badwhitevision
Level E
TL;DR at end.
I got a certified refurbished Seagate HDD from the reseller section here in March 2024. The drive was a Seagate Exos 7E8 8TB drive that was certified refurbished by Seagate with warranty until 17 June 2024. The drive was manufactured in May 2022.
The drive was intended for media storage only and hence I didn't bother much about testing the drive with badblocks before storing data on it. However, it passed all SMART tests. The drive worked well until this Tuesday, when it suddenly became super slow and started showing lots of reallocated sectors and high timeouts.
Logged onto the Seagate Website and registered the product only then. Had read on Reddit that Seagate offers something called advanced replacement, wherein they send a new HDD first and then you send the old one back. (Spoiler - It's not available in India)
I tried registering an RMA for the advanced replacement, but was unable to find the option. The only one was standard replacement, that asked you to mail the product to an address where it'll be checked and then if the RMA is accepted, a new drive will be sent back to you.
Since the address to mail was in Chennai, I called them up (Inspirisys) (by searching in Google, Seagate didn't have any information other than address) and they asked me to simply carry the HDD in. No need to raise an RMA on the Seagate website or an invoice, just the HDD. If the product was available in stock, I'd be handed one immediately, else it will be mailed back to me. I asked them to check if they had stock for my drive but I was told it wasn't possible to check unless I raised a request and to raise a request, the drive had to be there.
I asked them about advanced replacement and their answer was "We don't know, we don't do it, contact Seagate for more information".
I then asked them if they would allow me to recover data either via their own service (if any) or via a data recovery shop and then submit the drive for RMA for which also the answer was the same as above. This makes me wonder if one is supposed to choose between data recovery and getting an RMA. (This is why Backups are important kids..!!)
Texting with Seagate via Chat had no positive effect. I was given a curt reply that advanced replacement isn't possible for your drive. Similarly for data recovery.
I carried the HDD to Inspirisys at 16:50 (why is this important? End of the business day, yet they weren't snappy and were patient in dealing with me) where I was asked to create an account at https://myservice.inspirisys.com/ and provide details such as name, phone number and address. This is mandatory. This was a little ticking off and one of the reasons for the reduction to average. A younger me would have given the details without blinking twice, but with the rising number of phishers and scammers lusting after phone numbers, e-mails and addresses, the holy trifecta was easily available here. The website also does not inspire confidence. (I am not a cyber security researcher so I shall leave that bit to the experts)
I asked what would have happened if I had mailed the product in via Seagate's RMA request and their response was that they would have called me on receipt of the product and asked me to register an account.
On registering an account, they raised a service request and I was asked to wait for 10 minutes while they approve or deny the RMA. 10 minutes later, the RMA was approved without fuss and I was given a receipt and told that the drive would be mailed back to my address within 7 working days (Spoiler - It didn't take 7 days). I could also check the status of the replacement via their website. SMS' were also sent for receipt of defective product, acceptance of RMA, shipping of replacement and delivery confirmation.
Now the 7 working days became a nightmare for me. This was because in 7 working days, the drive I had submitted for RMA would be out of warranty, hence any drive I received then would be out of warranty and if it was a DOA, then nothing could be done. On voicing this concern to them and asking if there would be any increase in the warranty period because of the very short remaining warranty period, I received the standard response "We don't know, we don't do it, contact Seagate for more information. If the new drive is DOA and the product is in warranty, we will replace it. Otherwise we don't know."
Now I returned home praying to every deity I have ever known to make sure that I get a good drive and not a DOA one. I checked the status at around 8PM on Tuesday and it showed that a request had been raised to allocate a HDD for me. On Wednesday afternoon, I received a message stating the product was packed and shipped via Bluedart Air. I could have called them and asked them to hold the package and that I would pick it up, however I was busy and decided to let it arrive the next day.
The warranty status page gave me details about the new drive's serial number. Entering it into Seagate's warranty check page showed me that I had gotten an Exos 7E10 that I assumed was refurbished (since the drive I submitted was also a refurbished one) that had warranty until September 2024. I suppose the warranty from Seagate for RMA is something like 3 months or original warranty period, whichever is longer.
I got the HDD on Thursday afternoon and on opening it, was surprised to find that the drive was new and was manufactured in December 2023. Now this was a reason to celebrate.!!!
Overall this was a positive experience mainly because of the attitude of the employees and the quick TAT (48 hours) (and getting a new drive in the process).
TL;DR:
1. Would expect the customer facing reps to know a little more detail about the warranty time period and other information. They were courteous but they couldn't provide any helpful information.
2. Would have preferred that they picked details up via Seagate's RMA system instead of asking me to create an account and provide all my details again.
3. No nonsense, no fuss approach is a plus. No invoice, nothing. Walk in/Mail it in and it will be approved, no questions asked.
4. The employee attitude was what surprised me the most. I have done quite a few RMAs over the years but never one as good as this. Usually they are haughty and act as if they are doing you a favour and do whatever they can to derail the warranty process. I was expecting the same experience here, but was surprised to find it different. Walking in at the end of a working day would piss most people off (Myself included), but here these people were more than happy to help.
5. The extrememly short TAT.
Had it not been for 1 and 2, this would have been an extremely positive experience.
Also, Seagate offers compensation for shipping the product to a Seagate warranty centre, if you're located more than 60 KMs from the nearest one. Inspirisys' page says that the maximum limit is ₹200 and you will have to ship the product prepaid and later raise a claim with the receipt. I haven't tried this and can't talk to it's effectiveness.
To locate your nearest Seagate Warranty centre, use this link - https://www.seagate.com/in/en/support/service-centers/
Note - For Chennaiites trying to find this address - Go to the road where Chetas buttermilk is (Off Greams Road). There search for a yellow building with a board that says Apollo Sindoori Hotels (it's not a hotel, it's just the office). Ask any security guard of any complex and they will guide you to the location. Inspirisys is on the first floor of this building. Do not ask for Inspirisys, you will be looked at like an alien.
I got a certified refurbished Seagate HDD from the reseller section here in March 2024. The drive was a Seagate Exos 7E8 8TB drive that was certified refurbished by Seagate with warranty until 17 June 2024. The drive was manufactured in May 2022.
The drive was intended for media storage only and hence I didn't bother much about testing the drive with badblocks before storing data on it. However, it passed all SMART tests. The drive worked well until this Tuesday, when it suddenly became super slow and started showing lots of reallocated sectors and high timeouts.
Logged onto the Seagate Website and registered the product only then. Had read on Reddit that Seagate offers something called advanced replacement, wherein they send a new HDD first and then you send the old one back. (Spoiler - It's not available in India)
I tried registering an RMA for the advanced replacement, but was unable to find the option. The only one was standard replacement, that asked you to mail the product to an address where it'll be checked and then if the RMA is accepted, a new drive will be sent back to you.
Since the address to mail was in Chennai, I called them up (Inspirisys) (by searching in Google, Seagate didn't have any information other than address) and they asked me to simply carry the HDD in. No need to raise an RMA on the Seagate website or an invoice, just the HDD. If the product was available in stock, I'd be handed one immediately, else it will be mailed back to me. I asked them to check if they had stock for my drive but I was told it wasn't possible to check unless I raised a request and to raise a request, the drive had to be there.
I asked them about advanced replacement and their answer was "We don't know, we don't do it, contact Seagate for more information".
I then asked them if they would allow me to recover data either via their own service (if any) or via a data recovery shop and then submit the drive for RMA for which also the answer was the same as above. This makes me wonder if one is supposed to choose between data recovery and getting an RMA. (This is why Backups are important kids..!!)
Texting with Seagate via Chat had no positive effect. I was given a curt reply that advanced replacement isn't possible for your drive. Similarly for data recovery.
I carried the HDD to Inspirisys at 16:50 (why is this important? End of the business day, yet they weren't snappy and were patient in dealing with me) where I was asked to create an account at https://myservice.inspirisys.com/ and provide details such as name, phone number and address. This is mandatory. This was a little ticking off and one of the reasons for the reduction to average. A younger me would have given the details without blinking twice, but with the rising number of phishers and scammers lusting after phone numbers, e-mails and addresses, the holy trifecta was easily available here. The website also does not inspire confidence. (I am not a cyber security researcher so I shall leave that bit to the experts)
I asked what would have happened if I had mailed the product in via Seagate's RMA request and their response was that they would have called me on receipt of the product and asked me to register an account.
On registering an account, they raised a service request and I was asked to wait for 10 minutes while they approve or deny the RMA. 10 minutes later, the RMA was approved without fuss and I was given a receipt and told that the drive would be mailed back to my address within 7 working days (Spoiler - It didn't take 7 days). I could also check the status of the replacement via their website. SMS' were also sent for receipt of defective product, acceptance of RMA, shipping of replacement and delivery confirmation.
Now the 7 working days became a nightmare for me. This was because in 7 working days, the drive I had submitted for RMA would be out of warranty, hence any drive I received then would be out of warranty and if it was a DOA, then nothing could be done. On voicing this concern to them and asking if there would be any increase in the warranty period because of the very short remaining warranty period, I received the standard response "We don't know, we don't do it, contact Seagate for more information. If the new drive is DOA and the product is in warranty, we will replace it. Otherwise we don't know."
Now I returned home praying to every deity I have ever known to make sure that I get a good drive and not a DOA one. I checked the status at around 8PM on Tuesday and it showed that a request had been raised to allocate a HDD for me. On Wednesday afternoon, I received a message stating the product was packed and shipped via Bluedart Air. I could have called them and asked them to hold the package and that I would pick it up, however I was busy and decided to let it arrive the next day.
The warranty status page gave me details about the new drive's serial number. Entering it into Seagate's warranty check page showed me that I had gotten an Exos 7E10 that I assumed was refurbished (since the drive I submitted was also a refurbished one) that had warranty until September 2024. I suppose the warranty from Seagate for RMA is something like 3 months or original warranty period, whichever is longer.
I got the HDD on Thursday afternoon and on opening it, was surprised to find that the drive was new and was manufactured in December 2023. Now this was a reason to celebrate.!!!
Overall this was a positive experience mainly because of the attitude of the employees and the quick TAT (48 hours) (and getting a new drive in the process).
TL;DR:
1. Would expect the customer facing reps to know a little more detail about the warranty time period and other information. They were courteous but they couldn't provide any helpful information.
2. Would have preferred that they picked details up via Seagate's RMA system instead of asking me to create an account and provide all my details again.
3. No nonsense, no fuss approach is a plus. No invoice, nothing. Walk in/Mail it in and it will be approved, no questions asked.
4. The employee attitude was what surprised me the most. I have done quite a few RMAs over the years but never one as good as this. Usually they are haughty and act as if they are doing you a favour and do whatever they can to derail the warranty process. I was expecting the same experience here, but was surprised to find it different. Walking in at the end of a working day would piss most people off (Myself included), but here these people were more than happy to help.
5. The extrememly short TAT.
Had it not been for 1 and 2, this would have been an extremely positive experience.
Also, Seagate offers compensation for shipping the product to a Seagate warranty centre, if you're located more than 60 KMs from the nearest one. Inspirisys' page says that the maximum limit is ₹200 and you will have to ship the product prepaid and later raise a claim with the receipt. I haven't tried this and can't talk to it's effectiveness.
To locate your nearest Seagate Warranty centre, use this link - https://www.seagate.com/in/en/support/service-centers/
Note - For Chennaiites trying to find this address - Go to the road where Chetas buttermilk is (Off Greams Road). There search for a yellow building with a board that says Apollo Sindoori Hotels (it's not a hotel, it's just the office). Ask any security guard of any complex and they will guide you to the location. Inspirisys is on the first floor of this building. Do not ask for Inspirisys, you will be looked at like an alien.
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