Returning failed hdd

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rb99

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#310954 3-Dec-2023 11:05

Has anyone actually returned a failed external hdd to WD in America. Bought it from Amazon US and it has 6 months warranty left so it should be possible. Is it possible to do an RMA with them ? I guess if they sent a replacement it'll have to go to a re-shipper ?

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3167362 3-Dec-2023 11:28

Amazon refused to replace or assist with the RMA on brand new drives, so I wouldn't expect any assistance from them. You can try... their support is wildly inconsistent but (now) generally poor, which is one reason I no longer buy anything from them.

rb99

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#3167363 3-Dec-2023 11:37

I remember you had some bother with them when Amazon AU (?) had those super cheap drives.

I need to check it has properly failed first. Just found it dead this morning with no sign on Windows explorer before and after jiggling wires and rebooting PC. Am hoping it'll work with a different power supply on the laptop (or something). Anyway, an RMA, even with the usual extortionate postage will be maybe a third the price of just buying a new one myself.

Edit - I think they're actually drives I got a while (maybe a year) ago, and only actually started using maybe a month ago, so can't see Amazon helping anyway.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3167365 3-Dec-2023 11:42

rb99:

Just found it dead this morning with no sign on Windows explorer before and after jiggling wires and rebooting PC.

I had a similar issue with an SSD over recent days (Seagate). It's disappeared from the system twice now. I forgot to delay the Windows Update reboot again and the system had updated a day or two prior after literally months of uptime, so it's possible it's a Windows/driver issue and not the drive itself.

Unless SMART says it's failing, WD may not accept the RMA anyway.

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#3167378 3-Dec-2023 11:57

I do really need to try it on the laptop etc to make sure, just thought I'd ask in the meantime. I've had the occasional hdd disappear before, but rebooting or powering off properly usually works.

I imagine WD would RMA it so long as I can pretend to be in the US successfully...

Doesn't SMART need the drive to show signs of life for SMART to do whatever SMART does ?

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3167381 3-Dec-2023 12:11

rb99:

Doesn't SMART need the drive to show signs of life for SMART to do whatever SMART does ?

Yeah. If it's not responding at all (check the BIOS too), then it'll be accepted for RMA.

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#3167385 3-Dec-2023 12:18

Haven't checked bios, but no sign in Disk Management. Do usb devices show up in the bios ? Guess there's one way to find out...

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#3167386 3-Dec-2023 12:21

Run something like HDSentinel as well, and see if that shows it all.

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rb99

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#3167390 3-Dec-2023 12:43

Ok, I'll check that out.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#3167397 3-Dec-2023 13:09

Interesting. Plugged the drive into the laptop - nothing. Then tried replacing the power supply I was using I got from PBTech (with the NZ power connectors) with the original power supply (with the US connectors) and it fired right up. Looks promising.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#3167402 3-Dec-2023 13:19

Although I guess another possibility is a problem with the socket it was plugged into...

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#3170642 11-Dec-2023 13:57

Not of help to the OP, but I just did a hassle-free Seagate 18TB one with PBTech. 3 months old and spat the dummy in my NAS. I might pay more buying in NZ, but for me, large drives are too expensive not to.

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boosacnoodle

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#3170698 11-Dec-2023 14:22

CGA still applies to companies selling into New Zealand - even if not based here - from my knowledge. Could always take them to the DT then when they don't reply apply for statutory demand ... /s