Computer Alliance

I bought a LaCie Rugged 5TB HDD for AU$219 on 3rd December 2021 from Computer Alliance through amazon.com.au. At the time of purchase, I didn’t realise I was buying from a third party seller.

Upon connecting the HDD to my MacBook Pro 2020, I started backing up data. It started clicking hard (what's known as the Click of Death in the industry) when it started copying a file between 1 & 3GB. I unplugged it to avoid any further damage, reconnected it and the file was no longer being recognised on the Mac. I tried a couple of times but had no luck. Fortunately, my son has a Windows Laptop and I plugged it into that, the system immediately recognised it as a corrupted volume and suggested formatting it. I clicked on Format and it showed another error while trying to format it in NTFS (I have Paragon NTFS on my Mac so running it wouldn't be a problem).

I then tried formatting it as exFAT and it worked. I then connected it to my Mac and it started working again, as soon as it started copying larger files, same problem. I didn't have time to run extensive tests on it so I went back to Amazon and requested a refund, this is when I realised I had bought it from a third party seller "Computer Alliance", my confidence level just dropped, however as I needed a backup ASAP, so I bought another HDD.

Despite detailing the issue, that the problem only occurred on my MacBook Pro 2020, the seller didn't refund my money in full, deducting over 10% for no reason from an AU$219 product, $22.00.

1. The product did not operate as advertised.
2. I was neither consulted, nor advised prior to the partial refund being processed.

The seller is hiding behind BS 'fine-print'. I half-expected this to happen when I realised I had bought something from a 3rd Party instead of Amazon directly.

Bottom line is, the product didn't work as advertised, was returned in original packaging to the seller who could (and most definitely would) get credit from their supplier in full and pocket the balance of my money.

Pathetic!