PSA: don't buy hard drives from Amazon

[stratokaster]

I ordered two Seagate IronWolf drives from Amazon and they showed up simply tossed into a box, without any padding, freely banging around. I contacted their support and explained the problem. They immediately arranged the return and the guy promised that I will get the replacement drives properly packaged. However, when the package showed up yesterday, there were just two small half-deflated airbags on top of the drives, they were not protected from the sides or from the bottom and banging against each other. So I'm going to return them once again, but this time around I'm going to buy replacements from a responsible supplier.

I'm absolutely sure that Amazon is going to simply restock these drives and send them to the next buyer. It mean there's a chance that if you buy hard drives from Amazon, you will get a drive that was shipped multiple times without any protection. So don't do it, better support your local PC parts store

[Findecanor]

I have never bought anything on Amazon, and I never will. Boycotting them even since the "one-click shopping" patent.

I also won't work for any outfit that uses AWS.

[ZedTheMan]

Sometimes I feel like I'm riding on a bed of coals with my choice of data storage.

My main drive on my PC is a refurbished 3TB Hitachi I bought on Amazon. It was actually packaged securely, and has been working fine for a year and a half now. But I know the writing on the wall. These things were not lightly used. But I'll be damned if it wasn't cheap for the capacity.

[Hypersphere]

I've had almost always a good experience buying through Amazon. Thus far, nothing beats the convenience and most often the prices.

As for hard drives, some time ago, I made the switch to Samsung SSDs, so I don't need to worry much about physical trauma affecting the drives. I use them internally in drive bays and externally in enclosures.

[Muirium]

For what it's worth, the hard drives I've had shipped from them over the years have all been packed as well as any mail order. Been a while, though.

Amazon is definitely evil, and I wouldn't put it past them to be forcing their packers to work so quickly now they don't bother about the basics. Everything is numbers to them: more parcels per worker could have tipped past the cost of returns in their merciless algorithm.

[purdobol]

Normal hard drives aren't as fragile as it seems. Actually they're pretty tough when turned off.
Still it's no excuse to shoddy packaging.

[stratokaster]

For what it's worth, the hard drives I've had shipped from them over the years have all been packed as well as any mail order. Been a while, though.

What makes me particularly livid is that I bought a cutting mat, a toothbrush and a set of rulers from them in December, and they packed this stuff in a hugely oversized box with LOTS of padding. I really don’t know why they have packed hard drives so poorly... two times in a row.

[fohat]

What makes me particularly livid is that I bought a cutting mat, a toothbrush and a set of rulers from them in December, and they packed this stuff in a hugely oversized box with LOTS of padding.

I makes me angry, too, when I see something like a hammer or a football over-packed like it was a precious piece of porcelain, contemplating what it will experience during the remainder of its lifetime.

My feeling is that it is all in the attitude of the packager - at that particular moment. On the other hand, while there is no telling what sort of care or abuse it will feel during its journey, any electronic component should be considered at least somewhat fragile.
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[joedon]

I bought a hard drive from amazon years ago and had no problems. Now I prefer buying from a local store since the price is pretty much the same.