This is going to be long-winded - so sorry.
I have a NAS storage system and wanted to upgrade the hard drives. I have almost always used Seagate hard drives, so I went to their web site to check out the warranties as I was interested in a Constellation drive. If you go to their web site and search for internal hard drives and select the Constellation Series (any Constellation drive) then click on the "Specs" tab it lists brochures for all of the various models. If you download any (or all) of these brochures, every one states that ALL of the Constellation hard drives have a 5-year manufacturer's warranty.
So I bought two 2-TB Constellation ES2 drives from Server Supply, which states that these drives come with a Full manufacturer's warranty..
I wanted to buy a Cheetah hard drive today and again went to the Seagate site and downloaded the brochures for the Cheetah drives I am interested in and the brochure states (in English) that ALL of these drives come with a 5-year manufacturer's warranty. So I was searching on-line for the drive I wanted and noticed that most of the vendors who listed the warranties stated that they come with a 3-year manufacturer's warranty.
I called a couple of the vendors, one who really didn't have a clue and another DiscountTechnology, who provided some useful information.
Turns out Seagate reduced the warranty on just about all of their drives to only three years. I tried calling Seagate to double check and after more than 22 minutes on hold hung up and went to their chat site.
The rep asked for the specific serial numbers of the drives I had purchased and sure enough, he came back and said they only had 3 year warranties.
I was pissed and stated that the ONLY reason I bought these drives was because of the 5-year warranty. His response - "Sorry for the confusion."
Here is the full text of our chat - (sorry for the typos)
Matt R: Hello Andy, thank you for contacting Seagate, how can I help you today?
You: .I hate to tell you but your customer service sucks. I was on hold with support for over 22 minutes before I gave up and went to this chat site. What is the warranty on the Seagate Constellation Hard drives - 5 years or three? I just bought two Constellation hard dirves because your brochures state they have 5 year warranty. Now vendors are telling me they are only three years. What's going on because if they are only three years, I'm returning the drives and will need to provide justification to the vendor.
Matt R: I apologize about the hold time, Andy. I can help you with that information. Some of our drives are still 5, others are less than that. Do you have the serial number for one of those drives so that I can look up the warranty period for you?
You: ZiK03AKE, Z1K02SNG
You: Sorry, first was Z103AKE, ot Zi
Matt R: I'm showing those as having a 3 year warranty on them.
You: THen you guys need to UPDATE the inforkmation on your web site because EVERY Brochure STATES that ALL OF THESE DRIVES HAVE A 5 YEAR WARRANTY!
You: That is THE ONLY REASON I BOUGHT THESE DRIVES!
Matt R: I apologize for the confusion Andy. I'll make sure to pass that information to my supervisor. Is there anything else I can answer for you today?
You: I am not confused - your web site and ALL of the information provided on it is FALSE.
Matt R: I'll make sure that information is reviewed to correct any wrong information. Do you have any specific links of false information, Andy?
I didn't provide the "specific" links since I want everyone else to be able to log on to the Seagate web site and download this FALSE information for themselves.
So, which drives have a three year warranty and which have a 5 year warranty? Supposedly, any drive "shipped" after December of 2011 will have a 3-year warranty. If the drive was shipped before December of 2011, it is supposed to still have a 5-year warranty.
I did some further searching on the web and ComputerWorld had an article stating that -
"Seagate's new warranties apply to internal hard drives designed for laptops, desktops and consumer electronics devices. Seagate said there is no warranty change to "mission critical enterprise drives," such as its Cheetah line, or Seagate external drives.
Seagate said it is reducing its warranty periods from five years to three years for nearline products, such as the Constellation 2 series. Even Seagate's new hybrid drive, the Momentus XT, is seeing its warranty period cut from five to three years."
However, if you do go to the Seagate web site, ALL of the Constellation internal hard drives are listed on their web site as "Enterprise" hard drives.
Is there any chance to form a class action lawsuit against Seagate?
I have a NAS storage system and wanted to upgrade the hard drives. I have almost always used Seagate hard drives, so I went to their web site to check out the warranties as I was interested in a Constellation drive. If you go to their web site and search for internal hard drives and select the Constellation Series (any Constellation drive) then click on the "Specs" tab it lists brochures for all of the various models. If you download any (or all) of these brochures, every one states that ALL of the Constellation hard drives have a 5-year manufacturer's warranty.
So I bought two 2-TB Constellation ES2 drives from Server Supply, which states that these drives come with a Full manufacturer's warranty..
I wanted to buy a Cheetah hard drive today and again went to the Seagate site and downloaded the brochures for the Cheetah drives I am interested in and the brochure states (in English) that ALL of these drives come with a 5-year manufacturer's warranty. So I was searching on-line for the drive I wanted and noticed that most of the vendors who listed the warranties stated that they come with a 3-year manufacturer's warranty.
I called a couple of the vendors, one who really didn't have a clue and another DiscountTechnology, who provided some useful information.
Turns out Seagate reduced the warranty on just about all of their drives to only three years. I tried calling Seagate to double check and after more than 22 minutes on hold hung up and went to their chat site.
The rep asked for the specific serial numbers of the drives I had purchased and sure enough, he came back and said they only had 3 year warranties.
I was pissed and stated that the ONLY reason I bought these drives was because of the 5-year warranty. His response - "Sorry for the confusion."
Here is the full text of our chat - (sorry for the typos)
Matt R: Hello Andy, thank you for contacting Seagate, how can I help you today?
You: .I hate to tell you but your customer service sucks. I was on hold with support for over 22 minutes before I gave up and went to this chat site. What is the warranty on the Seagate Constellation Hard drives - 5 years or three? I just bought two Constellation hard dirves because your brochures state they have 5 year warranty. Now vendors are telling me they are only three years. What's going on because if they are only three years, I'm returning the drives and will need to provide justification to the vendor.
Matt R: I apologize about the hold time, Andy. I can help you with that information. Some of our drives are still 5, others are less than that. Do you have the serial number for one of those drives so that I can look up the warranty period for you?
You: ZiK03AKE, Z1K02SNG
You: Sorry, first was Z103AKE, ot Zi
Matt R: I'm showing those as having a 3 year warranty on them.
You: THen you guys need to UPDATE the inforkmation on your web site because EVERY Brochure STATES that ALL OF THESE DRIVES HAVE A 5 YEAR WARRANTY!
You: That is THE ONLY REASON I BOUGHT THESE DRIVES!
Matt R: I apologize for the confusion Andy. I'll make sure to pass that information to my supervisor. Is there anything else I can answer for you today?
You: I am not confused - your web site and ALL of the information provided on it is FALSE.
Matt R: I'll make sure that information is reviewed to correct any wrong information. Do you have any specific links of false information, Andy?
I didn't provide the "specific" links since I want everyone else to be able to log on to the Seagate web site and download this FALSE information for themselves.
So, which drives have a three year warranty and which have a 5 year warranty? Supposedly, any drive "shipped" after December of 2011 will have a 3-year warranty. If the drive was shipped before December of 2011, it is supposed to still have a 5-year warranty.
I did some further searching on the web and ComputerWorld had an article stating that -
"Seagate's new warranties apply to internal hard drives designed for laptops, desktops and consumer electronics devices. Seagate said there is no warranty change to "mission critical enterprise drives," such as its Cheetah line, or Seagate external drives.
Seagate said it is reducing its warranty periods from five years to three years for nearline products, such as the Constellation 2 series. Even Seagate's new hybrid drive, the Momentus XT, is seeing its warranty period cut from five to three years."
However, if you do go to the Seagate web site, ALL of the Constellation internal hard drives are listed on their web site as "Enterprise" hard drives.
Is there any chance to form a class action lawsuit against Seagate?