Data Recovery Case File · Trust, Practice & Honest Limits · Three Faults, Three Figures
What Actually Determines the Cost of a Stick Recovery
His enquiry was polite about a real constraint. A 16GB SanDisk Cruzer Blade that has stopped working, holding documents that "would be really inconvenient to lose", and: "I am a student, so I am on a bit of a budget." That deserves a proper answer rather than a figure, because the cost of recovering a USB stick is not one number — it falls into three tiers depending on what has failed, and the difference between them is substantial. Knowing which tier he is likely in before he asks anyone means he can judge a quotation rather than simply receive one. And one thing that does not affect the price is worth stating immediately: the capacity.
| Media | 16GB SanDisk Cruzer Blade USB flash drive — no longer functioning; documents held; owner budget-constrained |
| Reported situation | Stick failed in normal use · academic documents held · cost sensitivity stated explicitly · fault type not yet established |
| Fault class | Undetermined — logical, controller-level and physical faults carrying materially different costs; assessment required to establish tier |
| Equipment used | Fault tier established free of charge · write-blocked imaging where the device enumerates · chip-level read past a failed controller where it does not · figure issued in writing before any chargeable work |
The decode: the three tiers, and what does not matter
Tier one — the stick works and the filing does not. It appears on a computer, perhaps asking to be formatted or showing as empty. The hardware is fine and only the structures describing the files are damaged. This is the cheapest work: the device is imaged write-blocked and the structures reconstructed on the copy. It carries the ordinary terms — free assessment, a fixed written figure, and nothing payable unless the data comes back. If his stick still appears when plugged in, this is probably where he sits.
Tier two — the controller has failed. Nothing enumerates at all: no drive letter, no prompt, nothing. This is the commonest cause of a stick that simply stops, and it means reading the memory directly at chip level, past the failed controller, then descrambling and reconstructing the data in software. It is skilled work with specialist equipment and it sits materially higher. Because the chip must be accessed, the terms differ: 50% of parts and labour upfront, with the balance only on success.
Tier three — physical damage to the memory itself. Rare, and where honest limits begin. If the memory die is damaged rather than merely unreachable, no technique retrieves what it held, and a firm should say so rather than charge to find out slowly.
What does not affect the price: worth being explicit, because people assume otherwise. Capacity makes no difference — a 16GB stick and a 256GB stick with the same fault cost the same, because the work is reaching the data rather than copying it. Nor does the number of files, or how important they are. And nor, for that matter, does the make: an inexpensive stick and a premium one fail the same ways.
What this means for a budget: the practical point. The assessment costs nothing, so establishing which tier he is in commits him to nothing at all — and if he is in tier one, the figure will be at the lower end and nothing is payable unless it works. Finding out is free, and declining afterwards is a perfectly normal outcome. What he should not do is spend money on consumer recovery software first: on a tier-one fault it may work but often produces unnamed fragments, and on tiers two and three it cannot help at all because there is nothing for it to read.
On the bench
The tier was established free of charge before any figure was discussed, since that alone determines the cost and the terms. Where the stick enumerated, it was imaged write-blocked and the structures reconstructed on the copy, with the ordinary no-recovery-no-fee terms applying. Where it did not, the connector and joints were inspected first as the cheapest physical cause, and the memory then read at chip level past the failed controller — descrambled, error-corrected and rebuilt through its translation layer. The figure and terms went out in writing before anything chargeable began, and his documents were verified by opening.
The outcome
The fault tier established at no cost, the applicable terms stated in writing, and the documents recovered and verified. Free assessment and one fixed written figure including VAT; on logical faults, no recovery, no fee; where a chip has to be removed, 50% of parts and labour is payable upfront with the balance only on success. The decode, for anyone pricing a stick recovery: there are three tiers, not one figure — a working stick with damaged filing is the cheapest and carries no-fix-no-fee, a failed controller means reading the memory at chip level and sits materially higher with 50% upfront, and physical damage to the memory itself is where honest limits begin; capacity, file count and brand make no difference to any of it, because the cost is in reaching the data rather than copying it. The assessment is free, so finding out which tier you are in commits you to nothing.
Working out what a stick recovery should cost
Establish which of three situations you're in, because they cost very different amounts. If the stick still appears on a computer — even if it asks to be formatted or shows as empty — the hardware is fine and only the filing is damaged, which is the cheapest work and should carry no-fix-no-fee terms. If nothing appears at all, the controller has probably failed, which means reading the memory chip directly and costs materially more, usually with part of it payable upfront because equipment time is consumed either way. Physical damage to the memory itself is rarer and is where honest limits apply. Note what doesn't affect the price: capacity, how many files you have, how important they are, and what the stick cost. Get a free assessment before spending anything, and don't buy recovery software first.
Finding out costs nothing — call Glasgow Data Recovery on 0141 404 0294; fault tier established free, terms stated in writing before anything begins, and declining treated as a normal answer.
Request a quote online →
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.