Amazon and Seagate customer service are terrible.

Mermalion

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Messages
347
I don't know if this is the place to vent about all this but I thought some of you might like to hear my terrible experience.

I bought 2x Seagate expansion 8tb drives from Amazon. They were sold and shipped by Amazon. I received the drives and hooked them up to my desktop only to find that one of them didn't work and the other was reporting its size was much smaller than 8tb. I messed with this drives for a little bit trying to get this to work right but discovered that the one reporting a smaller size also reported a model number for a smaller drive. I assume someone shucked the drives and put some junk in the enclosures and returned them. Then Amazon sold them to me as "new" drives. I called Amazon and was not happy at all. They talked to me for a while but it didn't seem like they were understanding the issue. They eventually contacted Seagate (even though this wasn't their problem) and had me talk to them. Seagate tried to get me to format the drive, delete the partition, hook it up to different computers... All kinds of crap. They didn't understand that the drive was reporting a model number that correlated with the size it was reporting. Eventually after arguing with them for about an hour and a half, they eventually agreed to replace both drives. Once I received the replacements I mailed the junk ones back in the box they provided. When they received them they must have tested them out. They called me and said the drives were not the right ones and that they needed the originals... No shit.. I told them that for more than an hour before they replaced it. After arguing some more they eventually said it was okay and they'd take care of it on their end. Now about a month later I receive an email saying they never received the drives and as part of the agreement they are going to charge me $480 (before tax) for the drives not being returned. I am infuriated. I have never been so displeased with a company. Now I have to call again and hope they get things right this time. Amazon should've just taken the drives back in the first place but Seagate has messed up big time in the customer support area.

Update: I called Seagate yesterday. The woman I spoke with claimed the order had only been partially received because they were short staffed because of the covid-19. I don't know how you partially receive a box that had both drives in it? Also I shipped those back a couple months ago... Covid 19 should not have affected it. Anyway, she assured me it would be taken care of and I'd ha e nothing to worry about. Well this morning I get a text from my bank asking if I made a purchase from Seagate for $480 🤬😡... What a nightmare
 
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its not Seagates problem if you gave them your CC info, why not just return to Amazon?
 
I called Amazon when I first received the drives from them. They are the ones that called Seagate and made me deal with them. I know that the original problem with the drives was not Seagate fault. They definitely made this worse though. It is Seagate fault that my card was charged. I returned both drives as soon as I received the new ones. That was a couple months ago. After a few weeks they called me saying they received the wrong drives. I told them in the first call that the drives were not right and even sent them pictures of the drives smart data and the model number it reported. They said they'd take care of it on their end and I thought that was all I'd hear. Now I received the email from "asset recovery" department saying they never received a drive and that they were going to charge me. I called them yesterday and the rep assured me I would not be charged and that she put a note on my account. Sure enough I get a text this morning indicating a $480 charge from them. 😡 Looks like I'll have to call again.
 
I called again today and the person I spoke with apologized for this happening. He said the case was closed and that the warehouse is just behind with accepting returns and that's why the charge still went through. It doesn't excuse the fact that this has been a total nightmare from the start but I shouldn't have to worry about it anymore. I hope he's right this time. No longer will I purchase any drives from amazon.
 
I called again today and the person I spoke with apologized for this happening. He said the case was closed and that the warehouse is just behind with accepting returns and that's why the charge still went through. It doesn't excuse the fact that this has been a total nightmare from the start but I shouldn't have to worry about it anymore. I hope he's right this time. No longer will I purchase any drives from amazon.
I buy my PC components only from Amazon if they are not available from Newegg or B&H Photo, or if the price is a whole lot better. With B&H, they have this new credit card, Payboo, where they pay the sales tax AND there is two day free shipping. Hard to argue with that. Besides, I really hate Amazon's search function, they make you wade through pages and pages of stuff you're not looking for.
 
OP, so strange, I have had almost stellar customer service from Amazon. Then again, I've purchase very few computer parts from them.

I buy my PC components only from Amazon if they are not available from Newegg or B&H Photo, or if the price is a whole lot better. With B&H, they have this new credit card, Payboo, where they pay the sales tax AND there is two day free shipping. Hard to argue with that. Besides, I really hate Amazon's search function, they make you wade through pages and pages of stuff you're not looking for.

I never buy from Newegg anymore because I know they have crap customer service and punish you for returns. What is interesting is B&H. I bought a lot of cell phones from them, and small electronics. But never PC parts. Didn't even know they sold them.
 
if it's counterfeit goods its a Amazon/place of purchase problem not seagate (seagate will just look at you strange if you send them fake seagate HDDs) manufacture HDD returns are for genuine products
 
if it's counterfeit goods its a Amazon/place of purchase problem not seagate (seagate will just look at you strange if you send them fake seagate HDDs) manufacture HDD returns are for genuine products
Yeah, I know Amazon should've never passed me off to Seagate. The problem was originally Amazon's. Amazon is the one who called Seagate and put me through to them though... Not my choice. Seagate definitely made it worse though. They were nice enough to replace the drives and they shipped the new ones to me first. It was all down hill after I sent the old ones back. They said they received the wrong drives and then said they didn't receive one of the drives and charged my card for $480 for one of those $160 8tb external drives. That's not okay and should've never happened. It's all straightened out now... Or so they say. Both Amazon and Seagate have lost a customer though and I will no longer recommend them to anyone. Unless you enjoy a headache that is 😂
 
Yeah, I know Amazon should've never passed me off to Seagate. The problem was originally Amazon's. Amazon is the one who called Seagate and put me through to them though... Not my choice. Seagate definitely made it worse though. They were nice enough to replace the drives and they shipped the new ones to me first. It was all down hill after I sent the old ones back. They said they received the wrong drives and then said they didn't receive one of the drives and charged my card for $480 for one of those $160 8tb external drives. That's not okay and should've never happened. It's all straightened out now... Or so they say. Both Amazon and Seagate have lost a customer though and I will no longer recommend them to anyone. Unless you enjoy a headache that is 😂
but really you sent Seagate counterfeit HDDs i would have expected the charge for the new drives you got first (as you got the new drives before they got the fake ones so they would assume your pulling a fast one in seagate eyes), you knew they was fake HDDs so not seagate problem,

they should of been returned to amazon as fake,, in a lot of cases they don't even care about getting the item back, these items was slight high value so they probably would want a return unless the seller just issues the refund right away to not affect there account and to hide the fact they are selling fake hdds

never deal with manufacture on newly bought items, should be returned to the seller (normally within 30-90 days return window or whatever limits are in USA, and always use a credit card as if all else fails use visa or mastercard to deal with it, in the USA people generally know there protection rights with a credit card but outside the USA they just see it as a credit card with money buffer or debt and not aware the protection it offers)
 
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Sounds like you approached the problem too technically for them. Should have started out with saying the items were counterfeit. In my experience, Amazon has always just refunded or replaced an item I have a problem with, no questions asked.
Exactly. Amazon has a return tool that is pretty easy to use to get returns + free shipping. I've only had to use it twice in 15 years but it's nice when you do need it.
 
I tried Amazon... Got on their live chat to inform them of my issue. They then insisted that they call me. After being on the phone with them for more than an hour they called Seagate and pawned me off on them. I agree that it was Amazon's problem to begin with. They pawned me off on Seagate though. Seagate was nice enough to replace the drives despite it not being their problem. The problem with Seagate is that they said they received the wrong drives even though I told them they weren't right from the beginning and sent them pictures. Then they emailed me later saying they never got them so I called them back to get it straightened out. After all that they still charged me $480 for one drive. Completely ridiculous!
 
Suggest you keep seagate out of this - it's not their problem, they shouldn't even be involved, and if you keep talking to them and expecting them to do something, you're just going to get fustrated.

Avoid any techie speak and keep your communication simple, else you're unintentionally creating confusion and setting yourself up for disappointment.

Focus on getting your refund from Amazon: you got a bad product, you want a refund.
 
I know it wasn't Seagate's problem. Someone probably bought the drives from Amazon, swapped the internal drive out for junk ones, and returned them. Amazon is at fault for selling the drives again after they had been returned. They obviously didn't test them or anything. I called Amazon to request a return. They're the ones that called Seagate in a 3way call and then left me to them. Seagate was nice enough to eventually agree to a return even after I told them what Amazon had done. The problem with Seagate is that they first said they received the wrong drives. I then got an email weeks later saying they never received one of the drives (both were in the same box). After another call to them they assured me it was a mistake and that it would be taken care of. It wasn't taken care of though... They charged me $480 for that one $160 drive. I know it wasn't Seagate's fault that I got bad drives. This was Amazon's problem and it should've been handled by them. Seagate's problem was saying they got the wrong drives after I explained the issue to them. Then saying they didn't receive a drive and then charging me $480 for something that costs $160 new. They are a train wreck. Never again will I buy hard drives from either Amazon or Seagate because of this. Hopefully someone else will see this and it will help them make a decision on where to buy from or what brand drives to purchase.
 
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