Our Guarantee

All of the reputable data recovery services have a guarantee. “No data, no charge.” But there are two caveats to this claim. What does “no data” mean? What does “no charge” mean? There are so many different ways of interpreting this. Here is what it does and does not mean to us.

First, what does it mean to get data from a failed hard drive? To some, it means getting something, anything from the drive. To us, it means one of two things. Sometimes we get drives that have data that is very specific in nature. A Quickbooks file, a set of audio files from a garage band, pictures from a special occasion, pictures of a lost loved one, or a set of very important documents. Other times it is years of precious photos or years of archive data. The more specific the data, the more specific the guarantee. If our client needs specific data, we find out exactly what that data is and we guarantee we get THAT data or no charge. If it is more of a “get everything you can” scenario, we get all we can and know our client will be happy with it. That being said, a partial recovery is pretty rare. If we can get anything, we can usually get everything. We generally send a file list that the end user can go through to make sure the desired data is there. If a partial recovery is the best we can do, we will have the end user do a remote session with a technician to see what data we do have.

Second, what does no charge mean? Many data recovery firms have gone to an upfront diagnostic charge. These range from $65 to $300 or more. Some will charge an upfront parts fee. The only time we will ever charge upfront fees is for a deleted or formatted device or if chances of recovery are very slim but the data is important enough for the end user to invest in parts. The first scenario is known before the device is sent. The second is very rare and clearly and brutally explained before any upfront money is collected. It is sad to say that there are companies out there that will charge fees upfront with full knowledge that the end user's drive is unrecoverable. Ask the hard questions. If the answers are not brutally honest, do not part with more money. While a couple of reputable companies charge upfront diagnostic fees, we know of none that regularly charge upfront for parts.

So what does no data, no charge mean, in a nutshell? You get what you have asked for, or you spend no money. Simple, honest.