Sale of Goods Act - Hard Drive / Hard Disk

Armitage

I'm just got two questions about my consumer rights regarding a failed external hard drive - any advice would be much appreciated!

• What is a reasonable amount of time for an External hard drive to last?

• Do I have any right keep the old drive (to recover data myself), or for them to pay for data recovery?

The Grim Details:

Western Digital MyBook 250Gb external drive purchased May 2007 - 3 years 4 months old. Has been only lightly used.

I'd like to return it to retailer under SOGA.

But.... the gf had some un-backed-up data on there (:undecided). I suspect the fault is in the power supply, and that if I rip open the casing and install the drive in another one I'll be able to access the data. Obviously I can't do that if I've returned the thing. On the other hand, if I open it now, they could claim I've caused the fault myself! - that's why I'd like to hang on to it.

Alternatively if I had any rights to damages for the recovery of the lost data, I could waive them as an inducement for me to keep the faulty unit...

somethingcorporate

Armitage wrote: »

I'm just got two questions about my consumer rights regarding a failed external hard drive - any advice would be much appreciated!

• What is a reasonable amount of time for an External hard drive to last?

• Do I have any right keep the old drive (to recover data myself), or for them to pay for data recovery?

The Grim Details:

Western Digital MyBook 250Gb external drive purchased May 2007 - 3 years 4 months old. Has been only lightly used.

I'd like to return it to retailer under SOGA.

But.... the gf had some un-backed-up data on there (:undecided). I suspect the fault is in the power supply, and that if I rip open the casing and install the drive in another one I'll be able to access the data. Obviously I can't do that if I've returned the thing. On the other hand, if I open it now, they could claim I've caused the fault myself! - that's why I'd like to hang on to it.

Alternatively if I had any rights to damages for the recovery of the lost data, I could waive them as an inducement for me to keep the faulty unit...

Given the item is over 6 months old you would need to prove that the item was inherently faulty via an independent report. The retailer could give you a partial refund which would probably be less than the cost of the report.

How much did the item cost? I'd guess the life of such technology to be no longer than 5 years so your refund maybe 20-40% of the purchase value.

As far as I am aware you have no right to damages for data stored on there. How could you put a value on it?

You have no rights to keep the drive and get a new one - if the retailer offered this it would be pure goodwill.

My advice would be to contact the manufacturer, they are generally much more helpful when it comes to HDD.

Good luck, you're going to need it. I'd chalk it up to experience and buy a new one.

Armitage

Thanks!

Given the item is over 6 months old you would need to prove that the item was inherently faulty via an independent report. The retailer could give you a partial refund which would probably be less than the cost of the report.

Just clarification - does the consumer have to cover the inspection out of their own pocket? or if it does turn up a fault, is the retailer liable to repay the costs?

As far as I am aware you have no right to damages for data stored on there. How could you put a value on it?

Yes - the issue is more whether the retailer would have to pay for recovery, which is easily quantifiable. However, I agree it's pretty unlikely that they would be, as such things can be extremely expensive.

The underlying issue, which I'm unsure about, is whether the SOGA makes provision for damages incurred as a result of the fault over and above the cost or repair/replacement.

How much did the item cost

£80. I'd respectfully disagree about the time a hard drive may reasonably be expected to last. 5 years seems far too short to me.

Good luck, you're going to need it. I'd chalk it up to experience and buy a new one.

Thanks! I've found most retailers are pretty good when you go to straight to head office and start quoting SOGA (whether or not you are over the 6 month burden of proof cut off), so I'll give it a shot first.

somethingcorporate

For the report you pay and if the item is inherently faulty then the retailer should cover the cost of this.

I very much doubt consequential loss will be covered so I don't think you can force them to recover the data for you and whilst this is possibly quantifiable depending on the 'type' of damage it could run to far more than the item is worth and would be unreasonable.

You may diagree about the life of technology but you'd be on to a hiding to nothing on it - even if it is ten years it would put a partial refund at £50.

I think you should really start with WD, they will be far more likely to replace it for you.

Check here: http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/serialinput.asp you may find it had a 5 yr warranty when you bought it!

Armitage

Thanks for that link. Unfortunately it's out of manufacturer's warranty.

I guess I'll pursue both options concurrently via email, and see what happens - given how technology has advanced even £40 would be easily enough to cover a hard drive of the same size, and I'm a cash poor time rich student...

I agree substantial costs would be unreasonable, and if data is important, it's reasonable to expect the consumer to keep backups. All I'm after is keeping the faulty unit (which costs them nothing).

Thanks for the advice.

System

Armitage wrote: »

£80. I'd respectfully disagree about the time a hard drive may reasonably be expected to last. 5 years seems far too short to me.

If the hard drive was fitted into a desktop case then I would agree.. However this is an external drive where anything can happen to it. dropped, kicked and generally mistreatedetc. For one of these I would expect 3 years to be about right.

Armitage

However this is an external drive where anything can happen to it. dropped, kicked and generally mistreatedetc.

Sure, they can be, but this hard drive has been treated with care, is very infrequently moved (or used, for that matter - it's just for backups). So I'd disagree that 3 years is reasonable.

I agree that pursuing this under SOGA will involve some difficulties - given the cost of hard drives, if the retailer requires an independent report, it's probably not worth doing. But it's worth talking to them anyway - some companies can be pretty nice when you actually talk to someone high enough up the food chain to know of the SOGA. The relevant legal principle is 'don't ask don't get!'

tripled

If it's just a backup drive, how is there data on their that hasn't been backed up? Surely it should be the backup! :huh:

Anyway, if it was me I'd just take it out and bung it in one of my PC's (depending on the connection type), or get a cheap replacement external case off ebay and shove it into that, assuming it looked like a power issue rather that the hard disk itself was knackered.

Armitage

The gf put media on it and then deleted it from her hd ... fortunately her photos are also elsewhere. All my stuff is backed up in multiple places on- and off-site. Yeah, I suspect I'll be trying it in an external case I have lying around soon.

Zandoni

Maybe it has a longer warranty than you think, put your serial number in this link.

http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/serialinput.asp?aspsid=634405371&custtype=end&requesttype=warranty&lang=en

If it's still in warranty you will probably lose the data though.

somethingcorporate

Zandoni wrote: »

Maybe it has a longer warranty than you think, put your serial number in this link.

http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/serialinput.asp?aspsid=634405371&custtype=end&requesttype=warranty&lang=en

If it's still in warranty you will probably lose the data though.

I already posted the link up in post #4 and the OP said he'd already checked and it was out.

Well done for keeping up! :j