Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I received the Cricut Explore Air as an early Christmas gift November 2015. I spent about $250 on extra cricut brand materials which was the hugest mistake I've ever made craft wise. I planned on utilizing the Cricut during my college winter break. I owned two of the original cricut expression, the cricut cake. I had done research on this newer model and was excited to try out some of the newer features. I began using the Cricut before winter break. I made 4 ornaments and 4 monogrammed elves. I noticed the cutting wasn't clean but I thought it could possibly be the size. (it was very small) I've seen other projects and the cutting is very tiny and clean so I was unsure of why this issue was happening. I then began testing other materials and making test projects. It would inconsistently cut. In the $250 I spent during November included a deep cut blade and new cricut mats along with other accessories. I tested out other material using the new mats and blades and it was inconsistent each time. Sometimes it would work without an issue and other times there were major inconsistencies. We were out of town for 3 weeks during Christmas because we travel down to our home town. On January 6th I talked to a very nice lady and was unable to replicate the issue that time. Then I tried different material (chipboard) on the same day and the issue happened again. I spoke with Venkat over chat and he didn't know what chipboard was. He kept asking if I meant cardstock. How are you supposed to work with a crafting company and not be educated on crafting material? He would leave the chat unresponsive sporadically for large amounts of time. I then spoke with Mr. Acosta (not sure what his first name was) on January 6th. He was very nice and believed that the machine was likely the source of my problems. He could not confirm this without some photographic evidence. I understood that and I sent him the pictures on January 11th but the email bounced. I contacted Cricut again on the 13th to see what I could do. Donald suggested for me to email him a collage of pictures because their mailing servers do not take larger images. He gave me the option to email Mr. Acosta but he was not in for the day. I thought emailing Donald would expedite the process. I didn't receive another response from Donald. I called again on the 15th but it appears Donald was off from work. This is one of the biggest issues that I have. Almost every company I've ever worked with has a ticketing system. I understand sometimes having a specific person handle your issues is more personable. However, in a case like this I wasted days bouncing from person to person to person. On the 15th, Anthony said he would email me so I can send him the pictures AGAIN.... (third time) I mentioned to him I have also been having issues with Design Space. I will go back to Design Space later in this review. I did appreciate the extra effort by originally emailing me so I could reply directly. It was a nice convenient option. On the 16th I called again since I had not heard back from Anthony. I spoke with someone else. They spoke with Anthony and he told them he needed more information in order to continue my ticket. However, I never received anything asking for more information. His response to my original reply to him with the images was, "Please be sure to check your blade settings, physical blade as well (to ensure that no paper, etc. is stuck inside.) Please feel free to contact me via email if you need further assistance, if you prefer, you can also call us here at Cricut. Thank you" We had already addressed the blade settings and physical blade over the phone with both Mr. Acosta and the lady that I spoke with on January 6th. On the 18th I checked on the status of my issue. I was told I would have to wait for Anthony to check on a few things. I sent Anthony an email on the 18th and I cc'd Ashish Arora the CEO of the company thinking this would escalate the issue. No response. Today is the 21st and I still have not heard from Anthony. Consistent with the experience I have had thus far, there is no solution nor a response. On the contrary the company which I purchased this item from tried to help immediately but did not have the exact product to do an exchange. Now getting back to Design Studio: On the 16th Anthony also told me this regarding Design Space: "I apologize for the wait, it appears that there was nothing with the server when we last spoke. That’s perfect that you were able to check your Internet Speeds, I would recommend checking your computer’s “System Requirements” as well to ensure a smooth project operation via Design Space. Sometimes a lag can occur with many factors tied into it." He states to verify my settings. I had previously shared my internet speed and informed him I cleared my cache. I also assured him my computer was more than capable. I live in the DFW Metroplex and have a constant speed of between 270-320 Mbps. My wiring was completely replaced 1.5 years ago because my husband works as a high level developer for a large company based out in California. His need for a reliable speed is required for his work. Per Anthony, Design Space requires: Windows® OS • OS: Windows® 7 or later • CPU: Intel™ Pentium® 4 2.33 GHz or equivalent AMD® processor • RAM: 4GB • Browsers: Latest version of Internet Explorer®, Mozilla® Firefox®, Google Chrome® • 50MB free disk space • Available USB port I have 3 devices I primarily use Design Space on. Here are there specs: Windows® OS • OS: Windows® 8 • CPU: 4th generation Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 1.9 GHz dual Core i5-4300U • RAM: 4G • Browsers: Latest version of Internet Explorer®, Mozilla® Firefox®, Google Chrome® • 22 gb free disk space • Available USB port For my other computer I have: Windows® OS • OS: Windows® 10 • CPU: 4th generation Intel® Core™ i3-3240 3.4ghz • RAM: 6G • Browsers: Latest version of Internet Explorer®, Mozilla® Firefox®, Google Chrome® • 421 gb free disk space • Available USB ports Windows® OS • OS: Windows® 10 • CPU: Core i7 quad core 2.6 GHZ that can be overclocked to 3.5 • RAM: 16G + 4GB dedicated graphics memory • Browsers: Latest version of Internet Explorer®, Mozilla® Firefox®, Google Chrome® • 200 GB of free disk space on mass storage and another 60 free GB of SSD • Available USB ports The recommendation by another representative I spoke to on the 18th, was to start over. I had worked a minimum of 12 hours on this specific print and cut. She stated that there may sometimes be issues with images you upload. For me, that was the main selling point for this product along with print and cut. My time is very limited as a full time student, volunteer and wife. It's not acceptable to just lose all your work even if you save it. Firefox constantly gives the following error: A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, open the script in the debugger, or let the script continue. Chrome Gives the following error: Shockwave error When I began using Design Space I noticed issues immediately. I would save a project, save it, close the browser and reopen it later. It would tell me that the font is not supported. The first time it was a font that I uploaded. I then used Cricut fonts and the same issue reoccurred. Another issue with print and cut: a font showed up on the sticker I was making in Design Space but whenever I printed the font did not show up. I know the printer had ink of that color because a different stickers on that set used the exact same shade. Register markers were not read properly many times. It completely cut un-aligned. Design space is not very user friendly even for people that are computer savvy. I can edited videos for youtube vlogs, build and maintain a php based website from scratch but when using Design Studio I can't do simple things like print and cut. I really thought that having Design Studio would make the experience much pleasurable and support my creativity. The idea is nice but the execution is horrific. The funny thing is everyone minus one lady I talked to on the 18th has perfect connectivity and never has an issue with Design Space. I was constantly blamed for my connection speeds or computer specifications being the actual issue. When in reality I have a top of the line machine and top of the line internet speeds. The good news is that I can get a full refund even though it's been two months. However, I am going to be losing my shipping and handling along with the $250 that went down the drain on cricut material over the holiday period. I also lost a lot of time, energy and opportunities to purchase other products during the holidays. I will say one positive thing. The online Cricut community has been excellent. I wish they worked for Cricut instead of some of the cricut infrequently responsive employees that I have worked with. They are all very knowledgeable and have attempted to help. Everybody over the phone has been very nice. However that is irrelevant if the issue is not resolved. To me, great customer service is fixing the problem. That is something that Cricut has been unsuccessful at. I really did love Cricut and their products. I am sad to say that such a great company has fallen so low. I will no longer be purchasing their products here on out. I am returning this machine. I strongly recommend staying away from them.