Data Recovery Case File · Trust, Practice & Honest Limits · Six Things in the Box
Sending a Device In
This enquiry was administrative rather than technical, and it is in the archive because the administrative part goes wrong more often than people expect. Having had a quotation by telephone and agreed to proceed, the customer wrote to say the card was being posted, asked for it to be watched for, and requested invoice details. That is a well-organised customer doing everything right. It is also the moment where devices get separated from the people who own them, arrive damaged, or turn up with no way of knowing whose they are — so it is worth setting out plainly: what to put in the box, how to pack it, and the two things to leave out.
| Media | SD card being dispatched by post following a telephone quotation — photographic content; recovery agreed and payment arrangements requested |
| Reported situation | Quotation given by telephone and accepted · device to be sent by post · customer requesting confirmation of receipt and invoice details · content comprising photographs |
| Fault class | Not applicable — dispatch, identification and handling practice |
| Equipment used | Device logged and identified against the customer on receipt · receipt confirmed by the requested contact method · original returned separately from recovered data |
The decode: six things to include, and two to leave out
One — label the device, not just the parcel. The commonest problem in postal work is a device arriving with no way to connect it to a person. Parcels are opened, packaging is discarded, and a bare card or drive on a bench looks like every other one. Write the name on a label attached to the device itself, or on a slip in the same bag as it, so the two cannot be separated by anyone unpacking in a hurry.
Two — a note with the essentials. Name, telephone number, email address, and any reference or quotation number. Then the two most useful sentences anybody can write: what happened to it, and what matters most on it. A device that arrives with "photographs from 2019 onwards are the priority, it was dropped while plugged in" gets a better outcome than one that arrives silently, because both facts change what is done first.
Three — pack it properly. An anti-static bag if you have one, then a rigid box with padding on all six sides, not a padded envelope. Cards and sticks in particular disappear into padding and get thrown out with it, so put small items in a labelled bag inside a small box inside the parcel. A drive should not be able to move inside its box at all.
Four — send the right things and only the right things. With an external drive, send the enclosure and its power supply as well, because the enclosure board can hold the encryption and determines how the volume is presented. If a drive has already been removed from a machine or a case, send the case too. With a laptop, ask first — often only the drive is needed.
Five — tracked and insured, with a realistic expectation. Use a tracked service and keep the receipt. But understand what the insurance covers: carriers insure the replacement value of the hardware, which for an old drive is very little, and no carrier insures data. That is a reason to pack it well rather than a reason to buy more cover.
Six — say what you want back and in what state. Whether you want the original device returned, whether you want it destroyed once the data is safe, and what media you would like the recovered data on. Agreeing that in advance avoids a second conversation later.
The two things to leave out. Do not send the only copy of anything else in the same parcel — a second card, a backup, a set of discs — because a parcel is a single point of failure and everything in it shares one fate. And do not include payment details in the box; that conversation belongs on the phone or in an invoice.
What to expect back: confirmation of receipt on the day, by whichever method you asked for.
On the bench
The device was logged and identified against the customer on receipt, so that its status was retrievable by anyone asked rather than held in one person's head — the failure that produces devices nobody can attribute. Receipt was confirmed by the contact method the customer had specified rather than a default one. The recovered data was delivered on fresh media, and the original device returned separately from the recovered data, so that a single parcel could not carry both.
The outcome
The device logged and identified on arrival, receipt confirmed by the requested method, and the original returned separately from the recovered data. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT before any chargeable work. The decode, for anyone posting a device in: label the device itself and not only the parcel, because packaging gets discarded and a bare card looks like every other one; include a note with your contact details, what happened, and what matters most; pack in a rigid box with padding on all sides rather than a padded envelope; send the enclosure and power supply with an external drive; use a tracked service while understanding that carriers insure hardware value and never data; and never put the only copy of anything else in the same parcel.
Posting a drive or card for recovery
Label the device itself, not just the parcel — packaging gets opened and thrown away, and a bare card or drive on a bench looks like every other one. Put a note in with your name, phone number, email and any quote reference, plus two sentences that genuinely change the work: what happened to it, and which files matter most. Pack it in a rigid box with padding on all sides rather than a padded envelope, and put small items in a labelled bag inside a smaller box so they can't vanish into the padding. Send the enclosure and power supply with an external drive, since the enclosure board can hold the encryption. Use a tracked service, but know that carriers insure the hardware's replacement value and never your data. And never put the only copy of anything else in the same parcel.
Label the device itself — call Newcastle Data Recovery on 0191 406 1051; logged and identified against you on arrival, receipt confirmed by your preferred method, original returned separately from your data.
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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.