Seagate can no longer make quality drives

Dear Seagate Warranty Representative:

Three in-warranty drives have failed in my system, two of which were replacements for previous failures. These are the fourth, fifth, and sixth drives to have failed for me out of a five drive order. That's right, I have had more drives fail on me than I have bought. This is beyond unacceptable to me, and I am at the point where I believe any further drives you send will also be faulty. Aside from the loss of my RAID array and its data, I have lost faith in your company's ability to meet its own quality standards.

The drives that have failed are:

9QG5W15M (In Warranty Expiration 17-Jun-2012) (Previous RMA 1000499189)
9QG21T6X (In Warranty Expiration 01-Jun-2012)
9QG165FJ (In Warranty Expiration 12-Jun-2012) (Replacement provided by reseller)

I have determined these drives have failed through the use of SeaTools for DOS (v1.09PH). When performing the LONG test, each drive began clicking and hung the SeaTools session. In addition, my Linux kernel generates errors similar to the following:

ata4.00: exception Emask 0x10 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x1950000 action 0x2 frozen
ata4.00: cmd c8/00:01:01:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 0 cdb 0x0 data 512 in
res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x14 (ATA bus error)
ata4: hard resetting port

I am beyond disbelief at the abysmal product you have given me and past the point where I can be appeased by a pre-paid shipping label. If you want to keep me as a good faith customer, you will replace each of the above drives through your advanced replacement program free of cost. You can ship the replacement drives to:

<Censored/>

Candidates: Now that you're focusing on SC, do us a favor and ignore the flag

I live in CNN's next political "State to watch". These upcoming days are going to be a real joy for me.... The one thing that I'm most looking forward to is the mentioning of "an old piece of cloth that means so many different things." However, there is one thing I wish all the candidates would do when it's mentioned, ignore it.

Yep, ignore it. Ignore it simply for the fact that this is truly an issue that doesn't matter. Not only that, but you aren't going to understand enough about the core of this issue to make a statement that means anything of subsistence. Ignore it, it doesn't matter.

First off, I should point out that I prefer this flag way more than the one that's this post's topic. Also, living where I do, and being the person that I am, I am familiar with a majority of the issues and can see this flag as others do.

As I mentioned, this flag doesn't matter. Hell, it's no longer the same flag most people think it is. Yeah, when it was flying above our statehouse, it was the First Confederate Navy Jack. This is the same flag that was flown by the members of the KKK, and has become mired between Pride and Prejudice. However, when it was removed from the statehouse, our legislators changed the flag that could be flown to The "Battle Flag" of the Confederacy. This is the flag that still flies today on a confederate monument detached from the statehouse. It is also the only confederate flag that is allowed to legally fly on our statehouse grounds. Yep, it doesn't matter.

Now, I'm am not saying that it doesn't matter to the people that feel the way they do towards it. I'm not even trying to convenience any of them to change the way they feel. I'm just saying that for the candidates of this race, "it does not matter to you, ignore it." The only candidate that can tie any claim to being concerned about this flag is Seneca's own John Edwards. Sorry Johnny, but once you joined "the folks on top," you lost your voice on this issue. So for you and all the other players, "ignore it."

Ignore it simply for the reason that you should be focusing on the things that do matter to our NATION: such as the Ira[q|n], health care, our economy, and yes indeed, maps for our schools.

I'm sure someone's going to pull Obama into this claiming that there is some "special reason" why he should be allowed to say something. I'm sorry but there really isn't. Being the way you are makes you just as different as the rest of us. Pointing out differences to override someone else is the reason this flag got into trouble to begin with. It's time for him above all the candidates to ignore it, admit it doesn't matter, and move on.

Finally, there is the fundamental reason why the candidates should ignore it. They should ignore it quite simply because there is only one flag they should focus on. This is the flag they are running for. This is the flag they want to fly. It is quite different from the flag that flies down here. Those differences are what they should be focusing on. This was a state's issue, and we have dealt with it already. Wasting their air will never turn it into a federal case. Ignore it, it doesn't matter. Please, for the love of all that is great about our nation: IGNORE IT.

This is how Seagate treats its faithful

Keep this in mind when you pickup your next hard drive.

Original Complaint:


Dear Seagate

I would like to first state that I have been a faithful end user of Seagate products since the days of your 30MB MFM models. I have not only used Seagate exclusively, but recommended them to others. It is this fact that makes this latest problem I have encounted that much more frustrating. It is because of this frustration that I am writing to you instead of talking with one of your customer support representatives on the phone.

Back in July of this year, I purchased five ST3500630AS drives for a new machine that I was building. The drives would be operating in a RAID5 configuration for integrity purposes (I would also like to point out this form of operation is one of the ones listed for these drives on your website). However, one of the drives was DOA and replaced. Back in September (14th), a second drive in this set failed and was replaced by me. Today, a third drive in this set (9QG21D69) has failed. I base this on the fact that when I run your SeagateTools program, the program hangs during the long test and the drive begins clicking. Also, my Linux kernel has been reporting errors when attempting to read information.

What is more troublesome is the fact that when it failed, my RAID5 array failed with it. This is because another one of the drives (9QG21T6X) also dropped out of the array simultaneously and I did not have the foresight to prepare any hot spares. While I do not think this drive currently has a physical failure, I am now at a point where I fear one is forthcoming.

Because I NEVER expected a 60%, or even a 20%, failure rate, there were no other backup locations for the data on this array. Therefore, I have lost all the digital contents I have accumulated since the 30MB drive listed above. Documents (work and personal), programs, code, media, pictures/videos of my family, EVERYTHING is now gone.

I do realize that Seagate is not responsible for data loss, and I am not expecting your company to help me recover anything. However, I have to question whether I would be in this current situation had I gone with another vendor. Why I am writing because I want to replace this drive (for obvious reasons). The last time that I replaced a Seagate drive (9/14), I had to pay a ~$20 fee for the "Advanced Replacement" option. Given my history of Seagate purchases and the recent experience I have encountered, I feel the *least* Seagate could do is provide this option to me without charge. I would appreciate someone in a position to do so looking into this matter from start to finish, and responding with a solution that fits this extremely unsatisfactory situation.

Thanks,


First response:


Discussion Thread
Response (Babli TS198) 11/28/2007 03:27
Dear Adrian,

We apologize for the inconvenience caused.

With regards to your request, we are sorry to inform you that we will not be able to process advance replacement without the charge. However, as one time exception we will be able to notify the relevant team to send you the pre paid return label to avoid the shipping cost.

If you want to opt for this option, kindly email us back with your complete shipping address to process the Order number to replace the drive with the serial# 9QG21T6X.

For further queries you could always e-mail us or call us at 1-800-468-3472. We would be happy to assist you.

Regards,
Shannon
Seagate Warranty Support.


First thing I note is the "(Babli TS198)." I wonder if this is our recipient and internal transaction number. What do you remember about the stated serial number?

1st Reply:


My physical address is:

<YeahRight/>

As previously stated, the serial number you replied back with (9QG21T6X) is the disc that cannot reproduce a physical failure. It is drive 9QG21D69 that has truly failed. Based on your level of response, I would like to request a "pre paid return label" for *both*. I'm really surprised my loyalty is only worth this much. This truly has been an experience.


UPDATE (2007-12-05): I tried several times to just reply to the e-mail, but their system always rejected it. This occurred even when I replied the way they said (between the stupid "REPLY BETWEEN THESE LINES"). So, I call up and talk to an off-shore phone operator name "Michelle" (I think). It was your typical phone operator complaint call. First, she thought the drive was the DOA one. Then, she informed me that Seagate wouldn't send a prepaid label because the drive isn't DOA. It took a good long while to clarify the difference between 9QG21T6X and 9QG21D69. I would like to point out that while I was irritated, I didn't raise my voice, nor use any words your grandmother would be ashamed of.

There's now a return order placed, with no prepaid card. It's really sad that this is the way faithfulness is rewarded.

UPDATE (2007-12-06): Looks like I did get a prepaid label after all...yay!

Bored Robot Programmer

This is what Robot programmers get to do when they get bored:




This would have been me if I had "stayed the course."

Hope for our future

My 6 yo daughter really made my day today. I've always talked to her about particles of matter, cosmology, etc., but this takes it to a new level.

She has a make-up (due to earache) spelling test tomorrow, and expressed some concern. I decided to write her a "Good luck, I'm proud of you, Love Daddy" note. It came time to put it in her book bag (so she can find it tomorrow when at school), and in I went...

Do I put it on her folder? What about her library book (Space Shuttle)? I finally decided on her copy of "The Illustrated A Brief History of Time/The Universe in a Nutshell" bi-book.

It's things like this that let you know the future is going to be a good place.

History favors John Edwards for Democratic Winner

A friend of mine was discussing this with me the other day. He brought up an interesting fact. If you look at the last 40 years of presidential elections, the winning democrat has had attributes that only belong to one of the front runners. Let's examine further...

First off, let's review why we picked 40 years. First off, it's slightly longer than a generation is considered to last. I've also heard that there are more people born since JFK was killed than before his election. I would like to point out though that since John F. Kennedy was elected, the percentage of eligible voters participating in presidential elections has declined in almost every election. I've also heard that society has a hard time remembering after 20 years.

Anyway, in 1967 Lyndon B. Johnson was president. He was from the South (Texas). He was considered liberal. Because he's president, we'll chalk him up as a winner.

The next election was in '68 and had Hubert Humphery loosing to Nixon. Humphery was from the North (Minnesota), and was considered an anti-communist liberal.

After that, George McGovern lost (big-time) to Nixon. Again, he was from the North (South Dakota) and had a reputation as a dovish liberal.

Now we get to the first election I was alive for ('76) and have Mr. Peanut beating out Ford. Jimmy was from the South (Georgia), and ran as a moderate favorite son. While he did win, we also need to keep in mind that he lost the re-election. Whether this bucks our trend or is because he's a victim of outside events is beyond the scope of this blog. We'll still consider him a winner for our purposes.

The next few elections were not nice to the democratic party, with both Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis losing. Both were Northern liberals.

The democrats struck gold with their next winner, Slick Willie. You'll see our pattern emerging when I point out that he is a Southern (Arkansas) moderate. He also was awarded with the re-election and the honor of presiding over the longest period of peace-time economic expansion in American history. We are also now within a time frame where society can now remember this.

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. is the next democrat contender. While I know he "lost," I'm still going to put another Southern (Tennessee) moderate in the winner category.

The next Northern liberal is our good buddy and owner of three purple hearts, John Kerry. We all know how that one turned out.

So there we have it, history showing it's predominately Southern moderates that win for the democrats, while Northern liberals bring them shame. So let's look at the current field...

Barack Obama (Northern liberal)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (another Northern liberal)

and finally John Edwards coming from his home state of North Carolina (which is below the Mason-Dixon line) with a relatively moderate view.

Now, I'm not trying to insinuate that history is dictating Edwards will win. However, remember that those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it. If it's right, let's hope the party we've focused on learns from the past.

BTW, I still have some bamboo available. Anyone want it?

Bamboo -- Come 'n Get it!

I don't hate bamboo, I just hate the fact it covers almost a quarter of my back yard. For those that don't know Bamboo is a very quick growing grass. It also grows to an outrageous height of around 20 feet (although I swear some of my shoots are over 30). When the stuff pops up, you can kick down the shoots to keep it from spreading. I've used this trick to limit this plant's growth to just the back corner of my yard. However, I still have to look at the stuff that grew before I moved in.

Sunday, I finally cracked and decided to cut it down. You get a very surreal feeling when you use a chain saw to mow your yard. Now, I got through a lot of the stuff before my herniated discs started whining about how much work I was doing. Sadly, I now have a pile of this stuff that needs to be gotten rid of. Here's a pic of how this pile looks:



From the back side:



Here's an "up close and personal" shot:



I don't think my back will make it through a "hauling away" session, so here's my plan. If you want it, it's yours. The stuff is located West of the Ashley River in Charleston, SC. All you have to do is let me know you are coming (so I can hide myself, the family, and our dog), and then show up and take it away. If you want to give me some money, that's cool. If you just want to make it disappear, that's fine too. All I want is for this stuff to go away so I don't have to do anything with it.

Why would you want this bamboo you ask? Well, aside from timber, there's lots of uses for bamboo. You can make tiger cages, pretend you're one of the ninjas from House of Flying Daggers, feed your panda, anything you want. Just come and get it. I don't care what you're going to do with it, just take it away so I don't have to.

Here's a pic of the area the bamboo came from. As you can tell, I didn't get all of it. If you want to continue the cutting, feel free.



If it's not gone in two weeks, I will consider this attempt a failure and tend to the task myself. Serious though, spare me the grief. Re-sell value alone should make you happy.