Filament finally "in stock", now not shipping

So after two months of all PLA being out of stock (Europe) I got a message that there was stock once again. I ordered 8kg right away, but now the order is not shipping. Bambu says it’s shipped, but DHL does not have a package yet. I ordered 6 days ago.

I feel like Bambu has put ‘in stock’ on the website to keep filament memberships happy, but cannot meet demand. Support ticket about this remains unanswered.

Can anyone recommend a filament supplier that does actually ship, and prints just as well without tweaking?

I’m scratching my head in confusion on this question. Why wouldn’t you just purchase it from Amazon? You get access to quality suppliers at anywhere from 20-60% less than Bambu and is at your doorstep in 48 hours? Also, if you try out one of the lower cost suppliers and find the filament doesn’t perform out of the box, they will accept the return. I’ve returned 1 of 5 spools in the last six months that didn’t perform. I’m experimenting with each new supplier that falls below the $14 magic threshold and keeping notes as to who’s naughty and nice. The ones that go onto my naughty list get returned at no cost to me. In some case, it has taken me 100g into the spool to discover that the filament defies calibration. If that’s the case, back in the box and Amazon has never question any of the spools I’ve sent back.

I understand what you’re saying, but I’m not looking for the cheapest filament and don’t really have time to tweak settings. I run a business and just want plug and play, that’s why I bought into Bambu in the first place. Sunlu filament is working well for me, but just not as good as the Bambu stuff somehow.

Can you recommend some brands that are worth trying, that work with stock settings?

Don’t get me wrong, I love 3D printing and it once was a hobby for me all the way from first gen printers, but it has turned into a tool for the work I do, and sadly I don’t have time to play around with it as I used to.

Ok. I’m not sure how one defines “quality” vendor given the variations in filament properties but let’s just go with the fact that you don’t want to tune a 3rd party filament.

Why not just look in Bambu Studio for the list of pre-defined 3rd party filaments and just buy one of those from Amazon?

These three are listed on the Amazon UK website so I assume they are also available in the EU.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=polymaker+filament
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=esun+filament
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Overture+filament

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Makes sense, I’ll look into those. I’ve used eSun in the past, heard good things about Polymaker too.

Still I’m curious in why Bambu behaves the way it does (original question…).

Not surprised that they are having shipping delays, as they are growing way faster than they are able to keep up with. From what I’ve seen, they play it conservative with staffing, so we end up in situations where things can have big delays. I can see them getting stock in, but they still need to process the inbound delivery before they can properly fulfill the order with the demand they have.

I’ve been printing with Polymaker PolyTerra PLA and PolyLite ASA using the stock profiles without any issues. They don’t have very many profiles for all the types of filament Polymaker sells though. If I use some of my other brand filaments, I’ve been lazy and just use their generic filament profiles which work well enough for most things I print.

Because, like with Apple, BL wants to have control over the entire distribution chain. To use Apple you need to purchase Apple approved products. With BL, according to their stated business model, it’s the same approach.

@Olias would be interested to see what some of your results have shown from what you’ve seen from the different filaments on Amazon. I started buying most of my filament through there and there’s too many to choose from. I see reviews all over the place for filaments, so I just stick with Polymaker since they are a known brand with good reliability.

I know, and I accepted that. But that’s no excuse for not delivering products I ordered.

This is why I avoid ordering anything from Bambu.

I’ve received five shipments from Bambu in the past year. Every one has had an excessive delay between providing a tracking number and actually reaching the shipper.

Printer, two days.
Heat Bed (warranty), four business days (six days with weekend)
Camera (warranty), two business days (five days with holiday weekend)
Filament, two days.
Build plates, four days.

These are not total shipping times, This is just how long it has taken Bambu to get the package into the hands of the carrier. My packages have shipped from California, Texas, and New Jersey, and now you report the same issue in Europe, so the delays are clearly due to Bambu’s procedures, not a delivery company problem.

We run a small online business from our home; orders placed before 3pm are always in the hands of the carrier the same business day (and most weekends).

There should be no reason Bambu can’t get a package on its way within one business day.

True. Personally, I can’t complain as all my orders have been delivered or are in process of being delivered in the upcoming days, and, frankly, BL for deliveries in the EU has not failed me yet.

I keep saying that I’ll publish my spreadsheet, and I will, but it’s random mess right now in Onenote. Perhaps I’ll just printout what vendors I’ve used and which ones were sent back. At the very least, that would let folks know what to avoid.

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Me neither, up untill now. I’ve ordered my X1C from a local company, and my A1 Mini directly from Bambu EU, both arrived within a few days. Previous large filament order from Bambu EU also arrived pretty quickly.