Yup - OWC should take back the enclosure or offer an exchange for a compatible enclosure or store credit. Them paying for the drives or taking them back is a no go since it was purchased elsewhere. Very simple, I think.
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Well, OWC screwed me again.
- Thread starter MattG
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I did read your OP, can you show me where you said you've tried replacement drives that still did not work? You mention you'd like OWC to send you new drives (which is nonsense) and not what I asked. I see your point but am guessing your attitude pissed off a couple people at OWC, so they've just decided to hang you out to dry. Not fair, but like the saying goes, you catch more bees with honey.
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I always thought OWC return policy was pretty good.
They once shipped me a Powerbook battery that wouldn't even fit into the computer. They gave me a return label and 100 percent refund.
They once shipped me a Powerbook battery that wouldn't even fit into the computer. They gave me a return label and 100 percent refund.
J just purchased an enclosure from them that didn't work out of the box. I just rma'd it for a replacement yesterday. I'll see how they do. I've ordered 5 drive enclosures in the last 2 years from owc and this is the first time I've gotten a bad one.
I had been using OWC for some time. Then last year the customer service was terrible. It must have been an isolated situation, as I have done four separate transactions in the last two months and the service has been excellent.
I've already dealt with their tech support and customer service on the phone, pled my case and it got me nowhere. You'd be "whining" too if a $620 investment you made was now sitting on your desk, useless.
I like how the OWC fanboys are going through and down voting the OP's posts.
It seems that at the very least OWC should refund him for the enclosure.
It seems that at the very least OWC should refund him for the enclosure.
Will OWC not let you do a return? Are you within a 30 day window?
Don't they accept anything for return, even if some items have a restocking fee?
Outside of letting you return it, hopefully even waiving restocking fee, there isn't anything else they should do.
Don't they accept anything for return, even if some items have a restocking fee?
Outside of letting you return it, hopefully even waiving restocking fee, there isn't anything else they should do.
If they take the enclosure back, it would be with a 15% restocking fee, and then I'm still left with 4 hard drives that are completely useless to me. The point is, I don't WANT to return the unit. They gave bad information (which is still up on their site as of this posting). They sell hard drives. They should be big about it and take my hard drives in for credit or something, and utilize them somehow. I'd gladly pay the difference for new hard drives.
If the drives weren't purchased from them though, there is nothing they can do. That would be awfully complicated.
I do feel for your situation though! That is a lot of money.
I imagine if you talked to some higher ups you could get out of the restocking fee, since they did have bad information up.
With the hard drives, I guess they were from somewhere without a lenient return policy.
Again, sorry for your frustration. I can see how their description really cost you, but it's one of those things that is tough to call. You haven't done anything wrong necessarily, they did, but there is only so much to realistically hope for.
Good luck and again sorry to hear about this. Hope things go better for you soon.
You have three simple options.
1. Ask OWC to take Back the enclosure, and get one that works for you. Have they offered to do that?
2. Take OWC to small claims court.
3. Just go buy another enclosure, and never deal with OWC again.
Thank you for posting the thread. It is useful.
1. Ask OWC to take Back the enclosure, and get one that works for you. Have they offered to do that?
2. Take OWC to small claims court.
3. Just go buy another enclosure, and never deal with OWC again.
Thank you for posting the thread. It is useful.
What your asking for will never happen. Not from any vendor.
Return the damn drives to NewEgg and buy different drives. Or return the OWC case and never use them again. But there's no way they are taking someone else's inventory as credit on theirs. Try that at Apple or any other retailer and see how far you get. I'm not defending OWC's error, but your asking for too much.
FYI, I have the same Qx2 case and 4 WD Green drives and so far it's been completely trouble-free.
For the third time, this was all purchased over 3 months ago. There's no returning the drives to Newegg. I'm well outside of the return window.
Good luck when your array fails. Mine was running fine too. Then, all of a sudden, two drives failed on the same day, and now it won't rebuild even with replacement green drives from WD.
I've repeated this like 2 or 3 times now, but allow me to repeat it once again, in big bold letters, just to make it abundantly clear to anyone else who wants to suggest it:
I. CAN'T. RETURN. THE. HARD. DRIVES. TO. NEWEGG.
It's been over three months since I bought all this stuff. I'm well outside of the return window. Besides, I'm not stupid -- do you all really think that I wouldn't simply return the drives to Newegg if I were able to??? The problem took three months to show up, as it's one of those weird intermittent things that apparently doesn't always happen right out of the box. OWC knows it's a problem, and yet they're still listing these drives on the "Qualified for use" page.
I. CAN'T. RETURN. THE. HARD. DRIVES. TO. NEWEGG.
It's been over three months since I bought all this stuff. I'm well outside of the return window. Besides, I'm not stupid -- do you all really think that I wouldn't simply return the drives to Newegg if I were able to??? The problem took three months to show up, as it's one of those weird intermittent things that apparently doesn't always happen right out of the box. OWC knows it's a problem, and yet they're still listing these drives on the "Qualified for use" page.
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I would not say that is what is happening. It seems people aren't amused with how incredibly pissed off and snarky he is being. If someone doesn't like the thread then they can choose not to post. Likewise, if the OP doesn't like something a respondent is saying then he can choose not to reply. Instead, there is this belittling tone to the OP through and through all posts that extends over to how he believes OWC needs to make it right.
You cannot expect a typo of sorts on a website to warrant OWC to take back New Egg's drives. Does OWC sell the drives? I suspect you need to work on getting a refund from OWC for the enclosure even if that is not what you want to do. Sell the drives here or on eBay; recover something, and start again. OR keep the enclosure, sell the drives, and buy new. You'll lose something but it will be a lot less than the $600+ you're "losing" now.
OWC should offer to take the enclosure back without the restocking fee. Short of that, there is no other obligation to you and if this is how you're acting with them I would tell you to kick rocks as well. OWC is covered here and perhaps you've failed to realize this but I've provided you a link to their terms. In the spirit of customer service I would take the enclosure back sans restocking fee but that is all I'd do. Your idea to have them take back drives that were never in their inventory is inane and would be an inventory and accounting nightmare for them. What reasoning would they have to bend over backwards for you in such instances?
Just in case you too need help here is a bullet point list of how you can resolve your issue without losing as much money:
- sell the drives on MacRumors or some other site
- return the enclosure and ask OWC to eat the restocking fee for the typo found on their site and ask them to update their site to reflect accurate information.
- keep the enclosure and buy new drives after selling the others
- continue to tell everyone how OWC should make it right
That said, the qx2 is really awesome!!
Yeah, it's doing well as a really fancy desk ornament right now.
That is completely meaningless. OWC can put whatever they want on their web site and it does not automatically absolve them of their responsibilities under the law.
I think OWC's responsibility is no more than considering to take the enclosure back. I don't see how they could do anything about the drives... if they did take responsibility for the drives too, it would be the equivalent as paying damages after losing a lawsuit - but this is far from that scenario. Also, IMO, due to the size of the investment, more research or "due diligence" was needed from the OP - WD's Caviar Green drives have never been suited for RAID arranges... this is not new. And it has nothing to do with the enclosure, RAID card or software, but with the drive's firmware (and I think, power management).
But cheer up OP, not everything’s lost: there's still a solution. If NewEgg will not accept the drives back, perhaps you can sell the drives and, if needed, buy another set by another compatible brand/model... given the recent steep increase in WD drive prices (around 80% increase in the WD Green 2TB, due to stock shortages caused by Thai & Indonesian floodings), my guess is that you won't have too much trouble selling them, even for a bit more than their original price... that'll at least get you out of the red zone for now.
cheers!
But cheer up OP, not everything’s lost: there's still a solution. If NewEgg will not accept the drives back, perhaps you can sell the drives and, if needed, buy another set by another compatible brand/model... given the recent steep increase in WD drive prices (around 80% increase in the WD Green 2TB, due to stock shortages caused by Thai & Indonesian floodings), my guess is that you won't have too much trouble selling them, even for a bit more than their original price... that'll at least get you out of the red zone for now.
cheers!
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Thanks -- I'd be interested to know where it says that. A number of other RAID array manufacturers list this drive on their compatibility lists.
http://www.synology.com/support/hd.php?lang=enu&bays_id=3&product_id=62
http://www.readynas.com/?page_id=82
In fact, Drobo even sells their products bundles with the green drives (and yes I realize Drobo isn't a "true" RAID, but the concept is the same).
I just put "green" drives in a ReadyNAS that I'm using as a backup NAS for my main QNAP.... so they are probably not designed for the rigors of NAS use, but it doesn't mean they won't work. They probably won't last as long.
To weigh in on your original post... it is ridiculous to think they are going to replace the drives you bought from someone else. I've bought two NAS boxes and in both cases I initially bought them with the drives as one unit because I didn't want to spend $x,xxx and have problems. My data is worth it to me. For subsequent expansion, I have bought other drives myself. You say you are free to buy the drives from someone else based on saving money, and when you do that, you become what I'd call the "systems integrator" for the whole system. That makes you responsible for things like this, not the vendor who might have sold you a "turn key" system.
I would expect the to offer you an RMA on the RAID box so that you can get another one compatible with your drives. I wouldn't expect the person that sold you the drives to be expected to take them back, since they had no part in this. I personally find it odd that you looked at the compatible list and chose to not order drives that were listed as "recommended". Even if they worked, I wouldn't think going against the recommended list would be wise. Having owned several NAS boxes over the years, there is a lot to this... its not as simple as slapping a drive in a PC. Simple firmware updates can break or fix a drive in a RAID environment.
The way I see it, you chose the role of "systems integrator" when you decided to order the parts and assemble it yourself. You then chose to order parts that weren't "recommended" together. And so you shoulder the total responsibility for fixing it. You just learned why its sometimes better to pay a little more for a "turn key" solution vs. building it yourself.
I'm not disagreeing with your logic, but, the whole Approved/Recommended/Not Recommended thing they have going on is just silly. They should either say "they're recommended" or say "they're not recommended." Like you alluded to -- RAID arrays can be picky, and slight differences can cause problems. If that's the case, again...just have a "Recommended" list and a "Not Recommended" list. What are the ones under the "certified" heading considered that don't have "recommended" next to them? "Kinda recommended?" Either say they work, say they don't, or say "we haven't tested these." The fact is, the Caviar Green drives still (as of this post) show up under the heading that says "Serial ATA drive models OWC has tested and qualified for use with the Qx2."
I bought the green drives because yes, they were a good price and frankly, I don't care tremendously about speed. Based on the research I did before purchasing, that was the only downside to these drives -- the fact that they had a variable RPM speed.
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