Diagnosis first · fixed price after
What broke, then what it costs. In that order.
Two questions give you a likely cause, the one thing not to do next, and a rough bench time. Fill in the form below afterwards. Assessment at the lab costs nothing once your device arrives, and the figure we put in writing is the one you are charged.
Run the problem past an engineer
0800 6890668
Two questions, then a first answer.
See how a job runs here →What has stopped working?
Whichever fits best will do.
Two questions, a straight answer, and the one step worth taking before the device travels anywhere. It is not the free diagnosis — that takes an engineer and the device itself, on a bench. Treat it as the advice you would get on the phone, except it works at midnight.
Next, the details.
What we do when it arrives.
A reply inside one working day
Every enquiry is read by an engineer, not a script. You get a blunt first view: the realistic chances, what to leave well alone, and where to post the device.
We assess it on arrival Free
The device is booked in under its own case number and goes to the bench: what actually failed, and how much of it can be read back.
One figure, then your call
The quote arrives in writing. Say yes and the work begins; say no and the device goes home to you. Either way the assessment costs nothing and nobody argues about it.
Now for the shipping form.
Want the PDF instead? →Type into the boxes and it all carries through to the printout. Would you rather use pen and paper? Download the PDF to complete by hand. Either is fine, provided a copy travels with the parcel.
Boxing it up for post.
Check this before it's sealed
- Write the passwords down: BitLocker recovery keys, FileVault, Windows logins — all on the shipping form. Encryption keeps us out exactly as it keeps everyone else out.
- Flag the folders that matter: tell us what to look for and those files get checked first.
- External drives come as they are: leave the cables behind. On a WD My Passport, board and drive are a matched pair.
- Leave the power supply unless we ask for it, and if something has snapped off, put the pieces in the box rather than the bin.
Saying it twice, on purpose: whatever the checker suggested, resist plugging the device in for one last look. Most of the avoidable damage that reaches this bench began exactly there.
The questions we get asked most, answered plainly.
Does the online checker replace the free diagnosis?
No, and the distinction is worth understanding. This page's tool reads what you've entered and points you straight away in a likely direction. The free diagnosis is a different thing: an engineer, your device on the bench, and the real fault identified. One indicates; the other is what your quote is built on.
What does data recovery cost?
Your device type sets the opening band, and the checker above will name yours: £250 + VAT and up where it is a memory card or USB stick, £300 + VAT for one drive by itself, £400 + VAT once a DVR or similar recorder is involved, and £500 + VAT upward when two or more disks make up the job. The pricing page sets out the rest. That band becomes a single written figure after the free assessment.
On which jobs does no fix, no fee apply?
For most work, no files back means no bill. Where that doesn't apply we say so before you commit: chiefly drives with mechanical or electrical damage, and anything a previous firm has already opened or had a go at.
When will I hear back?
Inside one working day, and frequently in under half an hour. Anything sent outside office hours takes a bit longer. After the device arrives, a single-drive diagnosis is usually done within 48 hours.
Spend two minutes. Get one figure.
Checker, form, box, post. What happens next is your call, and the look-over costs nothing whichever way you decide.