Warranties May Not Apply Outside the U.S.

When my 250GB Western Digital EIDE internal hard drive died on me while still under warranty, I applied for an RMA (return merchandise authorization) on the company's Web site in order to have it replaced. However, after I entered the drive's serial number and my country of residence (Canada), Western Digital said that the drive was "out of region" because I had purchased it while on vacation in Florida last winter. The company has refused to honor the warranty because of this circumstance, although I have written to Western Digital four or five times. I bought the drive in good faith--do you have any suggestions about what I can do to change this policy?

Maurice Ledoux, St. Paul de Joliette, Quebec

OYS Responds: Companies such as Western Digital that sell worldwide often strike deals to have third parties distribute and service their products in other countries, but those third parties are not responsible for servicing the same products bought elsewhere--"out of region."

When Ledoux entered a Canadian address along with the serial number of a drive that he had purchased in the United States, Western Digital's Web site essentially identified his drive as a so-called gray-market product--that is, a product purchased outside the country or market for which it was intended, usually at a discount (even though this was not true in Ledoux's case).

After we contacted Western Digital, the company sent Ledoux a refurbished drive as a replacement, with a new one-year warranty for Canada.

To avoid problems like Ledoux's, we strongly recommend buying products in the country where you'll be using them, as warranties for many tech products are good only in their intended market.

Yahoo's Catch-22

Reader Jim Nolt of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, wrote us saying that, in autumn last year, Yahoo had--without notice--deleted both the e-mail account he had used for six years and a Yahoo Groups message board he had maintained for four years that was devoted to the late actor George Reeves, star of the 1950s TV series The Adventures of Superman.

When Nolt asked Yahoo why he was cut off, the company told him only that he had violated the terms of service--but not exactly how he had done so. "I do not believe I violated any terms of service, but if I did, I should like to know which one," Nolt wrote.

After we contacted Yahoo, Nolt heard from a Yahoo customer service representative who offered to help restore the message board under a new user ID--but the rep could not shed any light on why his accounts had been deleted, or help him retrieve any of his e-mail messages. Nolt has since migrated to Gmail and Google Groups.

Meanwhile, Yahoo spokesperson Terrell Karlsten responded to our e-mail queries by saying that she could not discuss details of Nolt's case and adding only that Yahoo encourages its users to read its terms of service carefully, "so they fully understand what activity is and is not permitted."

Bottom line: If you trust your e-mail and message boards to Yahoo, and they suddenly disappear, there seems to be no guarantee the company will enlighten you (or anyone else) on what it is that you are supposed to have done wrong.