Customer Reviews

GBC Shredmaster Guardian Shredder

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Used 4 pages at once and two of the plastic cogs that drive the blades broke. Contacted GBC and was told that replacement parts are not available and that the item cannot be repaired in general. As other users appear to have had similar experiences, I conclude this is a poorly designed product. The fact that replacement parts are not made available adds insult to injury. I will surely stay away from this manufacturer and I recommend you do the same.

I've had this shredder for well over 10 years. It finally died. Motor still works but the gear that spins the blades is stripped. Anyhow, it was a great shredder. Though, light duty is the key. One maybe 2 pieces of paper at a time. But the cross cutting works really well. The resulting pieces are smaller than many other same-class shredders.

One cool feature I like on this one that others lack is that you can force the shredder to stay on. That feature's nice because the auto-shred function doesn't last too long (auto meaning that it turns on when you insert a piece of paper). I would always shred a lot of papers in one session anyway. So, I liked being able to have it stay on.

After about 10 minutes of continuous use, the thing would get very warm and turn off (on purpose, by design). Cool-down would take generally 30 minutes. I think most low-end shredder designs are similar.

Toward the end of its life it was struggling with even one piece of paper. It would jam up pretty easily and I'm guessing that the cutter teeth probably finally became too dull. So, it could no longer cut properly, would jam and this lead to the drive gear stripping.

It was fun while it lasted. I guess the only true annoyance with this shredder was that it would leave lots of pieces of paper everywhere and so there was some floor clean-up to be done after a long shredding session.

Again, it lasts but light duty is the key. If you want to stuff in unopened junk mail envelopes, you're going to have to spend more for a heavier-duty shredder.

I would like to add that I never used any lubricant and I think if I had then the shredder might still be working today. I only learned about lubricant for cross-cut shredders recently.

I've had this model of shredder for about 4-5 years. I like it because it is small and does not take up too much space in my home office. I also like the way it looks. Granted, if you stuff 4 pages in it at once, like the other reviewer did, you WILL have a problem. I don't care what is advertised - if you want your unit to last, put only one page in at a time. If you cannot tolerate shredding one sheet at a time, this product is not for you. If you can, expect to keep and use this shredder for several years before it needs to be replaced. I've had two, each lasting about 2+ years. I am now buying my third unit.... Eventually it does slow down even after careful use. But for this price, and for the nice size which does not disrupt and create more clutter, I find that to be a good trade off.

This thing broke after only 10 minutes of use. I sat there feeding it 4 pages at a time and after just a few minutes it started to make a "chunk, chunk" nose and after a few more minutes, the blades stopped rotating altogether. The motor still runs, so I have had to unplug it and prepare it for the garbage. Save yourself some frustration..this was the BIGGEST waste of $50 ever.

I've used this shredder for about a year now and it does everything I need it to. I use it to shred credit card receipts, old bank statements, and all kinds of other docs with account numbers and personal information that I don't want others to get their hands on. It has a small footprint so you can keep it on or under your desk. It shreds in cross-cut or "confetti" fashion, so there's no chance anyone can piece together anything that's shredded. Good product!