Data Recovery Case File · Trust, Practice & Honest Limits · What Should Be in Writing
Drive Handed to an Intermediary: Chain of Custody
Her enquiry was not about a fault at all, and the worry behind it is entirely legitimate. She had "brought my hard drive in and I understand the company where we dropped it in sends it to you via next-day delivery. When we spoke I was told I'd receive a call within a few hours with the diagnosis. I've just called for an update and an automated message played explaining you're closed for the bank holiday until Tuesday. Can someone please confirm you've safely received my drive?" She has handed something irreplaceable to one business, which passed it to another, and nobody has confirmed it arrived. That is a chain-of-custody question rather than a technical one, and it deserves a proper answer — because the paperwork ought to travel with the device, and when it does not, this is exactly how it feels.
| Media | External hard drive submitted through an intermediary drop-off point for onward transfer — receipt at destination not yet confirmed to the owner |
| Reported situation | Device handed in at a partner location · onward transfer by courier understood but not evidenced · diagnosis call promised within hours and not received · holiday closure preventing contact · confirmation of safe receipt requested |
| Fault class | Not applicable — custody and communication; device condition unassessed pending confirmation of receipt |
| Equipment used | Device logged and identified on receipt against the intermediary's reference · condition recorded · receipt confirmed to the owner in writing · assessment and figure issued in writing before any chargeable work |
The decode: what should exist at each handoff, and what to ask for
Why intermediaries are normal: drop-off arrangements through local shops and partners are ordinary and often convenient — they save a journey and give people somewhere physical to hand a device to a person. The arrangement is not the problem. What matters is whether the documentation travels with the device, because a drive moving between two businesses passes through a gap where nobody is obviously accountable, and that gap is where anxiety lives and occasionally where devices go missing.
What should exist at the first handoff: a written receipt naming the make, model and serial number of the device, the date, and a reference number. Not "one hard drive" — the specific device, identified. That record is what makes it possible to prove later which drive was handed over, and it protects both sides equally.
What should exist for the transfer: a tracking reference for the courier, available to her on request. If a device is being sent by next-day delivery, there is a consignment number, and there is no reason a customer cannot have it.
What should exist on arrival: the item logged against her name and the intermediary's reference, its condition recorded, and — the step that was missed here — a confirmation of receipt sent to her. That single message, on the day, would have made this enquiry unnecessary. It costs nothing and it is the point at which responsibility visibly transfers.
What to ask for when this happens: concretely, so she is not left guessing. Ask the drop-off point for the consignment reference and the date it was sent. Ask the destination to confirm receipt in writing with the device's serial number, so the confirmation is about her drive and not a generic acknowledgement. Ask for the diagnosis and figure in writing rather than by phone. And if a promised call has not come, treat that as a communication failure rather than evidence about the device — closures, backlogs and holidays are ordinary and rarely mean anything is wrong.
On the promised timescale: a diagnosis within a few hours is optimistic for a device that has to travel overnight first, and it is better to be told a realistic window than a hopeful one. Where an assessment will take longer — a controlled first power-up on a dropped or long-dormant drive is legitimately scheduled rather than rushed — that should be communicated rather than left to silence.
On the bench
The device was logged on arrival against her name and the intermediary's reference, identified by make, model and serial, and its physical condition recorded — so that what arrived and what goes back are documented rather than remembered. Confirmation of receipt was issued to her directly and in writing, quoting the serial number, rather than left to the drop-off point to relay. The assessment then ran on diagnostic instruments without a single write to the media, and the fault, the realistic outcome and one fixed figure went to her in writing with a realistic timescale attached, before anything chargeable began.
The outcome
Receipt confirmed in writing against the device's serial number, the assessment completed without writing to the media, and the findings and figure issued before any chargeable work. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT; where a drive has to be opened, 50% of parts and labour is payable upfront with the balance only on success — otherwise no recovery, no fee. The decode, for anyone whose device is somewhere in a chain: ask for a written receipt naming make, model and serial at the point you hand it over, not a generic acknowledgement; ask for the courier's consignment reference if it is being transferred; and ask the destination to confirm receipt in writing quoting the serial, so the confirmation is demonstrably about your device. A missed call is a communication failure rather than evidence about your data — but confirmation of receipt is not a favour, and you are entitled to it.
Device handed in and nobody has confirmed it arrived
Ask for three specific things rather than a general reassurance. From wherever you handed it in: the consignment or tracking reference and the date it was sent onward. From the destination: written confirmation of receipt quoting your device's serial number, so you know the acknowledgement is about your drive and not a generic one. And from whoever is assessing it: the findings and the fixed figure in writing rather than over the phone. Going forward, insist on a receipt that names the make, model and serial number when you hand a device over — "one hard drive" on a docket protects nobody. Try not to read a missed call as bad news about your data; backlogs, closures and holidays are ordinary, and assessments on dropped or long-dormant drives are legitimately scheduled rather than rushed. But confirmation that your property arrived is not a favour.
Ask for it in writing, with the serial — call Glasgow Data Recovery on 0141 404 0294; logged and identified on receipt, condition recorded, findings and figure issued 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.