The Iris - buyer beware

[Derek Cohen]

I posted about this tool several weeks ago, having watched and been taken by a video by Adam Savage about The Iris, a circle-drawing tool, on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVQFvHuJHec&ab_channel=AdamSavage%E2%80%99sTested

https://i.postimg.cc/WbykQ3K0/Makers_Cabinet_Iris.jpg

https://www.makerscabinet.com/products/iris

Since receiving it, I must update my earlier post with a review to warn others against purchasing this tool. Customer support appears to be absent. Should something be faulty, you will not receive any assistance.

My order was filled and the Iris arrived quickly .... but it was not working - stuck fast in the open position. I emailed the company on three occasions over a period of two weeks (once from their own website portal), and so far not received a reply. At this time I have an expensive paperweight.

This is not a tool one can take apart, and clean out oneself (something is catching inside, I expect). If I tried to do this (and I am handy), it would never go back together again. My recommendation at this time would be to give this company a wide berth. I shall update this review if-and-when they get back to me and deal with the problem.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

That is sad to hear.

Hope something happens to change the outcome.

jtk

[Michael J Evans]

I thought I seen this item on a facebook or youtube ad.
I am very leery of all those ad's, lots of those items arecrap or very very cheap knockoffs / downright lies, not really the item.
Recently facebook has been having a ad for a edge chamfering plane. They are showing a woodpecker tool with wood pecker branding. But when you click on the ad it's some no name company with a picture of the wood pecker tool.
Now in the last week, in the ad video they blur out both the woodpecker logo and the made in USA logo.

Another one was a ad for a giant RC gas powered monster truck (like 2ft tall wit serious power) all aluminum construction,etc etc for 79. When you read the comments the people who actually boght it received a little tiny plastic rc truck.

Buyer beware of all youtube and Facebook ads.

[Michael J Evans]

And Derek
Sorry about your experience. Nothing like waiting for a item to arrive and then it's faulty. I find that no matter how many tools I have I'm always excited to get something knew and want to use it immediately.

[Derek Cohen]

Absolutely Michael. Worse than this, I posted about seeing this before I purchased it and, so close the Christmas, I was concerned that others would be tempted to purchase one.

If I have a problem with a tool, I contact the manufacturer/Seller and explain, and give them a chance to make it right. I would never go to a forum first. Good customer service will make me a fan again. I warned Makers Cabinet that I would do so if they failed to reply (after discovering other similar reviews in the meantime).

Two bad reviews here: Tim West - I bought my girlfriend their golden circle as a... | Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10100489514806147&id=94600301&ref=page_internal)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Lee Schierer]

The following is from their terms of service:

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time. "

"We do not warrant that the quality of any products, services, information, or other material purchased or obtained by you will meet your expectations, or that any errors in the Service will be corrected."

[Jim Matthews]

I would hazard Neville Cox has an ultrasonic bath.
This should be right up his alley.

This mechanism was once commonplace in camera lenses and notorious for hydrolock.

[Jan Smith]

The following is from their terms of service:

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time. "

"We do not warrant that the quality of any products, services, information, or other material purchased or obtained by you will meet your expectations, or that any errors in the Service will be corrected."

Wow, they are not even trying.
But I hope the op can sort things out.

[John Gornall]

https://www.makerscabinet.com/pages/about-us

Perhaps you can connect to one of these guys

[John Gornall]

Can purchase a similar, possibly the same tool on amazon for 40 bucks or less - shipped fron China

[Ron Selzer]

Derek
Thank you for posting this as it is on my to buy list, almost had my wife buy it or my Christmas present
Ron

[Derek Cohen]

Can purchase a similar, possibly the same tool on amazon for 40 bucks or less - shipped fron China

Thanks John. None of the representatives of the company provide an email address. Their website provides a contact form, which I tried, and I also had their email address from the receip, which I tried twice.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Derek Cohen]

Can purchase a similar, possibly the same tool on amazon for 40 bucks or less - shipped fron China

John, it is not the same as the Chinese versions.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have their pencil sharpener, I hope it works well. If that is broken, it is more likely that I can fix it than the iris, however. I hope it works well given that it looks like they have no customer service at the moment.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

The following is from their terms of service:

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time. "

"We do not warrant that the quality of any products, services, information, or other material purchased or obtained by you will meet your expectations, or that any errors in the Service will be corrected."

Without fail I read the terms of service, shipping and return policies before I order something from a vendor I’ve never dealt with. But I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like this.

[John Keeton]

Looks like they did a Kickstart to launch this product - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brahman/iris-the-drawing-tool-that-inspires-creativity. There are some interesting comments on the link and perhaps that is a good way to make contact.

There is also a portfolio for the designer, but no contact info there. Looks like the three principles are students, or were last year - https://www.makerscabinet.com/blogs/makers-cabinet-interviews/an-interview-with-makers-cabinet-by-dominic-irons

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Derek,

Their e-commerce site is hosted by Shopify. I’ve never dealt with Shopify, but if it is anything like eBay or Amazon they’ll have some type of buyer protection. Maybe if you submit your experience to Shopify you’ll get some results. For the kind of money they’re charging for this gizmo it’s worth a try at least.

[Derek Cohen]

Stephen, thanks for the idea. I looked up Shopify, and went to their website. It appears that they are only interested in supporting their customers, that is, those that buy up space on their web system. They do not provide for advice with the public who have an issue with their customer.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Oops, my bad. Spotify, not Shopify. I hate auto spell correct. I got a new phone and forgot to disable it. Still, kind of a weird correction.

That said, Spotify’s policy makes your experience even harder to swallow. It’s unfortunate, but unless we’re dealing with well-established companies, I guess we need to be extremely wary.

[mike stenson]

It’s unfortunate, but unless we’re dealing with well-established companies, I guess we need to be extremely wary.

I've run into enough companies that are seemingly using Covid as an excuse to fail to provide service, I'm not sure if 'well-established' companies are trustworthy anymore either. I'm still waiting for item replacement, from May, from at least one (outside woodworking, but ... and more irritatingly NO COMMUNICATION). My experience with what are traditionally durable goods suppliers this year has been the same.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

I've run into enough companies that are seemingly using Covid as an excuse to fail to provide service, I'm not sure if 'well-established' companies are trustworthy anymore either. I'm still waiting for item replacement, from May, from at least one (outside woodworking, but ... and more irritatingly NO COMMUNICATION). My experience with what are traditionally durable goods suppliers this year has been the same.

Mike,

I was referring to woodworking companies. Except for greatly reduced manufacturing capabilities and the resulting lack of products, my experiences, including communication, with LN, Lee Valley and TFWW, to name a few, have remained the same. But you’re right, rightly or wrongly some companies are using COVID as an excuse for, shall we say, less than desirable service. I, for one, will not forget who those companies are when/if the apocalypse passes.

[Frederick Skelly]

Derek, I have an out of the box idea. I dont know whether it would suit you. But you might try to contact Adam Savage and tell him that they are using his video (implied endorsement), but taking crappy care of customers. When I googled his company I found adamsavage.com and this contact info. It might be a place to start from....

"For Savage Merchandising and store related matters:
PO Box 14665
San Francisco, CA 94114-0665
info@savageindustriesshop.com"

Good luck Sir!
Fred

[David Bassett]

... try to contact Adam Savage ....

+1

Absolutely let him know. I've met Adam and I'm sure he wouldn't like this.

But with COVID, the holidays, and the major lock down in the SF Bay Area, (a little more than the big California lock down,) be patient. I know he's got people and I suspect he won't get any messages directly.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I thought I seen this item on a facebook or youtube ad.
I am very leery of all those ad's, lots of those items arecrap or very very cheap knockoffs / downright lies, not really the item.
Recently facebook has been having a ad for a edge chamfering plane. They are showing a woodpecker tool with wood pecker branding. But when you click on the ad it's some no name company with a picture of the wood pecker tool.
Now in the last week, in the ad video they blur out both the woodpecker logo and the made in USA logo.

Another one was a ad for a giant RC gas powered monster truck (like 2ft tall wit serious power) all aluminum construction,etc etc for 79. When you read the comments the people who actually boght it received a little tiny plastic rc truck.

Buyer beware of all youtube and Facebook ads.

There are many Woodpecker imitations showing up on Amazon. The chamfering plane is one: I bought one from Woodpecker and it works well. Amazon has a most brazen knock-off, even using Woodpecker’s name in the ad. There are also T square tools, even using same name.

Truly buyer beware! If you knowingly buy a knock-off, well assume all responsibility if it doesn’t work. But if you buy items such as the Iris, as Derek has, or any of these tools Amazon is selling, that lead you to think you’re getting the real deal, then the vendor should make good on the deception.

[Jim Tobias]

I feel your pain...... I ordered this same item about 6-7 months ago. All I ever received was a pack of the pencils. t least you can draw a circle of 1 size. :)

Jim

[Derek Cohen]

Derek, I have an out of the box idea. I dont know whether it would suit you. But you might try to contact Adam Savage and tell him that they are using his video (implied endorsement), but taking crappy care of customers. When I googled his company I found adamsavage.com and this contact info. It might be a place to start from....

"For Savage Merchandising and store related matters:
PO Box 14665
San Francisco, CA 94114-0665
info@savageindustriesshop.com"

Good luck Sir!
Fred

Fred, thanks for the link. I emailed Adam Savage. Also suggested that he consider removing the video from YouTube.

Thanks all for your thoughts.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Derek Cohen]

I feel your pain...... I ordered this same item about 6-7 months ago. All I ever received was a pack of the pencils. t least you can draw a circle of 1 size. :)

Jim

Jim, What did you do? Did you try and make contact?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Tobias]

Derek,
I sent an email to some address that was on site and they tried to say I only ordered the pack of pencils. I tried to explain that I don't normally pay $15 for a 12 pack of #2 lead pencils! I argued with them but to no avail.....I just gave up and wrote it off as a learning experience. I did think the idea for the tool was novel and worth giving it a try.
Jim

[chris carter]

Call your credit card company. They will contact the seller and demand the issue be resolved. If the seller doesn’t, or the seller blows off the credit card company, a chargeback will happen and you’ll get your money back. Just don’t wait because there’s a time limit (in the U.S. I think it’s 60 days or 30 days, can’t remember).

[Frederick Skelly]

Call your credit card company. They will contact the seller and demand the issue be resolved. If the seller doesn’t, or the seller blows off the credit card company, a chargeback will happen and you’ll get your money back. Just don’t wait because there’s a time limit (in the U.S. I think it’s 60 days or 30 days, can’t remember).

When I looked at their site, they didn't seem to accept credit major cards. (I was unfamiliar with the two payment options listed. Could be I just misunderstood though..)