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I got an email from them this morning saying:
We Regret to inform that we are having plant shut down since Mar/18 until mid-April due to MCO (Movement Control Order) announced by Malaysia government in order to stop the covid19 spread.
There is no receiving during this period.
You know, which is great. Except the drive was received on the 12th of March… 
I’m not sure restrictions will be listed by mid-april, see how we go.
What does a MCO by Malaysia have to do with WD Warehouse in California, who processes, receives & ships all RMA’s to US customers? I’ve seen multiple partners submit & receive their RMA orders in the past 7 days, but their system has gone upside down with error messages, blocks trying to submit larger models, $25 convenience fees, etc
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I’m in Australia, we ship to Malaysia. Not sure what happens in the US.
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Ah got it.
Did you used to ship to Germany/Poland? WD had a warehouse there too…
No, my understanding in the Asia Pacific region is that the drives went to Malaysia.
An update for me today though is the website is showing that they have the drive again. So that’s fine. I’m happy to wait for the replacement, I was just concerned that the drive had gotten lost.
What page shows the inventory for WD drives?
i wonder if they are doing the same in the states. would make sense… but some sort of notice would have been helpful.
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Finally got a reply from WD after sending multiple emails. Just a general reply by a human, not system generated, although it does not help to resolve RMA issues that we are having. But it seems WD is open for business.
WD has returned all my 5 internal NAS HDDs today without processing the RMA. They have not explained the reason for that. I am so confused. Whats going on? All the drives are under warranty.
Unfortunately the only people who can answer that is WD. You’ll have to reach out to them to find out.
That’s not good that they did it though. 
so from experience at this point… there is someone working there, but they are not able to do much, and its definitely not quick. all you can do is respond to their email, and sit and wait. their response times to that email are roughly 10-14 days
thats rough. i understand that times are tough, and everyone is making the best of a really bad situation right now… but this complete breakdown of communication from western digital is making things a million times worse. they should make communication priority #1 right now.
all you can really do is send them an email, and wait. i would probably recommend not making the mistake i made by emailing them multiple times… it creates that much more backlog, and they arent able to piece things together on their end, so they treat each email as a new case (which quickly turns into a logistic nightmare)
I spoke to one of my friends yesterday. WD has a new policy it seems: You need to have a proof of purchase to process any RMA. This is something new. His RMA is also denied as he could not produce any proof of purchase (some of his HDDs are old and bought locally, he lost the receipts). I thought I should share with you guys and I believe one of the users have mentioned this earlier.
However, here is the policy statement from WD website:
How long does limited warranty coverage last?
Western Digital Product warranties last for different periods of time. To determine the warranty period for your specific Product, please visit www.westerndigita.com. A valid proof of purchase may be required to prove eligibility. If you do not have a valid proof of purchase, the limited warranty period will be measured from the date of sale from Western Digital to the authorized distributor.
So again, it does not make sense.
Considering the grim outlook of the country, we need to have lot of patience and hopefully, we are back to normal soon. Lot of us are working from home and thus we are trying our best to do as much as we can in such a stressful environment. At least, this platform helps us to lessen those burdens and share our stories.
But I am hopeful. Thank you all again.
Just play their game.
Place an order with Amazon or any online retailer. Screenshot your order.
Cancel the order.
Show WD the proof of purchase.
What is the real BS is WD takes $25 every time you submit an advanced RMA, and it isn’t a hold, its permanent POSTING! So $25 charge completed on my card, but because 12TB Gold isn’t even in stock for 6 weeks now, I wait and wait and wait!!! Yet they took my money long ago. Hold amount for the model is one thing, but taking $25 and maybe canceling the RMA or taking 2 months to fulfill it is illegal.
Also BS you cannot submit advanced RMA for 16TB + models now. basically anything over $200 value according to their pricing.
I still dont understand their “limited warranty” policy. It should not matter whether its 12 or 16 TB, we should be able to do RMA without paying anything more. You have already spent a fortune for a drive and then pay another $25 plus shipping for the drive to be replaced (with a re-certified one).
I am sure they are working in full force (they deem to be “essential” as per Fed). We cant do anything at this moment. Just wait.
NB: My friend is preparing to go for small claim when things go back to normal. Its a bit hassle but I think its worth.
So obviously I can’t speak for any new RMA’s, but mine has finally been processed and the replacement drive is shipping to me. Obviously took a lot longer (as expected) but my replacement is on the way.
I wish anyone with any new RMA’s the best of luck.
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congrats!
ive made it far enough in the process that they have “determined something is wrong” with my replacement, and ive been promised a phone call “in 24-48 hours”. (that was tuesday… then again on friday, so we’ll see i guess)
