Review Pathetic Seagate RMA !

[topgear]

Ok, Long story short : I had* a seagate 500B 7200.11 [ notorious ] HDD which I had to submit for RMA two times before to Accel Frontline - so far my exp. is good with them regarding Seagate HDD RMA and they do replace the drive within 7 days. So submitted the HDD [ S/N : ****C5JM ] on 16th Sept. at Accel Frontline and got Call ID : SGTKOL130014637DW

But as the replacement [ Recertified ] HDDs has gone bad two times before in just 6 months I thought of why not escalate the issue with seagate. Our forum member Phenomenal had somewhat similar exp. so he posted about this on Seagate forum and got good result. So I thought why not ride the same bus. So posted my wos on seagate global forum [ userid : some_one ]. The forum mods MrMatthew and AskTheLeaf helped in escalating the issue but surprisingly I had to re-register there after this with different id [ userid : top_gear ]. I thought this as a minor glitch so did not pay much attention but informed the forum mods anyway.

23rd Sept : Accel informed me about a replacement hdd [ S/N : ****00QB ] but as it has the same part number [ 7200.11 ] as the previous replacements I did not picked up the HDD from Accel and the issue has been already escalated.

On the same day got a mail from Seagate Support Rafidah R asking for more info. So sent all the details - even informed about the replacement HDD [ S/N : ****00QB ] which I won't accept as it's the same old part and probably another recertified crap.

26th Sept : got a mail from Seagate support Jazli Jonet informing me about a new build hdd has been approved.

27 Th Sept : Got another mail from Jazli Jonet informing me that the new HDD is a Generation 12 [ 7200.14 ] HDD. On the mail I was told to return the HDD. I thought is this is a joke or what ?

As I had already returned the HDD [ S/N : ****C5JM ] on 16th Sept. based on which I got Call ID : SGTKOL130014637DW - how can I do that again ? So informed about all these again and told Jazli to collect the HDD [ S/N : ****00QB ] from Accel.

1 hour later I got a mail from Seagate Support Aysha that once they will get the HDD [ S/N : ****00QB ] they will send the new one.

Got a mail From Accel Frontline [ 5:05 PM ] on the same day about a new Call Id : SGTKOL130015353DW . The previous Call ID : SGTKOL130014637DW was closed without even informing me - Strange !

1st Oct : When I checked about the status of Call id : SGTKOL130015353DW I was surprised to see a Replacement HDD has been assigned [ S/N : ****LPHH ] but the funny thing is it has the same part no. and from Gen 10. 7200.11 series. Where is the new HDD from Gen 12 [ mail from Jazli on 26th and 27th Sept. ?????

Now a little about the Accel and Seagate's RMA process in India :

To receive a replacement HDD from Accel you need to have a Warranty Service Request / Acknowledge Form Receipt Paper. You get this Receipt when you physically submit seagate HDD to Accel for RMA and they will give you the Receipt paper with Call id no.

On the time of receiving the replacement HDD you need to give Accel the Receipt Paper [ and Accel will keep it ] without which Accel won't provide you the replacement hdd.

Now as the HDD [ S/N : ****00QB ] is called back by Seagate itself [ as per my e-mail request to Seagate Support personnel Aysha ] I don't have the receipt paper of the Call ID : SGTKOL130015353DW but I do have the Receipt paper of Call ID : SGTKOL130014637DW.

So how am I suppose to get back the replacement HDD of Call ID : SGTKOL130015353DW without the Warranty Service Request / Acknowledge Form Receipt Paper ?

======= ==== SEAGATE GLOBAL SUPPORT JUST MESSED EVERYTHING UP ==== =====

Note : It's not that I'm super duper excited about getting the HDD [ S/N : ****LPHH ] as replacement as this would be another crap but how come Seagate Support reps. played such dirty game is beyond my imagination and wasted my time ? They could have just simply deny giving a new HDD as replacement for some blah blah reason like company policy but instead they deceived me .

I've been using Seagate HDD 12 years for now but I've learnt my lesson. So anyone thinking about buying a Seagate HDD just think again.

Heher's some pics :

Now check below .. and you will say WTF !!!!

Notice the date, S/N and Part No. [ I'm still masking them as it's as against seagate's support forum ]

 

[topgear]

Like I suspected SEAGATE APAC proved to be some cheap cheats ... they could have just denied giving a new HDD but why did they lied is beyond all of my understanding.

Even after Segate reps. repeated e-mails of giving me a new Generation 12 HDD as replacement I've got another RECERTIFIED HDD as replacement .. I've expressed my concern on this before to Seagate reps. specially to Jazli J, Rafidah R mainly as the part no. of all the HDDs I've received is the same, model no. is also the same. They all belong to 7200.11 series. Shame shame on Seagate and it's APAC reps. ... I got cheated on the broad daylight.

these few screenshots should help :

Approval of new HDD :

Expressed my concern about the Replacemenet HDD issued that it's going to be another Recertified HDD instead of a New Generation 12 HDD as promised :

Got a assurance e-mail that it's going to be a New Generation 12 HDD for sure :

I don't know about Segate's policy about India but why Seagate reps. deceived me and played such dirty game is beyond my understanding. They could have just deny a new HDD as replacement at first place by saying company policy and blah blah. But why promise me a new HDD then send me a RECERTIFIED one even after repeatedly updating them with all the infos.

Seagate Reps. have no idea about their own RMA system. I'm saying this coz the part no, model no. and series [ 7200.11 ] of all the replacement Recertified HDD matched and even the last instead of which I was promised a new HDD. So if the Part No : 9BX154-303 belongs to 7200.11 seris and model ST3500320AS belongs to Gen 10 then generation 12 HDDs must have different part / model no. Even though I've expressed my concern on this to seagate reps. were just plain ignorant on this and this is exactly why I've got another RECERTIFIED HDD.

But what hurt me most is how seagate APAC reps. specially Rafidah R, Jazli J has cheated me .. The way Seagate's APAC support wing handled the whole thing is simply unprofessional and very depressing for a customer. So much for Seagate's legendary support and it's self boasting liar APAC reps.

 

[topgear]

More Evidence :

Here is the proof that it's used and Recertified HDD

HDD Received by me at 5th Oct 2013 @ 11:36 AM

Installed today 6th Oct 2013 @ 10 AM

The hdd has been used before for 32 hours before so it's clearly a Recertified HDD instead of a promised new HDD. I think this should be enough to prove how seagate reps. deceived me. Still my only point if they had to give a refurb drive why they wasted my time and said I'm going to get a new one ? SEGATE Reps. proved to be some lowlife cheaters.

 

[topgear]

Update :

After some more e-mails back and forth with Seagate's CS dept. one of the Accel rep. called me and requested me to submit the HDD as he informed Seagate will give a new HDD as replacement for sure this time. So submitted the HDD on 7th Oct. and yesterday got a new Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 HDD.

Thank god ! this one is not a re-certified one but one mounting side has a little dent covered with color .. anyway, the HDD is working OK for now though it has increasing values of Raw Read Error rate, Seek Error Rate, Hardware ECC Recovered. Done a little re-search on these and seems like it's common with Seagate HDDs but before anyone gets panic here's two link worth mentioning

S.M.A.R.T. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Seagate SER, RRER & HEC

currently testing the HDD using Seatools for windows [ long test ] ......