We are sorry to hear that you had this issue. There is a complete installation video located with the alternate images on the product page to assist with each step of the installation. In this case it sounds like the blade arms were attached on the wrong side of the black bracket which would cause the light shade to not be able to attach to the fan properly. In general, if there are any issues with the fan, we suggest calling Home Decorators Collection customer service at 1-800-986-3460. In most cases, issues can be resolved over the phone with some minor troubleshooting.