Well… I’m always fixing connectors and wires and things like that on my own stuff as well as around the neighborhood. So if you just busted the connector (and nothing else) then it’s easy fix.
In the event the connector breakage has damaged the board traces, those can usually be worked around. And typically repairs like this can still last the lifetime of the drive if done correctly. It would void your warranty for sure - but you’d get your data back, and your same disk that would continue to operate just fine. If you send in to WD, now, as it is, you’ll get a recertified RMA exchange disk WITHOUT your data.
You can try finding a qualified electronics repair shop, they should do it for less than $50.00 parts + labor together. A data recovery shop, one the specializes in disk repair and data recovery operations will charge more, but some of them are approved by WD to effect repairs and NOT void the warranty.
Personally, I believe that WD (and other mfgs) should do repairs on these connectors for a small fee and return your disk with the data intact. These connectors break too often.
