Comment on [deleted]
Benjaben@lemmy.world 1 day agoI think if my business saw a $400 return for damaged goods, and I’m sure higher in cases too, I’d ensure I have a robust system to package those orders correctly the second time, no? I’m not complaining about the way it was treated in transit, but the way it was packed. It used only air bubbles, which both times (and on the same side) ruptured or deflated from elevation change, but either way left the drives just freely bouncing around their containing box. And I directly and precisely explained exactly the nature of the failure to them, with photographic evidence (as their process requires). I’m willing to acknowledge that mistakes happen, but c’mon. In addition, shouldn’t Newegg of all places know these are fragile devices, and probably savvy customers?
I have a robust system to package those orders correctly
This is my point. You can package your electronics as good as you want, but when it comes to hard drives, if the middle man decides to play ice hockey with your package it doesn’t matter. If you want to blame something blame Newton’s second and third Laws of Motion. 🤷♂️
No I don’t think I will, I think I’ll blame the shoddy packing which is very unlikely to successfully protect the goods, due to the well-known challenges of shipping products and especially delicate products that you’re describing, and which indeed did fail 2x in a row to protect said goods, but you do you!
I owned my own tech firm for 10 years or so. I setup any number of backup solutions with enterprise level HDDs. I’ve seen HDDs packaged impeccably. I’ve seen them come in a cardboard box with absolutely no protection and it’s an absolute crap shoot no matter what. As a matter of fact, there’s a HDD connected to a NAS attached to the computer I’m typing this out on that’s been working for over 8 years non-stop and it was one that just came direct in a cardboard box. Didn’t have a lick of paper or bubble-warp in it.
I’m not telling you not to be critical of retailers who don’t properly protect the things you buy. I’m telling you to measure your response because at the end of the day they’re incredibly fragile no matter how they’re packaged. Properly packaging doesn’t mean you’re going to get a 100% success rate. If you’re that worried about it, then find a local retailer and don’t buy them online.
Okay that is truly a useful perspective and I appreciate it. I don’t understand why asking a community dedicated to passionate enthusiasts for retailers they specifically like should be contentious, it seems like precisely the point of these communities. I will keep your perspective in mind, but I don’t intend to just accept whatever even a plurality of retailers think I should be willing to accept. I’m going to hunt down ones I like giving my business to, especially in this day and age, and I think we’d all be better off if we each did the same.
catloaf@lemm.ee 1 day ago
$400 is nothing for businesses. At my job, purchases under $10,000 don’t require any approval.
You haven’t said who you’re actually buying from. Any actual retailer selling new drives should be shipping them in the OEM packaging, and WD and Seagate should be packaging them just fine.
But really, hard drives aren’t that sensitive to shock. If the drive is off, the heads are parked, there’s not much that can happen unless they get absolutely slammed against something and directly impacted. I run plenty of used drives shipped in a single layer of bubble wrap with few issues. Where I do have issues (connector damage, excessive bad sectors, failed short/long/conveyance SMART tests), those I replace.
But, if this is critical data, you should always be prepared for drive failures with hot spares. Even an apparently healthy drive can suddenly stop working.
Benjaben@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I understand it’s small potatoes, I tried to indicate that. It isn’t to me.
I also did specifically and exactly call out the seller, Newegg, and even say that I wanted to name and shame right in the initial post, so I just don’t know what you want from me there lol. Does Lemmy support the old marquee tag somehow?
Thanks for the info on your experience with drives, I admit I’m slightly uncertain there. But nonetheless I bought new, enterprise grade drives and they were rattling around unprotected in their boxes, I don’t know why I should be expected to accept that.
After all I’m literally asking for more thoughtful careful retailers if they exist. And I gave Newegg two tries to get it right with detailed explanations of the problem, I don’t think I’m being unreasonable. In this day and age and with all the terrible treatment of all of us by corporations I am just asking this community who they might like better, and my bad experience with this one. Why is that contentious?
catloaf@lemm.ee 1 day ago
Yes, the seller is Newegg, but they’re a marketplace like Amazon. Check who fulfills the order.
If they’re in OEM packaging (cardboard box and formed clamshell plastic for individual drives, I assume, since you said “boxes”) that’s totally acceptable. If you put a shock sensor in the box at the origin, you wouldn’t see anything particularly bad even if the box fell off the truck. F=m*a, and with small m (a few drives) and small a (not falling very far) then F is going to be pretty small too.
Benjaben@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I did, I don’t remember the exact phrasing, but I ensured it was basically Newegg fulfillment (I’ve even gotten a literal Amazon box from Newegg in the past when not doing so, I do basically understand how it works).
I also understand you’re trying to be helpful, but I really don’t need the physics lesson, I double majored in physics and electrical engineering, I understand that equation and it’s implications a lot better than you assume, and moreover I spent a lot of years in my career with a lot of HDDs, from many sources and for many purposes. I don’t agree with you that being shipped these drives in obviously faulty outer packaging is something I should be willing to accept, at least not without seeking out more conscientious suppliers first. It’s amazing to me that people disagree with this so much about spinning platter drives - I couldn’t give a shit less about any other kind of hardware I can think of, intact OEM packaging would be fine for me.