WD Scorpio Black - Question Regarding Warranty

[mike1123]

Okay... so I'll try to keep this fairly brief. I just received a 320 GB Scorpio Black that I purchased on eBay from a very reputable seller. It is the RETAIL drive, in the box, not an OEM drive. In the auction and on WD's site they state that the Black has a 5 year warranty. Simply put, after entering the serial #, it's 3 years, and only valid from "authorized sellers". The seller has apologized and offered to take back the drive and pay for return shipping, so no problem there, as I have not opened it, but here are my questions:

1. Is WD strict about having receipts to do an RMA exchange if the serial # is valid on their website and is shown to have a warranty? Reason being that I don't have a "authorized seller receipt", but my drive is in warranty on the website.

2. If I were to experience harsh vibrations in my MBP after installing this, is that ground for an exchange? I really don't mind minor vibrations, so if that's all it is, I don't think I'll mind too much.

3. Why the warranty discrepancy? Barring all mistakes from the seller, WD's site contradicts what is coming up.

Thanks in advance.

 

[alphaod]

1) WD only asks for the receipt if there is a discrepancy in the time of warranty remaining since it's from the date of purchase not manufactured.

2) 7200RPM will inherently vibrate more than slower rotation drives.

3) No idea why they have that, but again you will need to buy it from an authorized dealer and then call WD and they should fix the warranty. BTW all Scorpio and Caviar Black drives sport 5-year warranties regardless to whether it's OEM or retail.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

It's been a couple years since I've returned a WD drive on warranty (because I stopped buying them) but the process was always straight forward:

I enter the serial number & WD's server tells me my unit is on warranty and gives me the option of either returning the drive and waiting for them to ship me a replacement, or me giving my CC as collateral and they express a replacement to me and then I send them the bad drive. When they rec' the bad drive they remove the hold on my CC.

I've never been asked to provide any kind of proof of purchase.

 

[getz76]

Western Digital's RMA process is the the most straightforward I have ever dealt with. Unfortunately, I have dealt with the Western Digital's RMA process quite often.

 

[mike1123]

Thanks for the replies. I may just keep the drive, seeing that in 3 years I'll probably want a SSD, and I am starting to see that WD doesn't ask for receipts.