WD rma

[turb0triX]

i've never sent anything in for warranty before and i'm wondering if anyone has any experiences with WD`s RMA?

i think my 1tb wd hd is beginning to fail on me. computer randomly freezes sometimes, so i've scanned my hd with hdtune pro and it tells me i have 2 bad blocks.

for those who have sent things in for warranty, i'm wondering what kind of packaging and courier you used? do i have to explain to them what's wrong or do i just send my harddrive in? also, how long does it take for the replacement hd to get delivered?

thanks.

[Jmac]

Do the Advanced Replacement ... They ship you a drive with pre-paid shipping back to them ... Just drop it off w/ UPS the next day (or whatever courier they chose, they've always used UPS for me).

It's about $20 for advanced replacement, which is about the same as if you were to ship it using the standard RMA process ... except you get a replacement drive in about 3 days instead of 3 weeks ...

http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/r...pe=end&lang=en

[John]

There may be nothing wrong with your HD. Bad blocks can be caused by crashes or by the OS. You should run the WD DLG first.
http://support.wdc.com/product/downl...&sid=2&lang=en

[syee]

Originally Posted by Jmac

Do the Advanced Replacement ... They ship you a drive with pre-paid shipping back to them ... Just drop it off w/ UPS the next day (or whatever courier they chose, they've always used UPS for me).

It's about $20 for advanced replacement, which is about the same as if you were to ship it using the standard RMA process ... except you get a replacement drive in about 3 days instead of 3 weeks ...

http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/r...pe=end&lang=en

It's been a while since I sent a drive back to WD, but last time I did advance replacement, it didn't cost any extra. (although they do get your credit card information in the event that you don't send your faulty drive back, they will charge you for it) Their procedure is MUCH better than Seagate which doesn't have any advance replacement option at all.

As John mentioned, you might want to run their diagnostics first. I believe they will insist you run it and send them the results before they will give you an RMA for it.

I've always just did the advance replacement and used the same box to send back. If you have to ship first, then my suggestions for shipping would be:

1. If you have two pieces of relatively thick (I'd probably suggest at least 1" or more thickness) pieces of foam padding, then sandwich the drive in between and pack it in a box.

2. If you don't have foam, then put the drive in a decently large box filled with packing peanuts (those foam things that looke like Cheetos) and stick the drive in the centre. Make sure you pack the box fairly tightly with the packing material so the drive doesn't move around in transit.

Of course, in both cases, make sure you put the drive in an anti static bag so that you don't damage the drive any more than it already is and give them a reason to deny you your RMA.

[John]

I recently sent a HD to Seagate. The packing instructions for a Seagate HD are here.
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.js...001a48090aRCRD

The WD instructions should be identical.

If you do an Advance Replacement, and they find nothing wrong with your old HD, they may charge you for the replacement HD, since they have your credit card info.

[Jmac]

I've done a few RMAs w/ Seagate recently, all w/ the advanced exchange option. It's exactly the same as WD.

[turb0triX]

Originally Posted by John

There may be nothing wrong with your HD. Bad blocks can be caused by crashes or by the OS. You should run the WD DLG first.
http://support.wdc.com/product/downl...&sid=2&lang=en

yeah, i've tried the WD DLG before but it gives me "Cable Test:Write sector error!" and and scan aborts. i tried to run the test for my other WD hd but it gave me the same error. it might be kus i'm using win7? but i'm pretty sure something's up with my hd because the hd disappeared from my computer and disk management shortly after extracting/copying files (the extracting and copying was really slow) from it to another hd. after a few restarts, it reappeared. so i unplugged my hd from my mobo and i no longer experience any freezes. is it safe to say i have a defected hd?

if i use advanced replacement method, can i use the same box that the replacement hd is delivered in, to use to send them my defective hd? or am i gonna have to use another box to send it back in?

thanks

[John]

You can use the same box.

Most of your questions will be answered during your completion of the RMA application. Consider applying for the RMA now.

[turb0triX]

alright, one last question, would it be okay if i erased my hd before i send it in?

thankss