Help~New Cricut~mat won't load

[meagansmomtoo]

My 17 y.o. daughter bought a Cricut with her babysitting money on Saturday evening and we, mostly she, has been using it some trying to figure it out. Well, she has had it now only 4 days and the mat won't load. We have pushed the unload button each time between attempts so it is not that... it just won't load.

The edges of the mat have curled a bit and I read that you can add masking tape to help it pull through and that did not help. The bar and rubber grip things are spinning it just will not go in...any suggestions?

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Did you put the mat right up against the roller? I know mine I sit and push the mat right up to the roller so that it will catch the mat and pull it through....

If not, definitely call the support line for help....

 

[wdwmickey]

Did you put the mat right up against the roller? I know mine I sit and push the mat right up to the roller so that it will catch the mat and pull it through....

If not, definitely call the support line for help....

Me too--I hold the mat right next to the rollers with a little pressure.

 

[meagansmomtoo]

Yes we pushed it right against, we laid it right against it, tried everything and it won't grab it.

 

[meagansmomtoo]

I called customer service and they talked me through resetting the machine and that did not work, so they told me I could either return it to Walmart or they would replace it. Replacing it is a 2 week turn around. I am going to try to exchange it at Walmart but they were 50% off on clearance so there may not be any left??? I will check this afternoon.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Good Luck.... Let us know what you are able to do... Yes, those 2 week turnarounds are bad... hopefully Walmart will have one...

 

[Tigger1221]

I bought a Cricut at Walmart and it didn't cut right. I exchanged 3 different ones and they were all broken/not working right. Mine would load but not connect the cuts. I already had a baby bug and mom has an expression so I compared cuts. Finally Walmart just gave me my money back but I was soooo disappointed (this was black friday so it was cheap and cute.) I came home and DH drove me to AC Moore and bought me an Expression there(he wasn't sure what to get). It worked great!!! I think some Wal-marts may have gotten a bad batch. They said a bunch had been returned.

 

[swx72]

I've got a quick question about the cutting mats too. I bought the personal cutter last week when JoAnns had them down to $59.99. I'd looked at them for a while and at that price it was a must have. I finally got round to trying it out for the first time the other day. I realise the cutting mat needs to be adhesive to hold onto the card stock, but how adhesive. Mine is so sticky that trying to get the card off afterwards was a nightmare and after only 2 uses I have so much red card left on it it is almost as though I've been using it for months rather than twice.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

They are usually very sticky at first.... I usually take a white paper and put it on and peel it off a few times to take away some of the sticky...

Some of us wipe the mats down w/ babywipes after we are done for the day to clean off the excess paper pieces left on them...

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

The best thing for a brand new mat is your hands, seriously! Take the cover off and tamp your hands over the mat, the oils from your hands helps to get rid of the super stickies.
After you are done with the mat for the day wipe the mat down GENTLY with a non alcohol based baby wipe (if you can find them, I'm not sure what brand). Leave the cover off and let the mat air dry until tacky. Replace the cover. This will help prolong the life of your mat.
Also when you first open your mat package, write "Top" on the cover sheet. The cover sheet has a different texture on each side and if you stick the top side to the mat it will remove a lot of your sticky.


As for the busted machine, I too have heard that Walmart got a bad batch. I would ask for my money back and try to find another one on sale somewhere. I suspect with the new personal cutter coming out, the price on the old ones will go way down pretty soon.

 

[meagansmomtoo]

I took it back yesterday and they had 1. This one is working without any problems. The other one not only was not loading right but wasn't connecting the cuts, circles were looking like ovals. She is tickled to have it...I won't tell her they were on sale for $59 somewhere else she got in on clearance so it was $75 and she was happy with that. After all of this trouble and exchanging it once already I will leave well enough alone.