Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
Happy new year to all,
I ordered the Original Prusa i3 MK3S kit along with various accessories on the 6th of December after I contacted Prusa via their Chat and verified that the maximum dispatch time was 2 weeks (as mentioned in their website), and that they will ship the goods before the end of December 2019.
The order was finally shipped on the 3rd of January 2019. In the meantime I had contacted Prusa customer service via their online Chat quite a few times asking about the shipping of my order and every time I got the same answer, which was that my order was being processed but could not give me an answer as of when it would dispatch. Near the end of the year, in my last online Chat communication I was told that my order will probably not dispatch within 2019.
My question in this forum is if anyone who ordered after Black Friday had its order dispatched within 2019?
This is my first purchase from Prusa and I have heard and read great reviews for their products. But I am quite disappointed from how they value the customer, their customer service and the commitment to their announcements.
Please also note that there isn't any phone number available in any of the two Prusa websites in case someone would like to make a contact with them over the phone. The only phone number I managed to find via google search was the +420222263718 from this web page: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/prusa-research and I was always put on hold indefinitely whenever I called it.
I would appreciate it if I could get other buyers experience on this.
Thank you in advance,
Friendly regards,
John
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
Prusa is a small company that got big. They are still experiencing growing pains.
If you did reach them on the phone, were you expecting to speak to them in Czech - or Slovak? I am glad Chat handles English.
They do the best they can, but buying from giants like Amazon may have affected your expectations.
Shipping in less than 30 days over the Christmas rush - is not bad. It is not like they have a warehouse full of these things, ready to ship out.
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@robert-rmm200
Concur. Pretty darn good. Just not good enough for our instant gratification world.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@robert-rmm200
Hi robert,
I appreciate your comment, nevertheless a 50% off in their estimation is quite big, especially when there is no effort to inform customers thru their webpage for the extension of the delay.
I wouldn't like to put pressure to a growing company as I am also a company owner. But as such I really put a phone number in my website for anyone who would like to contact us to be able to do it. If anything, it's good manners. And yes English is not our mother tongue either. Since Prusa has a chat in English I guess it wouldn't be unresonable for one to think that the people in the chat also speak the language.
I also assure you that I am not an Amazon addict (btw Amazon may also delay deliveries). But I do know about response times and customer information since I import goods from very small to very big companies and from many places around the world and also do some exports too.
Please see my post as an indirect positive feedback for Prusa, and a mean to convay a message of the negative feeling created when goods are shipped on the 3rd of January instead of the end of December as the customer had requested a month's time earlier.
I wouldn't like to elaborate more on this because I am sure it is very clear to the trained eye.
Again, thank you for the comments, and happy new year
John.
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@inf-70
Happy new year to you as well!
Your experience is the same I had in the last couple years on new products from Prusa Research. They got always flooded with purchase orders and I'm really impressed how they still manage to stay responsive. Yes, the online chat is more or less the only option you have but on the other hand every request I had was addressed in timely manner and to my satisfaction.
I'm pretty sure the reason why there is no support via phone is because Mr. Prusa think they can't provide same level of quality like they do over chat. Maybe they would be able to in couple years once the company will get bigger.
The delay of your purchase was actually pretty small and not 50% 🙂 . I understand your disappointment but in Europe the December month has less working days then for example US and many people are taking vacations. Combined with a new released product the delay was kind of predictable. And I agree with you that the order status could be more transparent.
Often linked posts:
Going small with MMU2
Real Multi Material
My prints on Instagram
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
I ordered a mk3s just after christmas
and hope it dont take over a month before i get it .. their shipping shedule say 1-2 weeks so hope that is true ..
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
I ordered a mk3s just after christmas
and hope it dont take over a month before i get it .. their shipping shedule say 1-2 weeks so hope that is true ..
And AS i wrote this my order went from backorder to shipped.. so looks like they are back on Track with shipment
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@petter_m77
What date did you order your printer? I ordered the same printer on Jan. 4th so I just curious how long you waited compared to when my order was placed.
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
Having watched the factory visit video on Youtube and how everything is so closely track I am surprised they aren't able to provide more detail on where an order might be in the queue. I'm in the same position of having ordered on the 4th January. The help page says "1-2 weeks" but it also says "The dates are only an estimation and rely on the actual production. We're doing our best but please be aware that it can shift up to one extra week for the lead time. Or we can positively surprise and ship a bit sooner." So effectively that's a pretty wide window if you take both those statements into account.
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
At least you got yours 🙁
It's unsettling to part with a pile of cash and then not even get an email or any updates. Just send me some spam or cute pictures of cats or something at least than my order just sitting saying "on backorder".
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@colin-alston
Agreed. I ordered my printer on the 16th of January and it stated 1-2 weeks for processing and yet it still says backordered. Sent a message thru customer support a couple days ago and no response. It's extremely frustrating to not get some sort of update, email apologizing for the delay or some sort of correspondence to let you know that they haven't forgotten about you ( I know they haven't but it feels that way).
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@colin-alston
Agreed. I ordered my printer on the 16th of January and it stated 1-2 weeks for processing and yet it still says backordered. Sent a message thru customer support a couple days ago and no response. It's extremely frustrating to not get some sort of update, email apologizing for the delay or some sort of correspondence to let you know that they haven't forgotten about you ( I know they haven't but it feels that way).
Which printer did you purchase?
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
On any support issue - including delivery, don't rely on EMail.
Talk to Support directly using Chat.
Click EShop above, make an account if you have not, and log in.
Shortly a Chat button will appear.
Support can give you any information related to your shipment that is on their computer.
Please be polite - you will get better results - and remember you are not dealing with Amazon.
This is more like the downtown hobby shop that grew too fast. But they try to satisfy.
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
Howdy from Texas! I wish my first post was not in this thread but I just got off CHAT that I'll be waiting for another two weeks. Ordered Jan 5th 2020.
Unfortunately, this is for my business and I had been warned not to buy direct from PRUSA because they're known for delays but I was nervous about ordering from a vendor. I guess my community was right. =(
I hope the quality and prints outshine the delay!
Anyone in this group from Texas?
Alex
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@charles-h13
The MK3S + Powder coat. At the time I ordered the lead time page said 3-5 days, but that was then amended to 1-2 weeks.
Anyway, I did get my printer after 2 weeks. I chatted to support and they very quickly gave me a shipping date which was spot on.
The printer is great, I was very slow and careful with assembly. My only snafu was a missing Y-axis belt, so I just ordered a roll of the stuff on Amazon rather than bothering to complain and waiting probably another 2 weeks. I mean when you're an hour into building your printer already the show must go on!
For fun here's a 25% benchy printed with E3D's 0.15mm nozzle.
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
New user problems appear reversely related to how long they take to build it.
The slow and careful ones seldom have a problem related to assembly. The others - not so much.
Nice - small - Benchy!
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@charles-h13
Sorry for the late reply, I ordered the MK3S. Got an email today from support and they said that they are not sure why it hasn't shipped yet but it should ship today (2-19-2020)
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
I must admit that aside from the delay and the missing oportunity to do the suff I needed before New Year, I did enjoy the assembly of the printer and the nice Haribo touch.
I haven't done much printing though, and I still have issues with objects sticking on the surface or with disformations at the edges, while I still use the fillament that came with the printer.
I hope I'll get the grip of it soon, If I find some free time that is 🙂
John
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
Fortunately, I have to reverse my comment. I just received a DHL message about shipping, which falls within the 2-3 week estimate.
I guess the Chat guy had the wrong intel, but I'll take it! I just wanted to report my update so we can keep a pulse on the delivery times posted by others.
Thanks!
Alex B.
RE: Insufficient customer service and support regarding delayed shipping
@colin-alston
For future reference, any issues with warranty will ship the next day. 3 days to the US.
Glad you got up and running. I hope you bought genuine Gates belts. Knockoffs will stretch.