Beware! Fry's selling used Samsung 1TB drives as new. at DVinfo.net

Ken Plotin · October 29th, 2010, 11:17 AM

A heads up for those looking to buy the Samsung 1TB Spinpont drive for editing/storage. These are generally very good editing drives. Unfortunately, the first 1 I bought had data on it. Thought it was a fluke and exchanged it for another...that one had someone's document files and an OS on it. After having them test a few before I took one home, it was discovered that ALL of the drives had data on them(one had 4 partitions on it!) We're not talking about some external drive that clearly states it is: "formatted for PC and has backup software installed".
These are allegedly brand new OEM drives (new meaning unformatted and unpartitioned). Turns out that ALL the Samsung 1TB drives in ALL their stores have this problem, according to the local mgr. in Burbank.
They blame a "third part supplier". However, instead of returning them to the vendor for actual new drives, Fry's is going to erase the data, reformat them, and sell them as new. Yep, you heard right. They are knowingly selling used drives as new.

I contacted Fry's corporate office, but have had no response as yet. I'm not holding my breath.

Hope this saves fellow forum members some grief when shopping for a new drive or 2.

P.S.: I'm not a Fry's basher...I know that they have a less than stellar reputation among some folks, but I have been a customer there since they opened and have probably sourced parts for over a dozen computers from them, with relatively few problems.

Ken

Benjamin Maas · October 29th, 2010, 11:23 AM

That's why I've avoided purchasing so much stuff from Frys in the past couple years. It just gets worse and worse.

Mwave.com is great and if you're in LA, they have one of their main wherehouses in town. It is a bit of a drive to get out to it (Corona), but if they couldn't be nicer to work with and their prices are fantastic...

--Ben

Dean Sensui · October 29th, 2010, 05:46 PM

I buy all my drives from Other World Computing. Great prices. Excellent service.

Ken Plotin · October 29th, 2010, 11:06 PM

UPDATE:
I heard from Fry's corporate office this afternoon and was assured that the drives in question would NOT be sold as new drives or advertised as such. They would most likely be offered as some kind of open box deal.

Gratifying to hear. I'm sure that I wasn't the only customer to complain about it, but at least their playin' by the rules and being responsive.

Ken
the Screen Skins guy

October 29th, 2010, 11:17 AM	#1
Ken Plotin Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 254	Beware! Fry's selling used Samsung 1TB drives as new. A heads up for those looking to buy the Samsung 1TB Spinpont drive for editing/storage. These are generally very good editing drives. Unfortunately, the first 1 I bought had data on it. Thought it was a fluke and exchanged it for another...that one had someone's document files and an OS on it. After having them test a few before I took one home, it was discovered that ALL of the drives had data on them(one had 4 partitions on it!) We're not talking about some external drive that clearly states it is: "formatted for PC and has backup software installed". These are allegedly brand new OEM drives (new meaning unformatted and unpartitioned). Turns out that ALL the Samsung 1TB drives in ALL their stores have this problem, according to the local mgr. in Burbank. They blame a "third part supplier". However, instead of returning them to the vendor for actual new drives, Fry's is going to erase the data, reformat them, and sell them as new. Yep, you heard right. They are knowingly selling used drives as new. I contacted Fry's corporate office, but have had no response as yet. I'm not holding my breath. Hope this saves fellow forum members some grief when shopping for a new drive or 2. P.S.: I'm not a Fry's basher...I know that they have a less than stellar reputation among some folks, but I have been a customer there since they opened and have probably sourced parts for over a dozen computers from them, with relatively few problems. Ken

October 29th, 2010, 11:23 AM	#2
Benjamin Maas Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 150	That's why I've avoided purchasing so much stuff from Frys in the past couple years. It just gets worse and worse. Mwave.com is great and if you're in LA, they have one of their main wherehouses in town. It is a bit of a drive to get out to it (Corona), but if they couldn't be nicer to work with and their prices are fantastic... --Ben __________________ Benjamin Maas • Fifth Circle Audio • Signal Hill, CA http://www.fifthcircle.com

October 29th, 2010, 05:46 PM	#3
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	I buy all my drives from Other World Computing. Great prices. Excellent service. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

October 29th, 2010, 11:06 PM	#4
Ken Plotin Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 254	UPDATE: I heard from Fry's corporate office this afternoon and was assured that the drives in question would NOT be sold as new drives or advertised as such. They would most likely be offered as some kind of open box deal. Gratifying to hear. I'm sure that I wasn't the only customer to complain about it, but at least their playin' by the rules and being responsive. Ken the Screen Skins guy