Review on 💨 HUNTER 12-Inch Retro Table Fan in Onyx Copper by Wendy Harris

I was hesitant to order after reading previous reviews and was very pleased with Hunter's old Century model which it looks very much like. Upon receipt, all I can say is WOW. Hunter discounted this device so much, but the higher price tag stayed - and the warranty (which is almost worthless, FYI) was shortened and undercut. On the one hand, it's okay if the body sheet metal is a lot thinner, but the engine and transmission in these new units are about as cheap as you can get for their size. The oscillating gearbox is now fully open with no cover, and the quality of the motor is many times lower than before (no wonder they had to cut and limit the warranty like they did). The switch is also of much lower quality and now toggles from high to low instead of the traditional other direction, although as the cheap bronze 'bearings' fail like all, complaints of the fan not kicking in by running on can be mitigated at high levels... for everyone. To make matters worse, the Reed is a cheap fix that creates the wrong kind of turbulence, so it's now louder and has both a low-frequency whistle and a quiet grunt when operating even at low speeds. I can take a blade off one of my old Century models and put it on this one. Fifteen years ago the Hunter was still respected and mostly had pretty good service and parts availability, even if those parts were very expensive. You're pretty much in the dust now and might as well buy a replacement - but buy a cheaper replacement because with the level of "quality" that Hunter has dulled, you might as well save some money. So I'm actually considering returning it to get something else. Other small things to note are that yes, the base screws are really sharp and protrude ridiculously from the underside. The feet are made of much harder non-slip rubber (or maybe soft plastic, hard to tell). Be careful what you set this fan to. Also, be careful when lifting and moving as all metal is thinner and the protective cage is poorly finished on the cut ends. The power cord itself has gotten sturdier and cheaper, and that fuse in the plug is an indication of an inferior motor and simplified (cheaper) circuit. It is advisable to get a spare fuse beforehand as it is not that easy to find. The onyx copper finish was also a big disappointment as it looks a lot more like silver and isn't nearly as dark as shown in the product photos here (wasn't as dark as oiled bronze but gosh it's pretty much a medium silver with ugly swirls showing hints of copper). I know quite a bit about fans and motors and manufacturing details and I know that China is capable of making very high quality products, but Hunter really gave American consumers the middle finger and that's a shame. If your factory doesn't cooperate or can't produce better quality products, then find a new one. The cost savings here are gargantuan, even with tariffs, so there must be room to get at least some quality for such a fan, or I'm sure most consumers would be willing to pay a little more to get one . Quality it seems is very hard to find now. From the looks of it looks like a big rip off and will probably be my last Hunter product after decades of buying it for both these fans and ceiling fans. To be honest I expect this to fail in a couple of years and while I can service and fix them what's in this unit is a waste of time with no 'emergency' effort. In my opinion, even at $45, this would be a difficult product purchase.