Western Digital (Bad experience)

I purchased three Western Digital My Book drives early 2009 (after I killed those three WD Greens I purchased here, I bought these as replacements). They come with a 3 year warranty, according to WD. I've had these drives for just over a year now. Here are the numbers (some information stripped for privacy) with their manufacture dates:

They are telling me that the 64 drive is out of warranty because it had a 1 year warranty. All the other drives are THE SAME MODEL and SAME MANUFACTURING DATE, but carry a 3 year warranty. They can't answer me as to why that drive has a 1 year warranty. They first tried to claim it was a different model number as the other drives (it isn't), they then tried to claim that I bought it at a different time (I didn't), THEN they claimed that I've RMA'd it before! Seriously? I was literally yelling at them (something I do very rarely) because they are trying to screw me out of an external drive with any chance they can get. I'm sending the other 3 external drives (one I didn't list because I bought it months after the other set) in for warranty and not even bothering with this anymore.

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Breakdown of calls:

Aug 19, 2010 (9:50am) - Called in and got a regular warranty rep, don't remember the name. Explained that I have three drives, purchased on the same day, and one is out of warranty. He looks up the numbers and tells me that all the drives carry a 1 year warranty. Really? Because 3/4 of those drives say until 2012. I calmly explained that doesn't make any sense since they are the same model and I bought them on the same day. He transferred me to a manager, this is where it gets fun.

Aug 19, 2010 (10:05am) - I got transferred to John, a RMA manager. He went through the same crap the last guy did. "1 year warranty"...no they don't. I have others sitting here that are showing 3 years..."They are a different model" (they aren't). Then, to add insult onto this, he told me that I had RMA'd these drives a couple months ago. REALLY? I don't remember going to their website, filling out a RMA request and SENDING A WORKING DRIVE TO YOU GUYS. I think that would stick out in my memory quite vividly. After fighting with him for awhile, he came back after being on hold and acted like I wasn't on the phone (Hello? Hello, sir are you there? Hello?). Problem was, I could hear myself through his headset; I'm not stupid (I do tech support for a living). He then hung up and didn't call me back (sure seems like they want to help me, don't they?). I called their main line again and explained that I was speaking with John and I want to talk to him again. This technician then tells me the same BS story the others have! After finally beating it into his head (this is when I started getting really irked), he finally sent me back over to John. I asked why he didn't call me back, said he tried but it was busy (don't remember calling anyone...). I asked why he hung up on me, he told me that he couldn't hear me. I then asked why I could hear myself through his headset, he didn't answer and tried to push through and just get this call over. He then tells me that they can get the RMA sometime within the next 3-4 weeks? SERIOUSLY? Why would it take 3-4 weeks to see your system is screwed up. I'm not going to wait that long to have the issue fixed and THEN send the drive in for a RMA. I cussed him out (again, something I very rarely do), told them to not bother since they lost a customer and hung up.

That being said, 3 of the 4 drives are being sent out today. I have two of them sold when they return and the last will be going for sale here.

Here is what they are doing:
Claiming the warranty is substantially shorter than it actually is.
Claiming they are a different model number.
Claiming that I sent in a RMA for that drive.
Failing that, hope you give up after the 3-4 week turnaround time for the fix.

Well? They won on that one. But they lost a customer that thought highly of them. Good job WD, glad you could prove this to me.

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I am done with this garbage company. I've loved their drives in the past because they were cheap and were good quality. I had three external drives fail over the course of a few months and decided today (after the 4th stopped working) should be the day to send them in. Their technical support and RMA service is absolutely HORRIBLE. After arguing with them for over 30 minutes, getting hung up on, they finally agreed to fix their mistake. But wait, 3-4 weeks? Screw that. When these drives get back, they are gone. I'd rather have Seagate, at least they let me do an RMA when the drive died. Once I gather the money to replace the drives, I'm removing all of the WD branded ones. If these drives come back without a hitch, then they are going to be lucky. I have half a mind to follow up with their corporate office on how bad these guys are, but I won't if I get a working drive back.

That's rough news, I've always had great experiences with WD's RMA process. I just got a replacement drive from them the other day, granted it's the second time I've had to RMA that drive...

Did you purchase these at a store? Were they on sale or opened or looked like they were previously opened? Sometimes, a store can carry a model that will do this. It is very hard for an end user to get this corrected.

This is why I don't buy premade external hard drives. They tend to have a shorter warranty and their drives tend to crap out. I recommend putting together an external drive with a standard OEM hard drive and a good USB/eSATA enclosure.

madhatter256 said:

Did you purchase these at a store? Were they on sale or opened or looked like they were previously opened? Sometimes, a store can carry a model that will do this. It is very hard for an end user to get this corrected.

This is why I don't buy premade external hard drives. They tend to have a shorter warranty and their drives tend to crap out. I recommend putting together an external drive with a standard OEM hard drive and a good USB/eSATA enclosure.

Click to expand...

Directly from NewEgg. I'm going to just build my own in the future, this gets old fast. Thank you for the suggestion.

Sorry to hear that man. Never had any Seagate Rma issues.

Wow, that's wild.
Sorry to hear you had a lousy experience, I've never had to actually talk to them as the web RMA form has accepted my input.

They have a box you fill in when you RMA a drive to explain what is wrong with that/those drive(s). It is 30 characters long. How the heck are you supposed to put "The drive stops working after a". Oh, I ran out of space. Idiots.

SO! I attached it to the package since their website/RMA designers seems to be incompetent.





You guys want to start bets to see if I get the same one back?

Western digital's gonna **** some people off today. If they screw you on this, expect me to not buy WD drives anymore. they already screwed me with the tler debacle.

Hmmmm..... never any problems with WD's RMA myself, in fact the last 320 blue i sent in, i got a 500 black back. Like anything else, there's a first time for everything....

They wanted me to fill out a feedback request. *laughs*

So I did:

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1. Please rate the representative with whom you interacted across the traits below in your last contact with WD.

Courtesy (Very dissatisfied)
Knowledge (Very dissatisfied)
Support (Very dissatisfied)
Satisfaction (Very dissatisfied)

More comments:
Very dissatisfied. I got screwed out of a 3 year warranty because your system is showing it as expired (when it should have been until 2012). I called and talked to three technician, one being a manager (I think "John" was his name); all of them were rude. Please see this PUBLIC THREAD that I have created about this incident (http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=652291). The jist of it is that the warranty date on your systems was incorrect and they refused to fix it until the very end, which "would have taken 3 to 4 weeks to complete before I can RMA"; this is complete and utter bull****. I ended the call after I was told this. When I get the RMA filled, I'm selling all my Western Digital drives and going to another customer. Your service is absolutely DISGUSTING. I'm not recommending this company to anyone and you lost a loyal customer. I really hope someone reads these comments and the thread I linked in this comment then DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Arguing with your customers, when they are clearly correct, is not a way to keep them coming back. The bottom line is, when I call for an RMA, I don't want to be put under a microscope as if I'm trying to screw you out of money for a product. It either makes the customer feel guilty for a failed product (which probably isn't their fault anyway) or pisses them off. I'm the latter example.



2. How likely are you to recommend this product to your friends, colleagues, or family?

Rating (Would not recommend)

More comments:
As said previously, never recommending this again and I'm selling all my Western Digital drives. Wasn't there a saying that a happy customer will tell 3 people, but an angry customer will tell 10? Pretty sure that my thread is available to 100,000 registered members in addition to guest traffic and Google results. Not very good, is it? No matter how this is resolved, that thread will stay up.



3. How much effort did you personally have to put forth to handle your request?

Rating (Very High)

More comments:
After being hung up, I had to fight my way through "Level 1 support" to speak with the same manager that I was before; why he couldn't just pass the call on, instead of arguing with me, I have no idea. This means I had to fight against 3 different people before a GLINT of hope that my issue might be resolved.



4. If you had tried to resolve your question prior to speaking to a live agent or sending us an email, how easy or difficult was it to use the features below? Please select N/A if it's not applicable.

Support website (Very difficult)
Automated phone system (N/A)

More comments:
I couldn't even fill out an RMA for one of the drives because the date was showing as expired. The drive had a 3 year warranty that was good until 2012. How it got "expired" is beyond me.



5. Did you attempt to handle your request through self-service (via our website) before contacting us directly?

Response (Yes)

More comments:
I'm assuming this is asking about the RMA procedure. See the previous message.



6. Please rate the product you contacted us about based on the attributes below.

Ease of use (Satisfied)
Reliability (Satisfied)
Documentation (Satisfied)
Design and appearance (Dissatisfied)
Price (Satisfied)

More comments:
OK, another big pet peeve
with you guys. I will start with, the drives you guys make are very nice. They are reliable and cheap; exactly what most are looking for. On the other hand, adding features to DELIBERATELY BREAK RAID SETUPS is a low blow. The Green drives would be perfect in RAID due to their large capacity, low power consumption and low cost. The problem is, you guys forced a feature (TLER) that very frequently breaks RAID arrays. I'm sure you are aware of this issue and actually implemented it on purpose to force us RAID users to pay for the more expensive "RAID certified" drives. Which, come on, are exactly the same except for the firmware. Initially, this feature was an option that you had to enable yourself. Then it moved to an option that was on by default, but you could disable. Finally, you guys removed the ability to turn it off altogether. The only conclusion is that you guys want more money for your drives. But hey, you are a business, who cares right? Oh yeah, the customer. They tend to be important. I understand that I'm in a severe minority, but it is pathetic that you guys are going out of your way to screw us over. Problem is, there are other options that are slightly more expensive, but are not subjective to the constant removing (or adding) of features to stop what we want to do.



7. Would you like to be notified on news and updates related to WD products?

Response (NO)

More comments:
The only news I want is on
my RMA and if you guys are going to actually listen to your customers. A cheap drive (Green fits perfectly...) that would work in RAID would be amazing. Along with that, I would like technical support that doesn't assume I'm a crook trying to screw you over. ****PLEASE NOTE**** This message, along with anything that I receive from you guys, is going in that thread. This isn't blackmail or a threat; I'm merely showing how your technical support is and how I was treated.

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I doubt anyone is going to even read it, or if they do, care/do something about it. Worth a shot, though! Still waiting for an update on the RMA.

EDIT: Check this awesome deal out.

Western Digital Feedback Form said:

Your unique promo code to save $15 on purchases over $100 at the Western Digital Online Store is displayed below. This code is valid until 9/30/2010.

Click to expand...

YEAH, TOTALLY WHAT I WANT. Irony incoming.

0.o Talk about your bad CS. I was never a fan of WD drives, this drives down my opinion of the company itself, which isn't easy to do.

Damn thiddy.. sorry about that...

Man, this is the first time I have ever seen thideras genuinely upset! Western Digital really screwed you.

WonderingSoul said:

Man, this is the first time I have ever seen thideras genuinely upset! Western Digital really screwed you.

Click to expand...

Yeah, this is a sure-fire way to get me going.

I really hate being lied to like this, especially when it is extremely obvious.

EDIT: To clarify, I always try to resolve issues with logic and try to be as nice as possible. In this case, they were insulting my intelligence by presenting contradictory information with the hopes that I don't notice the logical flaws with their argument. Even after pointing out that they are incorrect, they continued to argue with me. That is where I draw the line. I'm sure that you are all aware that I rarely have to make a post in these forums regarding a vendor. I don't wake up and say, "I'm going to hate on Western Digital today".

Well, at least some of it was resolved. I got a call back from Frank today stating that they will RMA the drive. I refused the offer. At least they called to resolve it, though.

I still don't like what I would have had to gone through to get this fixed if I wanted to get it done.

thideras said:

Yeah, this is a sure-fire way to get me going.

I really hate being lied to like this, especially when it is extremely obvious.

EDIT: To clarify, I always try to resolve issues with logic and try to be as nice as possible. In this case, they were insulting my intelligence by presenting contradictory information with the hopes that I don't notice the logical flaws with their argument. Even after pointing out that they are incorrect, they continued to argue with me. That is where I draw the line. I'm sure that you are all aware that I rarely have to make a post in these forums regarding a vendor. I don't wake up and say, "I'm going to hate on Western Digital today".

Click to expand...

This is true. thideras has even defended wd when I was venting about them, he didn't see the faults in thier offerings. I don't hate wd, as they deliver a solid product for what uses I still desire them (blacks for raid 1, velociraptors for raid 0)... for everything else, theres seagate. =)

I'm glad they called back, it definitely changed how I thought of them. Either they reviewed the call or (GASP), read my email submission for their review. In both scenarios, they listened; so I can't fault them for that.

I may consider them in the future, especially if they release a green drive that lacks TLER. I guess this saves me the trouble of replacing all my Western Digital drives on my server and desktop/laptop systems. I'm still selling that external drive when it gets back; I've always had issues with their USB-based external drives becoming non-responsive.

I had no trouble RMA my Raptor, to bad that WD is going down hill from all the comments made, if there is a discussion then there is problems.

thid was just reading through here but i noticed you bought these drives off the egg. Isn't it at all possible that newegg accidentally sent you an oem or returned drive by mistake? I don't agree with or condone WD actions but just saying maybe thats where the confusion arose.

Automiketic said:

thid was just reading through here but i noticed you bought these drives off the egg. Isn't it at all possible that newegg accidentally sent you an oem or returned drive by mistake? I don't agree with or condone WD actions but just saying maybe thats where the confusion arose.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that WD (along with Seagate) mark drives that have been RMA'd before.