I recently got a contract to print out a large number of parts I designed. I needed more printers and purchased 2, K2 Pro Combos less then a month ago. Two weeks after purchasing one of the two, started to malfunction with a number of errors coming up. Later in the day or next morning, the second printer started malfunctioning with even more error codes. Both are dead in the water.
Initially I tried creating a support ticket but the form kept erroring out as I tried to submit the ticket. I waited 30+ minutes to chat with a human. I sent them the information I tried to submit and the support person created the ticket. I got an email confirming the ticket and the number for it.
I didn’t get any responses after the ticket was created. 3 or 4 days later, I checked “My Ticket” and no tickets, waiting or closed. Again I try to create a ticket and the same problem, I get an “Error” when I click on the submit button. Again another wait to chat with a human. I see the new ticket and number in “Processing Work Order” in “My Ticket “ folder . I check the “Work History” and find the 1st ticket is closed. No tech support interaction, no emails but it was closed.
After countless emails and time passes, I was told by Creality they don’t provide tech support for printers purchased from resellers. The resellers are responsible for supporting the printers they sell. I bought both printers two different orders to the Ebay store, Official Creality Store, Creality-3d-direct. Creality sent me an email saying I need to contact the retailer at “candyduoduogo@hotmail.com”. Immediately I realize this is not a good start. I contact them but I don’t hear anything. Contacted Creality CS again. Days after I was looking for an email in all places including the spam folder and I see an email from “Zheng duoduo”, candyduoduogo@hotmail.com in the spam. This is the tech support.
Before finding the reseller emails, I was getting some support from the email cs@creality.com which I thought was either the reseller using the the generic support email address. I was adding info to the support ticket on Creality site. I got a large number of emails from cs@creality.com. After sending more videos and log files, I’m told they(?) were sending out a Y axis motor. During this time I was getting tech support email from the cs@creality.com, info@creality.com, candyduoduogo@hotmail.com, and notiservice@creality.com.
After a ~month of support emails, I found out my printers were purchased from two different resellers on Ebay. Both had the same Ebay name, Official Creality Store, Creality-3d-direct. Researching the Ebay purchases I see two different addresses and digging further I found different company names for the locations.
Now I’m working with 3 entities to support my printers. reseller #1, #2, and Creality (creating tickets). Neither of the resellers have or use a tech support help desk/tech support system like Zendesk. Everything is by email, no location to upload videos or logs. I ended up creating Google Drive folders and links for each reseller.
As much as I like my 2 K2 Pro printers (when they worked) and the various Ender 3 printers, I ended up buying a Bambu Lab H2D printer to get by waiting to get the K2’s working. I don’t want to go down the Bambu lane but I’m running out of options for affordable larger format 300x300 and reliable printers. The Prusa printers are now catching up to Bambu and have always considered very reliable but the cost is too much for me.
After troubleshooting both printers, it’s obvious the printers are defective. I didn’t buy these printers to become a tech support person TRYING to fix the printers after purchasing them.
I have asked to get a refund or replacement for both printers. I still don’t have either with 2 boat anchors setting next to other slightly older printers and now Bambu Lab H2D working nicely but not my choice of companies. Shipping the printers back to China will cost between $400 - $500/printer. I am screwed.
Creality really needs to get their sh_t together. The K2 printers are not ready for prime time. These are beta printers. Their support is an absolute joke. I would much rather have a Creality then Bambu printers. With all of the new printers hitting the market now, Creality will be putting themselves out of business unless they figure out how make reliable printers with better support.
Jay