Fractal Design recalls their most Airflow focused case weeks after launch for a faulty fan hub

[TVwazhere]

Summary

Gigabyte and EVGA aernt the only manufacturers in the news lately with damaged or recalled products. Fractal Designs latest release into the case market has been recalled due to customers reporting issues with the Fan hub. Thankfully, the pre installed fans are not plugged in out of the box, however the intent was for users to use the nine fan PWN header to control their fans.

 

Quotes

Fractal Design:

Quote

Some reports of Fan Hubs damaged in manufacturing potentially causing a short-circuit have led us to re-evaluate the circuit board design.

 

We remain committed to the quality of our products and the Nexus 9P Slim Fan Hub included with the Torrent does not live up to the standards customers expect from us. Our development team is working tirelessly to design and manufacture an updated version that will address these issues as soon as possible

PG Gamer:

Quote

"You can still use your Torrent without the fan hub, but given the compromised feature set, we are also coordinating with retail partners to enable a smooth refund process if you prefer not to wait for the replacement kit. We have temporarily stopped sales of the Torrent until the fan hub is updated," Fractal Design says.

Gamers Nexus (Transcribed From Video):

Quote

"So here's what you need to know: All buyers will receive a replacement. If you have purchased one, you will get a replacement. (GN later confirms in the video all regions will get replacements, not just US & EU)

 

Additionally, Fractal.... is pulling back cases that have shipped to distributors [or] suppliers of any kind and anyone else in the chain. So they're actually recalling physically the product to a Fractal location to physically have the Fan Hub Replaced. That's the important part; it means they're not sitting in the channel (as it's called "sitting on shelves") waiting to be sold while there's a know issue.

 

This is very rare, normally companies in our experience will continue to sell through a product while they work out a potential fix, and then they kind of put out a soft statement saying "If you want a replacement, let us know and we will send it to you" but in this case, Fractal is actively trying to seek customers who have managed to purchase one and get their units upgraded."

 

My thoughts

This story broke August 28th so its a bit old, and very few cases have been sold so far as far as I'm aware given it's only been a couple of weeks on the market, but its good to see that Fractal is going in this instance above and beyond the norm, going as far to return-ship what's arguably the most expensive PC part to ship to ensure a proper fix. 

 

This is a good move on Fractal's part; whether they're doing this out of the kindness of their heart (unlikely) or getting out ahead of it to keep the positive buzz about the case going (Likely, as this was Overwhelmingly positive from reviewers including GN who noted in their review they'd be looking into using them for their Work computers).

 

Sources

Press Release:

https://www.fractal-design.com/important-message-regarding-torrent/

 

News Media:

https://www.pcgamer.com/fractal-design-recalls-the-fan-hub-in-its-torrent-case-get-your-free-replacement/

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/fractal-design-issues-fan-hub-replacement-for-new-torrent-pc-case

[SignatureSigner]

oof

for all people who bought it recently

[Dedayog]

7 minutes ago, SignatureSigner said:

oof

Lol, really?  That's your comment?

 

How about how Fractal is doing what's right?  It's not like no other company does this but it's definitely a good thing to see, so that we don't get complacent and just get used to Gigabyte and EVGA bullshit.

 

Happy to support them with product purchases, wish they had come out with their PSUs before I bought this EVGA piece of shit.

 

Good stuff.

[Catsrules]

Dear Gigabyte,

 

This is how your should to handle a defective product. 

 

Thanks.

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

5 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Lol, really?  That's your comment?

 

How about how Fractal is doing what's right?  It's not like no other company does this but it's definitely a good thing to see, so that we don't get complacent and just get used to Gigabyte and EVGA bullshit.

 

Happy to support them with product purchases, wish they had come out with their PSUs before I bought this EVGA piece of shit.

 

Good stuff.

oof

[jaslion]

4 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Lol, really?  That's your comment?

 

How about how Fractal is doing what's right?  It's not like no other company does this but it's definitely a good thing to see, so that we don't get complacent and just get used to Gigabyte and EVGA bullshit.

 

Happy to support them with product purchases, wish they had come out with their PSUs before I bought this EVGA piece of shit.

 

Good stuff.

I really wanted to buy this case right up until I saw the price tag. Here is hoping for a more budget model down the line :p.

 

They recently had a sale on their good fractal ion gold 650w psu's. I kinda splurged and got 12 of em (50 a piece). Great units that handle a 3070 like a champ.

[Tegneren]

12 minutes ago, SignatureSigner said:

oof

Having a bad or faulty product happens to every manufacturer from time to time. It doesn't make the company bad or untrustworthy.

Its how they treat it that might. Like Gigabyte recently with the PSU's or NZXT with the H1 riser cable

In this case (pun intended) Fractal did the right thing and took proper action as soon as the defect was discovered.

[Dedayog]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I really wanted to buy this case right up until I saw the price tag. Here is hoping for a more budget model down the line :p.

 

They recently had a sale on their good fractal ion gold 650w psu's. I kinda splurged and got 12 of em (50 a piece). Great units that handle a 3070 like a champ.

Why didn't you tell me!  I'd have grabbed a couple too.

 

3 minutes ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

oof

I expected that from you

 

 

[jaslion]

4 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Why didn't you tell me!  I'd have grabbed a couple too.

 

I miiight have bought all that store had :p.

 

So yeah

 

_oof

[shermantanker]

I hope these cases get back in stock soon. I'm starting to gather parts for a new build and really want this case.

 

I am glad fractal took the right path here given the recent controversies around other manufacturers.

[Blademaster91]

Nice to see Fractal recall the product quickly, and even accept cases being shipped back, that has to be expensive. Although every company should respond like this, how NZXT reacted with a dangerous riser cable was unacceptable, also Gigabyte with their explosive power supplies but newegg should be to blame for that too.

[WhitetailAni]

Dear Gigabyte and NZXT:

This is how you handle explosions and fires. You do not try to shift blame, make it hard to return the faulty products, and issue out a new iteration that doesn't fix the issue.

Thank you.

 

-@FakeKGB

[SavageNeo]

oof

 

 

but in all sewriousness, fractal is doing what is right.

I may buy only fractal cases now on (just to support the brand)

[Velcade]

1 hour ago, TVwazhere said:

This story broke August 28th so its a bit old

Less than a week... What makes you say this story is old?

[DeScruff]

Well at least for people who already bought and built in the case the fan hub isn't exactly essential and should be easy enough to remove and replace.

[Fasterthannothing]

58 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Lol, really?  That's your comment?

 

How about how Fractal is doing what's right?  It's not like no other company does this but it's definitely a good thing to see, so that we don't get complacent and just get used to Gigabyte and EVGA bullshit.

 

Happy to support them with product purchases, wish they had come out with their PSUs before I bought this EVGA piece of shit.

 

Good stuff.

Oof

[Fasterthannothing]

Well seems like all companies are turning into junk for some reason (no that's not including how they handle it just their actual product). SSDs, cases, PSUs, GPUs . I think this pandemic is really producing some crappy components that aren't being tested properly before leaving the warehouse. I've actually refused to buy anymore PC parts from anyone for a while due to this terrible QC and bait and switch crap.

[TetraSky]

Good on them to issue a recall on the case.

Though I don't think most people will return their cases and will just wait for the replacement hub (as long as it is at no additional charge, including free shipping)

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Its a pity they didn't manage to stick the landing. It'll take some time for it to be recommended again.

[SignatureSigner]

1 hour ago, Dedayog said:

Lol, really?  That's your comment?

 

How about how Fractal is doing what's right?  It's not like no other company does this but it's definitely a good thing to see, so that we don't get complacent and just get used to Gigabyte and EVGA bullshit.

 

Happy to support them with product purchases, wish they had come out with their PSUs before I bought this EVGA piece of shit.

 

Good stuff.

yes

[Ravendarat]

4 out of the last 8 cases I bought in the last 3 years were from Fractal, and this kinda practice from them just makes me even more confident in my support of their brand.

[ravenshrike]

1 hour ago, SignatureSigner said:

oof

for all people who bought it recently

Really most of the people who bought it recently will buy a $20 fan hub and take all of 15 minutes to replace it. Mildly annoying, but not the end of the world.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

41 minutes ago, SlidewaysZ said:

Well seems like all companies are turning into junk for some reason (no that's not including how they handle it just their actual product). SSDs, cases, PSUs, GPUs . I think this pandemic is really producing some crappy components that aren't being tested properly before leaving the warehouse. I've actually refused to buy anymore PC parts from anyone for a while due to this terrible QC and bait and switch crap.

THe NZXT H1 launched with the fire problem, in febuary, before the pandemic really started to take affect. It was probably being made in moths prior, probably as late as november 2019, befor any of the covid stuff happened.

GIgabyte psus were already of dubious quality before the pandemic

Thee ssd controler swapping isnt new, its a years old thing now.

Gpus had a soldering issue on 24 cards, thats no where ner a qc issue. Theres probably been over a million of that specific 3090 made, issues with microsoldering are going to go under the radar

 

Fractle casses are great, my meshify c was bought in january iirc, and thats goign to have been made during the pandemic.

This is one of those cases (pun totally intended) where the company had 4 reports (less than 5, goign with the GN guess of 4) and recalled all of them. 
Samgsung had issues with a bunch of note 7s reported, and it took nearly 2 months for a recall to be issue.

Gigabyte psus were dubious at best in the before times

 

Whats cool about this is the swiftness of Fractle, its nearly unheard of

[TVwazhere]

3 hours ago, Velcade said:

Less than a week... What makes you say this story is old?

Mostly based on what I assumed was "It's bene a few days, I'm sure people have already heard about this" But based on the amount of "Oof"'s in the comments, I guess not

2 hours ago, Kinda Bottlenecked said:

Its a pity they didn't manage to stick the landing. It'll take some time for it to be recommended again.

The good news is you cannot purchase a Torrent anymore, and current inventory is being recalled so that there are no faulty fan hubs in the wild. That's what sets this apart from most product defects.

[12345678]

can't they just send fixed fanhubs? more cost effective