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The 200mm Unicorn Fan Saga

CMetaphor

Quadfather
Joined
May 5, 2007
Messages
6,661
Location
Montreal, Canada
Well then. I haven't had to deal with this situation in a long while, so I'm honestly asking for some advice from you guys on how to proceed.

The story: I bought a rare computer fan from ebay, expensive, but IMO worth it because it's that hard to find. Package arrived today... and the fan is badly damaged. It's 200mm fan that was shipped in a bubble envelope (of low quality, like 2mm tall bubbles at best) and it's original box Only. Nothing was done to protect the fan blades inside the original box, and the original box was completely free inside the bubble envelope that's twice it's size.

The damage: one of the eight mounting tabs has been shorn off completely, meaning the fan can only now be mounted as an intake or with 3 screws - the latter I doubt I would do, even if the rest of the fan was intact, because of possible vibrations and how wobbly 200mm fan frames are. Speaking of the frame, it's cracked completely through near the broken tab. And lastly, the frame itself has huge chunks of plastic broken off near the crack, probably more than 50% of the fan frame in that section has been broken off. It's obviously taken a big hit. However, the fan Blades seem okay, and the bearing also seems to intact. I have not turned it on yet.

So... what do I do in this situation? The seller obviously packed the fan very poorly. Even one extra later of bubble wrap, wrapped around the outside of the original box, probably would've saved it. But then again, it's obvious the damage occurred due to some incident during shipping (there is a tear in the bubble envelope in the shape of one of the fans tabs I believe, probably the one that got broken). If the package had been handled with care, or if the seller had packaged better/ added a "fragile" sticker, it would've been fine.

But now I'm stuck wondering what to do. The seller might blame the shipper, and vice versa. I don't want to get into a toxic and stress -filled game of broken telephone between them.

Other notes: Purchased on ebay, paid via paypal. Need to check if the shipment was insured, but I think it was for the default $100.

I've got lots of photos, and I guess I'll message the seller first in the morning and see what they say. I'll take any advice or suggestions you guys have in the meantime, and thanks in advance.
 

sswilson

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
25,913
Location
Moncton NB
Yeah, really not much you can do other than contact the seller with pics and go from there. Who was the shipper? If it was Canada Post, did you have tracking which would tell you what level of package shipping was used?
 

CMetaphor

Quadfather
Joined
May 5, 2007
Messages
6,661
Location
Montreal, Canada
Welp. That was easy. Full refund through ebay almost immediately, without requiring a return. I guess the days of broken telephone and taking ages to resolve anything are gone? Regardless, yay?

I'm still sad the fan is so damaged, but I guess I can try to save it worry-free now. Maybe I should pick up a plastic welder and extra crazy glue? Hmm.

Anyways, sorry for my typical wall of text and the needless thread. Wasn't the ordeal I thought it would be.
 

sswilson

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
25,913
Location
Moncton NB
Welp. That was easy. Full refund through ebay almost immediately, without requiring a return. I guess the days of broken telephone and taking ages to resolve anything are gone? Regardless, yay?

I'm still sad the fan is so damaged, but I guess I can try to save it worry-free now. Maybe I should pick up a plastic welder and extra crazy glue? Hmm.

Anyways, sorry for my typical wall of text and the needless thread. Wasn't the ordeal I thought it would be.

Glad to hear it went well. So many horror stories out there, it's hard to not expect the worst.
 

Izerous

Well-known member
Folding Team
Joined
Feb 7, 2019
Messages
4,484
Location
Edmonton
Curious as to what the fan was? There are still a selection of BNIB 200mm fans from various companies (Noctua, BitFenix and a few others) so it isn't a dead size just uncommon.
 

CMetaphor

Quadfather
Joined
May 5, 2007
Messages
6,661
Location
Montreal, Canada
Maybe if a couple more people ask, I'll spill it.

I had two of them. Lost one to my basement flooding (it was underwater for a long while, need to completely disassemble and clean it....somehow? Probably still a loss). The second one is okay. And now the third was this one broken by shipping.

Was hoping to have 4x 200mm fans for a build someday, so I'm still short at least one... or two. 😢
 

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