Data Recovery Case File · Trust, Practice & Honest Limits · The Figure Should Not Move
When the Quote Moves: Fixed Figures and Second Views
Her enquiry set out two things: an experience with pricing, and a diagnosis from a friend. "We know that the information can be recovered as we sent the drive away, but the company we sent it to started off with one recovery figure and then wanted to charge us three times as much, which was way above anything we could pay. One of our friends in IT had a look at it and this is what is wrong with it: the drive has sustained physical damage to the heads which read the disk platter. We have already tried removing it from the case and installing it directly in a PC." Three things are worth separating. A figure that moves after the drive is in someone else's possession is the issue that matters most. The friend's diagnosis is a reasonable hypothesis rather than a finding. And what they did next was sensible.
| Media | Hard drive assessed elsewhere, with head damage suggested informally — removed from its enclosure and connected directly to a computer by the owners |
| Reported situation | Prior quotation issued at one level and subsequently increased substantially · figure beyond the owners' means · informal diagnosis of head damage obtained · drive removed from enclosure and connected natively without success |
| Fault class | Undetermined pending instrumented assessment — head damage plausible but not distinguishable from service-area or media faults without measurement |
| Equipment used | One fixed written figure issued before any chargeable work · Atola Insight Forensic head and surface assessment to distinguish fault classes · laminar flow bench intervention where indicated · matched donor parts · PC-3000 Express with Data Extractor imaging |
The decode: the moving figure, the friend's verdict, and what they did right
Why a figure should not move: the structural point, and the reason this archive states its terms on every page. An assessment exists precisely so that a fixed figure can be issued before work begins — one number, including VAT, that does not change afterwards. A quotation that starts modestly and rises substantially once the device is already in someone's possession puts the customer in an impossible position: the drive is elsewhere, the emotional investment is made, and declining feels like abandoning the data. Whatever the reasons in any particular case, the structure is wrong, because the point of a fixed figure is that the decision is made with the facts in hand and nothing changes afterwards.
What to ask, of anyone: four questions that make quotes genuinely comparable. Is the assessment free? Is the figure fixed in writing before any work begins? Can it change afterwards, and under what circumstances? And what is payable if nothing is recovered? Honest answers to those four make two quotations comparable in a way that headline numbers never do — and any hesitation on the second or third is the answer to the first.
On the friend's diagnosis: treated with respect and with the right weight. Head damage is a perfectly reasonable inference from the symptoms, and a knowledgeable person is often right. But it cannot be established without instruments, because several quite different faults present identically from outside: damaged heads, a service-area problem preventing the drive from reaching readiness, and localised media degradation can all produce a drive that spins and is not recognised. Those three have different prices and different outcomes, so the distinction is not academic. Her friend's view is a useful hypothesis to test rather than a finding to price against — and if it is right, so much the better, because it will be confirmed in minutes.
What they did right: removing the drive from its enclosure and connecting it directly is genuinely useful, and worth saying because people worry they have made things worse. An external drive is two products in one — a bare drive plus an enclosure with its own bridge board — and the bridge fails more often than the drive. Connecting the bare drive natively eliminates the enclosure, the cable and the bridge in a single step. That it still did not appear is real information, and it narrows the field.
What follows: the fault class established by measurement, one figure issued in writing, and a decision made with the facts. If the honest figure is beyond what they can spend, that is a legitimate outcome to reach quickly and without pressure — and the assessment costs nothing.
On the bench
One fixed figure was issued in writing before any chargeable work, and it did not move afterwards. The friend's hypothesis was tested rather than assumed: the Atola Insight Forensic assessed head behaviour and surface condition directly, distinguishing head damage from a service-area fault or localised media degradation — three faults that look identical from outside and price very differently. Where the finding confirmed mechanical damage, the drive was opened under the laminar flow bench, inspected before power and serviced with matched donor parts, with imaging following immediately on the PC-3000 Express under Data Extractor, head-mapped and prioritised.
The outcome
The fault class established by measurement rather than inference, one figure issued in writing and held to, and the decision left with the owners. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT, 50% of parts and labour upfront with the balance only on successful recovery. The decode, for anyone comparing recovery quotes: a figure that rises once your drive is already in someone's possession is a structural problem rather than a detail, because the whole purpose of an assessment is to fix the number before you commit; ask whether the assessment is free, whether the figure is fixed in writing before work, whether it can change, and what is payable if nothing comes back. And treat an informal diagnosis as a hypothesis — head damage, service-area faults and media degradation look identical from outside and cost very differently.
Quote that went up after you sent the drive
Ask four questions of anyone before you commit, and compare the answers rather than the headline numbers. Is the assessment free? Is the figure fixed in writing before any work starts? Can it change later, and in what circumstances? What's payable if nothing is recovered? A price that rises once your drive is already with someone puts you in an impossible position, and the point of an assessment is precisely to prevent that. If it happens, ask for your drive back — you're entitled to it — and get a second assessment elsewhere. Treat an informal diagnosis from a knowledgeable friend as a hypothesis worth testing rather than a settled fact: damaged heads, a firmware or service-area fault, and localised surface degradation all produce a drive that spins and isn't recognised, and they cost very different amounts.
Ask for it fixed in writing first — call Glasgow Data Recovery on 0141 404 0294; free assessment, fault class established by measurement, one figure including VAT that does not move.
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Our case files are drawn from genuine enquiries received by our laboratory over the past ten years, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery procedure our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.