Data Recovery Case File · Trust, Practice & Honest Limits · The Stages and the Timings
What Happens After You Hand a Drive In
His enquiry was not about a fault at all, and it belongs in this archive because the answer is one every customer wants and almost nobody publishes. "I gave an external hard drive in person to reception on Tuesday and wanted to ask when I should expect to hear back with a free no-obligation diagnosis. Additionally, would I be contacted through email or over the phone?" Two entirely reasonable questions, and the fact that he had to ask them is the point. Handing over a drive means handing over something irreplaceable to strangers and then waiting without knowing what "waiting" involves. So this page sets out the stages, what happens in each, how long each realistically takes — and one honest correction, because "free diagnosis" is true of most work here and is not true of two specific job types, which is better said in advance than discovered on an invoice.
| Media | External hard drive received in person — assessment pending; enquiry concerns process, timescales and contact method rather than a reported fault |
| Reported situation | Drive delivered by hand · owner awaiting diagnosis · expected turnaround and preferred contact route not yet confirmed to him |
| Fault class | Not applicable — process enquiry; assessment scheduling and communication practice |
| Equipment used | Logged and identified on receipt · assessment on diagnostic instruments without writing to the media · findings and figure issued in writing before any chargeable work · contact by the customer's stated preference |
The decode: the stages, the timings, and the honest exception
Stage one — logging, on the day. The device is recorded against the customer, identified by make, model and serial, and its physical condition noted. That record is what protects both sides later, and it is why a receipt reference matters.
Stage two — the assessment, typically within a few working days. The drive is examined on diagnostic instruments rather than plugged into a computer: its power-on behaviour read, its readiness established, its surfaces and heads evaluated where relevant, and — crucially — nothing is written to it. The output is a fault class, a realistic outcome, and a figure. Timings vary honestly: a drive that responds is assessed quickly, while one needing a controlled first power-up after a fall or a long dormancy is scheduled rather than rushed. If it is going to take longer than expected, that should be communicated rather than left to silence.
Stage three — the written findings. What is wrong, what can realistically be recovered, one fixed figure including VAT, and a turnaround. In writing, before anything chargeable happens, so the decision rests on facts rather than a phone conversation half-remembered.
Stage four — your decision. Nothing proceeds without it. Declining is a normal outcome and should carry no pressure; the drive is returned.
Stage five — the work, then verification and delivery. Imaging first, reconstruction on the copy, and files verified by opening rather than counted. Delivery on separate verified media, with the original hardware returned or disposed of on the customer's instruction.
How you will be contacted: by whichever route you asked for — and anything that matters goes in writing regardless. A phone call is fine for "we have it and here is where we are"; a figure, a set of findings and a limitation belong in an email you can re-read and forward.
The honest exception to "free diagnosis": and this is the correction worth making, because the phrase is used loosely across the trade. Standard recovery work — a failed drive, a damaged filesystem, a device that will not mount — carries a free assessment and a fixed written figure, with nothing payable unless the data comes back on non-opening work. Two categories are charged differently and are quoted that way from the outset: CCTV and forensic investigation work, which is a flat fee with 50% payable upfront and the balance on successful recovery; and recovery of deleted or overwritten data from memory cards and USB sticks, for which the figure is payable upfront. Neither is a free diagnosis, and anyone bringing that kind of job should be told so before they hand anything over rather than afterwards.
On the bench
The drive was logged against him on receipt, identified and its condition recorded, so that what came in and what goes back are documented rather than remembered. The assessment ran on diagnostic instruments — power-on behaviour, readiness and surface condition established without a single write to the media — and produced a fault class, a realistic outcome and one fixed figure including VAT. Those went to him in writing, by the route he had asked for, with a turnaround attached. Nothing chargeable began until he had replied. Afterwards the work followed the standing order: image first, reconstruct on the copy, verify by opening, deliver on separate media, return the original.
The outcome
The process explained, the findings and figure issued in writing, and nothing done before he had decided. Free assessment and one fixed written figure including VAT for standard recovery work, with no recovery, no fee where the drive does not need opening; where a drive has to be opened or a chip removed, 50% of parts and labour upfront and the balance on success. CCTV and forensic investigation work is a flat fee, 50% payable upfront and the balance on successful recovery; recovery of deleted or overwritten data from memory cards and USB sticks is charged at a flat figure, payable upfront. The answer to his questions, for anyone else waiting: expect logging on the day, an assessment within a few working days, findings and a fixed figure in writing before anything chargeable, your decision, then imaging, verification by opening and delivery on separate media — and expect to be told which fee structure applies to your job before you hand it over.
Waiting to hear back about a drive you handed in
Know what the stages are so that silence is easier to read. Expect the device to be logged and identified on the day, an assessment within a few working days, and then findings in writing: what is wrong, what can realistically be recovered, one fixed figure including VAT, and a turnaround. Nothing chargeable should happen before you have seen that and agreed. Ask for anything that matters in writing even if you prefer phone calls, because a figure and a set of limitations are worth being able to re-read. If the assessment is taking longer than you were told, that is worth chasing — a controlled first power-up on a dropped or long-dormant drive is legitimately scheduled rather than rushed, but you should be told that rather than left waiting. And check which fee structure applies to your job before handing anything over, because free assessment is the standard position and not a universal one.
Ask for the stages and the figure in writing — call Glasgow Data Recovery on 0141 404 0294; logged on receipt, assessed without writing to your media, findings and turnaround confirmed before anything begins.
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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.