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Seagate, Western Digital slash hard drive warranty periods
#2
SFrawley 
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Posted 16 December 2011 - 03:24 PM
And this is when they honor warranties. Two times Seagate denied warranty coverage on drives bought with a five year warranty on drives that were under three years old.
Now we pay three times as much for one third the warranty. Guess who is financing new plants in Thailand?
Now we pay three times as much for one third the warranty. Guess who is financing new plants in Thailand?
Steve Frawley
Tax, Accounting & Computers Svcs
Since 1984
Tax, Accounting & Computers Svcs
Since 1984
#3
flybynight
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Posted 16 December 2011 - 03:35 PM
Not cool, guys.
#5
xmitman
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Posted 16 December 2011 - 04:20 PM
The last five drives I have bought are all SSDs. Hard drives only have another decade or so of sales before they dwindle into the past. Solid state drives are the future and they will get bigger and cheaper putting the HD business out of business. No wonder they want to spend more on research. They need to find a new business model.
#6
MarkJReed5jau
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Posted 16 December 2011 - 05:21 PM
Did they try cutting the CEO bonuses first?
Screwing the customer used to be a last resort.
Screwing the customer used to be a last resort.
#8
DominikHoffmann
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Posted 16 December 2011 - 06:59 PM
The reason hard drives need longer warranties than the rest of the computer they're in, is that they are the most likely to fail catastrophically. If a display goes bad it usually just goes dim or develops static lines, it doesn't render the computer unusable or, what's worse, cause the user to lose data.
I have had so many hard drives fail within their three-year warranty period, it's not even funny. That's why I no longer trust hard drives past the three-year mark, in general. They are cheap enough to just replace.
I have had so many hard drives fail within their three-year warranty period, it's not even funny. That's why I no longer trust hard drives past the three-year mark, in general. They are cheap enough to just replace.
#9
DominikHoffmann
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Posted 16 December 2011 - 07:02 PM
One more thing: A warranty is supposed to make the manufacturer do their darnedest in designing and manufacturing the part, so that failures during the warranty period are extremely unlikely.
That makes the move of WD and Seagate disconcerting. Does it mean that the reliability of hard drives is going down commensurately?
That makes the move of WD and Seagate disconcerting. Does it mean that the reliability of hard drives is going down commensurately?
#10
volnayguy
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Posted 16 December 2011 - 07:16 PM
I frankly don't care. I have never had a hard drive failure in 25 years of using the Macintosh. Besides, who keeps their purchasing receipt around for 3 or 5 years? I usually don't bother trying to collect on a warranty, it's just too much hassle.
#11
mac_savant
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Posted 17 December 2011 - 01:11 AM
Quote
WD would not give a reason for its warranty change, but the spokesperson denied it had anything to do with flooding in Thailand, which has severely affected the company’s ability to manufacture products.
...which means this is exactly what it has to do with.
#12
scotts13
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Posted 17 December 2011 - 04:54 AM
DominikHoffmann, on 16 December 2011 - 07:02 PM, said:
Does it mean that the reliability of hard drives is going down commensurately?
YES. I'm a computer store service manager; I can tell you without question the reliability of hard drives has decreased enormously the past couple of years. Consumers wanted cheap; they got it, in more ways than one. Where I used to send drives in for warranty replacement individually, now they build up on my desk until I send in a box of 'em. Doesn't take long, either. We sell Seagate and WD; they're reducing the warranties to cut losses on the existing models. Maybe, just maybe, the next generation will be a little more reliable.
#13
ImranAnwar
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Posted 17 December 2011 - 07:21 AM
Another reason not to buy their crappy products. I have not yet had a Seagate fail (but held off buying the Momentus series after reading hundreds of complaints about their failures), and despise the Western Digitals I bought over the years. Of 6 I bought within the last 5 years, 4 have already failed. Wish I had kept the darn receipts. Never buying Western Digital again even with 5 years warranties. Not even buying a device from an OEM now who uses WD (or Seagate).
Imran
Imran
#14
htek36
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Posted 17 December 2011 - 08:15 AM
MarkJReed5jau, on 16 December 2011 - 05:21 PM, said:
Did they try cutting the CEO bonuses first?
Screwing the customer used to be a last resort.
Screwing the customer used to be a last resort.
True, although this is a concept that has been en-vogue since about 1980, when the idea of investing in your company and employees, your community, and your country for the long term, was tossed on the burn pile in favor of short term profit at all cost, and workers (and to some extent, customers) were turned into the enemy. Again in pursuit of short term profits and big, fat, golden parachutes for upper management (even if they were/are undeserved…and they usually were/are!!!)
