Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

TLDR: Please beware that this machine is one of the biggest scams on the market. There's no customer support, and the hardware is as cheap as you can make it. The software has been in beta for almost 5 years, and it's not looking like an update is coming anytime soon. There's a reason they don't list a contact number and 20% of their amazon reviews are a single star. Do yourself a favor, and go for the Cricut or Brother machines. FULL: As a side business, I run a moderately successful online store selling gift tags and cards, and heavily rely on my die cutting machine. I purchased the silhouette because at that point, there was a $75 difference between it and the cricut, and it was not apparent why. What a mistake on my end! Since that purchase, I have wasted 10 times that amount in ruined merchandise, materials, time, and actual money spent on replacement parts/consumables/etc. Many users complain about the software, but honestly, that's the least of it. Yeah, they're right. The software is useless, missing key (FUNDAMENTAL) features such as ctrl + to zoom in, and ctrl + a to select all. I mean it's difficult for me, as a coder IRL, to understand why features integral to the operating system would somehow be missed here. But again, not the worst of it. Frankly, I'd put up with this and more harrowing issues if the machine actually cut. Here's my main concern: the mechanics of the machine are absolutely dismal. As in, your lever that secures the cutting mat actually becomes unlocked (see first pic) IN THE PROCESS OF CUTTING. So you're building this machine, and you build your lever lock to rotate the same way as the machine axel rotates... hm. Moreover, the blades themselves are manufactured poorly. You can see a new blade that is somehow already warped inside (see pic 2). Finally, the process of cutting is frustrating to the nth degree. Sometimes it works ok. Sometimes not. And when it doesn't work it really really doesn't work. I've included a bunch of photos of ruined tags I recently cut. This happens on average 50% of the time. Don't believe me? See the last photo. That's my trash bin of wasted materials over 3 days (!) of orders. THREE DAYS. After unsuccessfully attempting to fix it myself the first time (2 weeks after purchase), I contacted support (which doesn't actually have a number to call because too many users were calling to complain). She told me that i should try buying a new printer. When I kindly asked for a full refund, as it had only been two weeks, they stopped responding. Keep in mind, their return policy is 30 days! I have since reported them to the BBB, and ensured that my complaints are visible on all their social media sites, but what I'd really like is to make sure that NOBODY ELSE spends a dime of their hard earned money on a company that clearly doesn't value it.