MakerBot Shuts Down Operation of Their Google Group to Focus on Other Forms of Support

MakerBot…. You probably either love them or hate them. Without a doubt, they create one heck of a 3D printer, and provide support that is unbeatable my most. They have become a name that is synonymous with consumer level 3D printers, especially with their recently introduced 5th Generation MakerBot Replicator line of printers.

MakerBot, a company which was founded in 2009 by Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer and Zach Smith, and has since been acquired by Stratasys Inc., has relied heavily on community based support since they began selling their very first 3D printers. One of those communities was their official “MakerBot Operators” Google Group, which also launched back in 2009. Owners of MakerBot 3D printers could always count on posting issues, technical questions and suggestions in this designated area, and getting quick responses from a MakerBot representative or another MakerBot owner/user.

“Back in 2009, we set up the MakerBot Operators Google Group to be our main support line for customers working with our products,” explained MakerBot Community Manager, Tiffany Diorio. “As MakerBot has grown, so has our membership base. We have also grown our professional support department and rely on these experts to solve any and all support questions with MakerBot products.”

In efforts to provide the best possible support, as well as communication with MakerBot owners, the company has decided to turn the MakerBot Operators Google Group into an archive, halting its active operation. In doing so, it will allow the company to reallocate their resources that had previously been used to respond to users, remove a plethora of spam, and generally keep the group well organized and useful. These resources will be allocated to other areas of community and support operations within the company.

MakerBot realizes that there is plenty of useful content that remains on the Google Group, thus they are not shutting it down completely, but are instead making it an archive of interesting and helpful posts. “There have been many useful discussions on the MakerBot Operators Google Group over the past five years, so we’re going to include some of the most helpful threads at the bottom of this message for everyone to refer to as needed,” explained Diorio.

MakerBot is asking that users begin utilizing their other support resources such as their support webform, as well as their extensive support knowledge base.

While, the community aspects of the support system are no longer going to be available, MakerBot will continue to strive to provide the best support system that they can. Don’t forget, there is always the unofficial MakerBot Forum on 3DPB.com, for those of you who would still like to discuss MakerBot 3D printers with others in the community.