Review of purchase from Modular CNC (New Mexico)

[Pawelski]

Review of Purchase from Modular CNC (New Mexico)

This is a review of my purchase of a "turnkey CNC router package" from Andy Maurer's Modular CNC in New Mexico. Andy also does business under the name Athreo CNC Technology. Please note that there is a second, apparently unrelated, company called Modular CNC in Canada.

In April I ordered what was suppose to be a complete CNC router package from Modular CNC. I used PayPal for the purchase and my credit card was billed within 24 hours. About a week later, I noticed that the package I ordered was no longer shown on the Modular CNC website. Concerned, I sent an e-mail to Andy. He told me that he had stopped offering the complete package because he was revamping his offerings, but he would still honor my order. When asked when I could expect to get my order, Andy evaded the question. However, the web site had said four weeks so I was not too concerned.

At four weeks, I had not received my material, any shipping information, nor an update on it's status so I again e-mailed Andy. He informed me that he was running a little late due to family matters, but that he would have a tracking number to me by Saturday. When I still had not received tracking information by Tuesday, I e-mailed Andy again. At 9:00 Eastern time Wednesday morning, he replied and gave me a tracking number, but no mention of the shipping method. I asked him what shipping method he used and he told me it was the US postal service.

A few facts: USPS tracking numbers only show when a package has been delivered. They show no information about the package while In transit. The existence of a tracking number doesn't even confirm that the package has been turned over to the postal service. In fact, you can put in a bogus number of a different length and you will get the same response from the USPS tracking site as you will for a valid number of a package that is still in transit. The postal service provides no guarantee on delivery times for regular packages. Typical from New Mexico to Georgia is five days, but you have to wait ten before filing a missing package claim.

Assuming that he had mailed on Tuesday, My wife and I were both getting concerned by Saturday when the package had not arrived. My wife's law enforcement background made here suspect possibilities more sinister than simple lost packages. We arranged to talk to Andy over the phone Monday. He assured us that he had mailed the package and said that the postal service was at times slow.

The package arrived on Tuesday. It was a 9"x10"x6" box that had the note, "box 1 of 2" written on it. According to the postage on it, the package had actually been mailed Thursday, not the previous Tuesday as we had thought. The box contained three servo motors, a power supply, a cooling fan, and a bag of hardware. We informed Andy that only one box arrived. He said that it wasn't uncommon for items to get split up during shipment and that I would get the rest of my order. He even stated that he would rebuild the rest of my order if the package was not found. It wasn't until the following Wednesday that I realized that Andy had only given us one tracking number, but each box would need to have a unique number. I wrote Andy and asked him why I had never received a second number. He sent the second tracking number. Thursday, the second box arrived. The postage on it said that in had been sent the previous Thursday THE DAY AFTER THE FIRST PACKAGE ARRIVED. Let me make this clear, the USPS delivered each package in 5-7 days. The second one arrived over a week after the first one because it was shipped a week after the first one and Andy did not bother to mention this when I e-mailed him after the first package arrived much less tell me when he shipped the first package that he was only shipping part of the order at that time.

This box was much larger and contained most of the router. It was poorly packed. One of the Acme rods was bent and the other two were pushed out with their bearings from the press fit bearing races. I also realized that there was no servo controller in the box. I informed Andy. He said he "missed" the controller and would send the controller and a replacement for the bent rod right away. the package arrived in three days by priority mail.

Thinking that I finally had all the parts, I sat down to assemble my router. There were no instructions. Assuming that his production kits were similar to the free plans Andy has on his blog site, I downloaded them. I also downloaded the documentation from the Gekko website for the controller Andy sent me. Looking over these documents, I realized that I still did not have the complete kit. The Gekko controller is suppose to come with four db9 connectors for fabricating the cables to the servo motors. Andy also forgot to ship the mounting plate for attaching the hand router to the rest of the machine. I informed Andy and he sent a fourth package. It was still missing some minor hardware, but by this point, I had enough and I got the missing parts locally.

The kit I received was not the same as the plans on Andy's blog, but with 15 years experience as a design engineer I was able to figure most of it out and I asked Andy to confirm his methods where I was not sure. I suspect that Andy had never completely assembled the particular combination of parts he sent me since at least two of the steps he confirmed for assembly did not work. The parts provided were the wrong size. However, I was able to modify with the tools I already owned.

So two months after Andy took my money, I finally have my "turnkey" system moving under computer control. At best, Andy is a poor businessman who doesn't understand the concept of packing lists and believes that lies of omission are acceptable business practice. At worst, he may have been hoping that his customer would give up and go away after receiving only part of what was paid for.

Since Andy does read this form I am sure that he will post a reply and he may even describe steps he is taking to make sure that no one else will have the problems I had with his company. If anyone is satisfied with his response and decides to still order from Modular CNC, I ask them to post their experience, positive or negative, on this thread. I also now recommend the following when dealing with any hobby sized business:

Always use PayPal so you have an arbitrator if you get burned.
If delivery is suppose to take four weeks or more, arrange BEFORE YOU ORDER for payment to occur only when the order is ready to ship. PayPal only gives you sixty days from the transaction date to file a complaint. If the seller bawks at this idea, remind them that REAL companies don't charge until they confirm that the order is available for shipment.
Arrange BEFORE YOU ORDER to have the package shipped by a carrier who provides real tracking.
Ask for weekly updates on the status of your order.
Specifically ask how many boxes are being shipped and when they were picked up
No matter if your experience was positive or negative, write a review. Reward the companies who provide a good product and good service. Warn others when you got less than you expected.

Finally, here is a list of the other reviews that relate to Modular CNC (New Mexico). In fairness, there was a second company in Canada with the same name that appears to be unrelated. I have not included links to reviews that appear to relate to that company. There are also additional posts relating to Andy's company on the forum which I have not included.

Lousy service from Modular CNC (New Mexico)
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...056#post790056
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy_cnc_router_table_machines/60638-anybody_tried_cheap_router_%24279_99_a.html#post656377

[Pawelski]

After several months of working with my router to get it to a usable condition and having been contacted by another person who claims to have never received their router, I am more convinced that the problems with my order were intentional. My wife is convinced enough that she wants to take legal action.

Before we do anything that extreme, I want to be able to show a pattern of customer dissatisfaction. If you have had problems with Modular CNC (New Mexico), please either post a reply to this thread, or send me a direct message describing what happened to you and when it happened.

If you have had an order that was processed with no problems, I would also like you to post to this thread If you think you were treated fairly and received what was advertised, let everyone know. Please say when your positive experience occurred.

Dr. Paul Pawelski, Ph.D.

[bmil]

Hi Paul:
While I only ordered a single axis linear stage from Modular CNC,I experienced the exact same run-around that you did- including 8 week delay and missing parts in the order. I have answered your private post, but am putting this up on the public forum, to add weight to your statements.
Good luck pursuing this.

[gpraceman]

I returned a CNC mill to this company, unopened, as I felt they were lying to me about the shipping delay and the overall poor customer service of the whole transaction. That was back in May. To date, I have only received a small token of the refund that Andy had promised on multiple occasions to provide ($55 out of $775). Reading about the problems that others have had with damaged or missing parts, I am sure glad that I didn't keep the machine. A couple of other forum members have reported not receiving a machine at all that they had ordered from this company.

[XYZ_dude]

sellers worse nightmare ( customers) you returned it without even opening it just because he lied about a date, to me you shows it wasnt about dates but perhaps you found something else in the meantime and wanted your money back. you guys try running a 1 man business shop on the side. lets see how well you do.

[half_life]

I have been in contact with Andy and in light of what I have read here I asked about what happened. He has satisfied me as to what happened back in the spring. I have placed an order for the router table that is listed on his site. I will be updating as things go along.

[luthier]

I just read through this thread today for the first time. I feel sorry for you all that had to wait. A similar situation happened to many buyers with another company that advertised on this forum. I got my machine ( after paying and waiting) from the company but many did not.

[half_life]

As of yesterday I am in possession of my new machine. The machine came in two packages with the first one arriving about 2 weeks ahead of the second. The delay was caused by the Postal Service (verified). Andy took it apon himself to throw in a few upgrades from the original design (aluminium cutting table, sturdier material in the uprights and X&Y-axis cross-members). The only glitch, which Andy identified before the second package arrived, was that he forgot to include a bag of fasteners. No big deal, it will be here next week after the holidays. I am looking forward to adding motors and getting this machine cutting. BTW, does anyone have any advice on turn-key motor drive choices. So far I have identified Probotix and HobbyCNC. I am still toying with the idea of building from kit since I have plenty of experience as a robotics/electronics technician.

All and all I rate my experience as an 8 out of 10 taking a few points off for delays in communication. Most importantly, he delivered the product on time (ignoring the time that USPS lost the package) as advertised with a few upgrades.

[luthier]

Half Life,
I ordered a set of the 280 oz probotix motors and controller a few weeks ago. I paid the extra 100 or so to have it assembled. They did a nice job and it works nicely. The only thing I have found as a negative is that there isn't a premade hole for the home switch wires that you end up attaching to the circuit board inside the case. That is easily remedied with a drill or as in my situation, I just clamped the plastic case down on them.

[Modular CNC]

Pawelski - I believe that I tried to explain what was happening to my company at the time of your order. If I did not then I am sorry for not communicating that to you at the time. Due to a fraudulent activity that had occurred to my business, I lost over $1,500 in one transaction. This is due to the fact that PayPal always sides with the credit card companies when there is a dispute. Unfortunately there was individual that I sold an $800 machine to that denied ever receiving it. I had signature confirmation proof and gave it to Paypal. After a 60 day review they still sided with the credit card company and I lost both the machine and my money. The folks at PayPal told me that this is the cost of doing buisness online and that should plan for this. It's hard to plan for a $1,500 loss when my margins are thin. This individual knew what he was doing since he never once made any contact with me. You can confirm this story in older postings on cnczone. I did send you a machine with upgraded aluminum parts on it.

Bmil - Please see above for explanation of my company issues.

Gpgracman - I am still making payments to you. My records show that I have paid $130 so far. I will continue to pay until you are paid in full.

XYZ_Dude and Half_Life - Thank you for giving your input. It helps show people that I am not a crook.

If anyone still has issues with their orders contact me and I will address them and I can make suitable arrangements to fix things. I have learned some valuable business lessons from these unfortunate occurrences and I am doing my best to remedy them. I currently do not have any machines for sale in order to fix all remaining issues.

Thanks,

Andy

[gpraceman]

Gpgracman - I am still making payments to you. My records show that I have paid $130 so far. I will continue to pay until you are paid in full.

Yes you have. I think it is unfortunate all around that this happened, but it does look like you are trying to pick up the pieces and make good on your promises. I applaud you for that.

[SpacedCowboy]

I had a long and disastrous run-in with modular-cnc over a year ago. I paid. He refunded a fraction of what was owed. I eventually ordered a K2CNC machine and wrote off the loss.

Here's a picture of how the goods from ModularCNC arrived - I took this before I removed any of the contents from the box...


There was stuff missing (and not just cheap stuff, the gecko G540 driver wasn't included, for example), there was stuff that was broken, it was a living nightmare trying to get a refund, and I got all the same old excuses that everyone gets about Paypal freezing his bank account. Well, it's been frozen for a very long time now...

I generally try to give business to the "little guy", and normally it works out great for both sides, but not this time. I've *been* the "little guy", and I know what it's like. I also know how to run a company, and this guy just doesn't - at least IMHO.

I actually happen to know another customer of his (the brother of a friend, lives in a different state, so we only found out after I was telling him what a nightmare I'd had.) He also had a bad experience, with broken goods being shipped. He also wrote off the experience.

Avoid. Like the plague.

Simon