What printers does this part fit?
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 3:10 pm
I enjoy working on my cars and often search for parts on-line. The VERY FIRST thing car parts web sites ask you when you are looking for parts is "what kind of car do you have?" Once you tell it what kind of car you have, you see the brake drums, rotors, gaskets, whatever, that actually fit your car. These systems are so sophisticated that if you pick a part that will not fit your car, some of them actually warn you when you go to purchase the part.
I'm not suggesting for a minute that you need a system as advanced as a car-part inventory system, but I absolutely think that the description of your parts could be MUCH better. What printers do these parts fit? A MK8 Extruder may be a great thing, but if you don't include a list of parts needed to fit the extruder to the printers that you make, people are going to be frustrated.
Let me give you a couple of personal examples. These are my experiences purchasing your products from your website to fit on a printer that I bought from you. They range from kind-of dumb to unbelievable. But if they happened to me, I'm certain that similar things have happened to others.
Mk 8 Extruder Mount plate, 43-001-043. It says "For mounting a Mk8 on other frames". What you don't say is that you can't use it to mount a Mk8 on YOUR frames. Don't you think that is important to say? Fortunately, I only spent a few dollars on these, but I really expected them to fit my 3 month old Geeetech Aluminum Prusa I3. They don't. A better explanation and/or a couple of pictures showing how they are really supposed to be used, rather than just a picture of the part mounted on an extruder, would solve the problem.
OK, what about the regular extruder holder, 45-001-0198? You show it mounted to your extruder, which I own, so it should be a no-brainer, right? WRONG! You need the extruder mounting plate that you don't sell separately and it DOES NOT COME WITH THE EXTRUDER! So even though I have your printer, a spare Geetech extruder and your mounting plate, I STILL can't put them together into an extruder assembly. Don't you think people should know that another part is needed to make this work? And don't you think that, maybe, you should actually sell that part?
I also purchased the dual extruder holder, 45-001-0119. I purchased this to eventually mount my Geetech dual extruders to my Geetech Aluminum I3. (Yes, I have a GT2560 sitting in a box, too.) But....wait a minute, looking at the pictures, I'm supposed to mount two extruders facing the truck (the back) with no fans? How does that work? How are the fans that came with the dual extruders I purchased supposed to mount? So the fans and cooling fins came with the extruder but I don' t need them? Or are your pictures wrong? Or do they mount someplace else? Pretty strange. In this case even if you referenced the Prusa Pro dual extruder's manual, it would help a person understand how they are supposed to mount. The part, by itself, with only one incorrect picture of how to mount the extruders on it, doesn't really help anyone converting their printer to dual extruders. Trust me, a LOT of people want to do this and a little how-to in the forum would be VERY helpful.
So there are several examples involving a couple of hundred dollars worth of parts that I've purchased that I can't use because Geetech did not provide complete or accurate information on their listings or a part or two that I need are not listed. You can look at this from two perspectives. The first one is that I dion't know what I'm doing and you guys don't need to address this type of issue. OK, I can understand that. I can also guarantee that taking that perspective will cost you sales and get you seriously slammed in reviews. Or you can look at it the way I'm hoping. I just spent a lot of time and energy trying to explain ways that you are frustrating your customers by selling parts with little or no explanation on what they are for or how to use them. I personally am a master tinkerer and can figure all of this out without writing you this note, but I am also an adjunct college instructor who realizes that others, in this case you guys at Geeetech, might learn from my experience on your site. I bought your printer. I like your company. I want you to succeed. I suggest these improvement to help ensure that you do.
That's it. Ihope this was useful and I sincerely hope you publish it. You need to hear what others think of your site.
Thanks,
Hodgepodgerama
I'm not suggesting for a minute that you need a system as advanced as a car-part inventory system, but I absolutely think that the description of your parts could be MUCH better. What printers do these parts fit? A MK8 Extruder may be a great thing, but if you don't include a list of parts needed to fit the extruder to the printers that you make, people are going to be frustrated.
Let me give you a couple of personal examples. These are my experiences purchasing your products from your website to fit on a printer that I bought from you. They range from kind-of dumb to unbelievable. But if they happened to me, I'm certain that similar things have happened to others.
Mk 8 Extruder Mount plate, 43-001-043. It says "For mounting a Mk8 on other frames". What you don't say is that you can't use it to mount a Mk8 on YOUR frames. Don't you think that is important to say? Fortunately, I only spent a few dollars on these, but I really expected them to fit my 3 month old Geeetech Aluminum Prusa I3. They don't. A better explanation and/or a couple of pictures showing how they are really supposed to be used, rather than just a picture of the part mounted on an extruder, would solve the problem.
OK, what about the regular extruder holder, 45-001-0198? You show it mounted to your extruder, which I own, so it should be a no-brainer, right? WRONG! You need the extruder mounting plate that you don't sell separately and it DOES NOT COME WITH THE EXTRUDER! So even though I have your printer, a spare Geetech extruder and your mounting plate, I STILL can't put them together into an extruder assembly. Don't you think people should know that another part is needed to make this work? And don't you think that, maybe, you should actually sell that part?
I also purchased the dual extruder holder, 45-001-0119. I purchased this to eventually mount my Geetech dual extruders to my Geetech Aluminum I3. (Yes, I have a GT2560 sitting in a box, too.) But....wait a minute, looking at the pictures, I'm supposed to mount two extruders facing the truck (the back) with no fans? How does that work? How are the fans that came with the dual extruders I purchased supposed to mount? So the fans and cooling fins came with the extruder but I don' t need them? Or are your pictures wrong? Or do they mount someplace else? Pretty strange. In this case even if you referenced the Prusa Pro dual extruder's manual, it would help a person understand how they are supposed to mount. The part, by itself, with only one incorrect picture of how to mount the extruders on it, doesn't really help anyone converting their printer to dual extruders. Trust me, a LOT of people want to do this and a little how-to in the forum would be VERY helpful.
So there are several examples involving a couple of hundred dollars worth of parts that I've purchased that I can't use because Geetech did not provide complete or accurate information on their listings or a part or two that I need are not listed. You can look at this from two perspectives. The first one is that I dion't know what I'm doing and you guys don't need to address this type of issue. OK, I can understand that. I can also guarantee that taking that perspective will cost you sales and get you seriously slammed in reviews. Or you can look at it the way I'm hoping. I just spent a lot of time and energy trying to explain ways that you are frustrating your customers by selling parts with little or no explanation on what they are for or how to use them. I personally am a master tinkerer and can figure all of this out without writing you this note, but I am also an adjunct college instructor who realizes that others, in this case you guys at Geeetech, might learn from my experience on your site. I bought your printer. I like your company. I want you to succeed. I suggest these improvement to help ensure that you do.
That's it. Ihope this was useful and I sincerely hope you publish it. You need to hear what others think of your site.
Thanks,
Hodgepodgerama