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Fujitsu Hard Drive failure Lawsuit---MOD SPONSORED THREAD POST ALL RESPONSES HERE.

D

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Attention Consumers Worldwide:

Thousands that have Fujitsu Hard Drives in your Personal Computers may have already experienced a premature failure. Potentially millions more may fail and may not know they have the flawed drive in their machine.

First I would like to thank The PC Association based in England for leading the charge in the investigation in this awful situation as they put it of a worldwide consumer abuse and cover up by a huge corporation. Also The Register, a Website Publication based in England for their continued coverage of this situation. Thanks also go to Anandtech.com in the U.S. for giving me the permission to post this as the U.S. is now more involved. I as well as many others have been personally affected by this and have one of these dead drives, it was in my wife?s PC less than 3 months when it failed leaving no access to the data at all.

Below is the website of a Law firm in the United States leading up a class action lawsuit against Fujitsu. Check your hard drive for this MPG series. If you have experienced a failure, fill out the form. If your drive is still working, get a different brand drive and transfer the data immediately before it is too late.


Fujitsu Corporation Of America Class Action Lawsuit:

http://www.bigclassaction.com/class_action/complaint_form_fujitsu.html

Scott R. Shepherd
Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLC
35 East State Street
Media, PA 19063
610/891-9880
610/891-9883 fax
www.classactioncounsel.com


Fujitsu admits 4.9 million (potentially) defective HDDs
By Keith Warburton, PC Association
Posted: 05/11/2002 at 09:16 GMT


http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/63/27926.html



Ouch! Fujitsu to replace 300,000 faulty HDDs
By Drew Cullen
Posted: 13/09/2002 at 10:25 GMT

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/27109.html



Bang! PC Association slams Fujitsu HDDs
By Drew Cullen
Posted: 16/09/2002 at 14:03 GMT

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/27136.html



Wallop! Fujitsu Europe fudges HDD recall
By John Leyden
Posted: 16/09/2002 at 20:02 GMT

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/27143.html

Nelson did not want to tell us which markets the affected HDDs have ended up. From our bulging email inbox we are now assuming that this is a worldwide issue.


Great Fujitsu hard drive fiasco rumbles on
By John Leyden
Posted: 24/09/2002 at 11:31 GMT


http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/51/27268.html


Posted by David McOwen
11/18/2002
 
hmm..wasn't it fujitsu that bought out ibm's hdd business? (note: not implying that these drives are based on ibm tech...i'm almost sure they;re not as the deal wasn't long enough ago for the tech to be implemented into drives...just think its kinda funny)
 
^ Bump

I normally don't bump but this is important.

Anyone that has has a Fujitsu drive failure or you are currently running one of these drives should get in on this lawsuit.
 
I posted about the failures weeks ago

and the mod(s) thought theyd get sh!tz n giggles by locking it.......
 
Originally posted by: nemo160
hmm..wasn't it fujitsu that bought out ibm's hdd business? (note: not implying that these drives are based on ibm tech...i'm almost sure they;re not as the deal wasn't long enough ago for the tech to be implemented into drives...just think its kinda funny)
Click to expand...

It's Hitachi, and IBM is not selling its harddisk business. They are forming a joint venture; Hitachi, as I recall, however, will have control of it.
 
ever since ibm's 7something gxp's...i always hated ibm..forever now....EVERYONE who had their hdd failed.....they should also get a classaction
 
Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
ever since ibm's 7something gxp's...i always hated ibm..forever now....EVERYONE who had their hdd failed.....they should also get a classaction
Click to expand...

I had one of those bad IBM drives but IBM sent a replacement immediately. That is not the case with this Fujitsu situation. I as well as Thousands of people worldwide have a dead drive sitting here.
 
The problem wasn't because of Fujitsu, it was because they used Cirrus Logic controllers on their hard drives. A large batch of them went bad, and it seems that fujitsu is pointing fingers at Cirrus Logic and Cirrus Logic is saying it's not their problem.
 
Originally posted by: dude
The problem wasn't because of Fujitsu, it was because they used <STRONG>Cirrus Logic controllers</STRONG> on their hard drives. A large batch of them went bad, and it seems that fujitsu is pointing fingers at Cirrus Logic and Cirrus Logic is saying it's not their problem.
Click to expand...

It should be both of those Companies problem and not the Consumer left holding the perverbial bag.
Fujitsu has launched a suit against Cirrus Logic in California but that does nothing to help people with dead drives now.
 
Whoa whoa whoa, they made a faulty HD, probably not on purpose, so you're going to sue them??? Thats low. I dont think they would have a problem with replacing the HD free of cost. C'mon, its a HD.
 
Yeap, but we are talking about 500.000 HDDs worldwide. So they need to blame in someone before they start replacing them.

Eltano
 
Originally posted by: Eltano1
Yeap, but we are talking about 500.000 HDDs worldwide. So they need to blame in someone before they start replacing them. Eltano
Click to expand...


500.000? Exactly 500 to the 3rd decimal place

or are you in europe or something where periods indicate thousands.. hehe
 
Originally posted by: dude
The problem wasn't because of Fujitsu, it was because they used <STRONG>Cirrus Logic controllers</STRONG> on their hard drives. A large batch of them went bad, and it seems that fujitsu is pointing fingers at Cirrus Logic and Cirrus Logic is saying it's not their problem.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
ever since ibm's 7something gxp's...i always hated ibm..forever now....EVERYONE who had their hdd failed.....they should also get a classaction
Click to expand...

I had one of those bad IBM drives but IBM sent a replacement immediately. That is not the case with this Fujitsu situation. I as well as Thousands of people worldwide have a dead drive sitting here.
Click to expand...

Update 1-19-2003:

I just received word that I may be named as the "representative plaintiff" who would represent all those who bought the hard drive as a "stand alone" drive. There already is representative plaintiff who bought as part of assembled systems through computer makers such as HP Computers that used these defective Fujitsu drives.

 
*phew* I have a Fujitsu in a Packard Bell from 1998, which I actually just got working again, and luckily, I don't care if it dies, just like a format anyways...I have nothing there of importance, but, glad to see that if it DOES die, I get a replacement 🙂 (assuming it is covered from that year of production, I haven't read the info about the lawsuit, but I will if I am affected 🙂)
 
Originally posted by: DanFungus
*phew* I have a Fujitsu in a Packard Bell from 1998, which I actually just got working again, and luckily, I don't care if it dies, just like a format anyways...I have nothing there of importance, but, glad to see that if it DOES die, I get a replacement 🙂 (assuming it is covered from that year of production, I haven't read the info about the lawsuit, but I will if I am affected 🙂)
Click to expand...

No, it is not likely that the drive from 1998 would ever be covered. The problem stems from the MPG series of drives that have the Cirrus Logic chips in them. I'm not sure of the exact year of the first MPG series but I suspect somewhere around 2000 since that is when the problems forst started appearing.
 
I have a 40gb Fujitsu drive sitting here, has been dead since April last year. It was made Feb 2001. After hearing about these defective drives , I contacted Fujitsu in September (jeez was it that long ago) about the articles on The Register.

This is the email I sent to Fujitsu regarding this issue.

I purchased a fujitsu-Siemens Personal Computer off my friend when she moved to America a couple of months ago, as she couldn't take the machine with her.

However, last week, the 40gb Hard Drive has failed. The computer just suddenly locked up, and upon restarting, there was no signs of the Hard Drive listed in BIOS. I tried replacing the cable, as well as trying it in another computer, with the same results. While I had the hard drive out of the machine, I had the opportunity to hear (or rather, not hear) the drive. There was no spinning up, no noises at all coming from it.

I contacted your Customer Support via telephone, and the person I spoke to said that I would have to contact the reseller of the computer system. Unfortunately, my friend did not purchase an extended warranty, and the machine is over a year old (it was purchased March 2001), and also because I was not the person who bought the machine.

Of course, I was most dissatisfied with this level of service, or rather lack of. I have also unfortunately had a Seagate hard drive go down in another machine that I administrate, and replacing that was extremely easy. Five minutes on the Seagate website, and I had an RMA number and an address to send the drive to, and a 3yr warranty with the drive. This is how it should be.

Yeterday, I came across the following article on The Register.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/27136.html

This, as well as the two "Related stories" listed at the bottom describe the problem with the Hard Drive in question. It was manufactured in February 2001, so therefore falls into this time scale.

I would appreciate it greatly if you could contact me as soon as possible with details of where to send this defective drive to get a replacement. If not, then I shall personally take the drive into your Offices at Bracknell, Berkshire, UK, which I drive past every day on my way to work, to make a formal complaint, as well as contacting many internet sites, such as The Register.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon with details on where to send this defective drive.

Yours

Garry Mitchell
Click to expand...

The reply to that email I recieved the next day, is as follows:

Dear Garry,

I enclose below the procedure explaining about our policy concerning all fujitsu Hard Drives.


(See attached file: Customer Letter (Support).doc)








Dear Customer,

Thank you for your enquiry. You may have read recent press articles about a recall of fujitsu desktop hard disk drives. All the articles we have seen to date are inaccurate, fujitsu has made no such announcement, and there is no recall of these or any other disk drives from fujitsu.

If you have a drive that has failed and wish to return it then the following guideline should help you. Should you have any further concerns or enquiries then please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Warranty on Hard Disk products is solely provided to the direct customer of fujitsu Europe Ltd. Therefore the following rules apply.

If you have purchased your Hard Disk product from a PC vendor, either directly from the manufacturer or a retailer, your warranty is supported by this supplier. Typically this is for 12 months, however you may have purchased extended warranty, in which case, please return to your place of purchase for warranty support.

If you have purchased your Hard Disk product from a fujitsu approved dealer or distributor, your warranty will be provided by that company. If however, they have ceased trading, your warranty may be supported by fujitsu Europe Ltd directly. A copy of proof of purchase to our Warranty Service department would be required before your Warranty condition is validated.

We have experienced many problems with customers being sold defective product from Computer Fairs, and we do not approve this sales channel for our products. We do accept however that some legitimate suppliers sometimes chose to sell products in this way, in which case you should contact your supplier for warranty issues. fujitsu Europe Ltd does not accept any direct claims for warranty for products purchased via this supply route

Should you feel you still have a valid Warranty claim based our Warranty Policy information provided above, please send a fax to Warranty Request on 020 86064532 providing the following information in both instances :

Drive Model Number:
Drive Part Number:
Drive Serial Number:
Date of Manufacture
Copy of Proof of Purchase
Explanatory letter of place, conditions of purchase and nature of fault

Assuring you of our best attention.


Yours faithfully


Customer Services


On behalf of fujitsu Europe Ltd
Click to expand...


I will be willing to follow this up from this side of the Pond, if needed. I am no longer in the same town as their HQ, however it's only an hour's drive away, so if needed I could go there.


Garry Mitchell
(Confused)
 
The papers lodged with the court in California, in the $50 million action between Cirrus Logic and Fujitsu (of Japan), confirm what observers had already guessed, that ? contrary to the blas&eacute; denials of any notable problems - there is indeed an officially acknowledged problem with the MPG3xxx series of drives. And Fujitsu knew the massive scale and scope of the problem at least 18 months ago.

I have an MPG3102AT Drive. Looks like I am a plaintiff in this case as well.
 
"We have experienced many problems with customers being sold defective product from Computer Fairs, and we do not approve this sales channel for our products. We do accept however that some legitimate suppliers sometimes chose to sell products in this way, in which case you should contact your supplier for warranty issues. fujitsu Europe Ltd does not accept any direct claims for warranty for products purchased via this supply route."

Gary,

I too got a similar worded E-mail, what a load crap. No way should anyone that purchased a Product be subjected to such hoopla and nonsense. They try to make it sound like the world was knowingly selling defective drives and it's your fault for buying the drives from wherever you bought them from.
rolleye.gif
:|

Send me what you wrote here in an E-mail Gary and I will forward it to the Lawyer here in the U.S. It's great to have a coordinated effort around the World. They have screwed the World and the World is fighting back 🙂
 
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