LaCie external drive still dead after 2 returns

[stuppy]

Hi Scan people.

2 weeks before Xmas my Lacie Ext 500gb HDD died. I sent it away to Lacie, two weeks later it came back supposedly repaired. It wasn't. So I sent it back again after waiting 3 weeks for soemone to pick it up. Four weeks further on , today - I get the drive back again, supposedly repaired. And guess what, dead.

This has been going on for over 2 months now. And I don't care whether the warranty is with Lacie or not. I bought the drive from YOU therefore it is your problem to sort it.

Tomorrow I will be calling yourselves to demand a new 500GB external drive with FW800 - that is not a Lacie drive. I think this farce has gone on quite enough now. I have spent the last 2 months ringing every other day because you guys for some reason have a phobia of following through with your promises to ring me back or email me to let me know what is going on.

I think it would be wise of you just to accept the fact that this drive is not going to get repaired and issue me with a new drive as stated above.

I will be in contact via telephone tomorrow.

Very unhappy customer.

[Wiczy]

Are you sure the drive is dead? Have you tried it on a different machine? I am wondering if maybe the fault is with the motherboards controller or drivers?

[stuppy]

Tried it on 2 Macs and a PC all same problem.

This time one drive powers up but the other doesn't.

[Wiczy]

Hmmm, it certainly sounds like a problem with the drive now and I can only imagine how annoyed you are. I hope you get this resolved quickly

Although it's not Scan who at fault here I am sure they will get things sorted for you.

[Hicks12]

scan are normally great with there customer support, i believe your warranty is with them for 12months and inturn they contact the manufacturer so yes this is the best option for you.

[slypie]

Stuppy, sounds like your having a nightmare but you should send the drive back to Scan as it's their responsibility to get it sorted not the manufactures in the first 12 months. I'm sure Scan will sort this for you.

[rabbid]

It is their responsibility in the first 12months but can often be quicker to deal direct. Unfortunately this hasnt been the case for stuppy and he shows that Lacie have been slow and either not performing a decent standard of repair or the packaging back to the customer is insufficient and the drive is being damaged on its way back.

Just wondered what power supply it uses? If the one you have is faulty, or if it gets changed each time you send it back or what? On the offchance its spiking the drive? stuppy when you say died can you describe in more detail what happened prior to it failing and any symptoms?

I don't know if Scan are able to exchange a drive for another make? How old was it when you sent it back for the first repair? But I hope they and you can come to a mutually acceptable solution as Lacie seem to have let you down.

[slypie]

it does seem strange they would send it back faulty twice. Maybe Rabbid has a good point. Have you tried a different lead and/or power point?

I would always send it back to the retailer for the simple fact then they have a history of the item and puts you in a better position with cases like this because as far as Scan is concerned they have sold an item that works as they don't know the customer has had problems with it so they are in the dark.

[stuppy]

Hi Guys,

Well I called Scan today and told them that I was very annoyed at what has been going on. I explained to the guy what had happened, he looked at the case notes - I told him that I no longer want the drive repaired, just said I want a new FW800 500GB drive from a different manufacturer. First he said they wouldn't do that since I am out of the 28 days exchange policy (I bought the drive in Feb 07). He then went a spoke to his manager and he came back and siad they are just gonna do a full refund.

RE: Power supply. I thought about this. But the first time they sent it back nothing spun up when I powered it up, the second time, I hear one of the drives powering up but the second drive doesn't power up.

Nonetheless I have a resolution I am satisfied with and I can get myself a new drive from a more reliable company.

I know it wasn't Scan's fault for the best part, but what annoyed me was how they didn't keep me up to date, regardless of whether they had anything to tell me or not.

Anyway thanks to Scan for eventually sorting something out (providing they don't drag their feet on the refund process )

Edit: All returns arrangements were made through Scan. I dealt only with them - never contacted LaCie directly.

[slypie]

Hi Guys,

Well I called Scan today and told them that I was very annoyed at what has been going on. I explained to the guy what had happened, he looked at the case notes - I told him that I no longer want the drive repaired, just said I want a new FW800 500GB drive from a different manufacturer. First he said they wouldn't do that since I am out of the 28 days exchange policy (I bought the drive in Feb 07). He then went a spoke to his manager and he came back and siad they are just gonna do a full refund.

RE: Power supply. I thought about this. But the first time they sent it back nothing spun up when I powered it up, the second time, I hear one of the drives powering up but the second drive doesn't power up.

Nonetheless I have a resolution I am satisfied with and I can get myself a new drive from a more reliable company.

I know it wasn't Scan's fault for the best part, but what annoyed me was how they didn't keep me up to date, regardless of whether they had anything to tell me or not.

Anyway thanks to Scan for eventually sorting something out (providing they don't drag their feet on the refund process )

Edit: All returns arrangements were made through Scan. I dealt only with them - never contacted LaCie directly.

Glad it got sorted mate

[rabbid]

"Edit: All returns arrangements were made through Scan. I dealt only with them - never contacted LaCie directly"

Thanks for pointing that out, I will retract blaming Lacie directly for the delays from my above post!
It's understandable, although still frustrating, that it takes longer you-scan-lacie-scan-you.

Anyway you got a reasonable and fair outcome in the end even if it took a bit of pestering.

[stuppy]

I arranged the returns through Scan but the drive was directly sent to and from Lacie. Apparently the journey from the UK to France took longer than normal

Anyway yeah - I am happy with result. Has put me off LaCie products fullstop though. Been a proper ballache. Lost a lot of data when the drives died and then a 2 month struggle to get it sorted. Will be glad when my refund comes through so I can order a new drive and get back to normal.

[Wiczy]

Good to hear

[rabbid]

Well, good to hear its finally sorted, bad to hear the failure/data loss

I was almost tempted by an external Lacie 1GB for 138£ inc VAT
But as far as I can tell its 2x500GB back to back in a twin housing with no fan....

Perhaps this has something to do with the failure, I havent searched at all for similar experiences, have you noted any? I am a bit suspicious of the longevity with any drive caddy without a decent fan yet finding one is so hard! Scan have a couple but vastly outnumbered. I guess if its casual use passive is fine but if you use it hard then you need something cooled a bit better. Did you notice any overheating or read/write problems/slowdowns before it failed?

[Wiczy]

Yes, sorry, I wasn't intending to make light of the situation. Just glad to hear you have a resolution in sight

I haven't seen anything that rings a bell i'm afraid.