Does "recertified" = CRAP?

[imported_manchild]

I had a Western Digital hard drive die on me under warranty so I filled out an RMA and they sent me a new drive. It looks just like my old drive, all the model & part numbers are the same, I think, but on the sticker on the drive it says "Recertified".

Is that the same as Refurbished? Is it worth even using it? Will it be more likely to fail?

If any of that is the case, did I get ripped off? Is it normal to get a refurb for an RMA?

 

[Steve]

It definitely sounds to me like a refurb. As for whether you got ripped of or not, check the fine print - most likely the policy is to replace with equivalent drive model, regardless of new or used.

 

[Elcs]

If it is refurbished, it has to work unless QC let it through.

Id check warranties and pieces of paper relating to this situation. Im not sure on warranty policies if you are sent a refurb.

Perhaps email Western Digital to find their response? An official response would go down nicely.

 

[imported_manchild]

Okay, so maybe not ripped off but is it even worth it to send the drive in for a warrany replacement if the new drive is inferior to the original? What's point in paying the postage for a drive that I shouldn't even use? But then again, are refurbs really that bad?

 

[Paulson]

I have a "refurbished" western digital 60 gig that's been working forever...

At least 3 years...

 

[JBT]

Pretty sure most of the time you are going to get a refurb drive when you RMA yours. They get drives and then fix them. It shouldn't be inferior to what you had before It should be equal to or better. You had a drive that died. You used it, so they send you a used drive that is working or that they fixed. the drive they sent you should be fine.

 

[erikistired]

i dunno, at least with a refurb drive they fixed whatever problem it had, so hopefully it won't have any other problems! with a new drive it might have a problem that'll cause it to crash right? the glass is half full!

 

[imported_Bunter]

Refurbs, as long as the manufacturer did the work (as is the case with RMA replacements) are fine. Look at it this way - when you buy a new product, it is very unlikely that any testing was done on that particular unit. It is usually one out of x number that are randomly pulled and tested. With a refurb, somebody has actually looked at it, replaced something, and then retested it to be sure they fixed the original problem.

My lone exception is with Panasonic cordless phones. Recent experience is neither the new ones or the refurb replacements work! Ouch.

 

[Thoreau]

Originally posted by: manchild
Okay, so maybe not ripped off but is it even worth it to send the drive in for a warrany replacement if the new drive is inferior to the original? What's point in paying the postage for a drive that I shouldn't even use? But then again, are refurbs really that bad?

I wouldn't say that a working drive is inferior to a non-working drive. =)

 

[imported_manchild]

Right, a drive that spins is obviously better than one that no longer spins but my main concern here is reliability. I lost valuable data because of that last failure and I want to know if I'm better off using this refurbed drive or a new, retail drive. According to Bunter & fisher, a refurb drive should be expected to be more reliable than a retail drive. If this was true then we'd all be searching for the freshest refurbs to use instead of OEM or retail drives.

I will now be doing a lot more backups more often and saved in more locations for redundancy but I still don't know about this replacement drive. If it means anything, one of the guys I talked to at a data recovery place about my situation said that if they send me back a refurn to just throw it in the trash right away.

 

[Tom]

I have my doubts that "refurbs" are drives that have been "fixed". And even more so with "recertified".

I expect they are returns that have been tested in some way and found not to have a problem, at least as far as they tested them.

 

[sharkeeper]

Look closely and you will see that there is the original sticker UNDER the one that says recertified.

These are fine for replacement use. I would NEVER give one to a client as new, however.

Cheers!

 

[imported_manchild]

Here's the response from Wesstern Digital about my refurbed replacement and the warranty:

In an effort to replace your drive as soon as possible, we replace your defective drive with a refurbished drive. This is much faster than repairing your defective drive and returning it back to you. Our refurbished drives are rigorously tested and verified to function as well as our new drives.

I apologize for the confusion. In an Advance RMA, the replacement drives are shipped with a minimum 90-day warranty.

The warranty of your replacement drive will be updated to reflect the expiration date of your failed drive after we have received your defective product. For example, if your defective drive?s warranty expires on February 21, 2007 and the replacement drive was shipped to you on August 1, 2006 the current warranty on the replacement drive will be 90 days from August 1, 2006 until we receive your defective product. Once we received your defective drive, the warranty on your replacement drive is updated to February 21, 2007

If the remaining warranty of your defective drive is less than 90 days, the warranty of your replacement drive is 90 days from the date the drive was shipped to you.

 

[Dave n Daytona Beach]

Originally posted by: manchild
Right, a drive that spins is obviously better than one that no longer spins but my main concern here is reliability. I lost valuable data because of that last failure and I want to know if I'm better off using this refurbed drive or a new, retail drive. According to Bunter & fisher, a refurb drive should be expected to be more reliable than a retail drive. If this was true then we'd all be searching for the freshest refurbs to use instead of OEM or retail drives.

I will now be doing a lot more backups more often and saved in more locations for redundancy but I still don't know about this replacement drive. If it means anything, one of the guys I talked to at a data recovery place about my situation said that if they send me back a refurn to just throw it in the trash right away.

TextText

I often buy a "referb" if the price is right and over the years this has worked well for me.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Tom
I have my doubts that "refurbs" are drives that have been "fixed". And even more so with "recertified".

I expect they are returns that have been tested in some way and found not to have a problem, at least as far as they tested them.

Retail stores likely do this with things, like Best Buy's "open box" items, and possibly Newegg's refurbed lines. A hard drive that doesn't spin, or which has lots of bad sectors can't just be labeled "recertified" and sent on its way. They've got the manufacturing facilities, so I'd imagine they also have equipment that can allow for repairs of damaged drives.

The warranty of your replacement drive will be updated to reflect the expiration date of your failed drive after we have received your defective product. For example, if your defective drive?s warranty expires on February 21, 2007 and the replacement drive was shipped to you on August 1, 2006 the current warranty on the replacement drive will be 90 days from August 1, 2006 until we receive your defective product. Once we received your defective drive, the warranty on your replacement drive is updated to February 21, 2007

If the remaining warranty of your defective drive is less than 90 days, the warranty of your replacement drive is 90 days from the date the drive was shipped to you.

So either way, at least on the warranty, you come out as good as, or better than when you started. You get at least the duration of the original warranty, if not more.
And I've also gotten refurbed drives from a few manufacturers - Western Digital and Maxtor both will do this, as will a few others that I've forgotten. I haven't found anything thus far that indicates that refurbed drives fail more easily.