Buyers beware of fraudulent hard drive seller on Amazon and Newegg

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Teemsan

Teemsan

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Dec 30, 2012
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I posted a long thread yesterday regarding the return of two drives yesterday, but I wanted to create a separate thread to warn buyers of a fraudulent seller.

The seller is named Aero Malls and they are selling on Amazon and Newegg.

Here is an example listing of their WD Blue drive on Amazon. Notice it says the drive is covered by a 2-Year manufacturer limited warranty. That is completely false. It is also false for the sale of their Seagate drives.

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If you attempt to do a regular return to Amazon within the 30 day return windows the item will show as non-returnable. Period. There is not return window on the product at all.

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If you attempt to check for warranty or register the drives at Western Digital you will be unable to do so as the warranty is void.

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I phoned Western Digital, spoke to a rep, and they have said that the seller is not authorized for Retail or OEM, and WD called them a “fraudulent” seller.

Andy at WD followed up with this email:

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WD opened an incident report with me and are currently trying to have the seller removed from Amazon.

When I reported the incident to Amazon, they said they are going to conduct an investigation also.

For the moment they are still a seller on Amazon so unless you want a drive with zero ability to return and zero warranty, then do not buy from this fraudulent seller.

btw, I decided to check if Aero Malls also sells on Newegg. They do. I asked on one of their listings if they were an authorized seller of Seagate products and they responded “All our Seagate HD is purchased from Seagate Authorized Distributor and cover by Seagate Warranty.”

However when I contacted Seagate, Zach from Seagate said: “Aero Malls Inc is not an authorized reseller” Seagate would not honor any warranty from Aero Malls

Buyer berware

 
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Just a couple of points here:

1. I don't believe the seller designs that Amazon listing - with the way Amazon works being a "standard" listing for a product, and various sellers available.

2. I don't think "fraudulent" is the correct word here. Misleading perhaps, but not outright fraud. You did receive your items?

3. I wonder how WD or Seagate track their product chain. If I bought a drive used, that was sold through the "correct" channels and it hadn't been registered, there's a pretty good chance I could claim warranty - provided it's within the period. Technically, I wouldn't then have purchased from either an authorized distributor or reseller....


I'm not a lawyer, but looking at both WD and Seagate's warranty policy, I'm not sure how legal those policies are.
Ultimately, what they're saying is, that if a product bears their name, but was sold to (let's say) Dell, for inclusion in a pre-built desktop - the drive is Dell's responsibility.

While I'm not a lawyer, I work in Insurance and see a bit of a disconnect there. If, for example, their product (HDD) exploded inside a Dell desktop (and it could be proven, of course) - that PR nightmare, legally, sits with the Drive Manufacturer.

Not an apples to apples comparison, but I'm not 100% convinced they can disconnect from their product as simply as that - even if it is from a warranty perspective.

Would likely take someone fighting it, which isn't the purpose of this thread - just my $0.02 on the matter.



And this ^.

It's possible the drives shipped to their destination (Dell etc) >2 years ago. The warranty isn't so much "void" as "expired".
 
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Nevertheless, I purchase a drive with that seller providing that listing.



First, I'm quoting Western Digital. They called the seller fraudulent, I tend to agree. Yes I did receive my drives, but the seller is claiming to be an authorized seller for both WD and Seagate, and claiming to offer a warranty that doesn't exist.. That is imo, fraudulent.



So then technically I should be saying "don't buy from this seller unless you have the money to hire a legal team "? If WD or Seagate say they won't honor a warranty - whether it's because it's void or improperly tracked on the product chain or from a non OEM seller - then what's my recourse? Hire a lawyer? I mean is that the new consideration for buying drives .... make sure you have good legal representation.

WD called them fraudulent. I don't think that's incorrect.
 
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Correct, but apparently only if they are purchased from an authorized reseller. If not, then there is no warranty
 
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Further ...

I contacted Aero Malls on Newegg before I had any inkling of who they were, because a Barracuda 4 TB drive (ST4000DM005) showed only a 1 year warranty
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822179009

Aero Malls responded back that
"Thank you for your contact.

All our Seagate HD is purchased from Seagate Authorized Distributor and cover by Seagate Warranty. This information is provided by Newegg. We will request Newegg to correct it.

If you have any other question, please feel free contact us anytime.

Thanks
Aero Malls Inc."

So them saying they will contact Newegg to correct implies that they agree ... the listing is incorrect and it should say 2 years.

However Zach from Seagate was clear that they wouldn't honor a warranty from Aero Malls.

In this way Aero Malls is intentionally misleading people. When I confronted Aero Malls with all the evidence ... that is their statements, screenshots, the emails from Seagate, Newegg, and WD, and I asked them to explain, and tell me how they planned to honor the "2 year manufacturer warranty", they responded

"Thank you for your comments. Your opinion are always important to us.

Best regards,

Customer Support Team
Aero Malls Inc."

I wrote a simpler email and just asked them to point blank explain. What I got was

"Thank you for your comments. Your opinion are always important to us.

Best regards,

Customer Support Team
Aero Malls Inc."

They can't explain, because they know they are in the wrong. They are a fraudulent seller
 
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You did. All I'm saying is the misleading nature may well be more of Amazon's issue than the seller's.



1. They did, doesn't mean you should. Technically, that could be deemed defamation.
2. I don't see anywhere in your post (maybe it's on one of the websites, I haven't checked) where they claim to be an "authorized seller".

Might be more misinformation that outright lies (albeit they result in the same end-result).

Fraudulent:
obtained, done by, or involving deception, especially criminal deception.
unjustifiably claiming or being credited with particular accomplishments or qualities.

Again, could be misinformation. Intentional/criminal deception is hard to prove.



Technically, yes, that's likely more along the lines of what you should be saying.

Honestly, I don't see how it's any different that buying a drive from anywhere else. Even if you bought it from an authorized seller, if Seagate or WD decide they're not honoring a warranty, what would you do?

Should it be the "new" consideration for buying a drive? No. Absolutely not.
Nothing "new" about it though, when buying a product, do your homework. IIRC, you only really looked into this seller after the drives were shipped in questionable packing materials? As I mentioned yesterday, FBA (fulfilled by Amazon), the shipping is on them and not the seller - and they refunded you 100%?

You ended up with free HDDs that in all likelihood, have no valid warranty. I'm not seeing a problem (in your specific case).

The time to do your homework on warranty/the seller etc is before you purchase.




I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I would suggest you just stick to the fact WD said that and avoid outright claiming it yourself.




Just to be clear, I'm not condoning what's happened with your purchase. Yes, the Amazon listing would imply there's a warranty, which the manufacturer has confirmed there not to be. I'm merely suggesting you attribute 'blame' in the appropriate direction.

The listing itself and the inadequate packing materials are on Amazon.

The seller themselves are not doing anything "wrong", technically. They should definitely be clearer about the (potential) lack of warranty in some cases...... but I don't feel that makes them fraudulent.




Again, misinformed or a misunderstanding does not equal fraudulent. That's all I'm saying.

They should definitely clarify their position with Seagate/WD and learn from the experience, I don't disagree there.
 
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Did you see the 'packing' from his original thread?
"inadequate" is being kind.
 
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I did. Inadequate is, admittedly, an understatement.

That;'s on Amazon though, they took it from their warehouse, packed and shipped it. That's not on the seller.
 
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Just the other day, I received a rather expensive part from Amazon.
Sold by XX, fulfilled by Amazon.

It arrived, with a couple of cracks in the non-structural body of the thing.
Before Amazon even registered that it had been delivered, I had the return labels printed and started the refund process. And it was at the UPS store to go back. Was delivered to them today.

If I had been told I had to wait over a week to start the refund process? Not a chance!

Once the refund comes back, I fully intend to buy another one. We'll see how the next one ships.
But how this drive thing was handled was completely out of line.
 
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I'm not seeing a problem with Amazon doing their due diligence either. As a matter of fact they've been exceptional. I even singled them out for praise in my post yesterday. My problem is with a fraudulent seller on Amazon.

I created a second post here to alert people to that fact, You decided to mention the refund from yesterday ... for .... what reason??? Where was I claiming anywhere that it was a problem in my case or that i was unsatisfied with that result from Amazon?

I'm not sure of the relevance ,... it just sounds like your case building for whatever reason, I'm not sure.
 
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Yeah, I've had some experiences with them too - but customer service/refund/returns etc are usually pretty good.
Their packaging appears go from one extreme to another;
1. boxes and peanuts/paper, inside boxes and peanuts/paper for a $10 item.
2. a bit of paper and an oversized box for a $100+ item.

Not very sure what they're thinkgin.



I'd agree, Amazon should do their due diligence too.
Their customer service is second to none IMO.

Again, I'm not disagreeing that the seller should be more transparent, or should do more homework - I'm simply giving my opinion that I believe fraudulent is a bit of a stretch.

As for my mentioning of Amazon, that was to point to your timing of your own homework.
IIRC, you only really looked into this seller after the drives were shipped in questionable packing materials? As I mentioned yesterday, FBA (fulfilled by Amazon), the shipping is on them and not the seller - and they refunded you 100%?
Click to expand...

So, hypothetically, if these drives had arrived, packaged as you'd expect - would you have even thought then to research the seller?

I posted that to highlight *when* to do your homework. It's not once there's an issue, it's before you buy.
 
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Aero Mall s are the ones misleading and misrepresenting who they are and what they are offeirng. Given opportunities to explain that, they wouldn't. They still won't. Asked a simpel question such as "who do i contact to claim the 2-Year manufacturer limited warranty", they have no reply. .... Think about that. If it was a mistake, they can say "It's a mistake" But their response has been and continues to be "Thank you for your comments. Your opinion are always important to us." At least Amazon stood up to it, took responsibility for their part of it - not Aero Malls part - and made good. Aero Malls did not. If the seller is intentionally misleading people on Amazon and Newegg, that is on the seller, not Amazon or Newegg.

 
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Hmm, I'm curious if you ever got around to testing the drive and running an HDD health check.
I think they sold you a "refurbished" hard drive, and amazon... listed it as new. It's certainly sold "OEM" style, but that wouldn't mean it shouldn't have a warranty.

Like I see a posting for the same model on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Western-Digital-Internal-Hard-Drive-Blue-WD40EZRZ-4TB-3-5-5400-RPM-64MB-/222446492567

And well they didn't cover the serial number, so I looked up the warranty status and it says it's a "My Book" which is an external WD storage option.
So... Maybe people are pulling these out of used/discarded external drives and reselling them.

 
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Yes. One of the first things I do with a new product is to go to a manufacturer's site to register the products for warranty purposes. In this case, it was clear from the first serial #'s I entered, that there was a problem.
 
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At the time I posted that response, you hadn't shared the response(s) from Aero where the claim to have sourced from legit sources.

The "listing" is the stock Amazon listing - when Aero are sold out, that add remains, another seller fulfills.

I'm not saying the seller isn't questionable, they're certainly not doing themselves any favors - as JM pointed out, they may even have drives that are not even from OEM systems, but from external products.
 
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I'm doing that now. Drive 1 is 6 hrs 29 mins into the WD diagnostics extended test ... only 49 mins to go :)
So far it's showing a pass, but I'll keep ya posted on the outcome
 
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I'm curious what homework you suggest I do?

If I go to purchase a drive off of Amazon and I see the following listing showing a "2 year manufacturer warranty"

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and the seller's rating looks like this:

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what other *homework* would you do? Is there some way I could have acquired those serial #'s before I purchased the drive?
 
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Personally? Not a lot. But I would have no issues fighting with Amazon in the event of a warranty problem being denied.

A look at the warranty terms for either WD or Seagate, confirming that you need to purchase from an authorized distributor or reseller, and confirming whether or not this seller is an "authorized" anything, would likely have given you the relevant info before making the purchase.

FWIW, the "bare drive" packaging, appears to be what you'd get from Newegg or anybody else too.
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822235011&cm_re=4TB_Western_Digital_Blue-_-22-235-011-_-Product
Bare Drive
Click to expand...

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822235064&cm_re=4TB_Western_Digital-_-22-235-064-_-Product
Bare Drive
Click to expand...

So, perhaps all 4TB drives are sold OEM-style...... I wonder if any would have a valid warranty - if their intended uses were OEM.
 
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I recently bought 4 x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf drives.
"Ships from and sold by Amazon.com."
"Limited Warranty 3 years "
 
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Each in its own box, with the plastic holders/spacers, inside of an Amazon box of proper size. Whether it was a single drive or two drives.

Not just the drive in a plastic bag, tossed in the bottom of a box WAY too big.
 
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This was the first time that happened to me. Newegg has always packaged my drives well, retail or bare, in an appropriate size box, with decent packing. So has Amazon until this incident. But big kudos to them for stepping up and making it right.

btw, both drives passed the WD diagnostics extended tests.
 
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You're right, that would have been the best course to take. You're also right that if push came to shove then Amazon should stand behind the warranty on the listing. I'm also currently trying to get Amazon to change how they list. (yah, good luck I know)

What's happened since reporting this also at Newegg is that Newegg has removed Aero Malls as the default listing on the WD Blue of varying capacities and now Aero Malls is relegated to the margin where you have to select them manually. But here's the thing and this is my real gripe ...

If you note, the new Aero Mall's listing for the 4 TB Drive that Newegg created still includes in the listing that it has a "2-year manufacturer limited warranty"

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9H54AU8116&ignorebbr=1

So now that this is separated from the Newegg WD Blue listings of other capacities, I made an inquiry with Aero Malls on that listing - only the 4 TB WD Blue.

I asked through Newegg's internal message system:

"Can I register this 4 TB Blue with Western Digital to take advantage of the 2-year manufacturer limited warranty in the listing?"

Aero Malls responded back:

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So a reminder Barty1884, this is after all the evidence has been presented to Aero Malls on Amazon the past two days .... including screenshots of the failed registration; reg #'s provided to them directly so they could go and see for themselves; and clear, direct and unambiguous communication from WD saying that Aero Malls is not authorized and WD will not honor a manufacturer warranty for those drives.

So currently, on Amazon, confronted with all that evidence, and asked simply and clearly "How can I claim the 2 year manufacturer warranty on these drives?" - Aero Malls has now gone silent. Yesterday they answered my question with "Thank you for your comments. Your opinion are always important to us", but now they simply refuse to answer on Amazon. I asked on Amazon again today and they've gone silent ... but on Newegg they are telling me something else. (probably not knowing I am the same person)

 
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Hey all,

I've read this whole thread carefully and find it rather interesting.

Not being a lawyer I don't want to volunteer an opinion regarding who is at fault here, Amazon/Newegg or Aero Malls.
Although comparing company sizes and taking into consideration the potential loss of reputation involved, I wouldn't put my money on Aero Malls.

As a consumer, I will make sure to stay away from Aero Malls. There are literally hundreds of sellers offering storage devices, and saving a little money (if indeed Aero Malls is cheaper) is not worth taking the chance of buying a product without warranty. Not to me, at least.

Cheers,
Gaius
 
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