It is a real pain in the wallet to have Shapeways cancel one (or more) items from an order, let the maker become aware of this fact, and immediately cancel the item from the order. I would like to see a maker given 24hrs notice that a model is unprintable. The maker then has the option to update the model and have the order continue OR let Shapeways know the item can be cancelled. If a response isn't received by the maker within 24hrs then the item is cancelled as happens now. THIS way if the maker acts fast enough the model can be revised, re-uploaded and kept on the SAME order so that an ADDITIONAL shipping charge will not be incurred. This very thing happened to me today. I was able to get a new model uploaded within 4 hours of receiving the email but NOW have to pay for ANOTHER shipment to go out!
If the changed model is significantly larger, who is responsible for, and how would you handle the additional payment required?? This is one of the major reasons it's not been implemented yet. They can't just 'ignore' the price difference, and handling partial payments is very tricky.
A fair point, although that could be an additional "out" for Shapeways not to keep the item in the same order. I would hazard a guess that any model that cannot be printed simply because of size could automatically be assumed ineligible for the inclusion in original order. Or how about this: When re-ordering (within 24 hrs of being notified by Shapeways) the maker could indicate somewhere "Please include in shipment with Order # XXXXX" and this would cancel shipping charges for that order. Yes, I know, not all easy things to implement but I would hope Shapeways could at least look at the problem and try to find a solution at some point. This request isn't all about saving money for my own purchases; I'm running a business with very low profit margins. Every re-order like this cuts into profits considerably.
Lensman, thanks for the feedback. The first step we are taking to fix this problem is the option to "merge orders". This would enable you to upload a new version of your product, order it and merge this with your existing order. In that way you would save on paying shipping costs 2x. Stay tuned. The other option(to do it in flow) is much more complicated for the reason Stonysmith explained. How to handle less or more expensive parts. To ask for small extra payments or do refunds is harder from a tech and UX perspective. Pete
Totally agree and this new option sounds ideal. There have been times when I've placed an order one day and then needed to order again 2 days later. This could be very beneficial.
I hope this means you guys will also be much more proactive about contacting designers when issues crop up. in my experience I often only find out a model has been rejected around the same time the order it was from ships out, so MAYBE if I'm lucky to see the emails come in quick enough(and assuming the reason for the rejection is clearly explained and doesn't require going through CustServ to get a useful explanation) I can make the fixes and put in a new order in time to do a merge. And it's not like I don't know when things are being re-printed because we can tell by observing the Orders screen, if a model goes from "in-Production" back to "Processing" we know it's because the print failed in some way but we never find out how unless it's rejected. As a designer this is frustrating as there have been times when I've seen this happen to my designs and tried to find out why it needed to be re-printed but no answer could be provided. These are the kinds of things you guys need to work on if you want a system where it is actually feasible to merge orders in instances of a rejected/failed design with a fixed version based on my experience.
This is definitely something we would like to improve soon! We want to be able to share the information you want to know, - did my model successfully pass the manual check - did you have to reprint my model, why? - was my order delayed, what's the new delivery date. Hopefully we'll be able to get you the information on the order page soon rather than you having to email us to find out what is going Mitch
Hi, I think that before rejecting of model for buyer, which already paid $8000+ for print, SW MUST ask designer about. Maybe, he can make some transparent optimizations or take some right suggestions for correct printing rejected model. I am sure in it. It's best way if SW has save customers live. Sincerely.
I understand your concern Panguver and It's definitely something we have to improve in the future. Unfortunately as Pete and Stony mentioned, making changes to a model before actually rejecting it opens a can of worms that our current process doesn't support. I checked what happened to your recent order which got rejected to see if there is anything I can do to help preventing it from getting rejected. Unfortunately I noticed that the account was deactivated as the shopper that bought the platinum ring was a fraud (stolen credit card ) This means that even if we didn't reject the model, it would have been cancelled. Best, Mitchell
Sorry for my cynicism, but as soon as I read about the $8000 sale the above was my immediate thought. Perhaps because in my day job I investigate frauds! There is just so much "card-not-present" fraud these days that I wondered if Shapeways ever got hit with them. Now I know. Luckily, you have a lengthy turnaround between ordering and delivering so I would imagine that SW does escape a lot of this.
Absolutely, I'm afraid. With almost next to no time shipping the item is usually delivered (and NOT to the fraudster's house!) many days, weeks or even a month or more before Amazon would even become aware of it. I know of some small businesses that have been driven to bankruptcy instead of having landed that huge order they've long been waiting for....
I have interesting question about. What would happen if (for example) my design will be shipped through a stolen card, but the investigation will be long, and I will spend this money? PayPal will sue me?