Reallocated sector count continues to climb

I recently replaced all four drives in my ReadyNas for newer larger drives. I bought 4 identical Seagate drives from Expansys. 2 out of the 4 drives started reporting reallocated sectors almost immediately. I got in touch with Expansys and explained the SMART errors reported by the ReadyNas. They agreed to exchange the drive so I RMA'ed the worse drive (highest reallocated sector count) back to them. Before returning the drive to Expansys I bought another identical drive (that's 5 in total) from them to hot swap out the drive that was going back. I'm glad I bought the "spare" drive as it took over a month for the replacement to arrive. I'm now just about to swap out the 2nd faulty drive with the replacement drive, having let SpinRite have a day checking it. Then I'll have to go through the whole rma process with Expansys again.

Whilst the process has been time consuming and a nuisance, Expansys were very good about it and the delay was Seagate's not theirs. I'm a bit miffed I had to buy another drive but at least I will eventually have a good spare. I'm also quite surprised that 2 out of 5 drives have been a problem. I've always rated Seagate but it seems their quality might not be as good as it once was.

My advice to anyone who starts getting SMART errors is to get in touch with the retailer where you brought the drive not the manufacturer.