Western Digital Out of Warranty RMA: I got it anyway and here's how.
I had a drive that a defragger had corrupted so before I reused it I was running a sector scan.
I guess the timing was good because it turned up 8 that were consistently bad. So, it would be a bad idea to use that drive.
It was a Western Digital 1.5 TB made in Jan 2010 according to the label.
This happened in August 2013. They have a 3 year warranty.
I bought a replacement made in April 2013, so it took 4 months from manufacture date to get it in hand, from Fry's.
By that math, that means the drive started going bad about 90 days, probably less, from going out of warranty.
I explained also on the phone that I had bought a WD replacement, had another WD drive as a backup unit for Time Machine, and had done TWO RMAs in 2010 that I had records on.
To sum, I was a loyal WD customer. I have 3 drives, 5 TB total, about $350 worth or so sitting in front of me.
So, the supervisor decided to let me do the RMA. I did the advance replacement which requires a credit card and that you return the defective unit within 30 days. They said the hold amount was $138.
I paid about that for the *2TB* 7200RPM drive I bought as a replacement. So I guess I got a deal. :) 33% more, and faster.
Good luck! And remember, backup frequently, and it's a good idea especially on Mac OS X to do a sector scan on external drives because they don't report SMART status.
I also recommend a SMART Status reporter such as (appropriately) SMARTReporter for OS X, or the equivalent for Windows. It monitors your drive's health using the drives' onboard hardware and software.
I guess the timing was good because it turned up 8 that were consistently bad. So, it would be a bad idea to use that drive.
It was a Western Digital 1.5 TB made in Jan 2010 according to the label.
This happened in August 2013. They have a 3 year warranty.
I bought a replacement made in April 2013, so it took 4 months from manufacture date to get it in hand, from Fry's.
By that math, that means the drive started going bad about 90 days, probably less, from going out of warranty.
I explained also on the phone that I had bought a WD replacement, had another WD drive as a backup unit for Time Machine, and had done TWO RMAs in 2010 that I had records on.
To sum, I was a loyal WD customer. I have 3 drives, 5 TB total, about $350 worth or so sitting in front of me.
So, the supervisor decided to let me do the RMA. I did the advance replacement which requires a credit card and that you return the defective unit within 30 days. They said the hold amount was $138.
I paid about that for the *2TB* 7200RPM drive I bought as a replacement. So I guess I got a deal. :) 33% more, and faster.
Good luck! And remember, backup frequently, and it's a good idea especially on Mac OS X to do a sector scan on external drives because they don't report SMART status.
I also recommend a SMART Status reporter such as (appropriately) SMARTReporter for OS X, or the equivalent for Windows. It monitors your drive's health using the drives' onboard hardware and software.
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