How much does data recovery cost?

Fixed price fees provided in advance.

CDR - Manchester Data Recovery Services - aims to be as clear as possible about the pricing of its services and will provide a list of our charges to you in advance of any work. Please contact us on 0161 408 4857 or email CDR and we will send you a full up to date price list by email. CDR will conduct the diagnostic tests for free to confirm the type of failure your HDD or SSD has and then assign it to one of the prices listed. It is a no-obligation quotation. In most cases, during a phone conversation, it is possible to identify the type of fault with your device and provide you with an accurate quotation. For RAID arrays/servers, we always provide a fixed price quotation in advance of receiving your device.

We know what an emotive issue lost data can be – CDR offers realistic quotations over the phone based on the fault description. We will not just quote our lowest price over the phone.

Data Recovery Scams.

Unfortunately, there are a number of data recovery scams in the UK. Usually these companies will provide an attractive low price estimate in advance of receiving the HDD or SSD. Frequently a vague price range shall be provided and you will be told the "average price," of a recovery. Some companies will claim that nearly all data recovery work will cost between £97 - £200. However, on receipt of the device the quotation will increase significantly, usually to between £500 and £800. In addition to this, they will ask for a significant non-refundable fee ahead of performing any work, despite having advertised 'no-fix, no-fee recovery' terms. The non-refundable fee requested is claimed to be required for, "Donor parts," or "Research and Development," as your case is much more complicated than standard. Other 'scams' can include over charging for a new disk for data to be returned on, making an additional charge for the data to be copied to the HDD you provide for the return of data, or even charging upwards of £25 for a return courier fee.

Most reputable data recovery companies can provide you with an exact price of the cost of particular data recovery services. Do not accept vague price estimates before you send in your device. Make sure that you get a fixed quotation or price list sent to you by email, in advance, which covers all fees which a data recovery company may wish to make.

Before choosing any data recovery service CDR recommends potential customers to read the following article at "Data Recovery Report" on WayBackMachine. Please note that datarecoveryreport.com is a website based in the USA and is independent of CDR. However, many of our customers have found the information provided on this website as very useful. CDR's recommendation is that you ask any colleagues or friends for data recovery services which they have used personally and can recommend. Moreover, conduct searches on Google about any company you intend sending your device to and be sure to check past the first page of search results.

N.B. As of June, 2015, DataRecoveryReport appears to be offline, however the page can be viewed on the DataRecoveryReport WayBackMachine Internet archive.

No-fix, no-fee: Guaranteed.

All quotations include necessary donor parts and all work is on a 'no-recovery, no-fee basis'. That is, if we cannot recover data there are no charges made. There are never any diagnostic fees, or non-refundable charges, for RAIDs, servers, memory sticks, SSDs, or hard disk drives which have not been previously opened. Payment is only due after a file list is provided showing the data which has been recovered.

If at all possible please phone through on 0161 408 4857 to discuss the fault with your storage device. You will be able to speak to someone knowledgeable who works on the HDDs, SSDs and memory sticks and they should be able to give you a good idea of how your device has failed. It is also possible to arrange a free whilst-you-wait diagnostic test for your device. Once this is completed we can confirm the fault and which tier of pricing the recovery will be under.

Non-refundable fees.

CDR will never ask for any non-refundable fees for HDDs which have not been previously opened. Please view our full 'non-refundable fee' policy.

How quickly do you need your data?

We offer two levels of service at which the data recovery service can be completed. For details please see the "Time-scale of services" page.

Return of data.

If there is 20GB of less of recovered data then the data will be returned to by a secure download. The cost of this is included within any quotation. If you have more than 20GB of data it will be necessary to return your data on physical media. CDR can provide you with a new HDD or memory stick. Our up to date price list for return media is listed on the website. You are welcome to provide your own working return media hard disk drive or memory stick. If you do then there are no charges made for copying the recovered data to this device.

Data Recovery Case Studies
Too good to be true data recovery
Excellent
Cheadle DATA Recovery Ltd5.0
Based on 383 reviews
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James White
7 days ago
I had a new M.2 NVME drive fail on me with all my project files on so needed to do data recovery, after a bit of looking around my local area I got directed to Cheadle data recovery as the places I enquired with locally didn't deal with M.2 devices I initially called to seek quotations and John was friendly, polite and professional whilst answering any questions I had about the process, reassuring me that I was dealing with someone who knew what they were doing and giving me confidence that I wouldn't be left short as they operate on a "no recovery, no fee" basis Even going so far as to give follow up advice afterwards regarding how to create backups and other solutions to prevent this from happening in future. I really appreciate you going the extra mile and I cannot thank you enough for getting me my lost time back
Phill Dixon
1 week ago
Spoke to John at Cheadle Data Recovery about an enterprise grade HDD that needed recovery. He was completely upfront that the helium filled nature meant it was out of scope but hen spent a great deal of time and effort putting me in contact with places that could. He has made absolutely nothing off my call but spent 40 mins trying to help and recommending other very specialist recovery firms that could potentially help and explaining the process. Absolutely brilliant service
Response from the owner:Hello Phill, thank you for the review. Helium filled HDDs present a major technical challenge for data recovery companies when the mechanical components have failed within the HDD. I am not aware of any UK based data recovery company that has a proven success record when working on mechanical failed helium filled hard disks. As such I recommend HelpDisc/HDDSurgery in Serbia or Morde in Portugal who are making genuine recovery attempts on these disks. Both of which perform work on a 'no-recovery, no-fee' basis, and do not charge for the donor HDD. Unfortunately, I am aware of certain UK based data recovery companies which have charged £1000+ upfront for a recovery attempt on a helium filled disk, where no data has been subsequently recovered, and then on inspection of the disk it has been found that no work has actually taken place. As such, I advise those people with Helium filled HDDs to be cautious of some claims made by certain data recovery companies regarding their technical capabilities and to check the terms of work before any payment is made to the company. Whilst CDR does not work on mechanically failed helium HDDs, we do still work on helium HDDs which have suffered failure associated with the firmware, printed circuit board, bad sectors/degraded media and corruption of the filesystem. Best regards, John C. Reid.
RDC Creative Media
2 weeks ago
I have used Cheadle Data Recovery twice now for failed hard drives, John was so helpful and informative about both jobs and he went above and beyond to make sure that I was completely satisfied. I would HIGHLY recommend Cheadle Data Recovery to anyone looking for help with recovery issues. John is flexible, down to earth and just an all round great guy. I will be using him again if I ever have any issues!
Response from the owner:Hello Rudie, I am glad we were able to bring the job to a positive conclusion and I appreciate the unsolicited review. Best regards, John C. Reid.
LM M
3 weeks ago
I’m not usually someone who posts reviews, but in this case, I felt it was absolutely warranted. My only regret is that I didn’t find Dr. John Reid sooner. Before reaching him, I had already wasted time, money, and a great deal of emotional energy. I had almost accepted that everything on my Toshiba 2TB drive my personal work, studies, sentimental family photos and videos, and professional work dating back to 2022 was gone for good. Other so-called “professionals” either refused to take on the job due to its complexity or simply didn’t have the expertise. As a last resort, I emailed John one evening. By 9:00am the next morning, he had already called me. From the start, he was thorough, clear in his explanations, and completely upfront about costs and realistic expectations. I really appreciated that he didn’t offer false hope and maintained professionalism throughout. I decided to take a chance and made a 70-minute journey with a small glimmer of hope. When I arrived, John didn’t just take the hard drive and send me away he took the time to explain in detail what the issue might be, the possible solutions, and even gave me advice on how to care for hard drives in the future. He promised an update by the end of the day and he delivered. After I clarified that the drive was 2TB rather than 1TB, he provided a revised quote, which I agreed to. I placed my trust in him while keeping my expectations realistic. Throughout the process, John kept me informed. When he said recovery might be possible, I remained cautiously optimistic. Then came the moment of truth: I received a link showing which files were recoverable. To my amazement, only a minimal number were damaged. The relief and happiness I felt seeing those files again is hard to put into words. I truly cannot thank John enough. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone. The journey was absolutely worth it for such a professional and dedicated service—and I will definitely return with other devices I had previously given up on. Thank you so much, John.
Response from the owner:Hello "LM M", I am not sure which job/disk this refers to, but thank you for taking the time to write the review and the sentiments. It's worth noting that you chose to visit in person, and it was possible for me to inspect your device during your visit. Unfortunately, on Google Maps a number of data recovery companies have created fake office listings in Manchester (and other city centres) where there are no staff, only a PO Box/Virtual Office. Best regards, Dr John C. Reid.

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