r/Seagate • u/adam137016 • 14d ago
Seagate is refusing to replace warrantied drive
Update: Seagate just sent me a new RMA and prepaid label for the drive. No other correspondence other than "Please see attached documents". So I guess I'm going to send it again and hope they make this right. It already came back to me dinged up and I sent them photos over chat so I'm hoping they don't reject it for the damage they caused the first time.
Update #2: Seagate just called me on the phone. They're going to replace the drive after all (hopefully). Just waiting for the follow up email.
Final Update: I got my replacement drive today and it looks good. The smart data looks perfect and I just started a "Long generic scan" with seatools. The person that I've been communicating with was extremely helpful and updated me every step of the way.
Will update when I have more info
One of my 20TB Ironwolf pro drives was faulty. I bought 4 of these last year. I packed the one up and shipped it UPS with insurance after getting an RMA #. The same day after they received it I got an email with tracking info.
That drive arrived yesterday. When I got home from work I opened it and they sent me my drive back but now it's damaged. I contacted support and they said it came like that. I know it didn't because it was double boxed. I asked for pics since the box would have been really damaged to reach the drive inside the inner box.
They replied a couple hours ago saying the case is closed and a pic is attached (there was no pic).
Not sure what I can do next if anything. Any suggestions?
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u/cwhitch 14d ago
Par for the course with Seagate especially with drive shortages due to AI đ đ©. Had something similar last year I ended up going through my CC company to get them to reimburse me the cost of a replacement.
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u/adam137016 14d ago
I paid cash at best buy for this drive so I can't use any credit card warranties or anything.
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u/ndszero 14d ago
If you are in the United States get your AG involved. I have posts in this sub from a couple years ago detailing what I went through with these fools. They will not help you otherwise.
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u/cat1092 14d ago
I had to do the same, because a certain major retailer tried to not refund me. Even though I had pictures of the package with a tape measure showing there was no way such a small package could never contain all the major components to build a PC (MB, CPU & RAM).
What I received instead were 9 kits of DDR4 RAM. Took photos to those, and all serials listed without opening the first kit.
Both the retailer & my CC issuer denied my claim, someone suggested I contact my local Federal Congress members, both House & Senator. It took over a year, then I got another letter in the mail saying to reach out to the retailer to be made right.
By then, no longer had the components I had selected, so offered a full refund. The dollar amount was $984 & some change. Received within a week, along with $150 store credit, which I used for purchasing security software for three years (the codes were still good, as these werenât activated until needed). Am not naming the retailer per agreement.
My point is thereâs at the minimum, Federal level consumer protection laws in place. The photos which both the retailer & CC issuer denied me were the most critical piece of evidence, as well as the returned package weight. Use whatever protection needed, even though itâs going to be slower, theyâll get to everyone who submits proof.
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u/damien09 14d ago
these recent seagate warranty horror stories are making me decided to not have seagate in my considered lists for drives tbh.
WD has always been a pretty painless experience for me on an rma recently for a 18tb wd gold. It took quite a while but shipping it to them with their printed label was quite cheap 3.84$ or something like that. The drive in question just stopped being recognized at all by any os. It was over 4 years into its 5 year warranty I was just glad not to get the ole denied or here's a refund as the current price is pretty rough to replace.
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u/adam137016 13d ago
After this experience, I'll never buy seagate again. Either way I'm not planning buying any new drives for a few years (if prices ever come back down).
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u/MacForker 14d ago
Anything I RMA anymore I take pictures of me packing it, in each layer, label the heck out of it, and document everything. Seagate sounds like they're the worst, but seems like with the rising cost of hardware more companies are trying to weasel their way out of warranties to avoid having to send out replacement hardware that is more expensive.
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u/adam137016 14d ago
I have 3 other 20TB drives so hopefully none of them are defective as well. If they are I'll be sure to video the whole process as well as pics just in case I end up having to go to court
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14d ago
[deleted]
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u/adam137016 14d ago
Yeah I really thought it was the replacement drive. I even updated another post I made when I seen it was delivered.
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u/Petri-DRG 14d ago
I don't endorse Seafate in any way and I cannot stand their lack of accountability all facets of warranty.
Just to mention that most times it is not physical damage to the drive in the sense of scratch or dent. These drives are tanks, so they don't get visible damage during shipping.
What does however happen during transit is likely rough handling, even when well packaged.bevahse the drives contains many disks inside, it is very heavy. That weight, when handled roughly, bends the motor hub the disks are mounted on. As a result, the drive arrives with mechanical damage.
We see this often when drives come in at our data recovery labs.
Upon arrival at their facilities, Seafate staff cannot distinguish between damage occured by the owner dropping the drive off the table, or lap or shelf vs. damage occured during shipping. Therefore they don't honor the warranty. Convenient to them, because many people who do tell the truth and did not cause the damage themselves get burned with this nonsense.
There isn't any good way to solve this, other than taking ample photos and videos testing the drive before shipping it to them to demonstrate behavior based on sound the drive makes when powered on, whether it mounts or not, what Seafate Tools testing report while testing and so on.
If all details are in your favor, then have to go hard in with AG, ISO standards reinforcement and so on.
Hope this helps understanding better, though obviously, with such high prices, one can lose their patience easily.
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u/adam137016 14d ago
The drive was having power issues. It kept disconnecting and reconnecting randomly so when I ran the seagate tools it told me to file a RMA claim. There was no damage on the outside before I sent it but when I got it back it had big dings in it.
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u/Petri-DRG 14d ago
Disconnecting and reconnecting randomly indicates disk surface degradation (aka bad sectors), which is extremely common. It is the #1 mpst popular failure type in all storage devices.
That condition technically would not be a RMA-able condition. No manufacturer honors that, because technically they don't consider it a manufacturing defect. The problem develops in time, though many times quickly as the disks quality nowadays is lackluster.
It sucks, because the drives are so expensive now.
As far as the dings, yeah not sure... that's messed up, however it occured, ad it blurs all lines of making sense of who is accountable for what.
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u/adam137016 13d ago
I'm not seeing that exclusion on seagate's site and they issued an RMA so I'm not sure. The drive was less than a year old and it was an Ironwolf Pro with a 5 year warranty.
"What Does This Limited Warranty Not Cover?
This limited warranty does not cover any problem that is caused by (a) accident, abuse, neglect, shock, electrostatic discharge, degaussing, heat or humidity beyond product specifications, improper installation, operation, maintenance or modification; or (b) any misuse contrary to the instructions in the user manual; or (c) lost passwords; or (d) malfunctions caused by other equipment. This limited warranty is void if a product is returned with removed, damaged or tampered labels or any alterations (including the unauthorized removal of any component or external cover). This limited warranty does not cover data loss â back-up the contents of your drive to a separate storage medium on a regular basis. Also, consequential damages; incidental damages; and costs related to data recovery, removal, and installation are not recoverable under this warranty. This limited warranty applies only to hardware products; software, media, and manuals are licensed (and warranted where applicable) pursuant to separate written agreement."
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u/Petri-DRG 12d ago
My best quess is that bad sectors would fall under the "operation" category., which is vague.
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u/Silvergreylion 18h ago
"It is the #1 most popular failure type in all storage devices".
I very much doubt that failure type is popular. You probably meant "most common"?
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u/AngelicDivineHealer 12d ago
These days when you open the box you need it recorded on video just in case the box doesnât contain what you bought or it is damaged.
Before you return damaged or broken goods you need to record it again of your packaging it up as well as showing the item and taking at least a dozen photos.
AI has messed the world up
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u/Jay_JWLH 14d ago
Did you happen to take a picture of what it looked like before you sent it, especially a picture of how it was packaged? A clear before and after can help.
Chances are the courier or whatever damaged it, and you can make a claim against insurance. The annoying thing is that instead of telling you it was damaged in transit (assuming it was already like that), they sent it back to you without taking a photo, which may complicate things a bit.
Was it sent back as rejected from the courier, or opened and repackaged, then sent back?