newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2005
- Messages
- 28,472 (4.22/day)
- Location
- Indiana, USA
| Processor | Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | AsRock Z470 Taichi |
| Cooling | Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans |
| Memory | 32GB DDR4-3600 |
| Video Card(s) | RTX 2070 Super |
| Storage | 500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache |
| Display(s) | Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28" |
| Case | Fractal Design Define S |
| Audio Device(s) | Onboard is good enough for me |
| Power Supply | eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3 |
| Software | Windows 10 Pro x64 |
I bought a WD Blue 1TB back in April from newegg(direct from newegg, not one of the marketplace sellers). It died, surprise.
I go to WD's site to file an RMA, add the drive to my account's registered products. And when I try to RMA it I get the error that the drive isn't eligible for RMA because it is either out of Warranty or an OEM drive. It definitely isn't out of warranty.
So I call WD support, and sit on hold for close to an hour. When I finally get someone I explain that I bought the drive from Newegg, it is not from a pre-built system, and that the drive is still under warranty. He confirms that the warranty period hasn't expired, but says the drive was sold as an OEM drive. He tells me that their new policy is that all OEM drives are not covered by their warranty, only drives sold in Retail packaging are covered by their warranty! They no longer handle warranties on OEM packaged drives, even if the end user purchased the OEM drive directly and it didn't come in a pre-built system! WTF!?! He apologized but said there was nothing he could do, the computer system would not allow him to even create an RMA for a drive sold in OEM packaging.
Of course, since 90% of drives sold from e-tailors(like newegg, tigerdirect, ncix, etc.) are OEM packaging, none of those drives are covered by warranty anymore. This is bullshit, and I wanted to let you all know if you're considering buying a hard drive.
Update: The original call was yesterday afternoon. I just called again, this time asking for the call to be escalated to a manager and he was able to get me an RMA number for the drive as well as getting me a free pre-paid return label "for my troubles". Still, this new policy concerns me. Of course maybe I just got a dumbass tech support guy the first time that was tired of doing his job and was just making shit up to get me off the phone as quick as possible(like I said I did wait on hold almost an hour the first time, so I'm guessing the call center staff was being overworked)...
IDK, either way, I'm going to be very hesitant about buying WD drives in the future.
I go to WD's site to file an RMA, add the drive to my account's registered products. And when I try to RMA it I get the error that the drive isn't eligible for RMA because it is either out of Warranty or an OEM drive. It definitely isn't out of warranty.
So I call WD support, and sit on hold for close to an hour. When I finally get someone I explain that I bought the drive from Newegg, it is not from a pre-built system, and that the drive is still under warranty. He confirms that the warranty period hasn't expired, but says the drive was sold as an OEM drive. He tells me that their new policy is that all OEM drives are not covered by their warranty, only drives sold in Retail packaging are covered by their warranty! They no longer handle warranties on OEM packaged drives, even if the end user purchased the OEM drive directly and it didn't come in a pre-built system! WTF!?! He apologized but said there was nothing he could do, the computer system would not allow him to even create an RMA for a drive sold in OEM packaging.
Of course, since 90% of drives sold from e-tailors(like newegg, tigerdirect, ncix, etc.) are OEM packaging, none of those drives are covered by warranty anymore. This is bullshit, and I wanted to let you all know if you're considering buying a hard drive.
Update: The original call was yesterday afternoon. I just called again, this time asking for the call to be escalated to a manager and he was able to get me an RMA number for the drive as well as getting me a free pre-paid return label "for my troubles". Still, this new policy concerns me. Of course maybe I just got a dumbass tech support guy the first time that was tired of doing his job and was just making shit up to get me off the phone as quick as possible(like I said I did wait on hold almost an hour the first time, so I'm guessing the call center staff was being overworked)...
IDK, either way, I'm going to be very hesitant about buying WD drives in the future.
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