Need help... WD My Passport new or refurb?

[Eagle 20]

I have been dealing with Western Digital for over two months, but they have blatantly lied over and over again. They stated I would be sent a "Prime (brand new) drive", which the replacement I received over a month ago was refurbished but they lied about it, and I was informed of this when I recently called.

They supposedly have shipped the "Prime" drive, but I do not trust a word they say, not even a little bit! So I am wondering, is there a way to tell if a 2TB My Passport is new or refurbished?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

 

[Brian33]

SMART data will have recorded the total "power on" hours, but:

(a) I suppose the manufacturer may have powered it on for some unknown number of hours for testing, and

(b) it's probably not worth it to you to spend $20 for DriveDx () which is the only way I know of to check the smart data on an external USB drive. Command-line "smartmontools" are free but IIRC the drive must be on the internal SATA bus or a Thunderbolt bus...

 

[Fishrrman]

For warranty returns, you often get a "factory refurb".
Them's the breaks.

In the future, I suggest you buy a "bare" drive (I like HGST and Toshiba), and an enclosure, and "put it together yourself" (some of them just snap together).
My guess is that these days, the 2.5" form factor is all most folks will need.

 

[Eagle 20]

SMART data will have recorded the total "power on" hours, but:

(a) I suppose the manufacturer may have powered it on for some unknown number of hours for testing, and

(b) it's probably not worth it to you to spend $20 for DriveDx () which is the only way I know of to check the smart data on an external USB drive. Command-line "smartmontools" are free but IIRC the drive must be on the internal SATA bus or a Thunderbolt bus...

Please forgive my ignorance here, but are you saying there is really no way of telling?

A few days ago I received a new replacement but the drive and packaging both look different. So now I would really like to verify it is in fact "new", especially after a month of WD flat out lying.

Also, when I view the drive in Disk Utility, next to "S.M.A.R.T. status" it says "Not Supported". Does this make any difference as far as being able to tell whether or not it is new?

For warranty returns, you often get a "factory refurb".
Them's the breaks.

In the future, I suggest you buy a "bare" drive (I like HGST and Toshiba), and an enclosure, and "put it together yourself" (some of them just snap together).
My guess is that these days, the 2.5" form factor is all most folks will need.

Initially I was told I would receive a refurbished drive, but then was told otherwise by a manager. But the same manager has also lied to me since the end of May, and that is something I have absolutely no tolerance for.