Broken disk drive but don't want to return

chrisp030271

Hi,

I bought a "Buffalo" network disk from Amazon about 10 months ago. It has just broken - makes a grinding noise and won't start up.

Amazon have offered to replace or refund it, but only if I return the broken one.

I don't want to do this because it contains personal information - pictures of my kids in the bath, mortgage and bank account details, etc.. In this day of information security, there is no way I am sending the drive to anyone - it will be destroyed personally by me with a hammer.

Amazon have assured me (via their chat with someone in India...) that they wouldn't use my personal information. However that is meaningless as someone in a Goods In department will just chuck it in a skip and it could quite easily end up in someone else's hands.

I offered to remove the drive and send back the chassis, but they said they need to whole item returning, so we are at an impasse. I appreciate their point-of-view, but surely I can't be the first person to think twice about sending a disk drive full of personal information to a third party? Even though it is broken from my perspective, it would be quite possible for someone with the right equipment to access it.

Any advice?

Thanks.

ThumbRemote

The chances of anything happening to it are miniscule. Also, if the disk is grinding it would take some really specialist IT equipment to access the data on it, if that's at all possible - it may be that there is physical damage anyway.

However, it's a valid concern. Would they agree to you removing the disk, smacking it with a hammer, then replacing it and returning the unit? A single blow would cripple it enough.

CoolHotCold

It's unlikely that they will allow you to either remove and keep the disk nor will they allow you to smash the drive.

You can either return it in it's current state for a refund or exchange or keep it and buy a new one.

tinkerbell28

Have you heard what you are saying? Item breaks down, so you say to Amazon I want a new one, but I'm not returning the old one, if I do, I'll smash it....can see that working with tv's, etc.

How would they get the credit back from the manufacturer? How would they prove it is damaged through a fault and not you spilling water on it or dropping it?

They have offered a replacement or refund if you return. They don't even have to do that after 6 months without you providing a proof that is an inherent fault.

So I'd either return it, or just keep it and get another, depends how much you value your data I suppose.

chrisp030271

@tinkerbell28

Yes I know exactly what I'm saying. I work in IT so know the reality of information security. While much of it is media-hype, it is also a very real threat. Over and above the financial data, there is no way I want to let pictures of my kids (in the bath for example) into the wild.

In my original post, I also stated that I could see their point-of-view as a retailer - how to ensure someone doesn't buy a disk-drive, report it as faulty and get another one for free?

It's more a question of whether anyone has had to address this before, either retailer or consumer. It is a real issue, but no-one has thought of a suitable process to handle goods which fail but contain sensitive information. It's like saying - you buy a ring binder and store your bank statements in it along with details of your PIN etc.. The ring binder fails and jams, but to get a replacement you have to send the ring binder plus all your bank statements back to the retailer who will do who-knows-what with it. You're not going to do it.

So what you'll likely do, and what I'll do in this situation, is write it off as there is no way I am ever sending it anywhere. Unfortunately it cost £140.

Caz3121

chrisp030271 wrote: »

Yes I know exactly what I'm saying. I work in IT so know the reality of information security. While much of it is media-hype, it is also a very real threat.

With personal data on it, do you not have the disk encrypted?

tinkerbell28

Well if you work in IT, you'll know that just because it is grinding, it won't mean the data is corrupted and non accessible, even to novices.

So I'm presuming it is dead and you can't re write over it at all.

chrisp030271

Caz3121 wrote: »

With personal data on it, do you not have the disk encrypted?

@Caz3121
Yes you're quite right - I had never anticipated a scenario of a drive failing within its warranty period and the data implications that would entail - so, no, I hadn't encrypted the drive (don't even recall if it was possible on the Buffalo NAS system, can't get on it now to check).

Though in future I think I will be doing this, also a good idea with respect to burglary and people selling on your home computers.

bris

You are being unrealistic, you cant expect them to just refund you without getting back the faulty disc and if you smash it they will not replace it because of customer damage.

If you are really that concerened then bite the bullet and buy a new one, but you have no rights to keep it.

custardy

chrisp030271 wrote: »

Hi,

I bought a "Buffalo" network disk from Amazon about 10 months ago. It has just broken - makes a grinding noise and won't start up.

Amazon have offered to replace or refund it, but only if I return the broken one.

I don't want to do this because it contains personal information - pictures of my kids in the bath, mortgage and bank account details, etc.. In this day of information security, there is no way I am sending the drive to anyone - it will be destroyed personally by me with a hammer.

Amazon have assured me (via their chat with someone in India...) that they wouldn't use my personal information. However that is meaningless as someone in a Goods In department will just chuck it in a skip and it could quite easily end up in someone else's hands.

I offered to remove the drive and send back the chassis, but they said they need to whole item returning, so we are at an impasse. I appreciate their point-of-view, but surely I can't be the first person to think twice about sending a disk drive full of personal information to a third party? Even though it is broken from my perspective, it would be quite possible for someone with the right equipment to access it.

Any advice?

Thanks.

given your requirements
invest in a strong electro magnet or accept you have no warranty on any of your drives

chrisp030271

tinkerbell28 wrote: »

Well if you work in IT, you'll know that just because it is grinding, it won't mean the data is corrupted and non accessible, even to novices.

So I'm presuming it is dead and you can't re write over it at all.

Yes tinkerbell, it is making a kind of repeated "whizz-and-click" on power on, about 4 or 5 times, then goes quiet. The power is on but the drive is inaccessible over the network.

Now, it could be that the drive is completely knackered, in which case there would be little or no problem.

However (and I work in IT but not a hard drive specialist) what if it is something failed on a controller chip external to the actual drive, the power supply not giving it enough juice to spin up, etc.. For all I know, the drive might work properly if transferred into another NAS chassis or PC.

Anyway, this post was mostly about a theoretical debate - I know there is no solution with the retailer. My point is, there probably should be. To reference an earlier comment, I will in future look at encrypting all my home drives, but this is way beyond most people.