Am I being petty? (HDD failure on new laptop)

[Arzy]

So I purchased my wife an Acer Aspire S3 about 2 and a half months ago. Transfered everything from her old laptop to the new one and she was using it quite happily until Thursday night. While she was working the HDD started making that dreaded clicking and scratching sound, before she could do anything, BSOD and then dead. She tried to turn it on again and boot failure, no HDD persent.

Long story short, took the laptop back to Incredible, they sent it to Acer. Acer won't replace the laptop itself (which I wasn't expecting) but they will replace the faulty HDD. The problem now comes in that they expect me to pay to get the faulty HDD back so that I can do data recovery on it. My wife backs up about every 2 weeks, but unfortunately there is some stuff she needs from after that backup.

Am I being petty by refusing to pay to get the faulty HDD back? Keeping in mind that this is a brand new laptop still under the manufacturer's warranty. If it wasn't still under warranty I would have taken the HDD out myself and tried to do the recovery myself over the weekend.

I called Acer directly and the response was simply that my wife should simply have kept more regular backups. They need to send the faulty HDD back to the manufacturer in order to recoup the costs of installing a new HDD.

[NomNom]

I don't understand the problem really, if you are paying to get the hard drive back to do data recovery and they are still going to replace it for you after then I think you should be grateful. Normally they will just replace it at the data will be lost.

[Arzy]

No, I don't think I should be grateful for anything. I don't see how a 2 and a bit month old HDD should just pack up, replacing it is a non-negotiable.

I don't see why I need to pay to get the faulty one back though just so that Acer doesn't incur any costs. I'm basically being penalised so their equipment breaking.

[Sharkie 187]

If they offered to send the hdd to you for free, I would have understood. Agree, it's a *** situation

[kilobits]

Just how much is her data worth to her / you ?

I agree, not very nice to have happen, but data has always been the end-user's responsibility.

Backup, backup, backup or ***-en-betaal.

[AstroTurf]

Guess they need the faulty drive or they loose out as they can't get a replacement.

[teraside]

No, I don't think I should be grateful for anything. I don't see how a 2 and a bit month old HDD should just pack up, replacing it is a non-negotiable.

I don't see why I need to pay to get the faulty one back though just so that Acer doesn't incur any costs. I'm basically being penalised so their equipment breaking.

It might not be a hardware failure, but a user failure.

People don't realize a Laptop has moving parts. A hard drive spins, that's what it is supposed to do. So don't close the Laptop lid and walk around with it, or throw it in the backseat etc. etc.

I see it almost every week. People are clueless that they either need to Swith it Off or Hibernate, not sleep.

[Arzy]

Just how much is her data worth to her / you ?

I agree, not very nice to have happen, but data has always been the end-user's responsibility.

Backup, backup, backup or ***-en-betaal.

Nothing that can't be replaced, she just had a record time with work and was pulling some hectic hours. I can't see her doing it again just because the supplier is full of ****.

Guess they need the faulty drive or they loose out as they can't get a replacement.

Exactly their reason, I don't see why it needs to be my problem though?

It might not be a hardware failure, but a user failure.

People don't realize a Laptop has moving parts. A hard drive spins, that's what it is supposed to do. So don't close the Laptop lid and walk around with it, or throw it in the backseat etc. etc.

I see it almost every week. People are clueless that they either need to Swith it Off or Hibernate, not sleep.

Given, it could be a user failure, but not in this case. My wife previously had a laptop that died on her and she did lose everything. Since then she is extremely careful, has a padded case for the laptop, actually works with it on a table and shut down every time she was finished using it. She's been through this before and thus takes precautions.

[bekdik]

Ask them if you can give the drive to them after data recovery, assuming that the drive will still be able to be returned to their supplier. In any case if you are going to go the platter disassembly route which you'd probably have to, the drive cost is the least of your expenses.

[Arzy]

Ask them if you can give the drive to them after data recovery, assuming that the drive will still be able to be returned to their supplier. In any case if you are going to go the platter disassembly route which you'd probably have to, the drive cost is the least of your expenses.

Asked them that, they don't do recovery. As soon as you have to go the platter route the their warranty on the drive is voided and they can't recoup the costs.

[ghoti]

Drives break. They're very volatile. I learnt this from working on servers. The warranty covers the hardware. Not the software or user files. My advice would be to move to Google Docs and never have to worry about this again.

[Pada]

Otherwise ask for the laptop back as is, do the data recovery and then send back the laptop to have the HDD replaced.

If they don't want to do that, just cough up the money, because it is going to be small in comparison with the data recovery costs in any case.

[cbrunsdonza]

Acer are correct. So OP is expecting not only a brand new HDD but also wants to keep the faulty unit - does not work like that in any industry.

Lesson learnt: Backup; Backup; Backup!!!

[AcidRaZor]

I don't understand the problem really, if you are paying to get the hard drive back to do data recovery and they are still going to replace it for you after then I think you should be grateful. Normally they will just replace it at the data will be lost.

What??

He already paid for the laptop in full. It's HIS hard drive. But just because it's faulty they want him to pay for it to get it back so he can run data recovery on it.

I don't think that's fair dude.

[kilobits]

What??

He already paid for the laptop in full. It's HIS hard drive. But just because it's faulty they want him to pay for it to get it back so he can run data recovery on it.

I don't think that's fair dude.

Well then, he should just take his hard drive that he paid for in his laptop to the data recovery people and then just purchase a new one to replace it then.

I doubt the purchase price of the laptop included two hard drives for the price of one...

It sux yes, but data is never part of any warranty / guarantee unless extra cover is sold with it, like on some HPs etc. Hard drive he paid for with laptop is being exchange for no charge with another hard drive for his laptop. If he wants the old one, he must pay for it. Simple.

That is the way it works and has always worked.