Bought a seagate drive from ebuyer recently? Best check your warranty

haymishpupkin2

Hi

This is to advise people to check their warranty on the seagate web site if
the have recently bought a seagate drive from ebuyer.com.

I bought a hard disc from https://www.ebuyer.com which arrived a few days ago
product code 115418

Here's a link
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3NwZWNpZmljYXRpb25z&product_uid=115418&spec_type=ZXh0ZW5kZWQ=

It was described as an OEM drive with a 5 year manufacturers warranty. The
drive arrived and I thought nothing more about it. Then I happened to notice
a thread on the ebuyer forum a couple of days ago about ebuyer shipping
seagate drives that were supposed to have a 5 year manufacturer's warranty
but only had one. I checked my serial number on the seagate web site and
sure enought I was told my drive only had a 1 year warranty.

Apparantly ebuyer were aware of the problem but kept selling the drives. Ebuyer have not contacted customers to let them know and have kept quiet about the whole thing. A company rep in the forums said that ebuyer will honour the 5 year warranty themselves but they have not sent out correspondence confirming this.

The product description and codes on my drive all match what I was expecting to receive according to the description on the ebuyer web site but I am wondering if the OEM drive I have received is, mechanically identical to the OEM one with a 5 year warranty that I should have received...any idea?

Is it made to the same quality, with the same parts and will it operate at the same speed? Do seagate sell the same drives but with different warranty lengths and no other differences? The returns technician in the forums could not guarantee that the drives were mechanically identical which concerns me.

Here's the thread if anyone is interested
http://forums.ebuyer.com/showthread.php?t=7730&highlight=seagate+warranty

Check your warranty length here
Bought a drive, check your warranty here
http://support.seagate.com/customer/warranty_validation.jsp

Comments / advice welcome

Blacksheep1979

Keep a copy of your invoice and a copy of the webpage where it states a 5 year waranty. If you have problems go back to ebuyer and complain stating they knowingly missold the product.

opportunity_cost

Thanks for the heads up. I had a Seagate drive from ebuyer earmarked for a new build. I definitely won't be buying from ebuyer until they sort this mess out.

If I was you, I'd do the same thing that guy on the ebuyer forum is doing and take it all the way if ebuyer refuses to refund the postage costs. I'd tell them I want to return the drive and get a full refund on the basis that ebuyer had sold me the item as coming with a 5-year warranty from the manufacturer and that after I purchased the item, the manufacturer made me aware that they'd only give me a 1-year warranty for that drive.

ebuyer may tell you they'll honour the 5-year warranty themselves but if ebuyer cease trading or get taken over by another company in the next five years, the warranty from ebuyer could well be worthless then!

What I find quite worrying in all this is that whether ebuyer knew about this issue before or not, now that it has been brought to their attention, they don't seem in the least bit worried about making sure they don't mis-sell any more drives. The fact they're still happily selling drives that carry only a 1-year manufacturer's warranty as drives with a 5-year warranty, seems to me to be a case of dangle a 5-year warranty in people's faces, sell a lot of drives that have a bigger profit margin (ebuyer probably gets those drives cheaper from their supplier 'cos they carry only a 1-year warranty) and see the money roll in. Hence why they may be reluctant to amend the item description to reflect the true length of the warranty.

I don't like the way ebuyer is dealing with this issue at all. I'll be following this one with interest.

Lord_Gardener

Only get offered 1 years warranty with external Seagate drive - guess they think we'll be dropping it a lot!!