Broken Seagate drive - how to return it without returning any data on it..?

bitsandpieces

My Seagate Freeagent harddrive has died - won't even power up now I bought it 4 months ago from Amazon - so want my money back... However, I'd like to be sure that my data is securely wiped (nothing dramatic, but wouldn't want a stranger to have my pictures etc).

Do I have any rights to a refund without returning the drive? I offered to get a technician to certify it dead, but Amazon weren't happy with that...

Thanks in advance.

ukbill69

No you will have to return it, just write a letter under data protection act, they do not have a right to look and must distroy any data if any.

Dont return to amazon, return to seagate. They might even just send out a new one.

geordie_joe

ukbill69 wrote: »

No you will have to return it, just write a letter under data protection act, they do not have a right to look and must distroy any data if any.

They will have the right to investigate why their product failed. This may include checking the data on the drive to rule out a software problem.

If, during this investigation they find something "dodgy" they will have to report it. Telling them not to look at the data on the drive will just encourage them to look at it.

moonrakerz

ukbill69 wrote: »

Dont return to amazon, return to seagate.

Your contract is with Amazon - not Seagate !

bitsandpieces

geordie_joe wrote: »

They will have the right to investigate why their product failed. This may include checking the data on the drive to rule out a software problem.

If, during this investigation they find something "dodgy" they will have to report it. Telling them not to look at the data on the drive will just encourage them to look at it.

LOL - not *that* type of picture. Dodgiest thing is the occasional pic of me after too much beer.

If whichever tech is figuring out why it broke wants to take a look at the files on there, no strong objections - more concerned if the drive's refurbed and sold on without being securely wiped (as well as photos, sure there's the odd document with my address on etc.)

Maybe return it to Amazon, while making clear their duty under the DPA to take reasonable measures to keep any data on the drive confidential, and to securely wipe if before passing it on to a third party?

geordie_joe

bitsandpieces wrote: »

LOL - not *that* type of picture. Dodgiest thing is the occasional pic of me after too much beer.

I wasn't implying that you had anything dodgy on your HD, just pointing out that asking, or telling them not to look at the data will not stop them. And if they do look, and do find they will report it.

They do say the biggest reason for the reduction in the number of broken computers/laptop/HDs being returned for repair is Gary Glitter.

moonrakerz

To be honest your drive will almost certainly be "beyond economic repair". There will be no attempt to repair it. With a retail price of £60 to £100 and a trade price of probably 30% of that, they won't even look at it.

To be pragmatic I would suggest this: buy another hard drive, take this and your dead one to a specialist who should be able to recover your files and put them onto your new drive. Ask him to wipe the drive - if he can - then return the old one to Amazon.
You will almost certainly be sent a new one from Amazon, put both drives into you PC, using one as a backup - you won't have this problem again !

bitsandpieces

Geordie- sure, worth pointing out, anyway.

moonrakerz- had backed up all the data on the drive (well, except a few podcasts etc...), as seen drives die in the past. Taking it out of the USB case and plugging it into a computer would be a good idea - but Seagate's great design means that there are no screws to open the case (the plastic case would need to be broken to open it, which probably rules out returning it )

I appreciate that they would probably just bin the drive - but wouldn't want to discount Murphy's law...

Crabman

I've moved this to the Techie Board for advice on deleting the data. Take a look at this thread on a similar topic (ignore the bit about smashing it with a hammer!):

Scrapping a computer - what do I need to do to make it safe?

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

bitsandpieces

thanks for moving it. And, yes, I suspect that post-hammer Amazon might be relectant to accept the return

nomoneytoday

TBH do you think a technician has the time or energy to look through all of the Hard drive returns to find random pictures?