Just in case you are buying hard drives

[melloa]

Got two new WD Red 4T to burn and have ready in case I need a replacement. The best price I found was on Best Buy. Got one week later and when tried to register for warranty have a big surprise: One had warranty expired on march, 2020 and the other would expire in 400 days - both should have three years warranty.

Contacted Best Buy, no answers - opened a return.

Contacted WD and got:

Thank you for contacting Western Digital. We apologize for the inconvenience but based on the serial number you provided, our records indicate the Build Date of your drive was [16-MAR-2017] and your Purchase Date was [4-AUG-2020]. Due to the large gap in time, additional verification (e.g., written confirmation from your place of purchase that the product was sold to you as new) is needed to validate your warranty service request.

So ... no help.

Just in case you are buying from Best Buy ...

 

[Yorick]

Can you get written confirmation that the drive was sold as new? Sounds like that would solve it.

 

[melloa]

Can you get written confirmation that the drive was sold as new? Sounds like that would solve it.

That would, but why the consumer would be required to prove anything? I got a new device that was seat on a shelf for some time and it is a new device, so why the manufacturer is making me jump hoops to get my warranty? I won't and just returned the disks. The post is just people will be aware of my experience.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Emailing a copy of the invoice is not what I would call jump through hoops, but you do you ...

 

[melloa]

Emailing a copy of the invoice is not what I would call jump through hoops, but you do you ...

And that was sent with the registration, so no I don't call that jump through hoops ... if you have read the email I posted from WD, you'd see that they are asking a written confirmation that I bought a new drive from Best Buy,not the invoice ...

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I read the email and I have been in a similar situation with Apple when I bought a discounted iPad pro from a German distributor. Obviously the rose gold variant had been lying on the shelf for more than a year. The discount was huge, so who cares for the colour?

When I had issues with the device Apple asked for the same, but in my experience the original invoice *is* written confirmation that the item was sold new.

You could return the disks, all is well I hope.

 

[Yorick]

The discount was huge, so who cares for the colour?

What is it with you people?!? I had a rose gold 6s and was asked by people whether it was a hand-me-down or a discount. No, I chose rose gold. It accessorizes so well! That was the best color Apple had. Alas they stopped offering it, and when my 6s died on me, it was a PRODUKT RED SE as a replacement.

 

[ornias]

@melloa Just send them the invoice from bestbuy and try if they accept it as enough info.
They might, bestbuy would always clearly label a refurb sell as refurb.

@Yorick I don't get it, if you like a color phone other people would describe as "gay" or "femine", you do you. Why the frick is it other peoples business what color phone your prefer?! >.<

 

[Yorick]

Why the frick is it other peoples business what color phone your prefer?!

Right? :)

 

[melloa]

I read the email and I have been in a similar situation with Apple when I bought a discounted iPad pro from a German distributor. Obviously the rose gold variant had been lying on the shelf for more than a year. The discount was huge, so who cares for the colour?

The difference is that Best Buy is selling this without any discount.

When I had issues with the device Apple asked for the same, but in my experience the original invoice *is* written confirmation that the item was sold new.

That was sent with the registration, the invoice I mean, and the system added the device without warranty. When inquired WD why, they asked for a written confirmation from Best Buy ...

You could return the disks, all is well I hope.

I could, but the request is seating there for two days unanswered and my e-mail sent Sunday telling them about the issue and asking for help is also unanswered.

 

[Hobnobbed]

That is why I don't buy computer parts on Best Buy.

 

[jgreco]

Best Buy has been transitioning to a system where their receipts include the serial number of certain products, including hard disks. This should be sufficient to substantiate warranty claims.

None of this is new or unusual. The wholesale market has tracked serials to establish return and warranty entitlements for a long time, certainly back into the 1990's. The thing that's new is that it is becoming practical to do this in retail, as POS terminals move beyond merely scanning UPC codes, and have gained the ability to do things like activating gift cards or logging serial numbers. I bought a bunch of retail 12TB WD EasyStores on Black Friday 2019 for $179.99/ea, and all of them had serial numbers on the receipt. The year before, that wasn't the case.