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Cricut No they din't!! Rants!!

Cricut Plastic Blade Housing CRACKED!

I love the idea of blade housings that matching the colored Cricuts, so I was happy when I bought my red Cricut Expression last year and it had a red housing in it.  I wasn’t as excited to find out that the housing was plastic.  I thought that it was likely to have problems over time and I was right.  Granted I’ve done some crazy things with my other (white) Cricut Expression, but with “Dean” (my red Expression…named after the older brother in the Supernatural tv series) I’ve taken great care of him.  I was pretty ticked off/frustrated/irritated last night when I was changing the blade in Dean and noticed this CRACK in my blade housing!

The line on the left is where it’s molded together.
The big one on the right is the crack.

I’m really mad about this!  It makes me wonder if I really needed to change my blade or if the housing just wasn’t holding it as well as it should.  I wish Provo Craft hadn’t decided to save money by cutting costs on something as important as the blade housing!

If that was the only problem I’d had with a Cricut product this week, I’d still be pretty peeved, but this is the SECOND problem I’ve had.

I went to make a video for you using the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cartridge and GUESS WHAT?!  The font in it didn’t work! 🙁  I called Cricut and they said that they had a problem with those … could I send it back?  They sent me a free label, but geeze.  I totally overpaid for that cart on HSN and it doesn’t even work!  So, I’m feeling a little mad about the whole thing.

I’m going to give Provo Craft a call today and see what they’ll do about this.  I’ll be sure to let you know what they have to say.  If you need to contact Provo Craft for Cricut reasons you can reach them this way:

Cricut® support hours
Monday – Friday 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (MST)
Cricut® support: 801-932-1144
toll free service phone: 877-7CRICUT
fax: 801-794-9001
email: support@Cricut.com

UPDATE:

I just got off the phone with PC and the lady was super nice (they always are) and told me she’d send me out a new blade housing.  They would NOT be able to send me a new red one, so I’ll be getting the standard metal green one.  Frankly, that’s an improvement over the plastic ones.  😉  She did ask if I had registered my machine and I had, so getting the replacement was no problem.

HOWEVER…I asked if I would have been able to get a new blade housing if my machine was out of warranty and the answer is NO.  I would have had to pay for a new housing if my machine was out of warranty.  🙁  Now, I can understand that theory in general but I really think that since the plastic blade housings are so new, they should replace those during the first 18-24 months of ownership regardless.  I’ve had my other metal housing for years with NO problems!  This seems like a bad product to me.  If you look at the leading holders for pens and embossing pens for the Cricut, like Cri-Kits.com you won’t see them putting out a plastic holder for these machines.

Well, I’m happy to get a new housing, but I’m not happy that other people will probably end up having this same problem and if their year warranty is up they’re stuck buying a new housing  just because the plastic one is an inferior product.  It’s not like PC gave us a choice and we chose plastic.  I’m quite sure that most you are like me:  You bought your Expression expecting a metal housing like you’d seen before and SURPRISE you got a plastic one.  Not right.  Hmmmm….

BTW, I asked about the Imagine and what kind of blade housing it would have, but the nice lady told me that she didn’t have that information yet.  Darn.

Yay to Provo Craft for their constant polite and friendly customer service!  I’ve never had any other kind of experience when I’ve called.  (Crossing fingers, knocking on wood.  LOL!)


Comments

  2. Wow, I'll have to check mine now! I was thoroughly disappointed when I bought my Cricut Expression and found that the blade was plastic and not metal!!! Keep us posted on your results w/ headquarters. Good luck!! Kim

  3. Good luck hun! Provo Craft has a pretty good rep, so I bet they will treat you well. And if not I fell sorry for them...he he he.....:D

  4. What a bummer! Might they replace it with a metal housing? I didn't realize there were issues with that MS cartridge...it's on my wish list. Please let us know what they do for you!!

  5. That sucks!! That also makes me wonder what they are using on the Cricut Imagine. When you talk to PC ask them for us. You know the big release date is just around the corner! I'm wondering about the housing for a product that will sell for $599.00!!!!

    • Rdjewels, I asked them for you! :D Unfortunately, they said they didn't have that info yet. I guess we'll have to try to spy that online or wait until the HSN debut and see if we can tell. ~Joy~

  6. I am sorry to hear about your problem. I am very disappointed with Provo Craft lately. I think they have forgotten it is us the comsumers who made their business. They have raised prices, cut quality and made changes with product availabilty, like Walmart exclusives, that eliminates alot of us customers. And I was very disappointed in the Cricut circle, not all of us can afford that kind of money when it should be available to all for being dedicated customers. Hope things will change and they make your problem right.

  7. I also was surprised when I got my expression that the housing was plastic instead of the metal I had seen in the other cricuts. Hope mine holds up for awhile. I've only had it since May. I love your site. It is so informative and user friendly. Makes me want to have a blog of my own. But since I'm computer challenged, I don't think that will be happening anytime soon. Keep on putting out all the good information. It 's sooooo helpful.

  8. Joy, I am with you all the way....I am a little peeved at Provo craft at the present time..I have not been able to update my Gypsy and I have sent them a e-mail with no response and I have called 3 times with promises that a tec would call me back...Well, I am still waiting for the phone to ring....Guess I will have to call back and not be so nice!!!! I agree that the lady taking my calls was nice but what happened when we hung up???

  9. I wish I could help you with this one but if anyone needs a deep cutting blade and housing you can go to Toys R Us online and get the deep cut blade and housing for $9.99 regular price and a package of extra blades are $7.99. I got everything for $28. and change and that's including shipping. That's less then it cost everywhere else where the housing and blade is $29.00. I hope this helps someone.

  10. I'm not too happy with right now either. I purchased the gypsy last week with the bonus content of 6 cartridges. 2 of those normally come with the gypsy, but 4 more were supposed to update when I registered the gypsy. They don't show in "my cartridges". I guess they are going to send out the serial numbers - snail mail or email - I don't know. I hate getting new stuff and not being able to use it!

  11. Hmmm, sounds like they're testing cost-cutting changes (plastic) against "acceptable" failure rates. Glad you got resolution. My weird moment w/ Provo over a year ago was a failed serial numer from a NIB Design Studio. Although I got pleasant service, I was on hold forever! They let me know that many boxes were sold with problem serial #'s. Huh?!? The Gypsy problems sound very disappointing.

  12. Joy, do you send back your old housing, and how did you get metal? Did you request it? Just wondering, mine looks like it has a small crack. Glenda slatsinhi@yahoo.com

    • Hey Glenda, I didn't have to send back my housing. They told me they were out of the red housings and would be sending me a green one. You know what? Maybe it won't be metal. I didn't stop to think that it could be green and plastic. Oh man. :( I'll have to wait and see what I get. I was thinking green = metal, but she didn't specifically say metal. Auggghhh!! I'll have to let you know how it turns out. ;) ~Joy~

  13. I am so sorry you had a bad experience. I always get bugged when something doesnt work right and especially something like my 5th child...my cricut. EW I would be fuming. But I'm happy they took care of it. :(

  14. What a bummer!!!! After I read your post on the cricut housing I had to go check mine and LO AND BEHOLD it is PLASTIC . I have the pink one. I think I registered my cricut expression. Now I will have to go check to make sure. Please keep us posted

  16. What have you found out about the Martha Stewart cart with the Fonts? Does it work yet? Also...was your green housing they sent you metal or plastic?

    • Hey Comtnmist, I had to ship the cartridge back and they are replacing it with one that works. I just shipped it off earlier this week, so I haven't gotten the new one yet. ;) Crossing my fingers that I get it soon and that it works. ~Joy~

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