I’m here to rant — but I’m ranting from a position of admiration for Bambu Lab. I’ve owned P1S’s, AMS units, and now an H2D, H2S, and AMS Pros. I’ve gone through tons of filament and constantly upgrade nozzles, plates, and accessories. I spend a lot of money (and points) in the Bambu store. But I’m starting to see a pattern of failures that’s becoming a real concern.
What set this off is the shipper Bambu is increasingly using: “Uni.”
I’ve watched my packages bounce from Florida to Arizona while I’m sitting here in Texas. I’ve seen one go California → Dallas → Arizona → Houston. The tracking info is a mess and doesn’t convey anything useful. My doorbell cam has caught Uni drivers tossing packages, cutting through my mulch beds, dropping the box, snapping a photo, and then leaving a business card for a car detailing service on top of it. Enterprising? Sure. Appropriate? Not even close.
Now Uni has flat-out failed to deliver my latest package — bearings and filament I’d been waiting on for a while because the bearings were out of stock and I needed them to finish a project. I got the “delivered” email, walked outside (I was home the whole time), and… nothing. Checked the email more carefully and saw the delivery photo was someone else’s house — not down the street, but a different neighborhood, miles away.
I contacted Uni immediately and asked them to call the driver, since I caught the mistake within minutes. Nope — chatbot. Now I have to file a formal complaint, provide “proof,” and wait. Their response email reads like they’re assuming I’m lying, and they’ll get to it within five days if I’ve followed their complaint procedure correctly.
Five days. To investigate their own mistake. Are they so overwhelmed with delivery errors that this is the standard turnaround? Because that’s what it looks like from the outside.
I never had problems like this when Bambu was using UPS or USPS — and that’s saying something given the state of USPS lately. There’s also that YT outfit shipping out of the Northeast that isn’t much better.
And honestly, Uni is just the symptom. The pattern is what worries me:
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Bambu seems to be defaulting to the cheapest, lowest-quality shippers available.
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The MakerWorld points system keeps shifting in ways that feel less generous each time.
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Software and firmware updates feel slow and overdue for a real overhaul.
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There appears to be a recurring issue with the H2 Z-axis guide bushing.
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My brand-new AMS 2 Pro needed the air valve, main board, hub assembly, and stepper motor replaced. On a new unit.
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Filament is constantly out of stock.
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Complaints online seem to be trending upward, not down.
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(Edited: Oh, and I forgot about a TC nozzle I ordered with 1 roll, didn’t get the nozzle at all! And they threw the filament in a large box with zero packing material, so of course the filament broke loose from it’s box, fortunately the vacuum stayed in tact. It came from California warehouse. Since there was no packing material you could tell the nozzle was missing from the shipping weight deduction.)
Has Bambu forgotten the standard they set for the 3D printing community? Because they set that standard. They earned a reputation by being better than the alternatives — better quality, better support, better experience. That reputation is what made me a repeat customer. It’s also what’s making this slide harder to watch.
Maybe I’m reaching. Maybe this is just a rough patch. But for now, my hope is that someone at Bambu reads this and has a serious conversation with Uni — and takes a hard look at where the rest of this is heading.
