushed beyond their rated specifications, which raises serious concerns about product longevity and reliability.

Performance vs. Claims

The actual performance of their lasers often falls short of what's advertised. While they claim superior cutting and engraving capabilities, many users (including myself) have found the results to be only marginally better than much cheaper Chinese alternatives available on the market.

Customer Support Issues

When problems arise, their customer support has been described as "fair to middling" at best. Response times can be slow, and the quality of technical assistance is inconsistent. This is particularly problematic for a product that requires proper setup and occasional troubleshooting.

Technical and Design Issues

Users have reported various technical problems with Endurance Lasers products, including connection issues, installation difficulties, and inconsistent performance. The design of some components doesn't always facilitate easy integration with existing CNC machines or 3D printers.

Community Feedback:

I'm not alone in my experience. Other users have reported similar issues:

• "The laser works, but it's not nearly as powerful as advertised. I could have gotten similar results from a much cheaper unit." - Forum user review
• "Support was responsive at first, but when I had ongoing issues, they became much harder to reach." - YouTube comment
• "The mounting hardware is poorly designed and required significant modification to work with my setup." - Community feedback
• "For the price point, I expected much better quality and performance." - Online review

Alternatives to Consider:

If you're in the market for a diode laser, consider researching these alternatives that may offer better value and reliability:

• JTech Photonics laser modules
• Opt Lasers modules
• Sienci Laserbeam

Conclusion:

While Endurance Lasers does produce functional laser modules, the combination of overdriven diodes, performance that doesn't match claims, inconsistent customer support, and design issues makes them difficult to recommend, especially considering their premium price point.

Before purchasing from Endurance Lasers, I strongly recommend thoroughly researching alternatives and reading current user reviews to make an informed decision.

This page is meant to share my personal experience and the experiences of others in the maker community. Your experience may differ, but I believe potential buyers should be aware of these issues before making a purchase decision.