Mismatching sets making customers furious, plead to ensure new models with sprue is used for reprint

Hi,

In short, please help get the information to the right Shapeways people in time...

I have products which are sets of rings.(https://www.shapeways.com/designer/VR_Gear)

They are attachments for a virtual reality headset and without them render the headset quite unusable for some people - the differences between the models are subtle but are mm important. I had a problem where a bunch were ordered around the same time and (I'm assuming) got mixed up during polishing. In short it was a total mess up, everyone receiving the wrong things and having to have them resent after waiting...

Shortly after I added sprues to the sets, i.e. a little piece of plastic joining the two - to ensure they aren't mixed up.

However, ...these reprints are coming in and they have been mixed up again and customers are furious with Shapeways and I, especially since they have to wait so long each time!

I guess that when a reprint happens, they use the model version the customer originally bought, not the most recent. I need help to get the message to Shapeways that they need to rather use the recent models with the sprues because if it happens a 3rd time, there is going to be breakdowns happening all over the place.

I've of course emailed Shapeways support, had this conversation with about 6 different support staff - I think there must be 30 customers are affected by now which is costing Shapeways a lot, some of which probably just think the product is junk because they trust the sets are correct. I need help escalating this so that this exception to the rule for these specific reprinting are done (i.e. use the updated models instead of the originals for these people).

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Regards,
Barry

Here's the sequence:
You upload version 1 of a model and the customer orders it.
You then upload version 2.

The customer will receive version 1, unless they cancel the order.
You can't the change file and the customer receive the changes.

If Shapeways were to switch to Version 2 of the model, there's nothing to stop you from say changing the object from a sphere to a cube, or you could double the size of the model. If they were to do that, Shapeways would be paid only for the smaller model, but it would cost them for the larger model. They can't operate that way.

The customer receives the copy of the file as of the moment of purchase, because that is what they selected, not some later (updated) version, even if you change the model only minutes later.
(by the way.. that also applies to any markups you might select or change - only what is active at the moment of purchase is what they pay)

Hi, yes this is precisely why I am asking here and trying to talk to someone about this who can understand the conundrum and has legitimate power to override the standard procedure in this case temporarily otherwise it will be an endless cycle of fail (already happening over and over) and it is costing Shapeways and everyone involved.

I..e this is a problem that is rare due to the subtle differences of the models and that are two disconnected pieces.

A fix has been made to assist, if support staff took a moment they would see that it is indeed just a sprue not an entirely new shape.

This is really a question of whether Shapeways can react to this specific problem (only needed for the few orders still coming back now), or if they are going to continue to fail in this regard.

I got this message from a customer, addressed to both Shapeways and myself - this guy has around 10 mismatched sets now.

"I am ready to give up, and share my experience with all of the OculusVR web sites, so I can warn them to NOT waste their time trying to get a usable product from you. Tell me if that is my only option and I will stop begging for the item I paid for weeks ago."

The Oculus community is close knit, they hear about all the news mostly through reddit, they are +50 000 people and many have never heard about Shapeways. So it's not smart to let this bad impression out on all those people if we can just ensure the 10 or so people needing replacements gets sets that aren't mixed up.

So... anyone I can talk to about this who can assess this and make a call?

Or at the very least print it in White Non-Polished so there is less chance of mix up during polishing...

Really something _anything_ different at this stage is going to help.

(remember I have no handle on which customers are talking to shapeways or not about this and I don't think contacting one support staff gets word out to the others)

Let's make sure we're talking apples and apples here..

There is a big difference between Shapeways accidentally shipping the wrong parts, versus the condition of dealing with models that have been changed after a customer purchased the original version.

The first situation happens from time to time when two customers order similar models .. Shapeways works hard to try to prevent that.
But.. the second condition, where you have modified the geometry..... they are not equipped to deal with that.

I have two models in my shop that are EXACTLY the same geometry, but they are mirror images of each other. They are two entirely different files and model#'s. With nearly two million total files out there, it's unreasonable for me to expect Shapeways to 1) inspect for or 2) know that two models are so close to each other.. Each model stands or fails on it's on right. That is why each model has a FirstToTry flag of it's own.. if one of them succeeds to print, the other one isn't guaranteed to work.

Unless some model has printed thousands of time, it's unreasonable to expect a team of 30+ people to remember my the uniqueness of my all-too-similar models. If they had to inspect every item printed for small changes against a possible prior version, it would drive the labor costs thru the roof.

(Btw, I'm glad you talking this through with me - I think soon we will be on the same page).

In this case we are talking about Shapeways accidentally shipping the wrong parts.

> The first situation happens from time to time when two customers order similar models .. Shapeways works hard to try to prevent that.

It is happening pretty consistently now, today I got 3 mails from people who have got the wrong parts... the second time round! I'm trying to prevent a third time for these particular people. Keep in mind ordering usually follows a post somewhere about them, a whole batch gets mixed together and they are getting royally confused - this is only going to stop with the new designs with the sprues.

> But.. the second condition, where you have modified the geometry..... they are not equipped to deal with that.

I have changed the geometry only to help Shapeways not get them mixed up. Also these new designs have already been successfully printed with new orders. Can't they rather give them a credit and have them reorder the same thing, or do that themselves? Surely the support has the power to do something like that.

> it's unreasonable to expect a team of 30+ people to remember my the uniqueness of my all-too-similar models.

Exactly my point, they can't, so I suggest using the new model with the sprue to assist or at least ensure that they recommend non-polished for those requesting reprints.


So these are the options:

- Do nothing new, let the lottery of getting the right sets continue for those whose orders are in the past. Mixing up a second or third time reflects badly on Shapeways and keeps costing them money and loss of current and future customers.
- Do something, help ensure those irate customers get what they ordered the next time round. Everyone is happy. Shapeways is a hero.

Thanks for your time.

P.s. I've attached a picture of the differences.

It seems like there could be an "obsolete previous versions" button a designer could click to ensure that any problematic old reprints are directed to the latest version. But that also opens up an entire can of worms related to pricing differences, possible abuse, and general confusion. Perhaps it is a button that only Shapeways could activate after reviewing the problem to save themselves future hassle and wasted efforts.

If there is a complaint registered to customer service, and customer service sees an obsolete redirect they could then offer a refund or a print of the latest version if the price has not changed between versions. It might also help to include other information on part labels such as model version numbers (v0, v1, etc.).



BTW, that sprue seems awfully thin. If it breaks you could end up with the same problem. Perhaps a looped wire connecting the parts would be better? It also eliminates sprue points that need to be trimmed.

Just to follow up,

It looks like support is going to print the newer versions for the customers coming back with these problems so that is great news for this particular case. I've since made the models far more connected and with a tag to state their size/variant. Thanks for the help.

For interest: Sprues are 1.2mm as recommended by support, this is what the new versions look like