Bricked Torqx 256

[languy]

Today my Torqx 256 quietly bricked itself and stopped functioning. The BIOS won't recognize the drive at all. I hooked the unit up to another computer to run the firmware update routine. (side note: Patriot, your upgrade process sucks! Some people don't have two computers available. You simply cannot upgrade the firmware on a Torqx without two computers.) The firmware update tool sees the drive and attempts to update it. After about 5 minutes it fails with a "Bad Parameter" error.

So I called support. Left a message. (Another side note. Has anyone ever called for support when there wasn't "unusually high call volume"? Doesn't this make the unusual, usual?) After 2 hours a Patriot technician confirmed my drive is history. Tells me I will get a "technical reference number."

The TRN arrives 4 hours later. I fill it out and get another email telling me to wait 24 hours for an RMA. 5 hours later I get an RMA number. Patriot then informs me that it will take 10 business days plus shipping time to replace the drive. Also I have to pay the return shipping charges.

I have to package the unit and pay for shipping back to Patriot. WHY? Is it my fault I was sold a defective device? Why can't those responsible for selling broken, inferior merchandise be forced to pay all the costs to make it right? The warranty says NOTHING about freight charges. I am about to throw down a Jackson or so to send this back to Patriot. I didn't agree to this when I bought the drive.

Finally it looks like my computer will be down for three weeks. I don't have any other disk drive for this machine. Every hard disk manufacturer I can think of will offer an advance replacement. Some will even issue a call tag for the defective unit. Seagate will advance ship me a $59 hard disk. They will also advance ship an $1800 hard disk. Patriot won't advance ship period.

So the SSD I spent so much money on is dead. Rather than apologizing and doing everything possible to make it right I am practically left to fend for myself. I have to pay the charges to send it back. I have to wait AT LEAST 10 business days. Even if I pay to overnight the drive to Patriot, they won't match the shipping type. Everything goes ground. Even if I overnight the drive, there is at least a 5 DAY TURN AROUND. (Must have a lot of returns to take that long to turn around, huh? Wonder why that is?) That is assuming Patriot has any product to ship out. The only time I sent something in to Patriot for repair it took over a month because no product was available.

I think they make it as difficult as possible on purpose. If it were a less expensive product, I might just toss it rather than put up with this convoluted mess. Wonder who benefits from that?

So. NO apology for selling a defective product. NO advance replacement to minimize the downtime. NO reimbursement for shipping and handling charges.

By the way, Patriot, the contradictions in your warranty terms and conditions may give you some legal trouble. Your warranty page says that ALL SSD devices have a 2 year warranty. The product page for the Torqx models (you know the one that people look at when they are researching a purchase?) shows 10 years. The actual box says 10 years (in big bright orange lettering) as well. However, the instruction card INSIDE the box says only 2 years. Patriot, I am demanding a written clarification of the warranty.

Patriot, where is your pride? Where is your desire to do the right thing? Can you stick it to me and make me wait, charging me for the privilege? Of course you can; and you are. Can you make me like it and want to do business with you in the future? Well, not so much, no.

[swissphoenix]

my ssd card died after 2 weeks, i brought it back to the store where i buy it so they will handle the shipping cost and everything. i am really not happy with the card and hope the replacement will work longer than 2 weeks ( wonder when i get it). i gues there is a whole serie of the production that will not work because in the smal store i got mine where alredy 3 people returning the ssd card for the same reason

[Patriot_Ben]

Dear languy,

I'm sorry for any inconveniences this has caused you. Do you mean 2 hdd's for firmware upgrade? Yes, the firmware requires 2 x hdd's (not 2 computers). Regarding 'high volume of calls,' we answer all calls in the order they are received. There might be a high volume due to people trying to get their issues straightened out before the Holidays. We are closed the 25th in observance of Christmas and again on January 1st for new years.

Our terms of rma are outlined in the RMA process page. We urge customers to understand this beforehand: http://www.patriotmemory.com/support/rmap.jsp. If you are within 30 days at an E-tailor like Newegg, you can usually ship the drive back to them. A lot of companies handle their RMA in the same manner.

The Torqx drives carry a 10 year warranty, which differed from our older drives. That is why the warranty page is outdated. We should be updating the warranty page rolling into 2010 as it gets updated every year.

Sincere Regards,
Ben

[languy]

If your only machine is a notebook with a single SATA connections (which is most notebooks) you will need a second system to upgrade the drive. The updating tool won't find the drive on a USB connection. It also requires a second machine if you don't happen to have another hard disk lying around to load windows on JUST to update the firmware. Unless, of course, you feel like spending even more money to get the product you've already paid for to work right.

In order to upgrade the firmware on a torqx SSD you have to:

1. back the thing up
2. Install another hard disk to boot from
3. load windows on this hard disk
4. install the jumper on the torqx to flash the firmware
5. flash the firmware
6. remove the other hard disk
7. remove the jumper
8. restore your operating system (cross your fingers)

Whew! Lets be realistic here. The upgrade to support the features I expect from this product will take me nearly a day. I have to spend somewhere between 4 and 8 HOURS of my time. That's if nothing goes wrong. The OCZ drive (which appears to be identical) can be updated without erasing everything on it. The firmware appears identical, it even has the same version number from indilinx who, as the manufacturer of the drive, is the one writing the updates.

I have been without my computer for 9 days now. I sent an email to support and RMA on Monday. I got a response very late Wednesday claiming the drive would ship today. But I was also told the the replacement would be "hand tested" and shipped out as soon as Patriot could verify my tracking info. That was last wednesday. Here it is a week later and the drive hasn't shipped. Heck, it has been at Patriot since Monday. This isn't reasonable service. It may be what is shown on your web site, but that doesn't make it reasonable. Just as making the users pay to send back faulty product isn't reasonable either. It maybe Patriot's policy, but it isn't right. Toyota will tow my car to the shop and pay for it on a warranty repair. HP will send me a new printer and pay to send the old one back. Samsung will send a technician to my house at no cost to me to repair a TV that costs less than this SSD did. Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital and Samsung will overnight a replacement disk IN ADVANCE. Whether the drive costs $59 or $1800 the policy is the same. Even if I didn't ask for advance replacement, a replacement drive would be shipped the day the defective one was received. It would also be sent back using the same method that was used to send it in. If I paid for overnight freight I would get the drive returned overnight. According to your RMA people, everything Patriot ships back is ground. There's 5 more days minimum. By the way, that ISN'T specified on the support page.

So, assuming the 256GB Torqx is in stock in your RMA warehouse, my "hand tested" SSD will be shipped tomorrow by ground. That means another week of downtime. This is assuming the part is in stock. I've heard rumors that the 256GB Torqx is scarce right now so I could be waiting even longer

I appreciate your response. I would have responded sooner, but I had no idea that the post had been moved. I'm not sure this forum is the proper place but that is your call not mine. I really honestly expected better service on such an expensive part. Normally I would toss a defective part aside and replace it; saving the warranty headache for another day. This part is just too stinking expensive.

I could not have a customer down this long. They can't afford it, neither can I.

As far as verifying the RMA procedures before buying, I don't recall seeing them posted at Frys when I bought the drive. The box says a 10 year warranty. It doesn't say anything about paying for shipping back to Patriot or that the RMA process will take weeks to replace the drive. Besides, lets be honest about a ten year warranty. Ten years ago the hot hard disk for desktops was a 6GB PATA drive. If I had one of these fail today, I wouldn't bother with the warranty. Heck 8GB USB flash drives can be had for $39 now. In ten years this part will look just as antiquated as a 6GB drive does now.