WD SN640 7.68TB U.2 $250 + shipping
- Thread starter jason879
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But would this only be for those that import for resale or would it also apply to 'import for use'?
No, also 'import for use'
...or if you have reasonable cause to believe it is (i.e. you *should* know, but can be difficult to prove)
Dang...so if I check warranty status with HP and register (if required) and they accept the registration and warranty checker says its under warranty...then they later determine it to be a fake (after they told you its legit) they will keep it? That's messed up! I wonder if their warranty checker has some sort of tiny print disclaimer that they assume no responsibility for the accuracy of their application? One of those, "if there's ever a problem or issue, you as the customer accept that its all your fault."
We had a warranty return once on a non-tech item that turned out to be fake and they gave it back. They were very apologetic that we'd gotten a fake, but they still gave it back.
I think most countries are like that. The key is if you made a "good faith" purchase. I haven't lived in the EU in a while. But, it used to be that even if you got something at a "too good to be true" price, so long as the seller portrayed it as legit, then it wasn't going to come back on you as the consumer if the things you bought were for personal use. Consumers only seemed to get in trouble back then if they bought a bunch of something for resale, which is different of course.
As small Aliexpress buyer you are unlikely to be hit with this. "Good Faith" should be your argument in this case.
When I spoke to Intel about this potential scenario when I got my fake cards that had valid serials, they told me that if I had sent in a card under warranty, their policy is to keep the card and they wouldn't return it. I've also read a few personal experiences from others online that had similar stories when trying to get warranty service on an item that had a valid serial number but was in fact fake. I know all hard drive manufacturers specifically say this now in their return literature. I'm sure it's still ymmv, but with all the 'customer is always at fault' clauses, there's little incentive for a company to warranty a fake other than to use it as a 'coupon' towards purchase of a genuine item.
The main thing in the US that I've seen hammer the consumer on is the lack of sales/use tax paid. So after a few years, they can come back, audit an individual and slam with penalties and interest that will make whatever deal it was 2x as expensive as just buying full US retail. Usually it's businesses that are targeted, but with better systems in place for checking this stuff, I could see individuals also getting hit regularly.
It depends on if aliexpress is deemed a known counterfeiter or not. If so, you can't buy something in 'good faith' since it's like buying booze in the US during prohibition--it was all wrong.
You will be hard pressed to convince court of that. Aliexpress is major chinese market platform.
Not a lawyer (and I assume you're not one either), so I'd leave that to the experts. The platform is commonly known for fakes and counterfeits as is most stuff coming 'direct from china' that is branded and new.
Do you mean eBay or aliexpress?
For hardware eBay is generaly where the fakes are sold, as they are far less strict/secure than aliexpress about such.
WD is vanishingly unlikely to keep your drive if you send it in to them for service and it turns out to be a fake. Of course they would deny any warranty service and they might even require you to pay for return postage, but I can't see why they'd want the potential bad press/liability for arbitrarily taking someone else's property, especially for a home user who would be sending one or two drives to them. And yes, they'd be liable for taking your property, even in the US, and even with a mandatory arbitration clause (which I could not find in WD's warranty). They could argue that your property was worthless if it was counterfeit, but that would involve paying lawyers, which again, I doubt they would want to do for a single drive.
On the issue of these specific drives, $250 for supposedly "new" does seem too good to be true. I wouldn't be surprised to see those sorts of prices for used drives that were being decommissioned from chia mining farms or something. Caveat emptor and all that.
On the issue of these specific drives, $250 for supposedly "new" does seem too good to be true. I wouldn't be surprised to see those sorts of prices for used drives that were being decommissioned from chia mining farms or something. Caveat emptor and all that.
I not lawyer. But ive been in courthouse and one time even represented myself in case.
Its the judge who interprets the laws and he has to at least in my country take into consideration my POV as and defenedant or private prosecutor. Sure it would be the prosecutors job to argue differently.
The thread sort of got sidetracked on this issue of whether WD could keep your drive if you sent it in for warranty service (they can't) and we're sort of ignoring the related and in my opinion more important point which is that WD absolutely could and probably(?) would deny warranty service on drives that were manufactured to be sold in China if I/you/we attempted to get warranty service outside of the region they were sold in. Or for any number of other reasons. WD's warranty applies to 1) the original purchaser 2) who buys from an authorized reseller. In even a non-shady hypothetical explanation for 7.68T enterprise being legitimately sold for $250 (glut of used drives from decommissioned servers/chia farms) you'd be out of luck from a warranty standpoint since you were not the original purchaser.
Part of me is definitely curious to know if these drives are what they say they are or if they're just potato SSDs stuffed inside a WD casing (or worse). I'm not curious enough to spend my money to find out though.
Part of me is definitely curious to know if these drives are what they say they are or if they're just potato SSDs stuffed inside a WD casing (or worse). I'm not curious enough to spend my money to find out though.
Should be a bit of a uphill battle for the prosecuting side.
Since there is not really anything suspicious about the listing by itself.
And on a platform that is not among the most used ones to sell fakes when it comes to hardware.
Also not shipped out of the most common countries for fakes to be shipped out of.
Dont see much helping the prosecuting side towards that you should have suspected anything.
Not a extreme discount vs listings on other platforms, pretty much 35$ diffrence vs ebay US listing after fees.
Aliexpress is very chill on "new" also, a refurbed drive repacked can be sold as new.
If drive was not shipping out of China nobody would bat an eye tho, the joys of everyday racism vs sticking to known facts.
Probably the main reason why the vast majority of fakes within hardware is sold out of US on western platform.
Along with a far better market reach towards the part of the world with a high disposable income, makes no financial sense to sell on the asian platforms if looking to offload quantity and have a high profit.
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Tbh if you bought I wouldn’t expect WD to honor a warranty.
In that respect I would just pop the cover off the drive and see if it’s a fake. There’s no money in making these drives look and perform like the real thing. It should be fairly obvious when you open the drive up if you got the real thing or a fake.
In that respect I would just pop the cover off the drive and see if it’s a fake. There’s no money in making these drives look and perform like the real thing. It should be fairly obvious when you open the drive up if you got the real thing or a fake.
aliexpress, but both are really bad. Except when I spoke to someone from the Netherlands recently they told me how their ebay is a lot different than the US and there isn't the fake problem as it would put them in legal hot water (that is enforceable unlike the US).
One way to find out about fakes--send them some and see what happens. In general, WD seems to be pretty inconsistent on warranty claims. I know I've had to provide all sorts of proof for a 2TB HGST product while a newer doa 8TB drives were done in a heartbeat. And there's the various reports of easystore shucks either being denied or honored inside/outside of an enclosure.
Bottom line is if the warranty matters, you need to make sure you have your ducks in a row, and that starts with a legit product.
I wouldn't call it sidetracked as it's directly related to the 'deal' at hand here. Not having a drive and having paid for it would be an issue for most, at least it would for me. And I've read enough experiences online that people have had with fakes to not even go there. Ymmv.
'If it seems to good to be true, it is' applies to any country, any where, any time. Don't read facts with colored glasses.
I'm basically saying I wouldn't expect any warranty protection at all from these drives. Best case they're either (1) out of region, (2) used, or (3) both. Any of those would disqualify you from warranty protection in which case why would you send them back to WD in the first place? Nobody really bats an eye on the forums if someone wants to roll the dice on used enterprise gear with no expectation of warranty. That's the deal: you're paying (often A LOT) less than these things cost new, but you're on your own for support and if the gear breaks.
I wholeheartedly agree that one should NOT expect to get the same support/warranty on these drives as you would if you bought these drives new from a "legitimate" retailer in your region. OTOH, if someone is ok with the bargain of used/grey market gear at good prices but you get no support or warranty, then that person should fire away and report back here for our edification/enjoyment.