Can I RMA this HDD?

[Turbonium]

The hard drive on a brand new netbook I got from a big box electronics store managed to die within a week of purchase. I didn't bother taking it back, but rather just got a new hard drive off a local store and swapped it out, then just installed Windows 7 again via an ISO image. LIKE A TRUE NERD.

Anyway, can I RMA the busted hard drive? It's a Seagate.

I'm not sure exactly how RMA policies work. I'm assuming I can't take it back to the big box store and ask for a new hard drive, which is why I'm asking about RMAing.

 

[FreeAtLast2012]

Most stores do exchange within 30 days, or refund in a week. You should be fine if your in that window. My experience is that if it's from a big box store it is easy to exchange, just don't exceed the time limit.

 

[Turbonium]

Most stores do exchange within 30 days, or refund in a week. You should be fine if your in that window. My experience is that if it's from a big box store it is easy to exchange, just don't exceed the time limit.

If that's the case, I need a way to wipe out the data on the drive without actually damaging it (I obviously can't take a hammer to it and claim it was faulty).

Do you think they could just check it on-site, see that it doesn't spin up properly, and then give the drive back to me, along with a new drive?

Yea, I'm probably paranoid, but I just don't want my data out there, sensitive or not.

 

[stevech]

My experience (within the warranty period)

They take in RMA drives.
They quickly ship out "recertified" drives - these are RMA'd drives that are repaired or had no trouble found (NTF). I suspect NTFs are most of the drives. What this gets you is a used replacement with lord knows how many hours on it.

WD does the same, I think.

They don't return NTF drives to whence it came.

 

[Turbonium]

My experience (within the warranty period)

They take in RMA drives.
They quickly ship out "recertified" drives - these are RMA'd drives that are repaired or had no trouble found (NTF). I suspect NTFs are most of the drives. What this gets you is a used replacement with lord knows how many hours on it.

WD does the same, I think.

They don't return NTF drives to whence it came.

That would help explain those 2 drives I found in my old system recently. I noticed they said "recertified" on the stickers. They were WD's replacements for WD drives I had RMA'd.

Wtf... If I had noticed it when I got the replacement drives, I would have been annoyed.

 

[DaveSimmons]

This applies to the US, it might be different in the Great White North:

Since you pulled the drive out of a prebuilt system, you might not have any separate warranty on it.

That is, any warranty you have is probably with the netbook maker not the drive maker. So you'd talk to Asus, Acer or whoever and ask them if you can RMA the drive alone instead of the whole netbook.

The store would just let you exchange the whole netbook, not individual parts.

 

[Turbonium]

This applies to the US, it might be different in the Great White North:

Since you pulled the drive out of a prebuilt system, you might not have any separate warranty on it.

That is, any warranty you have is probably with the netbook maker not the drive maker. So you'd talk to Asus, Acer or whoever and ask them if you can RMA the drive alone instead of the whole netbook.

The store would just let you exchange the whole netbook, not individual parts.

This is exactly what I thought. I wasn't willing to send the netbook over to Acer and wait 2 weeks (especially without a computer), just to save 50 bucks, so I just went ahead and replaced the HDD myself.

I'll have to ask the big box store what their policies are. I would have just exchanged it, but this was literally the last one of this model they had; it was on clearance everywhere.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

This applies to the US, it might be different in the Great White North:

Since you pulled the drive out of a prebuilt system, you might not have any separate warranty on it.

That is, any warranty you have is probably with the netbook maker not the drive maker. So you'd talk to Asus, Acer or whoever and ask them if you can RMA the drive alone instead of the whole netbook.

The store would just let you exchange the whole netbook, not individual parts.

THIS.

The serial numbers for system builders are different from those assigned to the enthusiast market.

As such, the manufacturer will direct you to contact the company who sold you the complete system.

 

[Turbonium]

THIS.

The serial numbers for system builders are different from those assigned to the enthusiast market.

As such, the manufacturer will direct you to contact the company who sold you the complete system.

"The product you identified was sold as a system component. Please contact your place of purchase for service. Seagate sells many drives to direct OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) customers. These products are usually configured for the OEMs only, as components for their systems. You must contact your place of purchase for any warranty support on these drives.
If you purchased this unit directly from Seagate, please return to the previous page and verify your Seagate customer number, because the customer number you entered ( ) does not match our records."

I also called the big box store and they said that I voided the warranty by changing the hard drive myself (lol).

 

[Blain]

I also called the big box store and they said that I voided the warranty by changing the hard drive myself.

That's the price you pay for your nerdy actions.
Live and learn...

But considering how cheap storage is, you haven't lost much.

 

[Turbonium]

That's the price you pay for your nerdy actions.

Meh, I'll take it. Now I get to take apart a hard drive.

 

[stevech]

I also called the big box store and they said that I voided the warranty by changing the hard drive myself (lol).

Could that be "Best Buy" ?

 

[Turbonium]

Could that be "Best Buy" ?

Close enough. Future Shop.