ebay hard drive purchase

[roscoe46]

Mods, if this in the wrong section, my apologies in advance.
OK, heres my story. I've recently been gathering parts to build my new PC which is now
up & running.
For my hard drive I bid & won an ebay auction for a WD 320 gig drive, used, but in pristine
condition. Everything is done on the build, trying to load XP Pro & the drive won't formatt.
I contacted the seller & he faxed me a copy of the proof of purchase receipt, so that hopefully
I can get it warrantied by WD.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. I messaged the seller via ebay for more info & was told
that the drive was OEM with no software, owners manual or SATA cable & that he paid over
$150.00 for it. Well. guess what??!!! , the receipt says the drive was a retail boxed version, just
like the new drive I purchased this week that had software, manual & cables, & the receipt
CLEARLY SHOWS that he really only paid $99.99. He also stated that the drive was only used for
2 months & yet he bought it in June '06; I wonder what the drive had been doing for the rest
of the time he had it.
I've always had good experiences on ebay up until this point, but I'm beginning to think this seller
may've sucker-punched me on this deal since his receipt seems to tell a vastly different story than
his listing.
Now, even though I do welcome all comments & feedback, let's be serious on this one, guys. Do
you think I should report these facts to ebay & get my money back or just take this one
on the chin & move on & hope that maybe WD will step up & do a warranty on this thing.
Actually, I kinda think I should get a 2fer deal on this , my money back & the drive replaced also,
but that's just my opinion.
Anyway, look forward to your comments.

roscoe46 AKA Alfred

[RickyTick]

I would definately report it to Ebay along with giving the seller very bad feedback. Get your money back and buy the WD SE16 Caviar from newegg. The 500gb is under $100, and the new 640gb is only $120.

[Lerxt]

Granted, there could be other reasons why your HDD isn't formatting. However, that eBay vendor might have done the old "bait and switch" on you.

Best thing to do in the future (for those of you interested) - make sure you see a picture of the unit's serial number (to verify that you get what you paid for) and manufacture date (to verify "newness"). The Mfg. Date may not tell you when he/she bought it, but it would give you an indication of a problem if it was made in 2006 vs. Late 2007 or even Jan/08. Check out OEM drives from some of the local retailers in your area and see how long ago they were manufactured - I would expect the inventory to be quite new and thus someone selling a used one that's practically new wouldn't be able to hide the fact that it was made in 2006.

Above all else, even if the drive were two months old, it could have been put through a lot - let's not forget bad sectors, etc. that might not show up to the novice user who doesn't run a full check disk.

Sorry for the rant, but unless it's new (retail or OEM) or "used" from a reputable vendor (i.e. open box deals at BestBuy) don't waste your time and money.