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OWC SSD Warranty Experience??

M

Mikebuzzsaw

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 1, 2007
409
4
Los Angeles, CA
I've been using a OWC Aura Pro 480GB SSD for my Macbook Air 2012 for the past 3 years.

Towards the end of July, my macbook would not boot and I would get a folder with a question mark. I visited my local Apple Genius. Apple was back logged, so they couldn't diagnosis the problem immediately and needed a week with the laptop. Apple concluded its the SSD and nothing else causing the problem.

I contacted OWC Warranty (3-Year Warranty) and they say I'm FIVE DAYS outside of the warranty period. I even provided them the Apple repair receipt indicating the problem was occurring weeks prior!

I asked for an exception and they refused.

Thank you for the email. I would not be able to make and exception for the solution because the exception would be to make a warranty transfer for a slight fee, however at this time there is no warranty to transfer. I apologize for any and all inconvenience.

I will make the exception of having the SSD sent back to OWC for a diagnostic testing. Once we receive the results of the testing we can notify you and proceed accordingly. The cost of the shipping the SSD to and from OWC will be at your cost. There also will be a diagnostic fee involved. I again apologize for the inconvenience. Please respond back to this email Michael as to how you would like to proceed.
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WOW, they won't even diagnosis it for free. FIVE DAYS!! Yes, company policies have to draw a hard line at certain dates.. but (I'm assuming) a bigger brand SSD (i.e. Samsung, Toshiba) would more than willing to make an exception. Especially when the SSD was $350+ when I bought it.

Anyone have similar experience with OWC, because if this is common, I don't recommend anyone buying from OWC.
 
On this forum, I've read of at least a few people who have had failures with OWC SSDs. It is because of these reports, along with the fact that OWC uses Sandforce controllers in their SSDs, that I do not recommend them to anyone.
 
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Reactions: Weaselboy
I never expect people to make exceptions for me, thus I am never disappointed. You were unlucky, and that is unfortunate. My OWC SSD warranty experience was positive.
 
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Reactions: J.J. Sefton
I was evaluating OWC SSDs for a project and quickly destroyed 4 out of 5 samples. They had more than a Sandforce controller issue as other SSDs with Sandforce faired a bit better. OWC makes/sells several decent products but 2.5 and 1.8 inch form factor SSDs were not one of them, especially for any high use application like a OS drive. For other consumer use, perhaps OK. Their auras may fare better but the only one I used was stollen within a year. The OEM Apple SSD in an OWC enclosure has been solid.

As far as warranty service/policy, well thats OWC. Other vendors chose to be more lenient.
 
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OWC warranty experience is beyond terrible. They take at least 3-4 days to reply back to emails and I have to continually nag them for updates. They escalated my RMA case last week and I haven't heard from them. I have to nag them again. This is beyond frustrating because their website clearly shows they have 5-year warranty on their Macbook Air SSD Drives.
 
Oldmanmac said:
Guess you didn't learn the first time, huh?

I've sworn off MacSales/OWC's sloppy peoducts for good!
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Aside from the 5 SSDs I've bought, I also have at present 14 drive enclosures (multibay RAID, non-RAID, single desktop drive & portables) and none of them have given me any trouble...
 
It's been several weeks and I'm still getting the run around.

Even though their website shows 5-year warranty, they are claiming at the time they were selling the SSD, it was only 3 year warranty.
 
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Two of my OWC used thunderbolt docks I purchased are now dead, 1 from my fault (broken TB port), 1 just died moments ago.

Not liking their quality. That's the last OWC product I will ever purchase.
 
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