Bad Service From Jet Computer Shop At Fortune

[xty]

Just for sharing.

Saturday night I bought an external harddisk enclosure (supports USB & Firewire, "Smart drive" brand) + 200GB 3.5" harddisk from JET computer shop at 3rd floor Fortune IT Mall, Ratchadapisek, Bangkok.

As soon as I get home, after several minutes of using, the enclosure gets very very hot. Apparently I guess it's not because of defective product but the case has no ventilation or exthaust fan. I'm afraid that my harddisk will have a problem, then I turned off.

Sunday afternoon I go to the shop for exchange (with other model with fan. didn't matter if I have to add some money) or refund. Guess what, they don't accept exchange or refund! I didn't break anything and it was not even 24 hours yet!

Ok, one part probably my mistake I didn't think that far, but I'm sure I will NEVER NEVER buy from JET computer shop anymore !

Edited November 6, 2005 by xty

[solo siam]

At the end of the day you have still opened and used the product, and it is not defective in any way. They probably wouldnt be able to resell it so really there is no justification for a refund, would have been nice of them to give you one but I dont blame them for not doing so.

I wouldnt worry too much about the hard drive, it would have to get pretty hot for it to malfunction and broken hard disk drives are very rare.

[Joey Boy]

and broken hard disk drives are very rare.

which brand r u using?

[xty]

At the end of the day you have still opened and used the product, and it is not defective in any way.  They probably wouldnt be able to resell it so really there is no justification for a refund, would have been nice of them to give you one but I dont blame them for not doing so.

I wouldnt worry too much about the hard drive, it would have to get pretty hot for it to malfunction and broken hard disk drives are very rare.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

For external harddisk enclosure (and many other peripherals/accessories), IMO there's no difference between being used (less than 24 hours!) and the new one. It's just a case and all other accessories (cables, CD) remain as new, unless I made a scratch or broke some parts in order to open. So there's no reason they can't resell.

Well, no choice than to buy a new one. I spent the following 6 hours to browse ALL stores in all levels in Fortune IT Mall and then Pantip Plaza to buy new 3.5" enclosure (USB & Firewire WITH fan). And unbelievable, I couldn't find any!

Last desperate effort, I bought a harddisk fan (for PC), hoping that I can figure out to make some ventilation holes on the case, do wiring, and attach the fan to it. It will look silly, but what can I do?

And for the harddisk, if I turn it on for more than one hour, I'm sure I cannot even touch the case. And do you think it's normal? Well, I wouldn't bet on it. Even the shop owner said he can guarantee, well who can guarantee and replace my data when the harddisk fails? Can you?

[lomatopo]

What kind of hard-disk drive did you get? What was the brand of the enclosure? What material is it made out of (aluminum presumably)? How much did the enclosure cost?

There are at least twelve shops in Panthip that sell 5.25" and 3.25" enclosures. You have to look at "accessory" shops. The best cases I've seen there are from SINMAX, although I have not inspected them fully, they do have a fan and a universal AC apapter, internal cabling and hardware. Pries range from 1,100 to 1,800 baht (5.25" enclosures).

General follow-on question: Can you put a SATA drive into an enclosure that only supports ATA?

[xty]

Enclosure: brand "Smart drive", aluminium & plastic (frontside & vertical stand) case, size 3.5", supports USB2 & Firewire, price 1700 Baht (range at some other shops 1600-1750). There's also another version from this brand which only supports USB2 costs 1100-1200 Baht.

Harddisk: Seagate Barracuda 200 GB, IDE/Ultra ATA, 7200rpm, 8MB cache, 4150 Baht.

Total : 1700 + 4150 = 5850 Baht + extra 199 Baht for big-to-small plug firewire cable for laptop (the one included is big-to-big plug for PC).

Yes, believe me, I have searched most of those shops. Either they have:

- 3.5" enclosure with fan but only support USB2 (price range 550-1200 Baht)

- 5.25" enclosure (used for DVD/CD drive) with fan that supports USB2 & Firewire

For first choice, I prefer to use Firewire because my laptop's USB slots are all used by other peripherals (mouse, DSL modem, etc) and I don't want to buy again to use USB hub (more gadgets, more power adapters). For second choice, 5.25" is very big and most of them made by plastic.

And for SATA question, IMO from info on the net, you can NOT place SATA harddisk in IDE enclosure. You need to buy SATA supported enclosure (I doubt you can get here), use SATA cable to connect between SATA plug on enclosure and your PC. Most laptop doesn't support SATA so you can't have them. Well I think you can put your SATA harddisk in SATA enclosure which supports USB2/Firewire interface, but then you will not have all the SATA performance and speed.

FYI, I see in one Pantip shop there's USB2 aluminium enclosure with fan (price 2100 Baht) that supports two IDE harddisks configured as RAID 0. If it supports Firewire also, I would have bought that!

[lomatopo]

xty Thanks for that information. The price on the HDD is good. I do think that the shop should have allowed you to trade-up to a more expensive enclosure provided they had one on hand. Perhaps they didn't have one in stock, and/or misunderstood your request? Sometimes shops do have a no refund/return/exchange policy, and I'd expect them to have a sign indicating that (in Thai minimally, not that I'd understand it, and English optionally).

I am now looking for a similar set-up, to share between a notebook and desktop. USB is ok for me. I am leaning towards this case along with a Seagate 250 GB IDE HDD .

I have a short trip back to the U.S.A. so can purchase there, put it together and try it out, before returning to Thailand. Hopefully I won't get inspected upon arrival as I will have a lot of stuff this trip.

[solo siam]

and broken hard disk drives are very rare.

which brand r u using?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Seagate, WD, Fujitsu

I've probably installed 30+ Hard drives in PC's and I've never seen one break, apart from a laptop one that failed once (I had it installed inside a desktop PC).

Operating temperature should be able to go upto at least 60 degrees Celcius and most modern hard drives have temperature sensors to stop them overheating anyhow.

Buy a NAS drive if your that worried, they come with fans.

[Conan]

Buy a SCSI drive if you are worried about failing HDD's.

No one will warranty a HDD beyond manufacturers warranty, compputer parts in general are too unreliable - never rely on a HDD to hold importsnt info - I have info on 2 HDD's and on a server.

OFF SITE backup do it.

Alos the computer shop was perfectly in their rights not to exchange, the product is working fine and no one else would buy it if it was a return unless the price was dropped dramatically.

I used to get customers come in screaming at me (yes they were physco idiots) that their new laptop was too hot and going to melt, after careful explaination that everything was in perfect working order and that they were designed to run that hot they would want their money back (no way - i made 8% on a laptop, one out of the box looses 30% or more value wether it had been turned on or not)

Think about hte guys in the shop's point of view.

[xty]

I am now looking for a similar set-up, to share between a notebook and desktop. USB is ok for me. I am leaning towards this case along with a Seagate 250 GB IDE HDD .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

IMO US$36.99 that supports USB2 only is a bit expensive. You can get similar type but different brand (aluminium, USB2, with fan) in Pantip/Fortune for as low as 550 Baht or US$13.5

Alos the computer shop was perfectly in their rights not to exchange, the product is working fine and no one else would buy it if it was a return unless the price was dropped dramatically.

I used to get customers come in screaming at me (yes they were physco idiots) that their new laptop was too hot and going to melt, after careful explaination that everything was in perfect working order and that they were designed to run that hot they would want their money back (no way - i made 8% on a laptop, one out of the box looses 30% or more value wether it had been turned on or not)

Think about hte guys in the shop's point of view.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You wouldn't compare the used condition between HD enclosure (less than 24 hours!) and laptop. Off course they are different. You can tell if the laptop has been used or not, especially with branded laptops because once you turn on the laptop it will self install the OS and other stuffs. But external HD enclosure has none to show physically whether it's used or not, unless there's scratch or it's not working anymore.

And anyway I was willing to pay more to exchange with the one I want, but unfortunately they don't have and they don't want to.

Don't get me wrong, it happens many times that the store sells you new products but in fact it has been used (refurbished but sold as new)