Western Digital Cuts Hard Drive Warranties – Seagate Follows Suit

seekermeister said:

Phone Man said:

Its only on some models. WD will still have 5 yr on the Black and enterprise models. Seagate will also still have 5 yr on some models. I have not seen any direct information from WD or Seagate as to the exact changes but need to check their sites and see what can be found. I did read some were that Seagate would have a different warranty period for "retail drives" and "bulk drives" like they and WD had years ago. The retail drives are the ones in the fancy box and you usually find in a retail shop. The bulk drive are the ones is a plain box and found online and usually cheaper. Will have to see after Jan 1 and see how this shakes out. As a consumer we will really have to watch what we buy and from whom. Here is a link to WD current policy. Will have to check after Jan 1 and see what changes.

WD Support / Warranty Services / End User / Worldwide Warranty Policy and Limitations

Jim

I wonder if that warranty data is the most current, because it conflicts with the info in the Maximum PC article on the length of the Caviar Blacks? It is times of shortages that changes like this seem to occur. I wonder if it will remain the same when the supply returns to normal?

EDIT: I think that you may be right about needing to check back after the first of the year, because I had missed the part about the delayed changes. But I didn't see anything on their warranty page that seemed to specifically say that Black and Enterprise drives would remain as they have been.

I have subscribed to MaximumPC for years but I don't think they got their facts correct. The link to the WD warranty page is the current information and will have to wait for an update. The Cavier Black which it what I use in all my systems have a 5 year warranty, that is why I question MaximumPC as they say the Blacks will "remain" at 3 years. They need better proof readers to get the facts straight. Like I said we need to get the facts from Seagate and WD for the real story.

Jim

It'll work out, HDDs prices will rise and SSDs will take over which will bring prices down eventually.

Just seems like really poor timing to hit the consumer with warranty reductions at the same time prices hitting these weather induced highs.

oneextraid said:

Make them cheaper, die sooner, sell more and make more money. American automobile industry business model.

To quote Metallica: "Sad but true."

The article has a mistake. They say the WD Caviar black remains at 3yrs. It is actually 5 years now so they have reduced it by 2 years - if the rest of the article is correct.

Most brand HDD drives nowadays are very reliable. - I haven't had one die in ages and I have 6 externals and 6 internals - if you operate them in a proper environment and know their limitations (e.g. I have two old crappy Seagate external Freeagent drives I don't turn on often or for very long because they get way too hot).

Now I have probably cursed one of my hard drives to failure.

id still feel safer knowing i have a warranty. take your bank situation, Not trusting a bank would lead to the common stereotype: money under your mattress. if your house burns down, good bye money.

if the "bank" was a warranty, even if your house did burn down (drive craps a brick) youve still got your money/hdd... well im lost in my story lol