I have a USB Powered WD ITB external drive.
I was about to throw it out on the road when I noticed my old Nokia 6120 navigator USB cable was the same shape. I tried that and guess what? The Hard drive boots everytime.
My friend had the same issue and went to JB Hifi and bought a Nokia cable for $30AU and the drive works fine now. The Nokia cable sits in and hugs the port very well.
The USB cable that comes with it - throw it away. Its not your hard drive that is not working.