There's a fair chance the drive itself is fine and the controller inside is shot. In which case the drive can be removed to get the data off. Maybe 90% of hard drive failures can be determined by listening to them, what sort of sounds do you hear?
People in your position have to determine what's more important to them - the cost of replacing the drive, or the data on it. If you open it you may be able to get your info off. If you don't, you can get the drive replaced without cost. I think they enjoy stuffing you with that choice, because it gets them out of some of their warranty replacements. "there oughta be a law..."
Of course all the big drive sellers now (seagate, wd, hitachi, etc) offer data recovery services, "at a nominal price", where you get your data and don't have to pay for a replacement. All I can think of when I read that is, how convenient!
