One of the most common questions we are asked at EADR is "what happens if you are unable to recover the data I want?...Will I still have to pay regardless?"
The simple answer to this is a big "NO"...
Risk-Free Data Recovery
At EADR we feel the fairest way to operate is to offer our work on a No Recovery, No Fee Basis. We do not believe it is in the interests of the client to incur charges for our time and expertise, only to be told that we cannot recover their data. Therefore there are no upfront charges or deposits required for us to make the attempt of recovering your lost information.
Once you have received your diagnosis and quotation from us (which again, is without cost), if you wish to proceed then all we ask is that you approve your quotation to us by email, at which time we can make a start on the data recovery works for you. If for any reason we are unable to recover the data you require then we do not make a charge (except for return shipping if required). This is unique to EADR; unlike other data recovery companies, we don't work on a percentage recovery basis, nor do we consider a few stuttering videos or a text document to equate a successful data recovery case. Should this be the situation with your device and you decide the data is not required due to the poor quality then again, we do not take payment.
If you are in the unfortunate position of having a hard drive that is so severely damaged that it is not recoverable by ourselves, the only fee payable is that of returning the drive to you by either courier or post, should you require the item back. There is no obligation to do so, as we can securely dispose of it for you instead if you prefer by using our on-site degaussing and crushing equipment. We can even provide certification of disposal of required.
Up-Front Data Recovery Fees - Exceptions To The Rule
In 95-98% of cases we work on the above policy where we bear the risk of data recovery ourselves, receiving payment only if we are successful. However, there are a small number of exceptions where we may make a charge up-front.
Firstly, if the hard drive has been previously opened, by either the client, a computer repair shop or even another data recovery company then we reserve the right to charge an Open Drive/Drive Cleaning Fee. Additional checks as well as cleaning/decontamination will be required before the hard drive can be powered on and inspected. (This is why we strongly advise that hard drives are not opened unless you have the correct dust-free environment to do so safely)
The additional checks are necessary as we do not know what steps have been taken to recover the data previously, or whether there is any damage to platter surfaces for instance, caused by attempts to power up the hard drive with debris inside.
The second exception is if the hard drive has a mechanical fault and requires internal parts to be replaced. In this instance the cost of the donor parts only would be taken up front; this allows us to source, check and test a donor hard drive for compatibility in order that we can sacrifice it completely, to take the parts out and transplant them into your faulty (patient) hard drive. This forms part of our initial quotation and the remaining balance is only payable if we are able to recover the data you require.
We have an extensive donor hard disk library at our Dereham, Norfolk office with over 20,000 parts meaning the chances are very high that we have your particular donor part in stock and can get started on your case straight away.
Lastly, if a hard drive has been accidentally deleted or overwritten, then we reserve the right to charge our standard bench fee to find your lost data for you. The works would involve an extensive scan followed by time spent by our engineers to pore through the results and reconstruct the data.
If you have any questions regarding our No Recovery, No Fee Policy then we are happy to explain any scenario in more depth for you, as is our totally transparent way! If you are undecided about which data recovery company to work with, then take a look at our blog post "What to Look For in a Data Recovery Company", which may be helpful to you.