Requesting to work “off network” is a MASSIVE red flag to us.
Now that the makers pay the 3dhubs fee… there is literally NO reason to go off network.
None.
These conversations should be monitored and people that recommend this course of action be warned then removed. Makers who indulge in this behavior should be removed entirely(no warning they know better).
Working OFF network only hurts the makers. It provides nothing for the customer… in fact it removes some protections with the funds being in escrow.
It’s bad for everyone… don’t do it. Don’t request it, Don’t indulge it.
Justin
Proto House
7 Likes
Hi ProtoHouse,
Once again, thanks for your feedback. I’ll deactivate the user immediately.
Federico
3 Likes
I agree so much with this. The 3dhubs fee is “sales cost.” The brought me the sale, they deserve the commission!!!
3 Likes
I agree. Aside from the ethics issues that have already been mentioned, dealing with people like this is asking for trouble anyway. Of course I wouldn’t complain if the fee was lowered but I think it’s absolutely fair for the service you get. I have even had clients I met on my own order through my hub for the piece of mind.
-Jesse
1 Like
I have this same exact message from another guy with the same first name. I thought maybe he just wanted me to review his designs before he uploaded them to the order, but it seem this is a wide spread scam of some kind. Other Hubs may have the exact same message from a similar user. I will cancel this inquiry from this user. Thanks for pointing this out to us!
2 Likes
I already posted a comment on this thread, but I just wanted to point out to you that this might be a wider spread scam, since both I and ProtoHouse have different users asking the exact same thing even though I am in Dallas and they are in San Francisco.
3DMuse
7
Woah, hang on there, you’ve gotta re-think this decision.
Yes, it is wrong and no, nobody on 3DHubs should promote or encourage such behaviours.
However…
someone just asked if it’s possible to work together offline, we all know the answer is no so we just tell them no. The customer only voiced out his or her wish and our jobs as a hubs operator is to know when to say no. You cannot just label them as scammers immediately and ban them! How many customers will we lose through this approach?
I really hope that you can at least try to see this from a customer’s point of view, cause you and I were also once, a customer.
I’m a little conflicted on this because I somewhat agree with you but I think this particular example is pretty obvious. Especially since another example with the same wording “just a personal preference” was just posted. I like less regulation but at the same time one of the main reason I’m paying that service fee is to not have to deal with scams like this.
-Jesse
1 Like
I agree with you, but this user may have actually been a scammer. I got the exact same message from a different user with the same first name, and mine and ProtoHouse’s hub are very far apart.
2 Likes
“mike olsen” “mike francis” “just a personal preference of mine” Two different cities? 100% Scam.
1 Like
Haha cross verified. Thanks. Yeah reported ans hubs say they ha e banned this user. They likely saw all the same outbound messages to several hubs and made this same conclusion. Good work all! Keep making. J Should be noted i got both the spammer and scammer enquires 20min apart. Likely same person with different communication fishing techniques.
2 Likes
Youll note i was recommending a warning to customers then a ban. They went straight to ban…likely saw more than we did from their end. These people are not worth dealing with…on or off the network.
1 Like
3DMuse
13
Since the messages are almost word for word, you are most definitely right, this guy might have intentions other than just your 3D-printing expertise or want to save a few bucks of fees by dealing under the table (here is the scamming part I understood). These people will always be there. They are the 1%-3% of the internet (no source here but bare with me). And if you want to have system wide surveillance for that 1%-3%, it’s exactly like the NSA. Don’t get used to that and think we have all lost our privacy since then.
So the question here is really what is the long term solution? Similar to the spam advertising incident last week, it may be time to offer users to report other users and will be subjected to review. To me, seeing all these report icons for post and users might make 3DHubs seem less cozy. So the last option is of course to treat this as a single case scenario and move on. 3DHubs cannot be upping their defences every time someone posts something foolish or annoying. Soon all users will require Captchas to log in. So I am for making it clear to hubs about such rules when they sign up and move on.
3dhubs used to HEAVILY monitor communications. As usage went up their ani ity to do so went down. So its on us makers to report. The problem is an eady method to report. They recommended adding a button to do so. Thats a great thing. Easy, leeps tje power in tje jands of 3duubs and makes it so i dont have to publically blast people like this. I also emailed their customer service along side this public post. The reason for posting publically at all is really to remind makers what this about and what is the right course of action for this kind of behavior. Agreed its a small percentage which means they wont need to review that many report button pressesl to review. The bad news for shady hubs… Will be that it wont be public. And when reviewed hubs are found to be indulging with off metwork requests they are subject to ban. Friendly reminder… 
Theyve always monitored…
2 Likes
I think you are really on to something here in terms of the “bad look” aspect. I also really like concept of being able to say to the rest of the hubs “hey I got this shady message, anyone else seen anything like it/have an opinion/etc” so stuff like the ^above^ can be outed.
Maybe this kind of “inside baseball” stuff should be segregated from the general chat and be in it’s own section. I think it’s very beneficial for the hubs and should help mitigate the need for the kind of overreach you are worried about. I also think there is no reason why potential customers or people just coming here interested in 3d printing in general should have to scroll past this crap that doesn’t interest them.
i also had one of these
without mentioning who it is (3dhubs is notified)… i got this:
“Hi,
We have a project we would like 3D printed but due to confidentiality, we do not want to upload the file onto 3D Hubs platform. We would prefer if we can communicate with you by email if you would be willing to work with us.”
my reply:
“I have asked 3Dhubs to ban your account, this is against everything the 3dhubs idea stands for.”
one can wonder why a polish dude wants something printed at a hub in Denmark… :-/
2 Likes
Me too, I had a message with the exact same text today :-/ Pretty annoying.
Well Guys and Gals., WHAT ABOUT THE DOT COMS??? I cannot understand how these companies get on here, and in their description they give their .com adress? Next you click on their links and there is a place to upload your stl files OFF SITE??? this does not seem like good business either, what do you think? I think they are just stealing traffic from 3d hubs and stealing is all I can see when I look at these .com addresses on here. Seems to be more than 1-3% percent right now… I can’t believe this, I DO NOT think it is right! It is like stealing and I would Love to Flag everyone doing it? BUT maybe I am just jealous because I don’t direct traffic from this site and print parts minus the 3d hubs fees…Please let me know what you guys think!? I just recently saw a 3d hubs mayor in a different country doing this as well? Now I just had one pop up in my own back yard and I DO NOT like this at all! their are getting orders though.lol , but the second page you click on ask for you to upload your model files OffSite? WHY??? this helps NONE OF US! Let me know please your feelings on this(This has been bugging me more and more) now it is ridiculous and time to make it stop/this my opinion what’s yours PLEASE? should I get over myself or should we figure out a way to make this stop? Like most are saying, “3dhubs brings me the business and tools to make this happen”, and are constantly in “standby mode” whenever I or my clients need a little help, not to mention that they are the creators, and in my mind deserve their cut! Thank You for reading this rant 
please share your thoughts on .com links to sites that steal traffic. thanx again.
Wow… I had not seen that.
Makers advertising alternate services (direct or 3rd party) should be automatic ban.
I hope they implement the “report” button. If their system cannot monitor for .com like it used too (why it changed I have no idea) then the other makers need to be the ones policing each other and clients.
1 Like
maybe he thinks danish hubs are as drunk in vodka as the polish are 
