Elements 500Gb drive user experience

This may be a great drive but I have no idea how it works. The included software doesn’t run and it’s a 30 day trial anyway. WHAT A RIPOFF! The instructions consist of two diagrams showing how to plug in a USB cable and that’s it. Then the page folds out and has 24 different version of the guarantee in different languages. NO INSTRUCTIONS WHATSOEVER!

Calling support is worse than useless, the first one told me to go to the WD product download page and download the software, but when I got there,it said there ARE NO downloads for this product. The next one told me how to get the software running and insisted that I didn’t have to pay for it, that it was only the Pro version you had to pay for, yet when I finally got it started it looped into the “Try Trial for 30 Days” screen. And the WD site is a hot mess of useless stuff that looks like it’s been organized by a deranged neurotic.Drop-downs popping up every time you move the cursor, blocking what you’re trying to read. Terrible!

The only way you know if the product is on, if it’s even alive much less doing anything, is a light on the front, nothing on the screen, no icon on the desktop or in the tray, nothing. I finally gave up on the WD software, it just looped to the same screens over and over, and I went to the Windows stuff. It’s running apparently but I have no idea what it’s doing. Wonderful UX you got there, WD!

I got this drive because of the recent reliability tests which showed WD as excellent but this is the worst, most user-hateful, opaque, confounding, perplexing, frustrating user experience I’ve ever had.And I’ve installed dozens of devices on numerous computers starting with Apple IIs with dos and PCs with Window 3.1. The lack of instructions is amazing, nothing in the box, nothing even ON the box and nothing on the site. It is almost as if WD does not want retail consumers, no…    it’s worse than that. It is as if Western Digital has nothing but contempt for ordinary retail customers. I can’t wait to finish this so I can get to the Amazon page and trash this product and Western Digital’s customer service to **bleep** and back. 

Hi btraven, sorry for any confusion, but note that the Element drives are meant to be simple plug and use devices, meaning that you can connect the USB cable to your computer and start to copy or move your files, just like with any other USB memory. The Element drives are only compatible with the PRO version of Smartware since they don’t have native support for this application. Only the My Book and Passport line are compatible with the free version.

You’re missing the point entirely.

How is anyone expected to know that from the materials provided with the device? I notice that WD doesn’t skimp on the words in the guarantee–in 24 different languages, I might add–why couldn’t they use a few to say what you just said. Why just two childish diagrams instead of a couple dozen words? 

The other point is that I had TWO wrong answers from Customer Service. That’s not just unhelpful, it’s anti-helpful. Is customer service that low a priority?

WD did a terrible job of informing the customer about the device and a worse job of customer service.That’s nothing but comtempt for the customer. “If they don’t like it, tough. Let 'em figure it out on their own. As a matter of fact if they waste our time and money calling Customer Service, let’s give 'em disinformation. We got their money, screw 'em!”

Not to worry thouch, Ichigo, I’m a retired geezer with time on my hands and an internet connection. Have a nice day.