Essential Data Recovery: AN EXPENSIVE FAILURE

Tobesucl

Essential data recovery: AN EXPENSIVE FAILURE

Watch out for significant "Non-refundable costs" when searching for a Data recovery service to recover lost data from an external hard disk that had dropped on the floor.

Unfortunately I have been a victim from one of the many cheap data recovery sales techniques in the UK. Essential Data Recovery provided me an attractive cheap quotation in advance of receiving the drive, making claims that nearly all data recovery work will cost £120 + VAT in my case.

However, on receipt of the device the quotation will increase significantly, and in my case I was charged £504 incl VAT (to be fair Sarah informed and asked me authorize work each time). All of these for a significant non-refundable fee ahead of performing any work, despite having advertised ‘no-fix, no-fee recovery’ terms. In the end they sent back the drive, having failed to recover any data and keeping the non-refundable fees.

Before choosing any data recovery service, make sure you ask for the non-refundable costs.

I have learned an expensive mistake. Please do not make the same mistake as I did.Trust is so important when you send a hard drive with all your photo and unfortunately I have been let down by Essential Data Recovery on the basis that I had been led to believe the cheap and low quote when I searched for a reliable data recovery service.

There exists a number of companies that offers 100% no non-refundable charges. This is where we need to use if you want to avoid paying for service when no data can be recovered.

Caz3121

I think this is a lesson on reading the T&Cs
from their website I cannot see that the £120+vat applies to hard disks with physical damage (you mention it had been dropped)
was this the £55+vat clean room fee you were charged?
Clean Room Chamber diagnostics are charged at a single fixed fee of £55+vat in advance only when a drive or media is physically damaged and can not be recovered without this process.
as you say there appear to be other companies that will do the assessment without a fee but worth noting that this article refers to physical damage as 'disastrous'
http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Computer-data-recovery-Essential-Guide
I would expect it to be the 'recoverable' scenarios listed to be the sort that are covered under the fixed fee