Got sold a fake drive here – posting so others don’t go through what I did

[Uvula]

I sat on this for a long time hoping the seller and I could sort it out privately. I am just a regular buyer here who picks parts when I can afford them, and I trusted the seller because of their reputation

I think it’s important I share it so at least someone else doesn’t repeat my mistake.

What happened

I bought two drives from the seller in the last few months:

• Crucial MX500 4TB – 14/08/2025
• Crucial 5300 Pro – 18/10/2025

The problem is with the MX500 4TB, which came with a 7-day warranty.
When it arrived (13/08/2025), everything seemed normal except Windows hibernation didn’t work. I didn’t think too much about it because life/work was going on, and the drive “seemed” fine.

I even shared this picture with the seller on the same day (before firmware upgrade):

Sometime in mid october, I finally updated the firmware, and that’s when the drive basically stopped initializing properly. After going in circles trying to fix it, I rechecked everything and realized the worst part:

The serial number on the physical drive and the serial shown in CrystalDiskInfo don’t match.

Even the serial number printed on the drive and the serial number reported by the SSD controller don’t match. Genuine drives always match.
When both the listing SN and the internal SN are different from the physical unit I received, it raises serious questions about the actual identity of the drive.

This is the image from the seller’s listing: Crucial SATA SSDs for Sale - 2tb / 4tb - Fresh Units - #14 by TechnologyHell
SN on the back: 2046E4C88504
CrystalDiskInfo SN: 2044E4C07DA4

Here’s what I actually received:

And here’s the same drives crystaldisk from earlier where the mismatch becomes obvious.

When I looked around online, this is almost identical to what others have reported as fake SSD shells, like in this post:

Large Capacity HDD's (6TB-20TB)

To all, I want to sincerely apologize for an unfortunate situation regarding the Seagate Exos 16TB drives that was sourced this time, after thorough testing and verification, it has come to my attention that the drives received are not genuine Seagate Exos models but appear to be altered drives. I was expecting that these would have altered power on hours as that was normal in the current situation as a market. This was completely unexpected, and I deeply regret any inconvenience or concern th…

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Seller’s response

I explained everything to the seller, and the reply was simply that nothing can be done because the 7 days were over.
I understand warranty timelines, and I also admit that I should have checked more thoroughly and earlier.

But the reality is:

• I lost money
• I lost time
• Most importantly, I lost trust

I’m not here to fight, accuse, or defame. I just want others to not be fooled, especially people like me who buy used parts carefully and with limited budgets, to be aware and double-check everything upfront.

[warlock7x]

It’s not fair on the seller’s part. The 7-day warranty applies to a genuine product, and any issues after that period would be the buyer’s responsibility. But in this case, both you and the seller were misled by the distributor or source. It’s the seller’s responsibility to resolve this and arrange an exchange for you.

[YeAhx]

@Uvula

Seller’s response

I explained everything to the seller, and the reply was simply that nothing can be done because the 7 days were over.

I believe the 7 days warranty was for testing the drive for defects. This shouldn’t apply here as you didn’t get what you paid for, and if the seller wasn’t able to find it out on time (before selling it) then how can they expect you to find if the drives are genuine or fake in 7 days? At the bare minimum the seller should swap the drive with what was originally promised (or its equivalent) if you ask me. Just because they were not able to catch fake drives they bought before selling them here doesn’t mean they can just fold hands after finding about it later.

[sandm4n]

I agree with the other posters. Some form of compensation is necessary here, as the product sold was not what was advertised.

[SamuraiGaming]

is the product working?

[alap4m]

It is shocking and upsetting to see a Seller declining to help and resolve this issue citing Technicalities such as time.
A Serial Number mismatch is FRAUD. It points to BAD INTENTIONS from the SOURCE.
I am not calling the TE Seller/Reseller a Fraud. It is highly likely that the TE Seller/Reseller may have been Duped by the ORIGINAL Seller who supplied the SSDs.
Whatever the case, the TE Seller/Reseller should make amends, which involves immediately refunding the money or sending another VERIFIED SSD.
A Buyer has received a FAKE SSD. This is Extremely Serious.
TE Marketplace is built on the Foundation of Trust. If Trust is shaken/eroded, how will anyone trust anyone?

[TheD4ddy]

IMO, would be much appreciated if the seller took some resposibility.
Unfortunate for both you and the seller if they were duped by the original supplier but such instances are good to uphold your reputation as a seller even if you do take a loss.

Side note: Would love to shout out to @Death_Pill , been sourcing SSDs from him since 2019 iirc (Bought 10+ for friends and myself), never had an issue with warranty, the only time it was applicable, he provided a replacement outside his 1 yr window with same day shipping.

[Party_Monger]

Buyer needs to be fully refunded.

[DataJanitor]

@TechnologyHell seems like a good guy, and he can still fix this—it’s not too late.

[kartefact]

From what I see, it seems the drives are shipped directly from the supplier to the buyer and doesn’t reach @TechnologyHell ‘s hands.

He does seem like a good kid who’s working hard on a side gig juggling his college with this. Might be a little too big of a loss for him to take on, but in this case, I do think for the sake of his reputation, he should take this on, blacklist the supplier and refund the buyer. Quoting the 7 days warranty is in bad taste here since the product itself was not what was ordered and it is not straightforward to figure this out.

This is a very good opportunity for @TechnologyHell to use to build trust. Probably even a blessing in disguise if he handles it well. Hope he uses it. Earlier would’ve been better, but it is still not too late for damage control.

[solo_wing]

@op You did the right thing.

By sharing this you saved many going through same bad experience.

The seller risks loosing his reputation if he cannot help because it was a fake product in the first place.

[Tobikage]

Stick to professional resellers who get their stock from trusted and reliable sources.

[bssunilreddy]

Should I be worried about my Patriot Viper VP4300LE 2TB drive?
Bought in March of this year.
The seller didn’t provide any warranty but promised to give me a bill through which I can claim warranty.

[nightHawk12]

Why not verify some basic like serial number, speed test results and reallocates sector units

[nightHawk12]

Wanted to reply to bsunilreddy because he was not sure if his SSD was fine or not.

I myself have ordered from the seller, did some basic checks, now just need to wait and watch

Edit:for some reason it is not showing the replying to logo

[MrB]

All the retailers look professional here. How would one know where they get their stock from?

Stuff like this happens. The seller should fix this and take this as a learning experience. When you are selling lacs worth of stuff a few thousand should not matter.

[ibose]

@moderators @Renegade please see if anything can be done

[ibose]

Simply put it’s better to go with one who can offer higher warranty, especially when it comes to storage.