Storage Solutions Seagate OEM Drives awareness

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madnav

madnav

Forerunner
Would like to bring the following to notice of fellow members..

there have been plenty of OEM drives from seagate wondering the market...plenty were sold as retail to general customers..i was one of the unlucky ones.

previously i though it is one in a million case... but i recently came across 2 more such OEM sales of that time recently.

i had purchased in april 2008.. there was OEM written on the drive clearly but very hard to distinguish the drive from normal retail product.

The drives carry 3-5yr warranty but via OEM channel and seagate service centers deny warranty to these drives directly.

mine was a 500GB drive.

recently came across a 250GB drive which was bough in the same time period.

and i came across similar drive being sold here on TE market 2 days ago..thread was old, forgot to bump..but beware before you buy, ask for proper and clear pics, read the labels on the drive carefully before you buy.

Now for those who already own such drives:

If you have purchase proof of the same then contact your supplier and get them exchanged for normal retail products..that is all that can be done.

my drive was left at the mercy of the supplier for 2months..finally he gave me new 500GB drive as a replacement. i demanded WD this time.

Update:

pic. Hard to spot the difference in 1st look,especially when customers dont expect to get an OEM drive in retail shops..



now dont tell seagte has put it up clearly in red box..

that box is what i have made to point the difference :|

although that is what seagate should actually do..:|

or like WD, design OEM drives in total black colour..
 
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its true, many unsold IT products are routed to India by some vendors/importers.esp. these OEMS generally sold from OEM warehouses in US & HK, also optical drives, laptop parts,memory modules etc.
 
small things like this make a lot of difference, thanks madnav for the the information. :)

waiting for the pictures.
 
Could not get the owner to send me pics..

but found better pic for example online.

updated 1st post with pic.
 
Another way to make out is by the warranty page status. Now days seagate local support only accepts drives from official distris. So If anyone is buying a used drive the buyer can ask the seller to put up the status from the warranty page.

Here if the drives doesnt show the distri name then you are screwed!!
 
Sandy said:
Another way to make out is by the warranty page status. Now days seagate local support only accepts drives from official distris. So If anyone is buying a used drive the buyer can ask the seller to put up the status from the warranty page.

Here if the drives doesnt show the distri name then you are screwed!!
Click to expand...
which page?

please elaborate.

because the warranty check on seagate.com does not express any info about drive being retail or OEM.
 
Dushie said:
Thats why i always make a point to check and update warranty online for the hard drives i buy.
Click to expand...
it will still show 3/5yr warranty over seagate warranty checker no matter if it is a retail product or an OEM product.
 
Sandy said:
AFAIK its something like this
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/1596/seaget.jpg

It shows as redington as the distri for this drive. There are about 3-4 official distris. Accel frontline supports only drives from the official disrtis. Any oem or import drives are rejected.

http://www.techenclave.com/storage-...rranty-on-hard-drives-152630.html#post1327062
Click to expand...

nitant said:
OEM Products of Seagate clearly show its an OEM Drive on the Warranty Checker Page.
Click to expand...

check this out
s.jpg

the drive is a proper import by a distri.
but it is an OEm drive.
there is no mention of the same on the warranty checker, but still the OEM text imprint exists over the drive..

similar was the case with 500GB drive..

here is the screenie for the same:
s1.JPG


drive infos for you to check:
Code: 
250GB:
Model: ST3250310SV
P/N: 9FD132-501
Serial: 6RY9K48W
500GB:
Model: ST3500320AS
P/N: 9BX154-303
Serial: 5QM0JVDW
 
Madnav,
I think even if the drive is oem as long as its shows the Distri then you will get warranty from AF.

But I dont think they will accept the second drive as it doesnt show who the distri is.
:S
 
Sandy said:
Madnav,

I think even if the drive is oem as long as its shows the Distri then you will get warranty from AF.

But I dont think they will accept the second drive as it doesnt show who the distri is.

:S
Click to expand...
Both the drives have been rejected by accelfrontline..

both the drives were applicable to standard rma proces according to seagate toll free of india which is listed at accelfrontline.

but still accelfrontline demands written/printed approval from seagate, which seagate is not ready to produce.

i have tried with toll free support, i have written to seagate and also tried seagate forum listed on their site.

none was of use.

seagate replied me for 1st two times but it was only about helping me trouble shoot the hdd fault and there was no effort or communication toward the OEM issue.

i finally lost hope, the dealer had to provide me a replacement n i got a WD instead on request.

even the dealer is stuck with the drive at his end.
 
Lesson learnt the hard way stay away from seagate
Last time i checked end users were rejecting
Seagate when given an option because some vendors were short of WD drives.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---
madnav said:
Both the drives have been rejected by accelfrontline..
both the drives were applicable to standard rma proces according to seagate toll free of india which is listed at accelfrontline.
but still accelfrontline demands written/printed approval from seagate, which seagate is not ready to produce.
i have tried with toll free support, i have written to seagate and also tried seagate forum listed on their site.
none was of use.
seagate replied me for 1st two times but it was only about helping me trouble shoot the hdd fault and there was no effort or communication toward the OEM issue.
i finally lost hope, the dealer had to provide me a replacement n i got a WD instead on request.
even the dealer is stuck with the drive at his end.
Click to expand...
Accel uses the same taught message to every body to every case relating seagate.
This is what i have observed at accel
A senior exec comes and tells the person at the counter reject all drives from your side
I do not want any drives to come to me these words are making me feel never to buy any seagate device or any product serviced by accel
This should be the reason they been robbed of services from the likes of kingston and sony ericsson.
 
madnav said:
Both the drives have been rejected by accelfrontline..
Click to expand...
Why would both be rejected ?

Acc to what you've said so far i was under the impressoin ONLY the OEM one would be rejected.

Isn't the other under warranty itself ?
 
blr_p said:
Why would both be rejected ?

Acc to what you've said so far i was under the impressoin ONLY the OEM one would be rejected.

Isn't the other under warranty itself ?
Click to expand...
both are under warranty.

one of tem even has a registered Distri.

but Accel wont accept as the OEM thing is present on both the drives.

i will be contacting the distri directly now as sandy has confirmed that the drives by that distri are accepted in banglore by accel.

will see if that helps and update this thread.

when i had contacted seagate regarding my 500GB, i had also asked them whether seagate has any control over market and whether OEM products are to be sold at retail. im disappointed by the way seagate has ignored each and every query of mine over that issue.
 
Just now checked the warranty status of my Seagate 500GB one purchased very recently. Status is shown as "unknown"!:@
 
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