Poor Hard disk packaging by Amazon

rajil.s

Adept
This is how Amazon sent me a hard disk today. The packaging was a flimsy bubble wrap. I did not open the package and it is going back for a replacement. This was from 'Appario' seller which is supposedly an Amazon branch.

20200823_123824.jpg
 
Yup. Sometime back a hard disk bought from Amazon by my neighbour arrived with just a cardboard folded over it. Tape put around the cardboard. That's it.
Needless to say it was damaged and unusable.
I always advise people to go to Lam road and buy hard disks. Never online.
 
haha at least you got bubble wrap. This is how they sent mine (one is the original order, one is the replacement. I returned the replacement too).

Edit: forgot to add, seller was Appario in my case as well.

IMG_20200807_190912.jpg
IMG_20200808_193153.jpg
 
I bought a 1TB Barracuda for 3200 in the sale, I think it's 3500 now. A 1TB Skyhawk is available for 3150 on pcstudio. Not saving anything at all really, buying from amazon.
 
There is no option for a refund, all i can do is replace. If the replacement also turns out like this, i am not sure what are my options.
 
If you select "performance or quality not adequate" you should get an option for a refund. If you choose "packaging damaged" you'll get an option for replacement the first time, refund the second time. YMMV.
 
This is how the replacement item was sent to me. I am sending this back as well.

Is there any online retailer who packages the drives well?

JPEG_20200824_080041_8533258954236419351.jpg
 
Last edited:
Lol. This is happening from years. I got my 2.5" hdd in the same plastic packaging. I was going to send it back and decided to test it first.
It actually worked and still working without any problems even now (touch wood).
The one in the cardboard box should work fine. Harddisk manufacturers don't give plastic boxes now. All the HDDs are bought in bulk and sold bubble wrapped by dealers. Buy external 2.5/3.5" hdd if you want pretty cover and lower prices and works after being shipped in such packages.
 
The point is really not in what condition they're sold or what is the "norm". Even if the drive seems to be working perfectly fine at the start, should I take the responsibility and inconvenience of an rma and data loss if it dies early, because the seller was too cheap to protect it properly against mechanical shock during shipping? I think not. It's not just a "pretty cover".

I dunno how many years you mean, but this was not the case when I last bought one from Amazon, some 3 years ago.
 
I think drives used to be rated something like 350Gs non-operating shock, so i think if the heads are parked properly, there shouldn't be any damage.
People need to consider the practical aspects of this. Assuming a drive is packed in a typical multi-drive polystyrene egg-tray inside a cardboard carton, it's not exactly coming from China or Thailand on somebody's lap inside a private jet. Shipping cartons are thrown, tossed and dropped all the time.
The shock a drive that's bulk packed is exposed to would be about the same as a drive packed in a layer of bubble wrap inside a cardboard shell.
Drives fail all the time and past the initial burn-in which is the highest failure risk period, they wouldn't last any less because they were exposed to physical shock while shipping.
 
Yes but the bulk cartons are properly packed, and the transparent plastic thing does offer some protection. Once they're taken out of the bulk packing and shipped individually does the problem arise. If you look at my post above, the drives were falling out of the transparent plastic cover as well.

OPs drives were a little better packed and I might be willing to take a chance on those.

Btw @OP, which city are you in?
 
Yes but the bulk cartons are properly packed, and the transparent plastic thing does offer some protection. Once they're taken out of the bulk packing and shipped individually does the problem arise. If you look at my post above, the drives were falling out of the transparent plastic cover as well.

Ok, i hadn't seen your pics till now.
The plastic shell (Seagate used to call them SeaShell), is enough protection, and the drive doesn't really even need bubble wrap then.
But it does need crush protection in case something heavy is stacked on top. So in that case, a larger size cardboard box like your drive was shipped in is necessary and enough. The mouth of the plastic shell should be taped to keep it from opening though.
More important is an anti-static bag. No drive should be kept in anything but an anti-static bag till the time of installation.
This includes keeping it on a bed to take photos! Lol
Never take a drive out of the bag till just before you're ready to use it.
 
Sorry is that general advice or do you see a photo of a drive on a bed in this thread? Not sure what's prompting that.
 
The point is really not in what condition they're sold or what is the "norm". Even if the drive seems to be working perfectly fine at the start, should I take the responsibility and inconvenience of an rma and data loss if it dies early, because the seller was too cheap to protect it properly against mechanical shock during shipping? I think not. It's not just a "pretty cover".

I dunno how many years you mean, but this was not the case when I last bought one from Amazon, some 3 years ago.

I had to search my old posts to find that i had to rma the drive. It didn't even work properly. You can see how it was packed even in 2018.

 
Back
Top