Got a satisfactory resolution when I called back and they waived the $35US fee because it was dead out of the box.
Apparently, due to free trade and export laws, the US makes me/you agree not to use the hard drives for any nefarious purposes like WMDs. Yes, they read out a statement and asked me to confirm that I wouldn’t use it for guided missile systems.
Ahh export regulations.
I know what I’d ask, mind you - “Is it okay if I’m a game designer and I’m using it to store data for a virtual guided missile?”
(Why yes, I’m quite sure I’m on those watchlists, like 99.9% of game designers :) )
Oh Fuck.
I just realised my NAS is a ticking time bomb. Just had another drive failure, been having a few lately. Guess what brand and size. Yep, Seagate 3TB ST3000DM001’s.
I am a damn idiot for not realising sooner and even more stupidly continuing to replace old drives with them.
4/16 drives are Seagate 3TB’s. One of those just failed and one of the others is the parity drive (though an older incarnation that has proven reliable to date).
Looks like I have some work over the next week to get them ripped an replaced with anything but Seagate.