WD Warranty Claim?

Quick question for you guys...

I have a WD MyPassport 320GB portable HDD (WDBAAA3200ABK-00) that I bought sometime during late 2009(?). A few months ago I let my cousin borrow it to do a backup and when I got it back, the mini-USB plug that goes into th drive was bent in such a way that I have to keep pressure on it to bend it back the other way so that computers can detect the drive; if I take off said pressure, the drive looses power and disconnects.

I don't have any of the original packaging with me now, except for the drive and the connecting USB cable. Would it still be possible to send the drive back to WD to fix it/get a replacement under warranty, even though it's nearly two years old?

 

First step would be to go here and do a warranty check to see if you're still covered.

 

Thanks! Just checked it, and the warranty expires Nov. 29, 2011, so there's some good news. I was thinking that portable HDDs came with a one year warranty, but wasn't too sure.

 

... and then start your RMA process here.

 

I would be curious if they cover it, or deny it... Let us know.

 

I looked for the receipt and couldn't find it, so I wasn't able to file a claim. Oh well, but I never used the WD drive that much anyway.

 

Ahh bummer, I had an RMA for an older 36gb raptor which went smoothly. Only for the reason I bought it from newegg and they have all invoices still online.

 

I got mine from Walmart sometime in 2009. I simply lost to receipt is all.

Great life lesson for you guys; keep your papers

 

You don't need a receipt, as long as its still under warranty. My WD 1TB portable drive stopped working on friday (bought from Best Buy about 6 months ago). Sent in a RMA request later that day and received my new drive this morning.

 

Yup, what Lazard sad. I had an external conk out on me (I guess from lack of use; it got nestled up in a drawer and was forgotten). Anyway, it was bought about a year ago, and I of course didn't keep the receipt. I just did the RMA service and I actually got an upgrade since they didn't make the model anymore.

 

that sounds like user damage not a defect in the product so warrant prob wouldn't cover it anyway.

 

And to me it sounds like a lousy defective USB port on a WD drive. That isn't new; the Western Digital forums are full of complaints of USB sockets coming loose, falling apart due to poor solder, and just plain breaking.

It's WD's responsibility to make a determination. I think the OP is in for a "free" upgrade, at worst. The downside is that he might get one of their newer MyBook enclosures, some of which perform silent, mandatory hardware encryption of disk contents.

I wouldn't trust an unknown third party with my data, so I'd probably just eat the cost of the broken enclosure & put it in a new enclosure of my own choosing. But that's just me.

 

Did you read the post? Worked fine for almost 2 years. "A few months ago I let my cousin borrow it to do a backup and when I got it back, the mini-USB plug that goes into th drive was bent in such a way that I have to keep pressure on it to bend it back the other way so that computers can detect the drive; if I take off said pressure, the drive looses power and disconnects.
" He's not even talking about the port. Sounds like someone may have bent the PLUG on the cable.

 

doesn't matter if it's user damaged or not, WD still gonna replace it with a new one.