Refund policy

Shipping, Returns & Warranty Policy

Effective Date: 16 June 2026

1. If You Change Your Mind (Cancellation & Returns)

If you have simply changed your mind about any item ordered and wish to return it, no problem. An order can be cancelled at any point before the goods are delivered to you.

In line with the Consumer Contract (ICAC’S) Regulations, you have a cooling-off period where an item can be returned within 14 days following the day after you receive your item.

Return Requirements:

  • The item must be completely unused and in 'as new' condition upon return.

  • Before returning the goods, you must contact us for authorization and provide clear photos proving that the hard drive packaging has not been opened or used.

  • Important: We do not accept uncertified returns. You cannot send items back to our corporate office without prior approval.

Return Fees & Terms:

  • Return Window: 14 days from receipt.

  • Return Shipping: Provided and paid for by the customer.

  • Delivery Method: Returns must be sent using your own tracked delivery method to our UK warehouse.

  • Restocking Fee: A 14% restocking fee applies to standard change-of-mind returns.

  • Exclusions: No returns allowed on final sale items.

2. Order Cancellation Fees (Before Shipping)

  • Orders already captured but not shipped (No tracking number issued): If you request a cancellation after payment has been captured but before the item leaves the warehouse, the customer is responsible for a 3% transaction fee to cover non-refundable merchant processing costs.

  • Orders already shipped: If an order has already left our facility, it cannot be accepted for immediate cancellation and refund. The customer must receive the parcel and return it to us intact, unopened, and undamaged.

  • Wrong Item Purchased / No Longer Needed: For returns where the item was bought by mistake or is no longer required, a 12% bank refund processing fee will be deducted from the final payout (e.g., on a £100 order, your final refund will be £88).

     

3. Items Faulty on Arrival (DOA)

If your purchases are faulty on arrival, please inform us immediately to receive a full refund or replacement:

  • Consumer Customers: Must report the fault within 30 days of receipt.

  • Business Customers: Must report the fault within 14 days of receipt.

Items should be made available for collection or returned in their original packaging complete with all accessories and documentation. Once we have verified the fault, we'll issue a replacement or a full refund via your original payment method.

4. Goods Faulty & Warranty Terms

For all orders placed on or after 16 June 2026, our hard drive warranty periods are strictly determined by the hardware condition listed in the product description:

Product Condition Warranty Period
Brand New Units 5-Year Warranty
Refurbished / Recertified Units 1-Year Warranty

How to Claim Warranty (RMA):

To qualify for a warranty replacement, you must successfully run a diagnostic check using Seagate's official testing software and generate a fault code.

  1. Run the Seagate SeaTools test on the faulty drive.

  2. Take a screenshot of the final test report clearly showing the Fault Code and the Serial Number (SN) of the drive.

  3. Email the screenshot to sales@robertelectronics.co.uk to request your Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number.

⚠️ Appearance Verification: Replacement units are only issued for drives that are physically intact. You must ensure the hard disk has no physical damage. If our warehouse receives an RMA unit with dents, deep scratches, open casings, or impact damage, the warranty is automatically voided, and we refuse responsibility for replacement or return shipping costs.

5. How to Start an RMA

The RMA process is straightforward—you do not need to send anything back to Singapore. All UK/European returns are handled locally.

  1. Get Authorization: Contact us with your Seagate Test Code and SN to get your official RMA number and local UK warehouse return address.

  2. Pack Safely: You must add secure protective foam around the drive to prevent shock during transit. If you do not use adequate protective packaging and the drive suffers transportation damage, the RMA will be rejected.

  3. Shipping Reimbursement: If a genuine hardware fault is confirmed by our team after testing, Robert Electronics will reimburse your return postage costs:

    • Standard returns are reimbursed at a flat rate of £7 per parcel by default.

    • For large bulk quantities, we accept actual postage reimbursement strictly via Royal Mail (you must provide a screenshot of the receipt).

    • Note: We do not accept or reimburse returns sent via DHL, FedEx, EVRI, or other alternative couriers. Shipping reimbursements are paid out within 7 days of successful package verification.

  4. Turnaround Time: Replacement units will be thoroughly vetted and reshipped within 8-10 business days of our warehouse receiving your returned product.

6. Refunds Payout Timeline

Once a refund is approved and processed by our team, you’ll be automatically refunded on your original payment method within 15 business days. Please remember it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and post the refund to your statement balance as well.

If more than 15 business days have passed since we’ve approved your return and you still haven't seen the funds, please drop us a line at sales@robertelectronics.co.uk and we'll look into it right away.

💡 Quick Appendix: How to Use SeaTools for Windows

Returning a hard drive that isn't actually broken causes major system downtime for you and unnecessary logistics costs. Testing the drive first ensures your data is protected and saves you time. Many system errors are actually caused by file system corruption, driver issues, virus attacks, or hardware conflicts rather than actual disk failure.

Testing Instructions:

  • System Prep: Close all other applications before running diagnostics so Windows doesn't interrupt the scan.

  • Power Settings: A full scan can take several hours depending on drive capacity (large enterprise drives can take 2 to 4 hours). Ensure your Windows Power Options are set to "Turn off Hard Disk: Never" and disable hibernation so the system doesn't go to sleep mid-test. For laptops, always plug into AC power.

  • Selecting the Drive: External USB drives and internal SATA/SAS drives will populate on screen with their Serial Numbers. Select the matching box.

  • Running the Test: Use the Short Drive Self Test (DST) first (takes 20-90 seconds). If you need a deeper inspection, run the Long Generic Test, which reads every single sector on the drive. If any unreadable sectors (LBAs) are found, the test will halt, fail, and output the unique SeaTools test code needed for your RMA.