I was immediately suspicious of the box when I saw it.
It looked like the security tape had been lifted and then reapplied as can be seen in the photo I included with this review.
This was an item sold and shipped by Amazon.
I went online to watch unboxing videos of the same product so that I might be able to spot signs of a fake product when I opened it.
I called Amazon and verified that I could return the product for a refund even if opened and then took an unboxing video of it while on the phone with an Amazon rep.
I couldn't tell from looking at the drive or the rest of the packaging that anything was wrong with it.
I told the Amazon rep that I would check with Samsung the next next day to see if they could verify if it as an authentic Samsung serial number and as a new product.
I expressed my concern that even if it was a Samsung product that it might be used and I would never have any way of knowing. Or even if I could tell it was used after I installed it I would then be in the position of having to uninstall the drive in order to return it.
The Amazon rep told me that if anything was wrong with the product that Amazon would issue a refund without requiring me to return it if it was already installed in my computer.
Samsung verified the serial number the next day as being authentic and said that I could even tell if it had been used before as well by using their magician software program.
I thought the only way I would be able to detect if it was used was if there was old data on it left by someone else but Samsung said their software could detect if the drive had been written on before.
The catch is that that software can only be used to diagnose a drive after it has been installed internally to a direct SATA connection. Their software couldn't diagnose the drive through an HDMI connection to an external dock unfortunately.
Based on it having an authentic Samsung serial number, the assurance by Samsung that their software could detect both fake and used products and the assurance by the Amazon rep that I could receive a return-less refund if needed I went ahead and had the drive installed.
I figured the worst case scenario would be that it was a fake and/or non functional drive and I would have to take it out again immediately, the best case scenario was that it was a new and working Samsung drive and the in between scenario would be an authentic but used Samsung drive.
It turned out to be a used drive. It had been wiped and reformatted but it had been written to before.
I called Samsung back and told them the drive was verified as used and expected a refund. At first the rep refused any refund and then said I would only receive a refund if I uninstalled the drive and sent it back.
I told them that was fine with me if they were willing to pay for both the installation and the uninstallation fees charged by a computer repair shop.
The Amazon rep of course refused either option so I directed him to get a suprivisor on the call and then played the recording of the conversation I had with the Amazon rep the day before....I got my refund immediately.
The big lesson here is to record the unboxing of any expensive items you buy, especially if the packaging looks tampered with or damaged.
Another lesson is to record your phone calls with Amazon reps or with any customer service person if you are calling up with an issue.
I learned a few things about this product and Amazon throughout this process.
These QVO Samsung drives store four bits of info per solid state cell. Most consumer SSD drives store only three and some expensive special purpose ones store just one.
These drives have a shorter life spans than three bits per cell drives and handle having large amounts of data written to them at slower speeds than three bits per cell drives. They should be cheaper as a result but often aren't.
Amazon has no way of tracking where a product comes from even if it was sold and shipped by them.
Amazon just puts all the Samsung 1TB 870 QVO drives into a bin regardless of whether or not Amazon bought them from Samsung directly themselves or they were supplied to Amazon by a third party seller.
Unless its an Amazon branded product that no one sells on Amazon but Amazon (Amazon basics, 365 Foods, etc) they have no way of knowing where it originally came from even if it is “sold and shipped by Amazon”.
Buyer beware.
| Hard Drive | Solid State Hard Drive |
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