Recertifed drives die after 1 month

[Galdorf]

Every drive i send back to Seagate a i get a re-certified drive after 1 month every single one has failed is there no warranty on those.
I never use them in systems i build i sell as is no warranty but all 10 died 1 month after i got them not a single one lasted longer.

 

[mraikes]

They should still be warranted for the remainder of the original drive's warranty. That's usually how such things work anyway.

 

[NviGate Systems]

What capacity drives were these? There are some capacities I avoid due to issues....

I avoid 640GB, 750GB, 1.5TB, 3TB. I don't have any realworld data for new 5/6/8 TB drives, but the bigger they get the more worrying it is, and the more SSD and RAID 1 sound better for sanity and health.

 

[NJW]

I don't bother returning HDDs for warranty replacement – as the OP points out, you only get a replacement of poor quality that doesn't justify the time and effort in fulfilling the RMA requirements. They are just consumable items, these days – build in sufficient markup to account for writing off the occasional failure.

The exception is for early failure if the supplier has a (e.g., 30 days) return/exchange policy, where you will actually get a new replacement.

I do use the manufacturer's warranty duration as a (very rough) guide to their own confidence in their products.

 

[Larry Sabo]

I don't bother with RMAs any more, because of this problem (recertified drives die quickly). It's not the loss of the cost of the drive that's bothersome, it's the loss of the data on both drives (original and replacement) that gets my goat.

 

[Galdorf]

What capacity drives were these? There are some capacities I avoid due to issues....

I avoid 640GB, 750GB, 1.5TB, 3TB. I don't have any realworld data for new 5/6/8 TB drives, but the bigger they get the more worrying it is, and the more SSD and RAID 1 sound better for sanity and health.

500GB and 1TB.

 

[Your PCMD]

I don't sell or push mechanical hard drives anymore. The only exception is if the customer specifically asks. I lean them towards SSD's (yes, I know these can fail as well) because of not only the speed increase, but because I've not had one fail on me so far. I generally use Samsung EVO 750's or OCZ 150's for residential and only Samsung 850 EVO's for commercial. Yes, they are a bit pricey, but worth it in the long run.

Thats not to say I dont use mechanical hard drives. When building systems (desktops) I use a 1TB WD Blue as a backup drive only. Every laptop I sell has an SSD installed. I don't sell new laptops, but refurbish laptops in shop. And any customer coming into the shop with a HDD issue in a laptop gets an SSD after I talk to them. As far as warranty. The SSD's come with 3 years, but I only give 1 year.

 

[Galdorf]

I don't sell or push mechanical hard drives anymore. The only exception is if the customer specifically asks. I lean them towards SSD's (yes, I know these can fail as well) because of not only the speed increase, but because I've not had one fail on me so far. I generally use Samsung EVO 750's or OCZ 150's for residential and only Samsung 850 EVO's for commercial. Yes, they are a bit pricey, but worth it in the long run.

Thats not to say I dont use mechanical hard drives. When building systems (desktops) I use a 1TB WD Blue as a backup drive only. Every laptop I sell has an SSD installed. I don't sell new laptops, but refurbish laptops in shop. And any customer coming into the shop with a HDD issue in a laptop gets an SSD after I talk to them. As far as warranty. The SSD's come with 3 years, but I only give 1 year.

I have sold about 100 SSD so far not a single one has failed yet even 1st gen now regular hard drives are a different story.

 

[cypress]

Yeah I push SSD whenever I can, but if mechanical drive is the choice I would purchase a new one.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

New Crucial SSD from our shelf for most replacements.
If machine was still under warranty the replacement drive gets put on our stock shelf...for some budget project.

SSD issues are low, we have had a handful die out there...but generally cheaper brand SSDs mostly in firewall appliances. Budget junker brands like Kingston, AData..and a few others I'm not remembering. Out of large fleets of laptops at healthcare clients have had one or two Samsung SSDs fail....in those ultra light Latitude e4200 laptops.

 

[lcoughey]

Seeing that the re-certification process is to simply hide the bad sectors, clear the glist and clear the smart so that the drive looks healthy again. However, whatever was causing the bad sectors in the first place is rarely fixed, thus why the drive will start to fail again shortly thereafter.

 

[NJW]

Seeing that the re-certification process is to simply hide the bad sectors, clear the glist and clear the smart so that the drive looks healthy again. However, whatever was causing the bad sectors in the first place is rarely fixed, thus why the drive will start to fail again shortly thereafter.

This is what I assumed (I know, I know ...). Not much of a warranty. I can't think of another product field that would get away with this as SOP.

 

[NJW]

It's not the loss of the cost of the drive that's bothersome, it's the loss of the data on both drives (original and replacement) that gets my goat.

Not to mention the loss of credibility if the tech is naive enough to use it as the customer's replacement drive.

 

[Your PCMD]

I can't think of another product field that would get away with this

I can. Its called Micro$oft Windows 10. I'll hush now.

EDIT:

This topic reminds me of a story. I'll post in another thread so as not to hijack this one cause you know, people sometimes think that.