Western Digital Customer Service Complaints - page 2

I have bought quite a few western digital hard drives over the past few years... i now have a pile of 5 drives ranging from my passports to my books... all now don't work... for no reason...
If complaining worked I would do it more but I can truly say i have given up on western digital as i am fed up with wasting my money... years ago everyone said western digital drives were the most reliable... as if!! I will now be destroying my graveyard of drives that have been rapidly growing next to my computer... and thinking of all the wasted time and loss of work...
NOT IMPRESSED!! SORT YOURSELVES OUT WESTERN DIGITAL!!!!!!!

I bought a 1 TB WD passport a year ago and it's already on the fritz. Worse than that, it's virtually impossible to contact the company via email without 'registering' with them. In short, you have to trade a ton of personal info for redress on a bad product. This isn't the first WD product I've had collapse on me, so I'm not likely to get another.

About a year ago, I purchased 1 300 GB Raptor hard drive with a five year warranty. It failed after one year. I received two defective Hdd as replacements. I submitted a complaint and was rewarded with an upgrade to a 450 GB HDD and a paid UPS label. The 450 HDD worked fine for a year. After it died, I RMA's it and received, one at a time, five defective hard drives in a row. Two of the drives died right after a fresh install of Windows 7 before I had time to make a backup.
Data Lifeguard reports bad sectors on all five drives. Customer service was always nice, but the quality control leaves a lot to be desired.

The tech was so rude on the phone. He told me I had to shut off the security aspect for my WD drive to get it to work. I tried to tell him that I had the box checked to automatically unlock for the proper user, but he cut me off mid sentence. Then I tried to ask another question and he cut me off again, rudely saying "Mam, just listen to what I'm telling you to do". Finally, my patience running thin I said to him that he obviously was not going to answer my questions. He told me I was confused. I asked to speak with his manager and he replied very sarcastically SURRRRRE! I was then placed on hold for 15 minutes and ended up ending the call without speaking to a supervisor. This is the last WD product I will purchase.

Western Digital does not deserve the support of their products.

It's one thing to have technical problems with a product (they have lots of problems with all of their products). But it's another not to support us when they arise. Very low technical reliability and lots of variability with their devices/drives.

When we do call in, why do we have to be treated so badly? Something as verifying the spelling of an email was so deeply offensive (I'm not kidding, it was that bad) that I could hardly speak.

Ernesto (if that's your real name) ... get comfortable answering calls. You'll be there for a long time. I'd say you won't keep your job for much longer, but judging from how immediate and routine your rudeness was, it leads me to believe that it is common practice there. A supervisor telling a customer they will call back in a few hours is another strong indicator that that workplace is not in the business of serving customers.

You've succeeded in giving me so many reasons not to want to be a customer. Goodbye WD, hello Seagate.

Thank you for making me feel unappreciated and like an imposition. Yes, this is my fault. I decided to purchase your product and asked for help when it didn't perform. My fault. Sorry I bothered you with my problems.

I purchased a new WD thunderbolt drive for my Macbook Pro. Within 4 months the second disk in the drive failed. I lost a considerable amount of data. This is what I received back from WD:



Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Support. We would like to apologise for the time it took for us to reply to your email.



As far as I understand, you are using the My Passport Pro and WD Diagnostics is saying that the RAID has failed on the hard drive.



To recover information stored on your My Passport Pro you will need to use data recovery services or software to recover your data. Western Digital does not provide data recovery but we have partners where you can turn to on the following link:


I recommend recovering the data before replacing the hard drive. As you are located then you will need to return the drive to the retail store where you purchased it from to see if they are willing to replace it for you. The drive does have valid warranty until 28.06.2017. Alternatively you can contact the local distributors to see if they are willing to replace the hard drive,



We hope that this information resolves your issue, if the issue is not resolved and you require further assistance, please reply.

worst product I have used. bought two and both conked out. crappy product. advice all my friends not buy this brand or you'll be sorry

I ordered a WD mycloud, waited, waited, no shipment, and 8 days later called customer service, who told me that it was out of stock and 'might' get it in 3 working days. No apologies, no email to tell me it was out of stock...I was in a hurry to get it. Much faster to go to a store. Cancelled my order. Very disappointing customer service.

I bought a WD black 500 GB IDE drive last spring. About 8 months later, this drive was failing (confirmed by WD tech support). WD sent me the wrong replacement drive THREE times (downgrades to boot (ie., blue drives). Finally, after several months, I get the correct replacement drive. Upon installation this drive was having issues. I was very surprised the drive the sent me was a refurbished drive. I put the serial number into WD's warranty database to register the drive. A screen came up telling me the drive was out of warranty. Wow! this drive has a 5 year warranty. So not only refurbished but, more than 5 years old. No wonder it has problems! Very poor customer support to say the least!

Called WD for defective 6 pcs My Book Hard Drive that we purchase, WD told us that it will be replaced as 6items are under warranty. Sent them the 6pcs. with follow up calls re status. They emailed us and told us they WILL NOT replace it as it was not purchase on their authorized dealer. Requested to spoke to Supervisor, they gave us a run around and finally the Rude supervisor told us that 6pcs will not be replaced as system were modified. They find different excuses just not to replace the 6items. They are the most difficult and worst technical and customer support ever encounter. BEWARE of WD. Never purchase from them!!

I purchased a My Passport May 2012. I did as instructed upon opening and my son backed up my computer. In March my computer had the blue screen. I felt I was OK because I had your backup. WRONG. They told me at the computer store there was NOTHING on my passport. I emailed as soon as I got home a note to you-- that again was March. Two days I heard from you-- this is JULY! The tech told me, 1) I didn't follow directions correctly. 2) There was nothing on the passport when I opened it and read it to him and he proceeded to tell me I had deleted the info.
3) then he told me I corrupted the hard drive and it was my fault and 4) it was not under warranty it was out of date. It wasn't in March when I contact you people.
I was so mad I rode my bike 10 miles and I was really upset with the tech -- it was all my fault your product failed. There was nothing he could do for me sorry BYE!
When I was able I told him I will NEVER recommend and never again buy your product if that is the kind of service you have and the people you have.
So we shall see if you really pay attention or if it will again be another 5 months before contact. Again, it would have been under warranty except for you. I don't swear but it really made me upset with your treatment.

Have a defective hard drive that was still under warranty. Called tech support and talked to 4 different representatives over a two week period and still no positive results for a replacement...all representatives were foreign...names were Rene, Luis, Hermes, and Joseph (supervisor). I give up trying to get a replacement and will purchase another brand. So much for customer service. Think twice before considering to buy anything from Western Digital. Worst service I have ever encountered!

Purchased brand new unit arrived D.O.A. WD refused to do anything about it. Never buy WD again.

RE: WD caviar green 1tb HD & poor customer service / quality control:

Bought 2 of these drives at the same time from Fry's several years ago (yes, both were sealed brand new). Immediately installed one into my computer - no problems - and put the other, unopened, on my bookshelf. Just opened the 2nd one the other week - DEAD. 1 desktop and 2 laptops were unable to access it via an Aluratek HD adapter (which worked/works perfectly fine with 2 other spare WD HDs).

Contacted WD customer service who informed me that because this HD is out of warranty (IIRC warranty expired like in 07/12 or something like that), they won't do anything for me. I asked if I could send it to them so they could examine it but they stopped responding to my emails.

Lesson learned I guess - don't save your BNIB WD HDs and WD ain't all that when it comes to quality control. I had been exclusively WD for the past 6-8 years but not any more...

I spent an inordinate amount of time with tech support in Central America for installation. Tech support did not fix the problem and I am returning the unit. Tech support in Central America needs training to be able to do its job. It is the responsibility of Corporate Office to provide tech support.

Western Digital: You've got your customer service somewhere down in Central America. I'm sure this is convenient for your bankroll, however 4 out of 5 people I've talked to don't know how to do their jobs whatsoever. I've had people and supervisors, over the phone, repeatedly ask me for case numbers, RMA numbers, not be given them when I was supposed to have them (what are these numbers anyway? and why do customers have so many of them? and incorrect duplicates? are these numbers any of my business, or could some efficiency be helpful), told I was having a product sent to me under warranty, and then not be sent out. And each new person on the phone let's me know how the last person didn't do their job correctly. WD, an evaluation needs to be undertaken on who is handling this side of your company. It is a poor representation for any company. I don't have as much against outsourcing as others do, but english over the phone is important, and I've had to request that 4 out of 5 of these service providers please slow down or speak more clearly because I couldn't understand the words they were trying to help me with. This side of it IS important. I think I've spoken with a couple who were just out of training, saying yes to me because they didn't know what they were supposed to do and didn't want to let me know? And then get off the phone with me with promising yes's, after I've already gone through the delightful telephone prompting process (because everyone knows how much we all love this time-consuming pastime of seeking customer service), only to not do what they said (big one here: reliability. DO what you SAY. Looks good when you do). The first time going through the telephone prompting, not so bad, life asks me to push those buttons every so often, no biggie. 6th time, because they don't know how to do their jobs, getting a little resentful that WD isn't dialed in on a pretty important side of how they are represented.

WD: Do none of the company heads ever have to push teleprompting options, to no avail? This annoyance doesn't resonate with you?

I've got 7 of your hard drives. I know, I'm a good customer of yours. :) And almost everyone I know who owns a hard drive(s) bought them from Western Digital. A lot of people own harddrives, they are popular convenient devices. It seems as though you have a lot of business. And this doesn't fund a better customer service line, possibly one a little closer to home near the people who actually run the company and seemingly would know what they are doing?

Bought a hard drive with a 4 year warranty which failed in the 3rd year. Had to RMA it. Unfortunately they didn't have that exact drive in stock and asked if I would take a down-grade. Absurd. 3 weeks later I finally get it replaced, just to have it have too many bad sectors after just a week of use. So I contacted WD support again, and they said they would send me an upgraded drive(from 500 to 720 GB). A week later I receive the SAME EXACT hard drive. Contacted them again, and of course the upgrade is out of stock, and they might, just might (no way of knowing for sure) have it in this Friday. Someday I'll have my computer working again...maybe.

I tried to get help from their phone support.The recirded answering droid took me in circles and never got me to a real person, nor to a catagory of any help. I'll be looking for a different supplier next time I buy a external hard drive!

Their support techs do not speak English as a first language, and are very difficult to understand. In addition, they don't reply to emails, and when I shipped back a defective hard drive, they didn't notify me even 3 weeks after they received it, and didn't send me a new one because they were out of stock (but didn't feel necessary to notify me of that)
Pretty lousy service - I hope I won't need it again.

I have given up trying to find any decent contact details for this company. Can't navigate around their website, can't locate contact details - phone numbers provided on the Australian website are for a private residence!!!!! Website Tech Support is a deadend. The whole thing stinks of dodgy practices. Customer service - not by a long shot. Will never buy their products again

Just purchased a NEW MYBook LIve Duo, and have been trying to reach them for 4 days now. Left on eternal hold each time.
Great customer service..................

I spoke to Western Digital customer support in the Netherlands today after receiving an error message saying that the external hard drive I have just bought is faulty.

I have never before been treated so rudely, the technical support person was extremely condescending and I even apologized to him for him having to deal with me today. He maintained that there was nothing wrong with the drive and bounced the problem back to me.

After buying 5 Western Digital drives, next time I'm switching to a competitor.

Purchased a 1 TB My Passport external HD at Wal-Mart on 8/28. Got home & no cable in the box. It's not a standard USB; it's proprietary. Called WD tech support, was told they would send me one & I'd receive it in 8-10 days. 15 days later, no cable had arrived. I called back last night & was told by another rep that my original request was not entered properly because "their system goes down sometimes". This rep said it would be 2-3 days for the request to be approved, and then another 8-10 days for it to arrive. I said this was unacceptable as I'd already made one request and was never notified it was not completed. I've had the HD over 2 weeks and cannot even use it! They supposedly expedited my order, and I am supposed to have it in 1-2 business days. We'll see.

I purchased two TB external hard drives over six weeks ago. According to their website products usually ship withing 3 to 5 business days. I have not been billed for my products. I called and after 4 attempts was able to reach a person who informed me that I would receive my product within a week. That was two weeks ago. I have tried to call at least 4 more times and have waited 15 to 20 minutes per call before having to hang up and try again. I was told I would be called or emailed if they were not able to meet my order by the specified time. I have not received any notification from them at all. This is unacceptable and unprofessional.

I purchased an external hard drive from Western Digital that did not perform a complete backup. After 3 hours on the phone over 2 calls, they finally were able to install the software. Unfortunately the software took over all the available memory on my computer, as it was operating 24/7, generating high usage/performance alerts. I called again (third time), got the recorded message telling me the next available agent would be with me, then was promptly disconnected. (Tried this 5 times.) I'm so frustrated with their service, I uninstalled everything and will return the drive to Harvard, where I bought it. I will NEVER buy another WD product again.