Posted by Mia McPherson on October 8, 2008 at 8:07 PM
In March of 2008 I bought a 500 GB external drive to use to back my images up, I had used the SignatureMini hard drives by the company without issues and felt I could trust the desk top external drives too.
But in July 2008 I noticed some of my images on that drive were corrupted and it was not due to a virus it was due to hard drive failure.
I contacted the company's warranty office and they gave me an RMA number to send the drive back to them. The problem was that I was going on a trip and wanted to make sure my images here were backed up before I left. So I boxed up the failing drive and shipped that to them (at my expense), then went out and made an additonal purchase of another 500BG external drive by SimpleTech, exactly like the first one so that I could feel secure knowing the images were backed up to two drives.
When I returned from my trip I backed up all the images on the second external hard drive that arrived while I was gone.
Only this past weekend while organizing my images I noticed that images on the drive I had been sent as a replacement were also becoming corrupted.
I called SimpleTech and told them what the issue was again after sitting 40 minutes on hold waiting to speak to their techs. I told them that I now have no confidence in the external drive make & model and that I wanted a refund.
To which I was told they do not sell the drives directly and the only replace the drives with new ones (not always new, they also send refurbished ones as I found out researching the issue).
I explained once again that I had no confidence in their products, that I needed hard drives I could depend on, to which the tech said all he could do was give me and RMA number for a replacement.
He also said I should take it back to the store, which in this state the law only give you 14 days with electronics like external hard drives to return for a cash refund.
I told the tech that I was going to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (& a few more places) and he said "Have a good day" and hung up.
I went to the Better Business Bureau on line and found out that Simple Tech has and "F" rating and has many unresolved complaints. I filed my complaint and then called the two retail stores where I made the purchases.
Both BestBuy and OfficeDepot agreed to accept the hard drives back and replaced them with other brands after explaining to them the issues I have had with the drives and with SimpleTech the company. By law they did not have to do that, so kudos to both retailers.
I'm writing this to warn you about SimpleTech desktop external hard drives, don't get burned by a company that has a well deserved F rating at the Better Business Bureau.
Posted by Mike Klarich on October 9, 2008 at 2:07 AM
I've had good luck with Maxtor. I have a 750gb and 1TB Maxtor. They have been rock solid. They have been bought by Seagate. I have 2 internal seagate hard drives that also have been running great. On big drives remember to partition them. That makes them faster more stable, this is even more important when you get over 300gb's.
http://www.maxtor.com/en/
Just my 2 cents.
Posted by Don George on October 9, 2008 at 11:06 AM
I would second Mikes recommentation. I also have an external 500gb drive by Seagate and it has functioned great.
Posted by Mia McPherson on October 9, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Thanks MIke & Don, to be on the safe side I got one of the Seagates and one Maxtor drives, both retailers were great about exchanging the defective drives by SimpleTech.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 9, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Life is to short for grief about hard drives. Today, only Seagate and Western Digital drives have consensus reliability and documented Mean Times Between Failure (MTBF). My experiences with LaCie drives parallels yours with SimpleTech, Lia. The SimpleTech drive mechanisms are in a lot of branded drives: Neptune, for example.
If a drive distributor can't or won't tell you what brand of drive mechanism their product uses, like La Cie, buy a different product. If it's a SimpleTech drive, buy a different product.
But ALL drives fail, without exception. Backup without fail, frequently and redundantly. Apple's recent Time Machine is very good about taking care of the chore for you.
Posted by Mia McPherson on October 9, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Jim, the drives were failing within 4 months of use, both times. That is terrible.
I still have not had issues with the mini portable hard drives by SimpleTech, but I won't be buying their products again.
Discussion
5 repliesBut in July 2008 I noticed some of my images on that drive were corrupted and it was not due to a virus it was due to hard drive failure.
I contacted the company's warranty office and they gave me an RMA number to send the drive back to them. The problem was that I was going on a trip and wanted to make sure my images here were backed up before I left. So I boxed up the failing drive and shipped that to them (at my expense), then went out and made an additonal purchase of another 500BG external drive by SimpleTech, exactly like the first one so that I could feel secure knowing the images were backed up to two drives.
When I returned from my trip I backed up all the images on the second external hard drive that arrived while I was gone.
Only this past weekend while organizing my images I noticed that images on the drive I had been sent as a replacement were also becoming corrupted.
I called SimpleTech and told them what the issue was again after sitting 40 minutes on hold waiting to speak to their techs. I told them that I now have no confidence in the external drive make & model and that I wanted a refund.
To which I was told they do not sell the drives directly and the only replace the drives with new ones (not always new, they also send refurbished ones as I found out researching the issue).
I explained once again that I had no confidence in their products, that I needed hard drives I could depend on, to which the tech said all he could do was give me and RMA number for a replacement.
He also said I should take it back to the store, which in this state the law only give you 14 days with electronics like external hard drives to return for a cash refund.
I told the tech that I was going to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (& a few more places) and he said "Have a good day" and hung up.
I went to the Better Business Bureau on line and found out that Simple Tech has and "F" rating and has many unresolved complaints. I filed my complaint and then called the two retail stores where I made the purchases.
Both BestBuy and OfficeDepot agreed to accept the hard drives back and replaced them with other brands after explaining to them the issues I have had with the drives and with SimpleTech the company. By law they did not have to do that, so kudos to both retailers.
I'm writing this to warn you about SimpleTech desktop external hard drives, don't get burned by a company that has a well deserved F rating at the Better Business Bureau.
http://www.maxtor.com/en/
Just my 2 cents.
If a drive distributor can't or won't tell you what brand of drive mechanism their product uses, like La Cie, buy a different product. If it's a SimpleTech drive, buy a different product.
But ALL drives fail, without exception. Backup without fail, frequently and redundantly. Apple's recent Time Machine is very good about taking care of the chore for you.
I still have not had issues with the mini portable hard drives by SimpleTech, but I won't be buying their products again.