A free written diagnostic, then a fixed quote before any work starts — and no fix, no fee on most jobs. Below you'll find exactly what each device costs to recover, how our pricing works, and the questions we're asked most.
Your exact price is set in writing after the free diagnostic — never ahead of it.
No phone estimates, and no work without your say-so. Every recovery runs through the same four steps.
Drop off or post your device and we assess it free, usually within 48 hours — what failed, what can be recovered, and what it'll cost.
You get a clear, fixed price in writing before anything chargeable happens. Nothing starts until you approve it.
On most jobs, if we can't recover your data you don't pay the recovery fee. There's nothing to lose by letting us take a look.
Physical drive-level repairs need matched donor parts and bench time, so they carry a 50% payment up front — with the balance only on success.
Starting prices by job type, before VAT. Your exact price is set in writing after the free diagnostic.
What we recover from each device type, and where its pricing begins. Tap through for the full detail and device-specific FAQs.
| Device | From | |
|---|---|---|
| Hard Drive | £300 | details → |
| SSD & NVMe | £300 | details → |
| USB Stick | £250 | details → |
| Memory Card | £250 | details → |
| External HDD | £300 | details → |
| Mac & MacBook | £300 | details → |
| Laptop & PC | £300 | details → |
| RAID Array | from £500 | details → |
| NAS | from £500 | details → |
| Server | from £500 | details → |
| Virtual Machine | from £800 | details → |
| Database | from £500 | details → |
| SAN | from £1,250 | details → |
| CCTV / DVR / NVR | £800 | details → |
The questions we're asked most. For a specific device, see that device's page in the table above.
Every job begins with a free written diagnostic, usually within 48 hours. Only then do we give you a fixed written quote — and no chargeable work happens until you approve it. As a rough guide: memory cards and USB sticks are £250 + VAT, single drives (hard drives, SSDs, laptops and Macs) £300 + VAT, multi-disk RAID and NAS systems from £500 + VAT, and SAN or enterprise storage from £1,250 + VAT.
No — every price is shown before VAT, which is added at the standard UK rate. Your written quote always sets out the total with VAT before you decide anything.
On the majority of jobs, yes — if we can't recover your data, you don't pay the recovery fee. The exceptions are physical drive- and card-level repairs, DVR and forensic work.
Physical-level work — head swaps, motor or platter work, circuit-board rebuilds — needs matched donor parts and a great deal of careful bench time, win or lose. The same applies to DVR and forensic work, which absorb serious specialist time whatever the outcome. For those jobs we take a 50% payment up front toward parts and labour; the balance is due only if we successfully recover your data.
The free diagnostic is usually back within 48 hours. Straightforward logical recoveries often turn round in a few days; physical repairs, RAID and NAS rebuilds take longer, depending on parts and complexity. You'll get an honest timeframe with your quote, and there's a priority service if you're up against the clock.
Drop it off in person at our Newcastle location — Rotterdam House, NE1 3DY, Monday to Friday 9am–5:30pm — or post it to us fully insured. We don't run a collection service, so those are your two ways in.
Just the drives. Take them out of the enclosure yourself and mark each with its bay order (drive 1, drive 2, and so on) — that order matters for the rebuild. There's no need to send the NAS box or the RAID controller.
No. We specialise in drives, RAID and NAS, servers, SAN, virtual machines and databases — mobile phones and tablets aren't something we take on.
All the major ones — Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba and Samsung drives; Synology, QNAP, WD and Netgear NAS; Dell, HP, IBM and Lenovo servers; plus VMware, Hyper-V, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Exchange on the business side.
No — if a drive is failing physically (clicking, not spinning, dropping out), recovery software keeps it powered on and almost always makes the damage worse. Switch it off and send it in untouched.
Yes, provided you can give us the password or recovery key. We recover the encrypted volume and use your key to unlock the data; without the key we can attempt forensic decryption, but that isn't guaranteed to work.
Every recovery is handled in-house by our own engineers. Your drives never leave our care, and your data stays confidential from the moment it arrives to the moment it's shipped back to you.
Start with a free written diagnostic. We'll confirm exactly what can be recovered and what it costs — then it's your call. Drop your device off in Newcastle, or post it in fully insured.