You get what you pay for

An overall good shredder for the price. I was able to use it carefully with no problems for about a month. I ran into a problem when I placed a whole closed envelope in the shredder and it stripped the gear.

In order to make the shredder quiet for home use Fellowes uses a nylon gear to connect the metal gear of the motor to the metal gears of the shredding teeth wheels. When jammed, the motor can strip out the nylon gear. This leaves you with a quietly spinning motor and motionless shredding teeth.

I called Fellowes for a replacement part, but they do not offer them for this shredder model. The guy on the phone knew what my problem was before I even told him. He then offered me a deal on a refurbished shredder instead of shipping me a part that would cost less than a dollar.