32GB Key shapped USB drives €16

Grimebox

Grimebox wrote: »

How does one go about testing these?

Copy 32GB of music/photos or videos over onto them and if you can play each and every one, it works!

Squeeonline

Right, refund time.

labs@labs-OptiPlex-GX280:~/Downloads$ ./f3write /media/F637-4A4F
Removing old file 0001.fff ...
Free space: 28.30 GB
Creating file 0001.fff ... OK!
... all ok
Creating file 0029.fff ... OK!
Free space: 0.00 Byte
Average writing speed: 2.95 MB/s
labs@labs-OptiPlex-GX280:~/Downloads$ ./f3read /media/F637-4A4F
SECTORS ok/corrupted/changed/overwritten
Validating file 0001.fff ... 2097152/ 0/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0002.fff ... 2097152/ 0/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0003.fff ... 2097152/ 0/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0004.fff ... 2097152/ 0/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0005.fff ... 1087488/ 1009664/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0006.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0007.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0008.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0009.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0010.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0011.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0012.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0013.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0014.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0015.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0016.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0017.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0018.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0019.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0020.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0021.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0022.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0023.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0024.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0025.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0026.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0027.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0028.fff ... 0/ 2097152/ 0/ 0
Validating file 0029.fff ... 409216/ 217408/ 0/ 0

Data OK: 4.71 GB (9885312 sectors)
Data LOST: 23.59 GB (49461568 sectors)
Corrupted: 23.59 GB (49461568 sectors)
Slightly changed: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Overwritten: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Average reading speed: 14.87 MB/s

Fighting Irish

lol some bargain

poitinstill

checked both mine with the h2wtest thing both 8g not 32..as others have said...rubbish.

Squeeonline

Have been in contact with bo-vida via email.

Generic response.


Hi,
Thank you for your email. I am really sorry to hear that you have had an issue with your product.
We have dispatched over 10,000 of these items and we have discovered a small fault rate with these, approx 50 have discovered different faults.
If you could return the item to us we will be able to run a test on the keys and dispatch new keys to you. However we will of course run tests on these first to ensure that they are working fine.
Please return to
Bo-Vida
The Forge
Wycombe Lane
Wooburn Green
HP10 0HD
Once again I do apologise for this inconveince and hope to have your issue resolved promptly.
Thanks
Kate


Then to check if they'll cover postage I emailed back. Reply

Hi XXXX,

Yes we will cover the cost of the postage if you could forward this receipt to us.

Thanks

Kate

I'll be posting mine including a copy of the receipt either later today or tomorrow.

Piliger

Seems a mixed bag. Mine is full capacity and working great. Sorry about the others...

Squeeonline

Piliger wrote: »

Seems a mixed bag. Mine is full capacity and working great. Sorry about the others...

Have you actually run a proper test on it though? I filled mine and it seemed to be working fine too until I ran a test and discovered that 80% of the stuff I had put on it was gone.

The_Conductor

I still haven't received mine at all
Living Social promise they'll chase it with Bovida- who aren't answering their phones or responding to e-mails.......

Squeeonline

smccarrick wrote: »

I still haven't received mine at all
Living Social promise they'll chase it with Bovida- who aren't answering their phones or responding to e-mails.......

Have to say that I got an email back from bo-vida less than 4 hours after sending it, and a further reply at around 10pm GMT. My bet is that **** has hit the fan over there.

50 faults out of 1000 my arse!

The_Conductor

Squeeonline wrote: »

Have to say that I got an email back from bo-vida less than 4 hours after sending it, and a further reply at around 10pm GMT. My bet is that **** has hit the fan over there.

50 faults out of 1000 my arse!

I've tried ringing them several times too- it rings and rings (I left it on speaker phone- it eventually goes dead after about 20 minutes........)
Apparently Living Social are able to contact them- mind you, you have a 15 minute call queue with LivingSocial (though they do eventually answer).

umpsfar

AHhhhh no.... im only here too see whats keeping mine, not read about duddy lemons
are yis sure there duds? maybe u had them in upside down

where's mine ordered 4th may
WHERE IS IT , if i was looking for a job i'd bang off my cv to them and ring them tomorrow about it , lol
oh i hope they ranouta duds

fasttalkerchat

This is a better deal
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200764066486?item=200764066486#ht_1218wt_1139

64GB for £24 delivered.

stateofflux

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

This is a better deal
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200764066486?item=200764066486#ht_1218wt_1139

64GB for £24 delivered.

Does'nt post to ireland

dj_

Does anyone know if you can partition the drive and just use the first ~7.9 gigs? Will that portion work as normal or will there still be corrupted files?

sweetie

ordered mine last week and they arrived a few days later! havent tested them yet

Squeeonline

dj_ wrote: »

Does anyone know if you can partition the drive and just use the first ~7.9 gigs? Will that portion work as normal or will there still be corrupted files?

http://oss.digirati.com.br/f3/

scroll down to "how to fix a fake card".

Piliger

Squeeonline wrote: »

Have you actually run a proper test on it though? I filled mine and it seemed to be working fine too until I ran a test and discovered that 80% of the stuff I had put on it was gone.

As I said previously, we have since copied over the videos and run them. All fine. Late last night I also moved about 15Gb of family photos from my Mac to my brother's PC. Everything fine.

dj_

Squeeonline wrote: »

http://oss.digirati.com.br/f3/

scroll down to "how to fix a fake card".

Thanks. I got a '16 gig' memory key about a year ago and only found out why it didn't work thanks to this thread. Only the first 4 gigs exist.

liamo1979

My two are the same... Only about 8Gb of data/movies can be accessed..... Emailed livingsocial and bovida today looking for a refund....

Grimebox

liamo1979 wrote: »

My two are the same... Only about 8Gb of data/movies can be accessed..... Emailed livingsocial and bovida today looking for a refund....

Same. What a disgrace

Squeeonline

LS won't do anything for you. They just sold you the voucher, not the product.

Email bo-vida. They got back to me in less than 4 hours. Today, I sent the key, via registered post (total €6 something) and included the receipt, the print out of the F3 log and the emails between me and "kate".

Should reach them by Friday/Monday and I expect something back by the following Friday or I'll email again.

liamo1979

Just used this software to check USB:- http://www.heise.de/download/a73260e70aefcefccb55c99c570e3564-1338402592-223582.html
Click on h2testw_1.4.zip, select USB and it will analyse it for you. Takes about 3 hours to run......

liamo1979

Got a reply today from a chap called Dean from Bo-vida:- Not sure what he wants to chat about



Dear Liam

I do apologise about this

Can you possible provide us with a telephone number so we can give you a call

I look forward to hearing from you

Regards

Dean

________________________________________
From: Sales EMAIL="customers@bo-vida.com"][COLOR=#0066cc]customers@bo-vida.com[/COLOR][/EMAIL
Sent: 30 May 2012 13:23
To: customers
Subject: Contact Form

Name: Liam xxxx
E-mail: XXXXX
Country of Residence: Ireland
Enquiry Subject: Faulty USB

Telephone:

Comment: Hi, my 32GB Usb's I bought reciently doesn't work, they only have capability of storing 8GB of data... I would like a full refund,

Thanks,
Liam XXXX

Jarren

Me thinks that Dean is actually the company director.

http://www.cdrex.com/dean-mcguinness/401661.html

yllw.ldbttr

This is a complete scam, same **** on mine, only 8GB usable.

I don't care if it's LS or BoVida I'll be getting a refund.

liamo1979

Jarren wrote: »

Me thinks that Dean is actually the company director.

http://www.cdrex.com/dean-mcguinness/401661.html

Crikey Dean gets around!!

liamo1979

I remember seeing that the number of USB's sold when I bought my 2 was over 4000.... I'd say they're all the same.... About 1000 probably didn't manage to input the voucher code i'd imagine as the item wasn't listed as 2x32GB usb keys for €24 as it should have been and about another 2000 dont know their USB's are faulty yet.... This is a disaster...
Joe Duffy?? :P

The_Conductor

Squeeonline wrote: »

http://oss.digirati.com.br/f3/

scroll down to "how to fix a fake card".

If you look at the log- all this does is hides the inaccessible (or damaged) sectors- aka when you 'fix' a 32Gb card- which has 8.02Gb working- you then have an 8.02Gb card (not a 32Gb card)- so this is an exercise in hiding that which you can't use, not recovering them (which would be accurate- as they probably don't exist to begin with- or have physical damage).........

Squeeonline

smccarrick wrote: »

If you look at the log- all this does is hides the inaccessible (or damaged) sectors- aka when you 'fix' a 32Gb card- which has 8.02Gb working- you then have an 8.02Gb card (not a 32Gb card)- so this is an exercise in hiding that which you can't use, not recovering them (which would be accurate- as they probably don't exist to begin with- or have physical damage).........

I assumed that's what he was looking for. Surely no one would be stupid enough to ask how to turn an 8gb stick into a 32gb stick with software?

Stark

Here you go! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DriveSpace

Standard Toaster

Thank fuck I cancelled my order :eek:

liamo1979

Results from my tests on both keys:-
Key1:-
The media is likely to be defective.
7.7 GByte OK (16156240 sectors)
23.5 GByte DATA LOST (49344944 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
23.5 GByte corrupted (49344944 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000001ed0ca000
Expected: 0x00000001ed0ca000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 6.49 MByte/s
Reading speed: 7.08 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4


Key2:-
The media is likely to be defective.
7.7 GByte OK (16313104 sectors)
23.4 GByte DATA LOST (49188080 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
23.4 GByte corrupted (49188080 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000001f1d62000
Expected: 0x00000001f1d62000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 7.45 MByte/s
Reading speed: 9.83 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

Both unable to store over 8GB :mad:


Result from a good 4GB USB:-

Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 10.7 MByte/s
Reading speed: 22.3 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

foghlu

Got two of these also and exact same issue here. Cheap quality 8gb not 32gb keys! Some 'deal'

ToxicPaddy

Bought 4 of these with 3 other lads in work.. havent had a chance to use it properly yet so didnt realise this.

Going to run that utility now and see what happens.. :rolleyes:

digidydaz

I purchased two of these cards and both were 8gb masquerading as 32gb.

I wrote both LS and BV emails outlining the issues I was having and my disappointment with the purchase. I have yet to hear from LS however Jemma from BV did call from the UK yesterday and apologised profusely for the problems with the cards. She then asked me to return both cards to their address with receipt for postage included and that she would have the cards tested with "H2testw" and then send me back 2 fully functional (i.e. tested) 32gb cards as replacements or even a full refund.

I will let ye know how I get on but on a side note I would commend BV for the quick response to the issues I was having. They may be (as we are) victims here of a larger scam and if they sold (as Liamo1979 said) 4,000 of these they are in the middle of a **** storm and are trying their best to fix it. Keep that in mind if you do find yourselves dealing with them, they are human after all.

bp_me

I've received two replacement keys.

One is fine. The second is not.

So I currently have 1x 32gb and 3x 8gb sitting here.

Squeeonline

bp_me wrote: »

I've received two replacement keys.

One is fine. The second is not.

So I currently have 1x 32gb and 3x 8gb sitting here.

Good to know that there are 32gb sticks out there from bo-vida. Let's see if I get working ones.

Piliger

I was lucky it seems to get two good ones, but I won't be buying ANYthing from these "Living Social" or "Bo Vida" people ever again after being charged 5 quid extra for 'postage' and all of this shenanigans.

bp_me

Piliger wrote: »

I was lucky it seems to get two good ones, but I won't be buying ANYthing from these "Living Social" or "Bo Vida" people ever again after being charged 5 quid extra for 'postage' and all of this shenanigans.

That was in the Ts & Cs.

The_Conductor

bp_me wrote: »

That was in the Ts & Cs.

It wasn't upfront- it was hidden- you had to go and look for it.
Its the same as airlines selling you a seat for 29.99, and then telling you that you also have to pay another 20 quid to checkin, even if you print everything yourself........

Piliger

bp_me wrote: »

That was in the Ts & Cs.

When I made my payment by VISA I was told the total charge and it was NOT in that charge.

poitinstill

got aphone call too after sending a mail to bo-vida. told send them back for fully tested ones.. they appear to be fair enough .. think they got caught out

obviousTroll

I spotted this ad in todays 'offers' from LS.

http://www.livingsocial.com/cities/515/deals/363070-sdhc-32gb-camera-card

While I have to presume innocence on the company, they in fact sell 32GB Key USB drives on the site.
http://www.gadgetsandproducts.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=632

Just worth mentioning.

Kintarō Hattori

Ridata are a fairly respectable brand though- so I can't imagine there'll be many issues apart from the expected percentage of any sold that will have issues for various reasons.

maggy_thatcher

My two keys are similarly broken

1 just dumps out lots of errors about being unhandled sense codes all over my logs (can't write anything to it, let alone read from it), the other one let me put in 7.8GB and then corrupted everything else. Emailed bo-vida this morning, hopefully it'll get sorted out.

Squeeonline

Registered posted the key back to bo-vida on the 30th may (it was in dublin the next day). 6 days later and it still hasnt arrived. Shouldn't take this long should it?

kingtut

I contacted them also after finding my keys are only able to store 7.5 Gigs

They better come back with a very good explanation for this !! :mad:

Danger781

Similar problem here.. Both drives can store maximum 8GB on them. LivingSocial never replied to my email. BoVida did reply, and said they would have a customer care agent ring me, but so far I've received no call.

dj_

Squeeonline wrote: »

I assumed that's what he was looking for. Surely no one would be stupid enough to ask how to turn an 8gb stick into a 32gb stick with software?

Yup. That is what I was looking for.

kingtut

Danger781 wrote: »

Similar problem here.. Both drives can store maximum 8GB on them. LivingSocial never replied to my email. BoVida did reply, and said they would have a customer care agent ring me, but so far I've received no call.

I just got a phone call from them and they were very apologetic, explained that although it was not an isolated case that they knew it happened to other people but that they don't test every single device :rolleyes:

Told me to return them by post and they will check the keys and then provide me with a refund (as I requested). They also asked for a brief letter explaining what happened (I plan on putting my own test results into this letter also).