'We're increasing your Education Program discount!?'

Reposted with some frustrated language toned down.

Don't misunderstand: maybe most people who use the Education Program discount are ordering exclusively in WSF, in which case, good for them, but I print almost exclusively in Stainless Steel and Precious Metals. Shapeways really should understand just how much of a kick in the face, followed by a kick to the groin, followed by a salad fork in the eye, it was for me to see an email with a subject informing me my discount was increasing, only for me to follow up and find out that actually, I'm LOSING my discount.

Discount is up to 20% on WSF, and is down to ZERO on all other materials (it used to be 10% off all materials). I... I don't even know what to say. It's yet another Shapeways 'feature' or 'upgrade' or 'improvement' that is secretly actually screwing the customers over, desperately spun and advertised as something good.

I have no words. I got an email that promised good news. I contacted service to follow up and was essentially told I was crap outta luck (just to be clear, service was nothing but courteous, but it still feels like that. It feels like Shapeways just told me where to stick my education discount.).

I just... wow. What a crappy turn of events. I feel outright disrespected at this point.

Maybe talk to your PR people and advise them not to label an email 'You're getting something good!', when the reality is 'We're taking away something good that you already had, and we're telling you it's good news, suck it up.'

EDIT: And just to clarify even more. I know I might be an unusual case in that the majority of my orders are other materials - it makes perfect sense that most students' orders would be WSF. But that doesn't change the fact that I just feel so let down and disrespected by Shapeways right now. I was told I was receiving good news, but when I followed up to clarify I was flat-out told it was actually bad news, sucks to be you. No offers of compromise, nothing, just two sentences and a 'really sorry'.

Same spin doctoring as with the wsf+steel repricing, thought they would have learnt something from that. (And while I am certain that they ensured compliance with applicable US laws, I am less sure if this wording is in accordance with Dutch laws and EU directives such as 2005/29/EC).

They probably decided that for "educational" purposes the ordinary WSF material is sufficient for learning the ropes, if education is the primary goal? While it may not allow a student to produce a larger steel statue for a final class project with a discount at least it could be produced in WSF with a discount. The new policy would prevent people who maintain an aliased educational institution e-mail address after they graduate from being able to leverage the benefit for increased profits if they are reselling the items.

MrNibbles, just to clarify I have absolutely no problem with shapeways deciding to change their educational discounts, it is their money and time spent after all. What I took issue with is the rather unfortunate wording of the message.

I don't have a problem with the pricing either. It is what it is. In fact my printing budget for the next year or two has just been blasted away by the costs of a root canal and a crown pretty much no matter what the prices are. My cart will be mostly transferred to my wishlist for the immediate future. Can I get a dental discount? Ha, ha.

However not being completely familiar with the .edu discount I thought I'd point out that it could also be a source of abuse since many people I know retain a .edu mail address after they graduate. Of course Shapeways might examine the volumes of purchases using the discount and set other limitations against high volume buyers, but SW would have to chime in on whether that happens at all. It all depends on whether the bean counters at SW are aware that it might be happening.

Really? That's fantastic news if true. Service told me otherwise. I'll hold off on the celebration (and apology) until we get confirmation, but my fingers are crossed.

Can people do that? When I graduate, I'm almost positive I lose my college email. It isn't a .edu though, it's an extension specific to the college.

They must have a master list of valid domains that screen for qualifying for the program. As far as keeping an address after you graduate it depends on the school. I think in some cases the address is converted for use in a forwarding system that will forward it to any other address. In that case you can't always reply using that school address but sometimes you can if it aliases both ways and can shield your "actual" address. Anyway, I'm not sure how things are verified.

According to the education page you can only get $200 worth of savings per year, and it also seems to be showing the new information that it is only valid for WSF. Not polished or any other material. Someone must have changed the policy without the proper authorization or review. I always blame the bean counters. They hate losing nickels or dimes.

https://www.shapeways.com/education

Pete is the CEO and cofounder of Shapeways so I guarantee you that change is going to happen.

Really? The more you know.

Looks like it's time to go back to school!

That's... kind of amazing, actually. Thanks a LOT!