The software and firmware for Joe’s Western Digital portable hard drive needed updating. At least, that’s what it kept telling him. What Western Digital failed to explain to Joe was that they needed updating so that software and firmware update could wreck the hard drive. Well, that probably wasn’t the company’s original goal, but it was the end result. Now Joe doesn’t have a working hard drive, and the company isn’t about to replace it…even when they’re the ones who bricked it. [More]
western digital
Best Buy Sells Box With Wrong Hard Drive, Shrugs
By 1.24.10
Tony writes that he purchased a Western Digital hard drive from Best Buy this weekend, but not the hard drive he had thought. When he opened the box, he discovered that it contained a different hard drive entirely–not quite a Box of Crap, but still not what he had paid for. But Best Buy stood firm, admitting there was nothing they could do. [More]
Best Buy Sells 9-Year-Old Discontinued Hard Drive As Brand New Western Digital, Refuses Refund
By 4.11.09
Jon spent $250 on a Western Digital VelociRaptor but what he received from Best Buy was a Quantum Fireball, a discontinued hard drive that hasn’t been sold for nine years. Best Buy, of course, took no responsibility for the odd swap, and said that Western Digital must have accidentally sold a competitor’s discontinued drive. Western Digital, of course, said that a Best Buy employee stole Jon’s hard drive. We’ve seen this happen before with Best Buy, and Jon has made it clear that he knows how to bite back…
Morning Deals
By 9.17.08
- MagicJack: $39.95 for VoIp first year, $19.95 a year after that
- Amazon: Health & Grooming Products Manager’s Specials
- Kashi: Free cookie
Highlights From Buxr
- Beach Camera: Sandisk 8 GB Ultra II SDHC HD Memory Card for $19.99 after $20 rebate w/ Free shipping
- Ralph Lauren: 30% Off No minimum Coupon Code RLFA2008
- goHardDrive.com: Western Digital 1TB 7200RPM Hard Drive for $128.95 w/ Free shipping after Coupon Code 10WD10EACS
Highlights From Dealnews
- Amazon.com: 80 Duracell Ultra AA Alkaline Batteries for $30 + free shipping
- Graveyard Mall: Maxim 32-Piece Wooden Train Set for $10 + $6 s&h
- Buy.com: Midland 26-Mile GMRS 2-Way Radios for $45 + free shipping
Highlights From Dealhack
Western Digital HD Ships With Super Secret Asian Lady Porn!
By 6.25.08
A reader wrote in to tell us that the Western Digital hard drive he recently bought new from Best Buy had hidden dirty pics buried on it. He was running a program to retrieve some accidentally deleted images when he discovered the secret files. Read his story below. [Update: our tipster has written back in to clarify that the HD was not necessarily “brand new.”]
By 12.6.07
../..//2007/12/06/meet-the-1-tb-network-connected/
Meet the 1 TB network-connected hard drive that is prohibited from sharing media files due to “unverifiable media license authentication.” [BoingBoing]
Does Anyone At Dell Handle Busted Hard Drives?
By 9.23.07
Nobody at Dell can help Kevin return two broken hard drives. Kevin’s Seagate 320GB FreeAgent drive refuses to power on, and his 160GB Western Digital won’t boot. Kevin sent Dell a note after wrangling with eleven CSRs over five hours:
I called tonight due to 2 harddrives I purchased 26 days ago. Both drives have completely failed. One is knocking and the other won’t power on at all. I called Dell and have been transferred to 11 people and 3 different calls:
