Hello all, this is my first and likely my last post. I’ve been following along with everyone’s great work and posts for inspiration, as well as watching training videos and content from Carbide 3D for a few months now, both on this site and youtube(great work everyone). Also I have been preparing projects using there simple intuitive software carbide create, which is what pulled me here in the first place.
I’ve been building my own CNC (using a friends CNC - it’s CNC inception!) for a few months now, and I decided to give back to this “great” company for creating great free software, with the intention of buying the PRO version once my machine is built and I get some experience. In the mean time, I purchased 2 items from their shop to support them because I truly believed what they were doing was special and stood out. Living in Canada, I was excited to see FREE shipping to Canada and the US if I order over $50 claimed BOLDLY in multiple places across the entire website. Knowing how crappy our CAD is right now, this was an absolute must, so I could justify buying from them instead of Amazon, just to support a smaller independent specialized company.
I ordered a sweepy 2.0 and added a McEtcher 90deg bit to get over the threshold for free shipping to apply. Both came in excellent condition and look like great products, though I have yet to use them as the machine isn’t built. A month later, I get a bill from fedex(which was the option to receive free shipping) for $50!!! (my whole order was $85 USD) I inquired to C3D about this issue hoping it was a minor mistake on their end, only to be sent to a FAQ page that is hidden and not easy to find without being sent a direct link. This FAQ says international shipping may have duties etc. Not uncommon. It IS however, expected when shipping is advertised as FREE to my country that Canada would be considered exempt from this, otherwise they are blatantly lying. Not to mention, there is nothing through the ordering process that suggests at all, that there will be duties etc. on your order. It’s hidden in an FAQ that nobody would go looking for, nor is there a reason for a customer to go looking for it, because they clearly state FREE SHIPPING TO CANADA!
Not only is there a shipping cost, it’s 50% the cost of what I ordered, and is actually the most I have ever paid to ship ANYTHING, and I’ve purchased things from the states that weigh 100lbs and are over 3ft long, (including some steel machine parts for this CNC build). And this order came in an 8 inch box.
My frustration for supporting a company because they seemed like a great company to support has only bit me in the butt. And at this point, it sounds like they will be doing nothing for me, as it’s “clearly” hidden in their FAQ’s, so not their problem. And I suppose they are right. I’ll have to pay for it. But you’ve lost a customer for life. My next purchase was going to be CC PRO, and likely a few more specialty bits, and probably supporting you for years to come. Instead C3D has burned the bridge with a customer who was trying to do the right thing and support you. And we all know how narrow this industry/hobby is. Not a good practice to be treating the few customers that exist, this way.
I imagine this post will be taken down, but hopefully it saves 1 person from getting fleeced like I did over such a small purchase when the cost of living/inflation has grown exponentially. I will be looking for local/Canadian sourced products from now on, and will be posting my story on any other generic CNC sites that I now have to join as I leave this community.