WD My Passport 3TB failed within the first 24hrs, Guess what the company's response was?

WD External Drives External Drives for PC
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Hello,

I honestly wonder whether WD will allow this to be posted or not, but here we go anyway. Hope this warns at least one person away from this joke of a company:

I contacted WD because the My Passport 3TB hard drive I just bought failed within the first 24hrs. It was purchased from a reputable retailer, and is a genuine product. The very first transfers to the drive started to fail without any apparent cause, then when trying to access files already transferred to the drive, I found that the data was completely inaccessible. I contacted WD’s customer service, and here was their response:

"Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support. My name is .

Based on the information provided, it seems that the device is not functional and unfortunately your drive is out of warranty, so it cannot be replaced. I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

I can understand the frustration you are going through. This is a rare case scenario in which drive has failed in such a short time. However, hard drives are mechanical drives with moving parts which could get damaged if handled improperly during transit or use.

I would request you to please perform the Data Recovery on the drive in order to save your data in the drive. Kindly follow the mentioned links below in order to perform the Data Recovery:"

What followed was a link to a list of third-party data recovery services.

Am I crazy, or is it slightly abnormal for a company to respond to complaints about obviously and admittedly faulty products with “■■■■■ to be you, best of luck with that, none of this is our problem”? Also, is it normal for any other company in the world’s warranty to be voided by using said company’s product for its intended purpose, for the very first time? What exactly was it that voided the warranty - taking it out of the box, or maybe plugging it into a computer?

In any case, Western Digital is apparently completely useless. I’m honestly impressed by what a joke their customer service is - Buyer beware. Anyway, rant over, I’m going to go try my luck returning it to the retailer, although I’m not hopeful about getting any of my lost files back.

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Well, the only thing they can do is look up the serial number you provided in their manufacturing database. If the database tells them that the warranty is expired, there is nothing they are compelled to do.

If the database is wrong, then all you need to do is provide them proof-of-purchase (like a receipt that shows you purchased that specific unit on a specific date) and they will correct it and you’ll be re-entitled to warranty replacement.

But, before you go through all that, If your retailer is truly “reputable,” they should exchange it for you, right?

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Another reason not to send a message regarding product problems. Instead, make a phone call to any company’s support desk.

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Question, in your post it’s mentioned to " Kindly follow the mentioned links below in order to perform the Data Recovery:" where exactly are those links please? This is my second external My Passport external drive that has just quit on me for absolutely no fault by me, it just stopped booting! The first one which was a couple of years ago was a smaller drive, thank goodnes, I took to a professional restorer suggested by my computer guru who could not help me. They charged me $140. and could NOT restore any of my stored images. NOW a practically new large/filled 2.0 external has just stopped working. When plugged in the light on the external illuminates and the drive itself feels like it’s working/running, but it doesn’t come up or load on my File Explorer and the drive does NOT show on my or or any of the other computers I tried it on. WTH? why in the world would two drives funk in the last 2 years? A larger drive was purchased due to the past experience, thus many more files lost this go around Unfortunately I am a photographer and now cannot access any of the images I stored on this hard drive. especially this larger drive. Needless to say I am very dissatisfied with these products and devistated at the possibility of losing all these images.
Can anyone suggest a fix? … PLEASE!!! non replacable images contained on this drive.and this was a new drive that has quit. HELP IT’L BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED_ Nostalgic Memories by Lea Mau Cook :sweat::face_with_raised_eyebrow::angry:emphasized text

I’m in the same boat as the person who posted the original post!!! To be told it’s a lost cause is unbelievable and devistating. There is no reason for a backup method external drive with good referral to fault once not to mention twice. Obviously there is a main problem with these products! I’m planning to never use these products again due to the malfunctions. I cannot afford losing my images… So upset you cannot imagine! Nostalgic Memories by Lea

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This is the link WD sent me,

They also provided this one,

I’ve tried a couple of different data recovery programs, and no luck so far. I’m pretty wary of paying to have my files recovered, especially since I’m already out a bunch of money for a hard drive that doesn’t work… It’s probably smarter for me to cut my losses than to keep throwing money away. Hope everything works out for you! I’m beginning to think that getting any of my files back is a lost cause as well - I might just have to take the hit, not worry too much about all of the vacation pictures and memories lost, and learn not to buy from this garbage company ever again. Hopefully I can at least get my money back.

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In Reply to TonyPh12345,

Actually, what Western Digital is compelled to do, in most countries, is honour the warranty that they advertise. If their warranty is advertised as covering a long period of use, as with this product, then technically speaking, they are compelled to extend that warranty (perhaps just a bit) past the first few hours of the product’s service life.

I would love to provide proof of purchase information to WD to support my claim. Unfortunately, WD didn’t ask for it or anything of the sort before discarding my issues out of hand and telling me to try my luck dealing with other companies.

And yes, the dealer is reputable, but it’s not their job to a) help me recover the data that was lost by WD’s defective product; or b) provide trouble shooting for a device that they didn’t have anything to do with manufacturing. They’re one of my last options, after I’ve given up any hope of getting my files back, not my first point of contact. Looks like WD doesn’t leave me much choice, though.

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As I said, get on the phone to WD Support.

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Interesting fact that WD Support online doesn’t accept your input. Can’t send in… first place you would normally begin… shows to me that the company is not reputable in the first place. Lack of communication… also I did try to contact by phone and it isn’t being answered either???

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You’re not crazy. Their comment about getting a replacement drive is absurd. We’ve all lost irreplaceable memories, getting ANOTHER unreliable WD product is the last thing I want. My heart can’t take it!

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What’s to say a telephone line is reliable all the time? I have called WD Support and it worked for me. Try calling again.

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Continued complaining to WD, and I got a slightly different response.

"Please accept my sincere apologies for the miscommunication and Please be informed that the error has been corrected as your drive is under warranty. Your drive has expiration date of December 30, 2020.

Moreover, as you are concerned about the data recovery, I would request you to please perform the Data Recovery on the drive in order to save your data in the drive. Kindly follow the mentioned links below in order to perform the Data Recovery:"

What follows is the same set of links to third party companies I can pay to (maybe) help me recover my lost data. So, at least after a while, the squeaky wheel got the grease, in the sense that they admitted they were lying to me initially. My course of action, however, is pretty much the same - either shell out more money to hopefully recover some data, or just cut my losses and bring it back to the store I got it from. Tried some free recovery software, and no luck.

At this point, I’m going to just bring it back to the store I got it from, unfortunately, and give up on recovering my data. Silver lining: I don’t have to deal with WD’s garbage support services again over this issue one way or another. Hope things turn out better for you, LeaCook!

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