Thanks, guys:
Does the problem present regardless of share settings? If not, how do the various share settings compare?
I don't think it has anything to do with sharing settings. On the second computer I connected it to there was never any sharing set up from the Drobo. And when I took it home I plugged it into a computer that never had anything shared from it.
Are the correct USB drivers installed on your client's pc?
If you're talking about the USB chipset drivers, then yes, they should be the correct ones, installed from an accompanying disc. If you mean for the Drobo, then unfortunately I don't see any driver downloads on their site. I suspect they didn't think there would be this much trouble connecting the drive to a computer. On normally functioning computers, the process looks exactly like plugging int a thumb drive.