I recently bought a 2TB hard drive on Amazon for around €100. After plugging it in and formatting it normally, I checked the health status using CrystalDiskInfo and discovered that the drive has been in use for 5 years. I expected a brand new drive, so should I go ahead and request a refund?
5 Answers
This is a pretty common scam. Some people buy old hard drives from server farms, repackage them, and sell them as new. If you contact Amazon's live chat and explain the situation, they might send you a replacement and either ask for the old one back with a prepaid return label or let you keep it. If they say to keep it, it's likely they know it was returned before.
You can definitely return it, right? While I'm not familiar with your country's specific return laws, a lot of places allow returns for a couple of weeks for online purchases without needing any specific reason.
You should definitely return it! If you have Amazon Prime, the return process is usually pretty straightforward.
Was the hard drive properly sealed when you got it? Keep in mind that CrystalDiskInfo isn't perfect; sometimes it might misinterpret the SMART data. You might want to look up information on the specific smart parameters for your drive. If the power-on hours and other metrics are high, it sounds like you might have received a used drive. If it was listed as brand new, returning it could be the best move.
It's wise to check the warranty by looking up the serial number with the manufacturer. That could give you more clarity on its status.
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