Shapeways has a rating of 2.3 stars from 149 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Shapeways ranks 5th among 3d Printing sites.
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I had just bought an rc crawler, and needed some bumpers custom made, because no others would fit my body. I cad designed one up and got the perfect measurements. I didn't have a 3d printer, so I placed an order through this business, which was very simple and easy to use! After I placed my order, It shipped 12 days earlier than expected time, and had incredible print quality. I would highly recommend this site for others looking to print high quality materials, and I would also use It again!
The product was not able to be used as delivered to me. The screw hole would not accept the designated screw and the hole for the nut similarly was undersized. The designated screw was too short for their product. After enlarging the holes and sourcing a longer screw the head of it ( which was smaller than the designated screw) would not fit in the recess of their product. Good idea but terrible design/quality control. Unless you're handy and really want this STAY AWAY!
I spent a week with their support trying to get my N Scale designs ready for Shapeways to sell my designs. Everything was uploaded and the renders looked good and gave the green light to print. On the first order everything was taken down that my details were too thin and would not survive there manufacturing. Adding the thickness they wanted to the models would ruin the look of the model.
I was able to print these fine on my home resin printer and the details did not break during cleanup, painting or assembly. Apperatly a $150 home use resin printer and real person can outperform a larger international company on quality, durability and handling.
Tip for consumers:
Need to look for another vendor.
Products used:
N Scale Model Railroad Models
The product was not able to be used as delivered to me. The screw hole would not accept the designated screw and the hole for the nut similarly was undersized. The designated screw was too short for their product. After enlarging the holes and sourcing a longer screw the head of it ( which was smaller than the designated screw) would not fit in the recess of their product.
Good idea but terrible design/quality control. Unless you're handy and really want this STAY AWAY!
On December 15, I did Order #******* for the manufacture of a watch case consisting of five parts made of brass worth more than $ 300. Already on December 16th, I received an email saying that everything is fine with my order and it is in progress. But on the 18th, they sent me a message saying that they could not do one detail and offered to refund the money. Or redo the part. BUT the fact is that the order loses its meaning if one part is missing. And refinement in the case of one detail requires another. I asked for a refund and to cancel the order, but I was refused, citing internal rules. I asked how do I make an order so that all the parts are printed or nothing. I was told to attach one file with several parts inside. However, it doesn't work! To which they replied that they would look at why it didn't work for them, but the order would not be canceled and the money would not be refunded, but they would send me the order without one (very important) part. In this way, the SW team shifts its problems onto the shoulders of customers. I just threw $200 in the trash. ($100 refund) It's like if you ordered a car, and it came to you without an engine, but the seller honestly returned the money for the engine. Be careful with SW and don't trust like me. If you need to make several parts for one assembly, use another provider. For example, with craftcloud, there is never a problem with canceling if something went wrong. I wish the entire SW team to get the same skam from life as they provide to their clients.
Products used:
3d printing
I wish I can give this company half a star or even 0.1 star, but it's an option.
I have been an online business customers for 20+ years. 99.9% of the companies which I have encountered problems would resolve a problem I've had...even when it's an honest mistake such as ordered a wrong part they would gladly replace for the right one, even a custom part or hard to find part.
HOWEVER, not so with this company. I ordered a wrong part and they immediately say no, sorry, we cannot help you with that. Simply please place a new order for the new part again. WTF?
Just don't expect you'll ever get a new part or exchange or anything at all if anything goes wrong with your order!
The customer service representative, while nice, did little to solve the issue. I had problems with checking out items and ended up unintentionally ordering a previous item instead. I contacted customer support as soon as possible to ensure a response, but I suspected they would respond right as the item was in production, how convenient as my previous orders took at least 24-32 hours before they were produced.
When they did respond, they gave me a chance to refund the order, but I had to confirm my request for a cancellation a second time. However, after sending them my confirmation response, it was "too late". The only consolation I received was that I could order the item I actually wanted along with the wrong order without paying for shipping for the new item.
In the end, I wasted 20 bucks on a useless item and spent 11 dollars more than I had planned to. The people were nice but nothing was accomplished. So please keep in mind when ordering from Shapeways, remember to make sure you have the right item in your cart when in the last stages of the purchase. And remember that once an order has been placed, there are no refunds and changes.
Tip for consumers:
Don't expect customer service to do much other than remind you that they do no refunds.
Products used:
I ordered a 5mm weapon hold for Masterpiece Transformers, though not by choice.
Bought a lot of miniature pieces through shapeways. After receiving the products, they were heavily pitted and worn away large parts of the products. Customer support was terrible, refused to accept any problem, wouldn't reprint and check items or give refund. Why sell a product if you can't print to adequate standards? Shocking
Communication from Shapeways was poor, resulting in additional printing and additional costs. Their team put their profits as a priority over my company's satisfaction and project success.
Tip for consumers:
Thoroughly document and talk through your project with a rep, any mistakes or miscommunication will be put on your fault and cost.
Products used:
Printed 3D models.
Always a pleasure to work with Shapeways about my projects and 3D files. The customer service is great, quickly, and helpful with answers to one's questions.
Can't recommend Shapeways.
I've purchased several items over the years and found items are often under scale or over scale for scale modelers. This is no fault of Shapeways but the developers of which there's no way to monitor there work. Shame there's no way to rate designers so people can judge for themselves if they want to run the risk and to be guided by customers reviews. (I suspect there's a reason for this).
However on my last occasion a print received was clearly incorrect from advertised / pictured description as advertised. I contacted Shapeways who saw the issue and I was advised to use the Shapeways messenger system to contact the developer. They failed to respond. I contacted Shapeways again and they messaged the developer. Again I recived no answer. I sent another Email to Shapeways. They offered me a one-time only refund which I refused plus they wanted the item returned (I suspect at my cost).
I found Shapeways to be generally unhelpful in this matter and seem to have little power of the developers that use there platform. The item is still available to purchase for the next unsuspecting customer and for this reason alone, I would urge extreme caution if you wish to use Shapeways. The item shown and advertised on Shapeways may NOT be the item you receive. Developers are not held to account and don't have to respond to any issues.
Date of experience: 09 March 2023
Products used:
Nill
Shapeways are good in parts - if you know what you want and can support the postage charges, you can get good quality prints at a sensible price and often in a good time, but they can let you down with poor quality (brass prints) and cancelling new designs with no comeback other than resubmitting, which when part of a larger order negates the savings on postage you had planned...
I had just bought an rc crawler, and needed some bumpers custom made, because no others would fit my body. I cad designed one up and got the perfect measurements. I didn't have a 3d printer, so I placed an order through this business, which was very simple and easy to use! After I placed my order, It shipped 12 days earlier than expected time, and had incredible print quality. I would highly recommend this site for others looking to print high quality materials, and I would also use It again!
Products used:
Custom cad designed parts
I ordered a 3D printed stem cap mount for my gravel bike that was supposed to hold my GPS in place. Instead I received a mount that could barely hold my GPS, and the slightest bump on the road would send my GPS flying off my bike. I contacted their support; they told me to contact the designer. So I did. I didn't hear anything from the designer, so I contacted support once again. They told me they would contact the designer themselves, but I still haven't heard a thing.
Tip for consumers:
I requested a refund, but I haven't heard anything...
I received some clear headlight that were to be used in a model with LED lights. One light showed up with a cloudy white mass that would not reflect light correctly. A major manufacturing error. They were extremely difficult in refunding a $12.99 part. It took numerous emails back-and-forth and over proving for them to respond to my refund request.
Hey Carlos,
My name is Steve, and I head up Customer Service here at Shapeways, I am sorry that you were not happy with your part. And I would love to get more insight on what was frustrating about your experience and see if there is anything else we can do to bring your confidence back with Shapeways. Feel free to reach out to me at VIP@shapeways.com if you would like to discuss this more.
Best,
Steve
I work for company focusing on R&D and I need a lot of non-standard parts that require specific attention. Shapeways so for delivered every single time. The parts come out great but their customer service is even better. My best experience was working with Will Magley. He always makes sure all of my non standard parts get the attention they need and is always willing to find a way to help when anything comes up. They have definitely earned our company's business for years to come.
Order a semi trailer toy for my husband that was suppose to be a decent size and truck was suppose to be blue and trailer silver. I didn't care that it was suppose to be plastic. It arrived on time box seemed to be somewhat small but I figured they put it in two sections in box and you just had to put it together. Nope I opened it and here's a small 4inch plastic thing with no wheels. I paid sixty two dollars for a piece of nothing very mad the little guy is what I got and the blue and silver is what I ordered
Tip for consumers:
Wouldn't buy from them every again not trust worthy
Products used:
Toy
Hey Sara,
Here at Shape ways we strive to help the customer get what they need, however I think in this case you ordered from one of our marketplace stores which can sometime be confusing on what the final product might be. I am happy to remedy the situation if you would like, please reach out to VIP@shapeways.com and we can assist!
Best,
Steve
I ordered a modification for a leatherman multitool. Less than 12 hours later I went to cancel my order and they refused, saying that it was already being made. The ship date is over a month away and I know for a fact the order hasn't even been confirmed. Pretty terrible customer service. I will never order from them again, so I hope that was worth the 40 bucks I spent.
My experience with Shapeways has been really great. Amazingly friendly and helpful service. I ordered a special D20 to propose to my partner with, and they were in touch every step of the way to let me know how the order was progressing. When the delivery got lost (not due to Shapeways, but due to local delivery issues), they were incredibly helpful in sorting it out and I'm happy to say I got my item in the end. The item is lovely and just as described. Would definitely recommend this company - fantastic customer service!
I sent in a cancellation order immediately after ordering a ring (within minutes, late into the night when I ordered). A day later, the ring was made and I receive a response that it was too late to cancel the order and refund my money as the ring was already in production. After a dozen emails back and forth with several reps and several alternatives offered to make this right, the company's several representatives would do nothing to remedy the situation. Why even offer cancellation of an order on your website if it's not possible to cancel an order even minutes after it was placed? Truly frustrating.
Sold a file of a ship that ended up on Shapeways. I asked to have it removed they refused even when the Mr Garry Stair admitted it was my work. Talking with them just seems like you're nothing they change their policies to whatever they want. So it's all about money to them not honor, respect and doing the right thing. This guy buys a files so called fixes it and steals it. So if you give a file to Shapeways don't be surprised if they steal it. Everyone we contacted Steve below I'll post his response - no surprise! Please stay away from Shapeways they will steal your work, files and not do the right things to fix problems. Originally I asked them to remove the files and they made me run through hoops so I did. Sat there and laughed at me the whole time - I'm posting those emails as well. Who this hurts? My family in this desperate time this project was for them, to feed them and now stolen by Shapeways.
Tip for consumers:
DON"T USE THIS SITE YOU ARE SUPPORTING THEIVES!
Hello Larry,
My name is Steve with the Customer Success Team, and I would like to help you out with this issue to the best of my ability. But be aware, similar to amazon, we are not in control of what are 3rd party resellers sell on the website but Shapeways as a corporation would never "steal" someones design for we highly value IP. Can you please reach out to me at VIP@shapeways.com to see what I can do to assist?
Best,
Steve
After 3 years of ordering parts from shapeways for my business, they sent one of my orders with defect parts.
Another 10 frustrating days of emailing customer service without shapeways taking responsibility about this case, left me with very unhappy clients of mine that I needed to compensate. Including one poor guy, who ordered a wedding ring and needed to rush and find a replacement just before his wedding.
I am now checking for a substitute provider.
No phone support, email response delayed until they could say too late to change design. Wasted hundreds. Snarky, uncaring, bad quality. Look elsewhere.
Tip for consumers:
Go elsewhere.
Products used:
None. Threw away. Total loss.
Hey James,
I don't want you to feel we were not able to help you, would you be willing to have a call with me and walk me through what happend?
Happy to see if there is anything I can do at VIP@shapeways.com, since it sounds like your experience was less than ideal after working with us.
Best,
Steve W
I had the wrong product shipped to me so I contacted customer service to get it figured out. The very next morning I was greeted with a very pleasant email from Mitchell Jetten who was not only very polite but also efficient. I actually received an email letting me know a replacement was already being processed a couple minutes before Mitchell's email. So I'm very pleased with how quickly it was all resolved!
Asked to cancel order minutes after I placed it.
Customer service rep. Responded by asking if I was sure I wanted to cancel it. After 5 emails back and forth they had waited so long the order went into production then they refused to cancel it
Tip for consumers:
Avoid
Hello Redak,
We apologize for the mixup and we are sorry for what you experienced. We have reviewed this complaint and will be refunding your order ASAP! If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to VIP@shapeways.com and we will answer you promptly.
Best,
Steve Weart
I bought 2 window shade brackets. They wouldn't hold the shade in place because the length of the clip was too short. The company said it wasn't their fault and that I should address the problem with the designer. They offered no help whatsoever. They just kept telling me it was a design problem.
I bought these parts right from the company website. They are shown as Shade Bracket 304 Louver drape Kirsch Levolor. Anyone purchasing these items would assume that they are going to get a bracket that fits the Kirsch Levolor manufactured shade. They don't. After multiple requests for help I finally realized I was never going to get support and I spent a couple hours on the parts filing down the clips so that the shades would snap into the brackets. The 2 parts cost me $62.10 so I took great care. I needed the parts.
If I'm purchasing a part # 304 Shade Bracket from the company that's what I should receive. Would they sell a 1/4 - 20 bolt that was out of spec?
I would tread lightly before using this company. Don't assume that you are going to receive the part that you think you are buying. And don't expect that you will receive any kind of customer support after the sale.
Hey Gerald.
I am sorry you feel that you didn't get the service you were expecting from Shapeways, but I am willing to work with you on a possible replacement.
Our guidelines are not the same as a typical manufacturer since each item we make is customized but let me know if you would like to reconsider giving shapeways a try.
Feel free to reach out to VIP@shapeways.com at anytime and we can follow up ASAP.
Best,
Steve Weart
It pains me to think how much time and money I have wasted on this company. Problems are never solved live. There is no one to call directly about production issues and basically a general lack of consideration for projects that have a degree of complexity. Don't get me started on their packing...
Do not, absolutely do not attempt to print anything unusual with these people. Whats bizarre is that all other print-on-demand services I have used in the past were competent and participatory.
Design, Prototype, Buy and Sell custom products at Shapeways; The world's largest online 3D Printing Service, Community and Marketplace.
Hey Jon T,
I am sorry for the confusion that happened with the customer service team and really want to help amend this mistake. Please reach out to me directly at Stevew@shapeways.com and I will personally help you with this order and any future orders that you produce with Shapeways.
Best,
Steve Weart