I have had a Seagate 8.4 gig hard disc failure recently and it was replaced under warranty. The technician (who installed it in the beginning )said that Seagate drives are one of the best and shouldn't fail.He insinuated that I must have done something physical to it to make it fail which was an insult to me.I told him that after not turning it on for 3 weeks it wouldn't boot up properly then not at all.It didn't sound like a virus as it was working well before.
I just want to know how often hard drives fail when less than 1 year old (without doing physical damage to it!!)
Thanks
David

What is given in the product literature for any kind of equipment is a life expectancy, this number is an average. In order to get this average some pieces must fail 'early' and others later than expected. Just because a device is less than 1 year old is no guarantee that it will continue to function from one day to the next, just as if it is five years old that it will go up in smoke tommorrow.
Now if you didn't turn on the machine for three weeks was it unplugged from the wall and the phone line?

Was the machine moved?

How was it cared for while you had it off?

All could contribute to 'premature' failure, but anything that fails while still under warraty should be replaced and you the owner should not be made to feel like an idiot, that is just being plain ignorant. I would complain to somone about that tech, either customer support, if it was a manufacturer call or his boss if it was a local shop. It is his job to replace these things not to say X is the best and you did something to it!

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mjc
To ME or NOT to ME....

[This message has been edited by mjc (edited 02-03-2001).]

Thanks for the reply. I had unplugged the computer from the wall in case of lightning and the machine hadn't moved, I was away for 3 weeks. This didn't seem to make any difference with him. As it is a 1 man operation and he did replace it and the distributer had changed I won't worry. I was just curious as to how many do fail and as this hadn't happened with a good brand it must have been me and I won't be going back.
David

The key here is "wont be going back". Good call. Any technician who believes the customer is at fault, regardless if they are, is going to lose business over it. I made that mistake a few times. I installed a COM port in a computer once, tested it for operation with a few tools and some loop back's and gave her the box back. She never said what it was for, nor did she want anything else done. Next day she came in a berated me for being an idiot because now all it does is lock up. Well, turns out, her modem and COM port were conflicting in the software setup she had setup. I tried to explain to her the problem but she would have nothing to do with it. Finally, I grew tired and told her to take her business elsewhere. Now I regret that decision. Other people here about such incidents somehow.

As for your drive. Absolutely. I've had drives fail within a week before. Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor, Quantum, Fujitsu....doesn't matter. They are mechanical devices. They will eventualy fail. Some longer some shorter. He should have just tried to get the data off it and get you a new drive no matter what.

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Eric's BIOS Post Codes (http://www.webenet.net/~ntuser)

Not many hard drives fail within a year, and Seagate is one of the best. I have Seagate drives here that still work after 10 years, and someone else abusing them for 6 of those years...I've also seen drives fail after only a few months, and the manufacturer has little to do with it.

I agree that the tech should not insult or otherwise make customers feel like idiots. That's a sure fire way to lose customers, who after all, do pay his salary...Everything I've read on A+ training and tech support stresses that point. Never insult or talk down to the user, who may be barely computer literate, but treating them in that manner creates a very unreliable working relationship.

We have to deal with the same thing here, sometimes it takes patience, but we have to realize that many of these people know little about what they are doing, so we have to keep it simple as possible, try to stay on their level, and try our best not to treat them as idiots. And try not to come across as "know it alls". Usually most of these folks do it very well, and I try to let them know it now and then.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

Thanks for all the replies. My question is well answered!
David

Interesting thing about the revised A+ exams, Pete: they've removed the customer service section! I don't understand this; the customer service part never figured into whether a person passed or failed, it was just a "feedback" thing.

Even if a person is technologically adept, if they are not aware of how to handle clients (including people within their own company), they are not good technicians.