dodgy packaging of HDD from major e-commerce store - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: login
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2022, 08:36:36 am
content: instead of being well padded inside a box it came in a paper thin bm3 envelope. Not surprising it was D.O.A and got sent back.I opted for a replacement since the price was ok but informed them they needed to package it properly. Their response was ... a bigger envelopeand a bit of extra padding..surprisingly this one works. Boxes must be hard to come by.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2022, 06:22:29 pm
content: Ahaha!But yes:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-27/cardboard-boxes-shortage-is-latest-disruption-to-global-shipping

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2022, 06:34:41 pm
content: I use to order drives from Scan over a decade ago and they started to send them out in bubble wrap which I wasn't happy about and was skeptical whether they'd last more than a couple of years. They were packaged much more thicker than that and had many many layers so it was like a size of a box that one would come in maybe a little smaller. I still have many of those drives today in some box somewhere but quite a few of them seem to sound very noisy the last time I was looking for something that I thought I lost or didn't copy across.

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 05, 2022, 08:49:36 pm
content: theoretically they should have heads in park mode, so away from the platter.in most cases this hanlde even a so bad packaging

author: login
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2022, 06:20:09 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on June 05, 2022, 06:22:29 pmthat appears to be a Us problem only so may not affect us in Aus. I think we can at least handle our own cardboard boxes.Quote from: MrMobodies on June 05, 2022, 06:34:41 pmthe bubble wrap used in these envelopes is not thick enough to prevent a hard knock from damaging the HDD. I'll keep a listen out for future clunks and whirls.Quote from: mcinque on June 05, 2022, 08:49:36 pmin most cases(?) except mine. the packaging needs to withstand a hard knock to prevent dislodging the platters. A paper thin envelope is insufficient and shouldn't be used.

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2022, 11:44:14 am
content: Haha. About 15 years ago, we had ordered a package of 20 HDDs - those were usually in a facory double-walled box with a nice foam insert, protecting the disks from any dropping damage. For that delivery, the distributor literally threw all the bare disks into one single-walled box, no packaging material at all. I was not happy, with a big "WTF" floating over my head. Later, they had little boxes with foam padding to individually package them.(Of course, the abused disks were immediatly returned for a replacment in a factory sealed box...)

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2022, 12:41:16 pm
content: Maybe one should buy together also something that's large and unexpensive (and of low value), so that the shipment won't fit anymore in a envelope.(Provided that seller has the best offer so there is no other reason to buy somewhere else)

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2022, 03:28:00 pm
content: I've had that (seems to be a spciality of Amazon). I complained to customer services and pointed out that a jiffy bag wasn't suitable packaging for a drive, then resolved to put hard drives on the list of stuff I shouldn't get from Amazon (like any flash-based storage from Ebay, etc). Nevertheless, when I did succumb they sent them out again the same way and I spent some time stress testing them to make sure they worked. Haven't had a DOA since.Also got drives packaged in a similarly lax way from Dell, who you'd think would know better. So perhaps they do know better!