Our branches are our courier network. Wherever you live within the United Kingdom, a tracked box will carry your laptop, memory card(s), NAS disks, RAID set, SSD or failed drive to the bench, where a complimentary diagnosis will be made within 48 hours prior to receiving a written quote prior to any work being performed.
A recovery depends solely upon the engineer and equipment, not the distance. Next day couriers leave every UK postcode one box away from both.
Track & insure it properly, with a note inside: that’s all that needs to happen.
Oxford Data Recovery, John Eccles House, Oxford Science Park, Robert Robinson Avenue, Littlemore, Oxford, OX4 4GP. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Telephone: 01865 593000. Get a quote prior to posting your device please.
In your note, include your name, telephone number, e-mail and a brief description of the incident (e.g. failure date/time, activity at time of failure, actions attempted after failure). The last item is important: an abandoned rebuild or a long scan changes our approach entirely.
Most transit damage is avoidable and occurs primarily due to a couple of simple reasons.
A bag/foam sleeve. (Bubble wrap alone is not the best option against a bare board, though it is far better than nothing.)
As a drive rattling within a box takes many small impacts over its entire journey, fill the box’s interior voids instead of allowing the drive an unobstructed path to travel.
Although Jiffy bags provide some minimal protective value from being dropped or crushed by something heavy, they generally do little to protect your items.
In addition to sending your item in its original enclosure, it would be best to include your original cable(s) and/or power supply as well, if you still have them; many drives use the bridge board as part of reading the data from your disk.
This is for your safety rather than ours. Write down the tracking number before it leaves.
A call first makes sense because the trip there can be dangerous too.
A drive that has been in a fire or flood. Corrosion can go on indefinitely until all contaminants have left the parts. So those are really time sensitive: send it damp and sealed (do not dry) and call so we know it is coming. Time is important in this case, unlike mechanical faults.
Anything already opened. If you have taken the drive apart, the area inside the drive where the mechanical parts are located is now contaminated and any further movement can drag dust and debris across the platters. If possible please put the drive back together again, seal it up and tell us what was done. We would far rather know.
Same process, regardless of whether it comes in the post or through the door.
Devices are checked in when they arrive. Once we confirm your device has arrived, our free diagnostic will determine exactly what went wrong with your device (mechanical, electronic, firmware or logical), and provide you a fixed price quote which will be provided to you via email generally within 48 hours. No charges can be made against you until you agree to the price of the recovery; and if it is determined by the diagnosis that your device cannot be recovered, no fees are incurred.
Your recovered data is shipped back to you on fresh media (free return shipping) as well as your original storage device (unless you’d like us to dispose of it securely). Costs begin from £250 +VAT for cards & USB drives, and £300 +VAT per unit for a single drive.
Hard disks/SSDs should be wrapped in anti-static material (to prevent static damage), which is then padded so they won’t shift during transit. Rigid boxes should be used instead of envelopes so there is less chance of a rattling drive taking repeated impacts en-route. Use insured, tracked delivery along with an internal letter stating your contact information and describing what went wrong.
Yes. We do ask that you remove the hard drive or SSD before sending them. Unfortunately, we don’t take full laptop/desktop systems; however, most local computer shops will have no problem removing the disk drive for you within minutes. External devices such as cases should be sent complete with their housing.
Your name, telephone number, e-mail address, and a brief description of the failure (when did it fail, what were you doing at the time of the failure, and what have you done to try to fix the problem since). This last item is important: a failed rebuild or a long scan will change our method of repair.
Ship fire/flood damaged drives as soon as possible while they are still wet (do not dry them), but contact us before sending; damage from moisture (corrosion) continues to occur until it is removed. If a drive has already been opened, seal it and tell us, as further movement can spread contamination.
No. We provide free return shipping, and we will also return your original device unless you wish to have it destroyed by a secure process.
The unit is booked in, you are notified that it has arrived, a complimentary diagnostic is performed to determine the cause of the failure (usually within 48 hours), providing a fixed written quote based on our findings. There is no cost until you approve of the amount quoted.
We will provide you a quotation; you can send your items to us straight away; we will then send you an e-mail inside 48 hours of receiving your items in Oxford confirming whether we can recover anything from them. There is no charge at this stage.