Anyone Have BotMill Feedback?

CdnReprap: That question crossed my mind. Maybe they want to avoid a transaction fee. I decided that as long as it's money, I'll be satisfied. The slow responses have kept me worried & diligent about following up, but slowness and perhaps delay have been the norm in my dealings with Botmill so far.

Example: they asked to confirm my address for delivery of the refund check, though the Glider itself obviously made it to me. 3 days later (late Monday) I asked if the refund check had been mailed. The reply stated that checking with their accountant would be necessary, and I should wait for an update.

Paypal refund has no fee.

Yes, in fact they will get the original fee refunded as well, so If they refund by cheque they will lose that.

---

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Well this is all good feedback if I am to start some sort of reprap business

ChrisDotson: My factual information about my experience is at the top of the page your first post is on. brnrd's post should be strongly considered. From my experience,what you say you need you will not get from botmill.

You can look back at my posts, below are pics:
[gallery.me.com]

Just look through the earlier vids from john...
[www.youtube.com]

Okay it's bad.
Like I said we placed an order for a Glider on the 24th of march, and we still haven't anything. ( it's almost 4 months ago) I don't tell you how many emails we exchanged with Shaan, Fred and Gil (maybe 30 or more). We still can't log on their website...
At the end of june we asked for a refund because they weren't able to send us a printer. Shaan said refunds are immediate, it's been now three weeks since then. In the meantime, after one of our request mail, Shaan proposed an Axis plus instead of a Glider... Just Amazing.
We run a company, and we also place many orders through internet, but this is bad, really bad.

I ordrered my Axis kit back in early March if I remember correctly. It took several emails to get a straight response. Keep pressing them. You'd honestly be better -Glup- getting a Thing-o-matic prebuilt. THAT WAS A HARD PHRASE TO TYPE. But their bots "Just Work" as they say.

It's expensive at $2500 but I easily have that much into new tools and equipment just to get a $600 Prusa Mendel built.

BTW My experiences with botmill are well documented and I've both sung their praises and wag-o-my-finger at them. Mostly the wagging. My guess is that they are the latest in a series of failed and shadowy companies that have been owned my the same 2-3 guys. They smelt the blood in the 3D printer water and came looking for bait.

I have cut my ties with them and will no longer purchase anything from them. The biggest lesson I've learned is that you don't give someone your money if you can't reach them within 24 hours. Be that email or a phone number. BTW have you noticed Botmill doesn't have a phone number to call? They used to, it was a Magic Jack line that they never answered.

Cut your losses and demand your money back immediately. If you don't and they eventual send you something it WILL NOT be in working condition. When they respond to your refund request they will tell you they are shipping it tomorrow (or some other short time frame.) Do not back down and get the full refund in the method you used to pay for it.

I've used my kickstarter page, Youtube channel and Twitter accounts to blast them when they are misbehaving. I used the same hash-tags (#) they did in their tweets and suddenly they stopped tweeting for several days. Once I canceled my order and was done with them they resumed.

I'm kinda convinced they are a branch of Mendel-Parts because in one of the emails I got from them used the same icon as seen on mendel parts. Not to mention they sell the Gen6 boards and most of the same extruder hardware. So they are either MP US company or they are working closely to corner the Gen6 market in the US and Europe.

That's my rant for now. And since I know they are lurking around, hi Fred and Gil!

Tel:561-705-2990
Fax:561-852-2337

Rami Mayron
President
[email protected]

Content Media Inc.
www.industrial-leads.com
www.SellingBin.com
www.BotMill.com
www.FloridaTennisCup.com
www.FloridaTennisNews.com

After I opened the dispute at PayPal, turned out that exactly the same day the package arrived to Hungary.
Only I was not informed about it was sent at least 10 days earlier.

The delivery company told me, the price written to the parcel is 1065 (without currency code) which is the cost of the AXIS 2.1 not the AXIS 2.1 PLUS for i modified my order later. (Anyway, i will not have hot-bed and switchable extruder head, i did not payed the difference. Maybe i order these somewhere else, or make them myself)

Now I am administer the customs (which is another horror drama, but at least not fully (only 70%) BotMill's fault)

For the customs I still need a VAT Invoice with the exact currency code, and the exact content of the parcel.
So I wrote to Shaan to send me these.

Turned out, that they sent me the previous package without the electronics, and without some part of the extruder. But, of course they sent me that, in a normal postal package.

Now it is my turn to figure out how to tell the to the toller that this package is not a full package, and the next package should not be tolled; and not need to confiscate everything, because it is not a shady business, only a simple 3D printer sent by a bunch of amateurs.

Yesterday I received my first portion of the Axis 2.1 kit.

The parts are blue, not yellow, and the electronics and the filament are missing. Botmill (Shaan) promised, the electronics will arrive shortly, and they will send me another parcel with the filament.

Everything else looks like reprap quality.

Too bad it was not able to arrive before my holiday, I do not have time for at least two months to put together.

Increasingly, it seems much better if I had to order from an European shop, because I did not have to pay duty, but I had to pay VAT. That's more expensive than to order from Europe.

Hi everyone, Hey I am another one of those Mendel vendors out there. Boy we have been busting our butts to get our printers out. Yes never send money before you get your printer. I decided when I started my little business that I would not take money until the customer was happy. That has worked very well so far. I tell the consumer that if they find a better deal or can't wait, Just say hey I don't want it. I tell them, no problem..

Why anyone would take money is beyond me? If the customer doesn't want there are 40 others that would love to have it.

I am trying to specialize in a Mendel custom build shop. We build anything from 8x8 - 24x24 with a heated bed. Our standard is 12"x12" with 10" in build height.

Come check us out. We answer our e-mail in immediately. I have it linked with my blackberry. We post pictures of your build, and we are there for you when you have a problem. I try my best to solve your issue. If not we will refund if you are not happy once you receive your printer.

I went through hell with certain vendors on this site. Six months with a purchased 3D printer and it never worked. I busted my ass to figure out everything about it and get it working. Now I am here to help others get through the horror.

Come check out us out at [thefutureis3d.com] and look at the pictures and take time to read through the documentation.

We are here for you..

By the way, we are a four man part time shop. So it will take time to receive your printer. But it will work. It will be of the highest quality, and we won't take your money for three months and party like a rock star.

Once we have a relationship you will also get my home number and cell for any questions.

Jeff Christiana
support@thefutureis3d.com

Today I received my second parcel, with the electronics, and the metal parts for the extruder.

I miss only my 1 lbs of PLA filament.

Maybe I take back the dispute in PayPal, even though I am quite angry with them that they still can not bear to comprehend what is my name, and it was quite unpleasant sucking for two months...

Update: I gave up trying to deal with Botmill myself. Palm Beach County Consumer affairs is now assisting me.

Hello everyone,

I would like to describe my poroblems with Botmill. I ordered a Glider and 5LBS PLA, and the order was placed on May 30th.
Today, there is neither Glider nor cash. They have informed me a month ago about sending a kind of check with cash return, but until today i haven't received my money back.

We have sent more than 30 e-mails regarding this case. I also informed appropriate authorities about this particuar situation. What do you think ? Will I get my money back from them ?

It is also amaizing thet BotMill is still on the main page of reprap.org, and they are still selling something that is only an imagination ...

Regards
Arek

I have added a warning to the kits and assembled Mendel sections:

Some vendors are known to have customer service issues. Do your research!

Fine,

But I think that this vendor should be ripped out from the list.
In Poland there is a Consumer Affairs Organisation, that helps in such cases. Is there something similar in USA that refers to my case ?

Regards
Arek

The Better Business Bureau is what you are looking for.

---

Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

Botmill, dont do it lol. I ordered a full kit the Axis Kit didn't get it for 5 and a half weeks, only got it then because i threatened to cancel my order, i had it then within 5 days at my door. I didn't want to leave it 6 weeks because of 45 day limit to file a dispute on paypal, anyway finaly had my kit so was making a start on it the following weekend, when i unpacked it all the most common bolt used in the kit M4x40 was missing and this kit uses more than 100 of them and also the thermistor, i informed Botmill i had to buy the bolts but there was no form of compensation and as for the thermistor, i received it last week and i bought the printer in May this year

Never Again !!

Thank you !

Could anyone tell me where are they from ? I couldn't find any information on their web page.
I need this info to put the claim.

Regards
Arek

Ok, are they really from Boca Raton, Florida ?

My third parced with the PLA filament arrived.
Small flaws, they sent 3mm. The hot end in the kit accepts 1.75. Thanks.

Because I have very little time to deal with the assembling now, I do not know what is still missing from the package.
Now I am trying to assembly the extruder, and the hot end. Looks like from these [botmill.com] missing at least the half of the parts. In theory the hot end can work without them, but I am not sure.

... now, that 3D-Systems aquired Botmill, this should change dramatically ><

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

spacexula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Not once have I seen a core member of the RepRap
> dev team come out and say "Botmill is great folk,
> you should send money to, we endorse them".


They may not endorse anyone, because it's not a business-oriented company. From what I've gathered they are all for free and open source printing, and making it available to anyone, thus it would not surprise me if they had no endorsements,
however they do address botmill as one of the sales channels you should look at when buying a mendel:
Botmill is the first on their wiki list on "how to get a fully assembled Mendel" found here

You haven't read enough if you think that way. Botmill gets mostly negative feedback in this forum because of poor costumer service, poor assembly, poor delivery, and inconsistent quality of printed/molded parts. Their practice of charging your credit card within a couple of days after receiving your order and before delivery is also uncommon among reputable companies that charge upon delivery. This is a major problem since they can be months behind in shipping.

I think this is a fraud.
I have also purchased a fully assembled axis in may, and have not gotten anything from them. They say something about that their company has been bought, and that they need time to move and produce all the printers, but actually by now I expect them to neither refund my money, nor send me my printer. I will look out to engage a lawyer now, as I think someone should stop this practises!

Paid for a fully assembled "Glider" 3d printer (based on the Mendel Prusa, I believe) in July of this year (2011). Received an estimate of 5-6 weeks for delivery. Almost 10 weeks now and no printer, no refund.

I've asked several times for a refund and have received nothing.

I have filed complaints with the FTC, IC3, BBB, as well as the Attorney General of my state and the Consumer Protection Agency in South Carolina.

I would advise anyone else being defrauded by Botmill (aka Content Media, aka 3d Systems, aka Gil Mayron, aka Shaan Dholakia) to do the same.

Call 3D systems and discuss the problem, insist to speak to somone hold if you need to. Call and follow up with them every day.

or call your credit card company and file for a charge back.

1. I placed an order with them on July 7.
2. Their policy cited 4-6 weeks for delivery from order.
3. Nothing happened for 3 weeks, then I saw this page.
4. I wrote an email to them, asking for an expected ship date.
5. Their response was to send me a copy of my invoice and charge my credit card.
6. Shaan sent me an email saying that it takes 5-6 weeks for the order to ship (he added a week to the beginning of their advertised 4-6 weeks time frame). As per Shaan on July 28 my order was in queue for plastic parts
7. A week later on week 4 I requested an update.
8. On August 5 Shaan answered with "we are waiting for arrival of electronic boards. I inquired when they expected the boards, his response was - sometime next week.
9. 10 days later, on week 6 of my order, since I haven't heard from them again, I requested another update.
10. Their response was that BotMill was acquired by 3D systems, and the operations were moving, so there ould be more delays...
11. 3 more days later I requested another update > their response was the are going to clear all orders "within the next few weeks"!!!!
12. To me waiting another few weeks was not acceptable. I demanded they shop out no later than August 24.
13. On August 22 (weeks 7) Shaan's response was that they typically ship on time, (really?!) but due to high demand they are unable to provide a concrete shipping date. Not only that but, the machine was built, but it was simply waiting for electronics! (wait: weren't they waiting them a couple of weeks ago?) He offered to send photos of "my" machine, as if I could tell it apart from "someone else's" machine.
14. I told him to either cancel the order, or I'd dispute the charge on the credit card, since they had already charged it and it was time to pay my bill.
15. Shaan promised to respond first thing next morning.
16. He didn't
17. I inquired again on 24th of August.
18. On August 25th Shaan thanked me for my patience!!! and said they are doing their best. Still no shipping date.
19. I had enough, disputed the charge on my credit card.
20. Still haven't heard from BotMill, I don't expect to.

Obviously the folks at BotMill are in the business to make money, they don't give a damn about your finances, they pretend to have excellent customer care, where as they just have lip service. They might be intending well, maybe they are sweating while they write their lip service responses to the customers that they are about to loose. Maybe with the sale of BotMill they made millions and consider themselves successful businessmen. What ever the case is, who ever is thinking to place an order from them, I hope my experience serves as a warning to you, and you do not do the same mistake I have done > ordering before reading this forum.

Hello,

I think that this is definitely a case for the police. This is a criminal issue and the BotMill's link on reprep.org should be immediately deleted.
Is there anyone that could do that ?

My story is described above. I am still waiting for my money back, and they still write many apologises.

Please do not make any purchases at BotMill !

Arek