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Before You Return That Hard Disk

1. Before returning a hard disk drive (HDD) for repair or replacement under warranty, troubleshoot to confirm there is actually a problem with the drive. 2. Verify that the HDD is still under warranty by checking the warranty period with the manufacturer and determining if the original equipment manufacturer's warranty applies. 3. If still under warranty, obtain a Return Material Authorization number from the manufacturer's website and properly package and return the drive following their instructions.

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41 views3 pages

Before You Return That Hard Disk

1. Before returning a hard disk drive (HDD) for repair or replacement under warranty, troubleshoot to confirm there is actually a problem with the drive. 2. Verify that the HDD is still under warranty by checking the warranty period with the manufacturer and determining if the original equipment manufacturer's warranty applies. 3. If still under warranty, obtain a Return Material Authorization number from the manufacturer's website and properly package and return the drive following their instructions.

Uploaded by

karma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Before you return that Hard Disk

Everything you needed to know about sending a disk back to the manufacturer for repair
or replacement but were afraid to ask

Just as you are a part of the chain that makes hard disk drives available to the end user,
you are a part of the chain that gets the sent back to the manufacturer in case there is a
problem with them.

The process of sending a drive back for repair or replacement is a bit like playing that
good old party game, Passing the Pillow. There are certain grounds rules : if you follow
them, you’re safe, but if you don’t you will get into trouble . And needless to say, you
don’t ever want to be stuck with that pillow. So let us take a look at a few issues that you
will need to be address before you can safely pass along that pillow...er...drive.

Step 1 : Troubleshooting
To begin with, it is prudent to check whether there actually is a problem with the
drive . A large number of drives returned for warranty replacement are found to be
completely healthy. There are many reasons why a good drive many appear bad : file
system corruption, driver corruption, broken master boot record, hardware conflicts or a
virus attack.

FIGURE .

Returning a drive for warranty service means system downtime for your customer and
extra effort in packing and shipping the drive for you. So it is to your benefit to know if a
replacement drive will solve your client’s PC problem.

The diagram below-HDD failure determination-is a representation of a flowchart


designed by Seagate to assist users in failure determination. Most manufacturers require
the drive to be checked and diagnosed as bad before it is returned.

Step 2 : Warranty Verification.


After troubleshooting, if you have concluded that the drive is defective the next is to
check the warranty of the drive. Most manufacturers offer a three-year warranty on their
drives from the date of manufacture. But length of warranty varies from vendor to
vendor, so you will need to ascertain whether or not the warranty periods has expired.
Remember that usually the regular warranty does not apply if the drive was purchase
by an original equipment manufacturer and later resold to you. Be clear about the policy
your HDD manufacturer follows for drives sold to OEMs.

If the drive was purchased by an OEM, that particular OEM’s warranty applies to the
drive and you will have to contact the OEM regarding warranty information.
This can get tricky, Say for example, the OEM provides a two year warranty on the PC,
While the year warranty on the PC, while the hard drive originally comes with a three-
year warranty. Will the drive be entitled for a replacement after two-and-a-half years ? So
get all the facts straight if you are tying up with an OEM.
Otherwise you can approach the distributor or the support center of the manufacturer,
with the serial number of the drive and proof of purchase, for warranty verification. If the
warranty period has expired, you will have to contact a local repair facility or the service
center representative of the manufacturer.
Before-you-return-the-drive checklist :
* Confirm if there really is a problem with the disk.
* Verify the warranty status of the drive.
* If the drive is still under warranty, obtain a Return of
Materials Authorization [ RMA ] number.
* Property package and return the drive.
Step 3 : Obtaining RMA
If you have determined that the drive is still under warranty, the next step is to
receive a return of materials authorization [RMA] Instructions for doing this are usually
found on the manufacturer’s Web site in the ‘Support’ section.

Step 4 : Handing and packaging


Now comes the all-important part of packing the drive for its trip. Unlike the pillow
in the game, the drive mustn’t be subjected to tossing and throwing about, unless you
want to ruin your chances of obtaining a replacement. So handle the drive with care.
While all manufacturer agree on the point that improper packaging will void the
warranty , they differ in their definition of what constitutes appropriate packaging. So be
sure to find out and follow your HDD manufacturer’s guidelines scrupulously. Drives are
normally required to be returned in company-approved packaging like ESD bags [ For
more on ESD, see ‘Safety is the Best Policy’ on Page10 ] Packaging, shipping and
handling information is ususally provided on the company’s Web site.
Before you send the drive, you will need to inform the customer that his original
drive and media will not be returned to him, so that he can back up any data he wishes to
keep and return only the bare drive. If he is unable to retrieve needed data, he may want
to consider data recovery services.

Other considerations
There are two important things you need to know from the company about its
warranty policy. The first is-with what will the faulty disk be replaced ? Some companies
send new drives some send refurbished once and some send both.
Secondly-how long will it take for the replacement drive to reach you ? This can take
up to 15 days, but with customers clamoring for lower downtime, companies are trying to
shorten the turnaround time-down to 48 hours in some cases!
The Internet is playing its own part in simplifying the system. For example, Samsung
now maintains a Web-based database of all hard drives sold in India, including the data of
manufacture. Its authorized service providers validate the warranty on the basis of the
serial number of the drive, without requiring proof of purchase.

When is it better to replace than to repair ?


If your customer is considering repairing a drive that is past its warranty period, here are
a few reasons you can offer him to go in for a new drive instead.
Throwing good money after bad : If the drive has already been repaired once, and now
has failed again , there is no guarantee it won’t give problems again. Rather than losing
valuable data, it would be safer to quit trying to quit trying to fix it & just get a new one.
No control over quality and source of replacement part : If the client is replacing an
out-of warranty drive with a new one he himself is purchasing, he is in control of the
quality level of the drive. The replacement part offered to him by the manufacturer might
be refurbished or old.
Downtime : If downtime is costly to your client, replacement is often faster as hard
drives are not very difficult to swap and are readily available .
Advance in Technology : Sometimes a failed component can be a good excuse to
upgrade to newer technology. With hard disk technology taking such rapid strides, it
would make more sense for your customer to get a new faster and larger-capacity disk for
the price of his old one.
Warranty / Guarantee : If the customer plans to repair, he will need to find out whether
the manufacturer is going to guarantee their repair work, and if so, for how long. He
should compare that against what the warranty would be on a replacement part.

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