Western Digital Technologies
Reviews and Complaints

I bought this hard drive directly from Western Digitals website. I should have heeded the awful reviews. My drive failed around one year after buying it causing almost a full 5 TB of data to be lost. I am in the process of trying to recover as much data as I can buy there are thousands and thousands of bad blocks on the drive.

I attempted to submit a review of the product on their website. It gave me a prompt saying I needed to disable ad blockers to post the review. When I disabled ad blockers the review simply wouldn't post at all. I believe they've nerfed their own sites review process because of the extremely high rate of hard drive failure.

Avoid Western Digital products entirely. They are cheap Chinese garbage. Older ones I've had from a decade ago are still going strong. The difference is the quality of manufacturing.

I purchased western digital 8 tb my cloud home external drive about three years ago. It worked fairly decent until about 3 months ago. It has lost connection and can no longer connect. It simply states it's offline. I've tried every solution possible and still no luck. I purchased this product because I thought it would be reliable and I could trust that whatever I needed to store would always be available to me. What is the point of having an external hard drive with a cloud feature if you cannot access the cloud unless the device is logged in? And the customer service is absolutely nonexistent. They want me to collect and send them logs of the device but in order to do that you have to log in. I disregarded many signs while having the device and it was still functioning. It took forever to simply log in, it took forever to download what I needed from the device, difficulty logging in and having to restart computer multiple times to get the device to finally log in, and on and on and on. I will absolutely never purchase a product from your company again. I lost so many personal and professional things and there is absolutely nothing that can be done because there is not a single human being that works for western digital that is capable of figuring out why their devices are worth nothing more than a 2.5-pound paper weight. There are a few choice words I have for your company, but I will display more professionalism than what I have received. Do not purchase any products from this company.

Hello, Brandon!

I am afraid your help is no more than mere lip service in my experience.

I have been going in circles with you for a long time and instead of making the job easier you are making it more complicated and meaningless by sending me worthless links that lead to NOWHERE! I have registered the darn product and, as per your suggestions, have gone into your SUPPORT PORTAL, and all that I get from that portal is a dead end as evidenced by the attached screenshot. WHAT MORE CAN I DO TO MAKE YOU SEE THE LOGIC OF A FAILED AND LEMON PRODUCT. I am not a techie and for a 75-year-old senior your lack of empathy is beyond me.

Hope to get a better response from you, failing which I request that you please provide me the name and number of your supervisor; I would like to file a complaint with him/her.

A bad/lemon HDD has been returned to you for 10 days-plus now and you have still not sent me the promised replacement. This is simply unacceptable and unprofessional.

Kindly have the replacement device dispatched to me asap.

Thank you.

Dont Buy Western Digital products!
I have a MyCloud Home defected and return twice and returned has reused!
And had to pay to return it!
The second Time i lost all my data on WD Products because they dont recover data!
DONT BUY!

From Robert McLauchlan CEO Longshire Ltd, email address: [protected]@aol.com direct peersonal telephone +44 [protected]

On 26/07/2018 I sent the following email I sent the following Update on the Incident Report shown below and also copied to [protected]@mailac.custhelp.com (I have not as yet received any reply or even a simple confirmation of receipt to any of the emails that I have sent following the serious problem that has occurred). Please would you now reply to me.

Email sent Mon, 26 Jul 2021 to both [protected]@custhelp.com and [protected]@mailac.custhelp.com

Subject: URGENT for the immediate attention of your most senior manager.

Please read my following report of the events that occurred (on Friday 23 July 2021) and described below and reply to me. Either write (my email address as stated in the header of the email that I sent, [protected]@aol.com) or call me on my personal phone +[protected] in UK working hours 9am to 6pm.

Last Wednesday 21 July 2021 I wrote an email to your company, sending it to support.wd.com/[protected]@aol.com requesting "After many attempts to use your product, I then went to your web site and found the quick installation https://products.wdc.com/library/QIG/global/4079-705405.pdf.
The problem is that this PDF does not open.
Please would you email this to me asap."

Last Friday, having received no reply to the email that I sent on Wednesday 21 July, I then spent a very frustratingly long time trying to make contact with your technical support "chat", all I wanted was a copy of the quick installation PDF I had found on https://products.wdc.com/library/QIG/global/4079-705405.pdf. as the PDF on this website would not open.

I then managed after some time to call your offices [protected] requesting technical support) and spoke with by a man named Scott.S. I asked for a copy of this PDF. He said he would send this (so far not received).

He listened carefully, was very polite and then offered to give me instructions to inform me how to upload "My Passport" and to have it functioning.

I explained that being elderly, computer technology is not easy for me. I also stressed the importance that none of the business and personal files stored on my computer would be damaged by any steps of his instruction. He assured me that this could not happen.

Scott was very patient and carefully explained what I must do and I followed his instructions step by step. Please listen to the call that your company will have recorded to hear exactly what he instructed.

Having followed his instruction, he sent me the incident report.

However, after receiving this that I discovered that Scott had made a very serious error in his instructions. The (D:) section that contained many years of my most important files was replaced by My Password (D;)
I opened this and none of the original (D:) section remained.

To make sure you will receive this email I have also copied in [protected]@custhelp.com and [protected]@mailac.custhelp.com the addresses that Scott had used to reply to me.

The reason I am sending this report to both addresses is to ensure it is received, this concern is due to the fact that immediately after establishing the loss of the (D:) section of my computer, I sent the emails copied below to [protected]@mailac.custhelp.com.
Despite the urgency, I have had no reply.

I am extremely concerned to have not received any reply to any of the emails I sent that are copied below. Evidently your offices were open as I had spoken to Scott and he sent the Incident Report only a short while before.

The problem I have been caused, if not resolved is extremely serious. Not simply that time it will take to rebuild files where it is possible, but also a significant amount of vital information that I will not be able to recover.

I have waited until first thing today, Monday 26th assuming your offices were closed for the weekend. Also, I was too unwell. I have a heart condition and this problem has caused considerable stress as you might imagine.

This event could become far more serious for my financial and personal health if it is not resolved immediately. I will have lost files that are vitally important for my companies in the UK, my business in the USA and also the many urgent and crucial matters in my personal files.

I expect to receive an immediate reply to advise what steps you will take to restore the (D:) section files back into my computer.

Please either e mail or call me on my personal phone +[protected].

If I were to not receive any reply within the next 48 hours, I will be left with no alternative but to instruct my lawyers to take action.

I await your response.

Regards

Robert McLauchlan

Previous incident report received and following emails I sent:

Robert McLauchlan +[protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: WD Customer Support
To: [protected]@aol.com
Sent: Fri, 23 Jul 2021 18:49
Subject: Cx wasn't able to access the drive [Incident: [protected]]

Incident Update
Reference #: [protected]
Incident Details
Reference #: [protected]
Subject: Cx wasn't able to access the drive
Product: My Passport

Response by Email Scott S
(07/23/2021 11:19 PM)
Dear Robert Mclauchlan,

Thank you for contacting Western Digital Technical Support. My name is Scott S.

It is my pleasure assisting your case and here is the case number for future references: [protected]

Please follow the following link to download install Acronis True Image for western digital:

How to install Acronis True Image for Western Digital on a Windows PC
Please follow the instructions in the following link to use Acronis True Image to backup data to the drive :

How to backup a Windows Computer using Acronis True Image for Western Digital

If you have any further questions, please reply to this email and we will be happy to assist you further.

Sincerely,
Scott S
Western Digital Technical Support
http://support-en.wd.com

Note: If you have not visited our community forums, please make sure to do so. You may also find the answer(s) to your question(s) there. Link to WD community forums at http://community.wd.com

Please opt-in to receive our 30 second support survey using the link below.
https://support-en.wd.com/app/account/profile

This electronic message contains information from Western Digital, is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is confidential. The dissemination of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic transmission in error, please respond back to this e-mail or contact us by phone.

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-----Original Message-----
From: Robert McLauchlan
To: [protected]@mailac.custhelp.com
Sent: Fri, 23 Jul 2021 19:13
Subject: URGENT FILES LOST Re: Cx wasn't able to access the drive [Incident: [protected]]
Thank you for this Scott but now I seem to have a real problem. It seems that loading My Password it as I said it came up as "My Password (D:)"
As far as I can tell, when you said to empty that file and as I said My Password (D:) came up my original (D:) file has gone. It is not shown and My Password (D:)is empty.
This is a disaster, a mountain of work lost as the cloud back I was using stopped working some 3 months ago. unless you know some way to recover it.
Please would you call me ASAP to explain if anything can be done.

Robert

Robert McLauchlan mobile +[protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert McLauchlan
To: [protected]@mailac.custhelp.com
Sent: Fri, 23 Jul 2021 19:42
Subject: Fwd: URGENT FILES LOST Re: Cx wasn't able to access the drive [Incident: [protected]]

Scott or whoever picks this up please help me recover my files.
I called because I had a problem uploading the My Password my daughter had brought me.
After a long wait I spoke with a man I assume named Scott S. as this is the name in the incident report.
He told to me go to Disk Management on my Windows laptop computer.

This shows Disk 0 and Disk 1 in the right hand box for Disk 1 it showed (D:).
I was told to run My Password software and then to empty the My Password file.
(I am sure you can listen to the call to check what was said).

I specifically asked him to confirm that I could not lose any of my files. I explained just how important they are to my businesses, family and so much more. He categorically said that I cannot lose them.

Now as I have said in my email below, I my original D is nowhere to be seen.

This is a complete disaster if my D file cannot be restored.
I am looking for an immediate reply.

It is vital that somebody calls me right now or at the very least message me to say when someone will call me

Regards

Robert McLauchlan mobile +[protected]

No reply was received!

I bought a 10 Terra Byte External hard drive for $299 Plus tax, Used it few times for back up, then it stopped working.
Send in for a replacement, but NEVER GOT A REPLACEMNT, it is still under warranty.
Please check:
2YK9DL7D (WDBWLG0100HBK-NESN)

Send replacement soon.

Thanks

Sarwar
980 S. Michael Way
Anaheim, CA 92805

I bought Western Digital 4TB Black My Passport... got several days ago and opened and plugged in only yesterday. Sadly while working I hit it to the table, it was not even dropped, just small bump but drive is not working, it gets some sounds, it can be seen uninitialized, but I can not open it, or see the files I wrote on it.
Whoever I asked they say it is not possible to repair such External HDDs and even recovering the files onto it is hughly expensive, starting price to even diagnose is around 400-500 USD.
I got around 800 gb files on it already and they are very important to, I was just writing onto to back them up. I am furious, I had not product on me even full 24 hours and I do have to worry not only the money spent, but also the recovery of the files, and those files are very important to me, trusting your device, i have deleted them in other carriers, but I could not imagined it was such fragile and not trustworthy even to resist small but, again, I have not dropped it in any way. I do not know what is even the solution
Ordered on July 9, 2019 Order# [protected]
WD serial number: WXH1EC82TY4S
model: WDBYFT0040BBK-WEGN
I seek immediate assistance, what resolutions you can suggest. I am very desperate not only about the device, but the files I wrote on this device.
I am not in US now, so you can contact me on the mail and mobile number below
My contact e-mail is [protected]@yahoo.co.uk
My contact number +[protected]

Natalia

Hi, I bough, in the name of my employer Bloomberg L.P, a hard drive on the official Taobao Shop, I'm happy with it. I asked a official receipt "fapiao", legally they have to provided it and it looks like they send it to the wrong address. I asked for over a week to have that fixed and they said "will come back" and they never did. At this point I will have to complain at taobao and the autorities for it because it's actually illegal not providing Fapioa. I have many more hard drives to by for Bloomberg, I like your products but with such a bad service, I'm now planning to go to another brand.

A copy of an email is best way to describe complaint!
As of 11am today 3/10/2017 I talked with customer service, customer service level 2 and a manager in the department who told me that this issue is out of customer services hands and is under the control of the rma department. That he has no control on this and cannot do anything further. He also informed me that there is no rma department phone number and he has no direct contact, and I should reply to this e-mail as it will go to the rma department. This problem goes back to january of this year or even earlier, but I will skip to what is at hand. The above stated rma was received by western digital on the 28th feb 2018, march first I called to find out what the turnaround time is on the rma and was told they had not received it yet. I told the agent I talked with it showed delivered on the 28th at 11 am, and who signed for it, but I was then told the system may not have been updated with good information and to wait 24 hours. In48 hours I was again told to give them 24 hours and I would get a call to resolve the issue. This occurred 3 more times and each time I did not receive a call or an email, even after being escalated to level 2 department. On the morning of march 9 2018 I was sent to the level 2 department where once again I was told that the previous agent noted that one drive was missing, but after being on hold for a considerable time the agent came back on and asked it was sent complete? I stated it was and when the agent returned he said that he was now being told and looking at an image of the box no drives were present. I waited until, later in the day, 9 or ten hours and tried to call only to find the department closed. About an hour after that I saw an email come in stating the box was rejected and returned under a enclosed ups tracking number. The email also stated that I should put the drives in it and return the unit for rma exchange. Today I talked to customer service then level 2 support and then a manager at level two to find resolution and the fact I cannot put something back we do not have! I was told it was not handled by customer service and that the rma department had control of it. I was also told that they could not provide me with a contact number or email for contact. That I needed to respond to this email and continue from there. That further calls would help on this matter. My concerns are many and I am very upset with the handling of this situation. One concern is why on all the calls made I was told they had not received the unit or could not locate it? On two calls I was told it was lost or not received, and they (customer service) would investigate! All I was asking on any call, was "what the turnaround time would be" second concern is one of why could they not find the unit? Even when I was talking to level 2 and a manager? Another concern is why one drive was missing? Then went to all drives missing? The issue of where was the nas box for all those days that no one could find it, give information on it, or tell me what we could do to solve this problem! Not even a manager of a department!
Being this is a law office I can provide affidavits that it was shipped complete, and I have photos just like you that shows with drives. I can also provide an affidavit that it was boxed and taken to ups in it's complete form. Last concern the picture sent to me shows a box that could or could not be the one I shipped! There is no shipping material, no box it was shipped in so I have no way of knowing where it came from, is it mine? Or anything like that. We have a habit in the office that anything shipped has a phot of enclosed material, even documents so we can refer back to photo's in case of any questions.
I have never had a problem with western digital in the past, and never had any problems in dealing with the company. I believe that this situation is making u for any of the previous good that has been done.

Drives itself is OK but this 6TB Black runs pretty hot, on idle can get up to 49-C degree and even higher while seeking or writing so you must have active cooling.
As far is their support! I think is among the worst I have experience this days and I never thought I would say that about WD.
I have purchased 4 of this hard drives about 3 weeks ago and 1 of them end up been defective (DOA). After calling Canada's RMA department and having a very long desiccation, they want to give me recertified drive (someone else's headache) even thou the DOA HDD was only 1 day old, where is the 30 day exchange? nonexistent, they were adamant on giving me old replacement and they wouldn't budge in at all.
Once you agree on taking referb/recertified drive, there is no going back on getting your rightfully what you should get new replacement if your within 30 days of purchase.. I lost that drive and around $430 they won't honor the warranty, that's OK they lost much more than that and I hope people will realize and see that times have change when loyalty and integrity doesn't mean anything nowadays, it's all about investing in advertizing and making things attractive on the paper and rest it's not important.
Western Digital was much better product had much better service and was better company altogether few years ago but that is based on my previous (4-5 years ago) experience, so I want to support them by getting their products and I've been for a long time but they got greedy and now they trying to bounce back from their low earnings in 2016 by been deceitful with customers and their "On paper Warranty " they don't care whether you've been long time customer or not, in reality they will take you new product and keep resending you old, most times crippled, they will tell you "recertified drives have been fully tested by our technicians) Yaaa right, 9 out of 10 they keep on braking for the duration of your warranty until it runs out, don't believe in their warranty tricks.
This was my last purchase I will not invest in their product again.

Installed a new WD RED 5TB drive in my NAS setup. Worked fine for several months. One day the drive was not being recognized by the system. When I investigated I discovered that the power supply plug for the drive was very loose and just barely hanging on to the pins on the drive. I removed the drive and found that the plastic connector around the pins that holds the power plug in place was gone. I immediately contacted WD through their support portal and was instructed to send it back for replacement. The drive has over a year left on the warranty. I waited for three weeks after the date I knew they received the drive. There was never an update to the information in the support portal. When I called WD, the customer service representative I spoke to said that they will be returning the drive and not honoring the warranty because it had to have been damaged by me. I explained to him that one day it was working and then it wasn't and that what they see is how I found the drive when I removed it from my NAS. He said "I shouldn't install the drive in such a way that there would be so much pressure on the power cord". I asked to speak to a supervisor right away. I was basically told the same thing but he said he would forward it to corporate to see if they would approve the replacement. If they did approve the replacement I would only be sent a refurbished drive. This was a drive that was maybe used for six months and cost $300.

I'm sure if I was a large company rather than an individual business that needs to have important data backed up, the drive would be replaced with no questions asked. I own 5 WD drives for a total of 16TB. I will no longer purchase a Western Digital product and will tell everyone I can to avoid WD at all costs.

I would not advice the buy "wd - my book live duo" nas server or probably any nas product from wd company. I assumed that the data on the nas server in the raid1 mode will be safe, because it provides two disks that mirrors data constantly but I was wrong because wd created nas server that if operating system fails the data can't be accessed, copied (Strange linux file system) and all the data will be lost! The wd - my book live duo can crash any time if you have any power failure, or any time you have to reboot the system because to do that you have to disconnect the power cable and wd didn't add power switch! This nas, wd - my book live duo is a waste of money because it provides no data security whatsoever! It's much better to buy two disks and mirror each other under windows! Waste of time and money for wd nas products! Additionally you can't contact the wd customer service because that feature doesn't work "server error in '/' application. " etc.

I bought a WD TV/Media streaming device with CASH. It did not perform as well as I thought it would so I returned it.
The sales person said no problem and wanted my debit or credit card. I asked why and he said that they do not give "cash refunds" and it would be a charge back. Wrong answer! Before returning the device, I read the receipt they gave me and no where on it did it state "no cash refunds" or anything relevant to it.

So this is how I won. I would not take no for an answer and had no problem in wasting this sales person's time as he is wasting mine. He called another sales rep over to read the receipt and the guy was confused to say the least. Then a manager came over and even though he couldn't find the "no cash refund" policy on the receipt, he politely pointed out a sign at the counter.

This is what I told the Manager; "Because my signature is on this receipt, I am now bound by all it's terms - and so are you. The receipt is now the "contract." Only the words on the contract (receipt) are enforceable."

That was it, I got my cash back.

HELLO,
My name is Mihai.
I bought in February this year 15pcs of HDD wester digital capacity 1T. All of them was broken.
In the middle of May I applied for Standard RMA and send the parts to them In Germany.
Months passed, but I didn't get any answers from them.
After i send them a lot of e-mails they answer me, and they told me that they didn't get any HDD from me and they said that I didn't send the HDD.
I send them the prove of sending the HDD and the confirmation from them, that they received the HDD in the end of the May.
They answered me back, and they told me that as soon as possible will resole the case, but not answer from them.

Can some one help me to resolve this problems?
my contact e-mail is [protected]@dhice.ro
Thank you and I wait

I bought my Western Digital Medya Player 1TB on October 2010 and 2 months ago, it was broken down suddenly. I contacted their guaranteed service named Logosoft in Istanbul but I have been told that, it has not been produced any more and the hard disk inside is total loss together with my all personal data. They offered me to return the product and get back the money I paid but unfortunately, I will not be able to buy a new one with that price, so it is not for my benefit. They also told me that they can not repair it but if I pay usd 35+tax, they can upgrade it to the model WDC-WDBNLC0020HBK but they will not re-new the guaranty which will expire on October 2012. This is very illogical as I am not responsible for this failure and on top of that, they will not be able to recover my lost data. I am extremely disappointed with the quality of these products and as far as I can follow from the open forums, there are so many unpleased consumers who bought their products. I am writing this mail from Istanbul, Turkey as I am not able to find any proper channel to file my complaint and not sure if anyone will read that mail. If so, I will be pleased to get some attention from Western Digital and their comments on how to recover my loss to regain my trust to that brand again.
Thanks in Advance
Regards/Banu Batirbek
Maersk Lİne
Saray Mahallesi Dr.Adnan Büyükdeniz Caddesi Akkom Ofis Park 2.Blok No: 4 Kat: 17 Ümraniye - Istanbul- Turkey
Office: +[protected]
Cell :+[protected]
[protected]@gmail.com

Purchased a western digital external hard drive from best buy for 150.00. The disk became corrupted after installing an update that i was prompted to install by the western digital software. Contacted customer support and was told i would be charged to get my data off the hard disk. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND PRODUCTS. I ADVISE EVERYONE TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS BRAND.

I PURCHASED A HARDWARE ON 13.09.2010 FROM SHOP NO.102 ASHIANA HARNIWAS DAKBUNGLOW ROAD PATNA. THE SAME HAS BEEN CORRUPTED AND RETURNED TO SHOP. THEY ASSURED THAT SAME HAS BEEN REPLACED WITHIN 10 DAYS. NOW EVEN AFTER A LAPSE OF 21 DAYS THE SAME HAS NOT BEEN PROVIDED TO ME AND ON ENQUIRY THEY REPLIED AS AND WHEN COMPANY PROVIDE THE ITEM WE WEILL PROVIDE. THEY HAVE NOT TAKEN ANY RESPONSIBILITY.IF ANY QUARRY OR SUGGESTION PLEASE ASK ON [protected]

I purchased the My Book 320 GB Essential Edition External Hard Drive from Target, in September (on sale for $119) as a Christmas Gift. Mistake #1: I never realized Target's receipts EXPIRE!
When the Drive was too much for the computer it was purchased for, and is not useable, I attempted to return it. Target said I was 2 weeks too late, so I had to "contact the manufacturer". Western Digital, as most large companies do, has a room full of outsourced employees, reading from a book and calling themselves things like Chuck or Bill, though able to speak minimal English.
Come to find out, after many calls and emails, Western Digital has a NO RETURN POLICY! I mean NOTHING...no options to pay a restocking fee...NADA!
I was offered a replacement, repairs to the existing drive, or even a different one I might like better but no refund is available!
The folks at Target think it's kind of comical and just snicker behind their hands and the folks at Western Digital won't budge!
I can't even sell this thing on the Internet (obviously others know the policies I was so naive to!)even though it is still in its original box, all the paperwork in tact, and a VERY USELESS WARRANTY!

I bought a WD 250GB laptop drive. After just over 2 months, it failed to boot with a hard drive read error. Attempts to perform standard repair (recovery console, chkdsk /r) failed. Ran Western Digital Diagnostics which claimed the disk had no errors. Laptop continue to halt at boot with same hard drive read error. Notified Western Digital who gave me a tiny discount on a new 320GB hard drive through their Customer Loyalty program (never again) with the provision that the warranty on the 250GB is now void. Received the 320GB laptop drive. Reinstalled Windows, software, etc; hours of work. In less than 3 weeks the 320GB drive failed to boot with the exact same error! Went to Western Digital site and discovered my ONLY OPTION was to PAY MORE for another POS Western Digital drive. GRRRRR. These people are not honest. In my opinion they sell junk and use the fine print to get away with theft. I will NEVER buy WD again AND will enthusiastically inform EVERYONE I KNOW that WD is CRAP.

Dear Sir
We are use the western Digital hard disk but some times do not working because the hard disk not detect on board. So please log my complaint and confirm me this number.
My number is :- [protected]
Product name:- Western Digital/SATA/320 GB
Serial Number:- WMAV2CH84616