Cheadle DATA Recovery Ltd Reviews

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

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

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!

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.

Really honest guy, he’s not in the business of ripping anyone off, and actually helped me fix the problem myself/save a lot of money. Although I didn’t need Johns services this time I would absolutely recommend anyone get in touch. God forbid but if I ever have another data disaster I’m coming here first!!!

I have read most of the reviews on this page and I can relate to a similar situation myself with those of John Cartwright. I was recommended to consult Cheadle Data Recovery Ltd, so I telephoned John Reid and explained the situation. This was on the 23rd Feb. '26. From the receipt of my harddrive by him a few days later, I was kept informed regularly as to how the recovery was developing and the technical details involved. Also, the cost of the recovery was outlined to me in full at the outset and any questions I had were answered to the full. I must admit, I was totally resigned to the fact that I had lost everything. Now,I'm a happy chap once more! I cannot thank Dr. Reid enough for the work and effort he has put into this recovery. I have every confidence in recommending his expertise to anyone who could be in the same boat in the future. Noel Frith.

Although my lost data wasn't able to be recovered, the service delivery I received was both professional & personable from start to finish. John was honest regarding his expectations from the off which I felt was a refreshingly good attitude when considering the onslaught of pushy sales speak from other companies I called before choosing this 5 star, highly recommended, friendly company.

After my hard drive failed on my laptop and a failed attempt to recover data I was recommended to this Company who ‘have a good reputation’. I don’t really bother with much on-line research as I’d much rather go by word of mouth recommendations - far more reliable and trustworthy. My initial enquiry via message was immediately addressed. I then had a telephone conversation when every detail of the process was explained. To me, the no recovery, no fee stipulation didn’t need much thinking about! Nothing to lose, but a possible gain. I was also given a glimmer of hope, going by my description of what had happened. Plus the all important - detailed - costs, with no hidden extras. No low starting point prior to adding ££ as the process progressed. I knew exactly where I stood, plus the time span was spot on. Professionalism at its best. With a successful outcome!

Imagine the feeling when you try to access your desktop hard drive that contains over 20 years of photos and other important documents, and suddenly you can't access any of the content - everything you try fails, and the device continues to return a CRC error message!!!! A totally unexpected and gut-wrenching experience that left me wondering if I would ever get to see the many memories captured over many years that were sitting on the device. Well, following discussions with a number of local professional Tech Teams I was pointed towards Cheadle Data Recovery and John Reid, with the comment that, “if the data is there, CDR will be able to recover it” – and they did! Following a simple phone call, I travelled to meet John Reid at his office with the damaged device in hand. John was the true professional and provided a detailed and credible description of the problem and the solutions that could be applied to recover the data – his professional approach and calm nature gave me the confidence that I would see those memories again. His commitment that CDR always operate on a 'no-recovery, no-fee' basis with a full price list provided in advance, created further confidence of a positive outcome. Having discussed the process that would be followed with John, I left his office and waited for the outcome. Within a few days, I received information that confirmed the majority of the data was still on the drive and could be recovered and a few more days later I received a new memory device containing all my data. Thank you John, I can’t express how grateful I am for your support in recovering my data, it is very much appreciated!

Cheadle data recovery is highly recommended. John recovered my data even though I thought all hope was lost. When other technicians said it was not possible, he did a chip level recovery of the data. This was for a difficult intel optane SSD with complex encryption. He was professional and maintained good feedback throughout the process.

I bought two LaCie 4TB disks many years ago, and one is still working away merrily. But one had suddenly started that ominous sound we all hope we'll never hear. By sheer chance, a colleague recommended CDR, so I got in touch. The 'no data, no fee' arrangement was a winner. CDR were so professional and kept me informed all the way. Despite my disk being almost unique in their experience, they sourced the required parts, and within a few weeks I received the results. Apart from one recalcitrant file, they had recovered nearly 2TBs of data of almost 30 years of family and travel photos and movies, which are absolutely irreplaceable. I can't thank CDR enough and will recommend them to anyone who needs help with data recovery.

Thank you , thank you John for retrieving my data from a dead hard drive. As non tekke person John explained everything is simple language for me and kept me updated throughout the process. There were no hidden extra costs, what was quoted was charged. I would highly recommend CDR and would definitely use again, should the need arise. Margaret

Excellent service, wonderful communication and great efficiency - all my data was recovered and John was amazing. I'm so, so grateful as I'd thought I'd lost 10 years of work but every single file was retrieved for me. Thank you so, so much - I highly recommend this company. Thank you CDR!

BRILLIANT SERVICE JOHN IS 10 STARS

Excellent, professional and knowledgeable service from John. Highly recommend

I RECENTLY used CDR and am utterly thankful to what they did for me. I had almost 3TB of data, mainly photos and videos, very precious to me from 2005 onwards, on a mechanically failed external HD. Almost 6 years of my own photography too! John kept me updated throughout the process while I nervously waited the outcome and I always felt I was in good professional hands. I was so relieved when I received the news he recovered all the data most precious to me. I received what had been saved and what had been damaged. I think by pure luck for me the damaged data was only films/movies, (as well as one or two images and videos) which I can almost watch anywhere these days! But I got all my precious important data back! I can't thank CDR enough and I definitely recommend them. Thank you John 😊🙏🏻

A wonderful service received from Cheadle Data Recovery Ltd. Talked me through the whole process beforehand, kept me well informed throughout the process and efficient, successful outcome to my data recovery. I would definitely recommend Cheadle Data Recovery Ltd.

5 stars just isn't enough for John, and there are not enough words in the world to show our gratitude and appreciation. We found Cheadle Data Recovery Ltd from researching online, we saw how many 5 star reviews he had so reached out and had a very detailed, informative conversation with John. We tried people local to us but they were unsuccessful with the data recovery and advised us that we need to find a Data Recovery Specialist. After speaking to John he advised us that we were able to post the hard drive to him but due to the short time scale we had to recover the data (if even possible) we took the risk driving 1.5 hours to hand deliver it, and this was the best decision we could have made! John was so professional, knowledgeable, informative and advised us that no payment would be owed if the recovery is not successful, this put our mind at ease. We opted for the Emergency Option and within 48 hours we had our data recovered and sent back to us through an online system which we were able to download. During this 48 hours, the communication was above and beyond, he updated us every step of the way, explained he needed to replace the mechanical parts which had failed and that he had recovered the data and I could not recommend him enough to anyone. Thank you so so much John!

Excellent service and communication. Highly recommended.

Can't be more thankful that John was able to retrieve my data from a dead drive. He was very informative and ensured I was updated throughout the process. There were no hidden extra costs, what was quoted was charged. I can't recommend CDR enough and would definitely use again, should I need to.

Extremely impressive technical expertise, fantastic customer service, got my entire hard drive restored after an extremely unusual fault, cannot recommend highly enough.

An outstanding service for which terms and conditions are clearly set out in advance. The recovery activities are easy to understand and the 'no recovery no fee' basis is emphasised from the outset. The images in particular were of great importance and sentimental value summarising some real highlights in my life. I was so pleased that all data appear to have been recovered and at a price and time extremely acceptable. Thank you. Ian Marshall

Would just like to say thank you to John for the Wonderfull work he did in recovering all the data on my MacBook that I thought I had lost forever. Amazing. Very professional and would Highly recommend.

Absolutely impeccable service. I will always use Cheadle Data Recovery in the future.

This is the second time I have used Cheadle Data Recovery and I cannot praise their services enough. John helped me out of a stressful situation with data management that had, over the years, gotten out of control and I was at risk of losing precious videos of my child. John was straight forward and upfront with explaining the risks of lost data and his calming and patient demeanor helped me figure out where it had gone wrong. Most grateful with your support, John. Thank you 🙏

Found John (CDR) though Google and glad I did. He spent the time to discuss the process with me, and his reasonable fee structure. In the end the HD had lost a head, but he was able to recover the majority of the disc and get a copy of the recovered files safely back to me within the sugested timeframe. Hopefully I won't need his services again, but I'd recommend him to anyone who does.

The service is perfect. The technician is very nice and professional. He can explain the course and how to fix clearly. If your HDD is broken, you should choose here.

John's technical expertise is truly impressive. He communicates complex concepts clearly and shows a genuine commitment to helping his customers. When my MacBook failed, I was desperate to recover my data. John not only successfully retrieved all my files but also managed to repair the MacBook itself. The service was excellent, with transparent pricing throughout. His assistance came during a particularly difficult time for me, and I'm incredibly grateful. I'm surprised by the negative reviews of Cheadle Data Recovery—my experience was entirely positive, and I would recommend ignoring those negative comments.

Really excellent and professional service. I had a lot of archived music on my drive which was all, thankfully, recovered. Would highly recommend to anyone.

John is great - The only person i would trust to bring camera rushes back from the dead after any data back up disasters

Great service, would highly recommend. Managed to recover all my data from my corrupt ssd drive, despite many people telling me this would not be possible. Very professional and speedy service. Prices are fixed and upfront so no hidden charges. Thank you

My HDD gave up the ghost and although there was no sensitive information on it more a case of sentimental and historic information, I wanted to get the information if I could. I researched a lot of companies via the internet that "say" they provide this service only to find that they really are just intermediaries who do not do the work themselves sometime offering a low price only to then hold you to ransom by saying the process is more complicated or it will take more specialized equipment to retrieve the data. CDR on the other hand do all the work themselves and explain clearly why the HDD may have failed, the process they undertake and how long it will take and then provide you with a price. You do not pay until the data has been recovered and until you decide whether or not the information you are looking to retrieve is retrievable. So, the process and price is 100% transparent. I was extremely happy with the service provided by CDR and Dr. John Reid and would not hesitate to recommend him/them for these services.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH CDR HAS BEEN AMAZING. HE IS LIFE SAVER PROFESSIONAL, KNOWLEDGEABLE ANF RELIABLE- PRICE ARE GOOD HIGHLY RECOMMEND AND WOULD MOST DEFINITELY USE AGAIN.

Great advice, even though they made no money from me John provided sound advice and clearly years of industry knowledge in a short call, which established that my drives were not corrupt, I was just using the wrong adapter for a 3.5 HDD. A quick look on Amazon for the correct device and hey presto, data copied to new locations. Thank you John for you valued assistance. Anyone looking for a sound and safe pair of hands can trust Cheadle Data recovery Limited.

I am extremely happy and very grateful to Chealdle Data Recovery Ltd for the recovery of my data from my damaged HDD. Not only with the outcome, also with the process from start to finsh and down to the careful packaging of my returned items. The promise of not having to pay anything until the job was completed successfully, was fulfilled and I was kept informed of what was happening at all stages. John is very professional and knowledgeable, kept me updated and let me know what was happenening, with patience and clear guidance of what to do at various stages (which was needed as I know nothing about this kind of thing) Highly recommend and would most definitely use again. Thank you John. 🙂

THE place to go to get your data recovered. Professional, knowledgeable and reliable. I won't use anyone else and have used Cheadle Data Recovery numerous times. You can use this service with full confidence. John has been serving the industry for many years and knows his stuff. Thank you!

John @ Cheadle Data Recovery Ltd has been excellent. I was very anxious I might have lost access to 10 years of family photos amongst other Data which were stored on a nas drive. To make it more difficult to recover I had encrypted the drives when I initially set it up. 2 of my drives ended up failing so I approached another company to see if Data recovery was possible, I became sceptical when they were pushing me to send my nas drive in and so looked for another company. I came across CDR, which is only 20 mins away from my house. John was very up front about the costs involved which put my mind at ease so I went ahead with recovery. It looks like he's managed to recover all my data, I've now got it all back and been checking through everything and it all looks great. I'm so glad I went with Johns company rather than the first one I found. Can't recommend enough!

John was incredibly helpful, reassuring and efficient in recovering footage from a formatted SD card. I cannot recommend him enough. Superb.

I had an issue with the port on my external hard drive so made an enquiry as to how much it would cost to get the data recovered. I received a call very promptly saying that it looked like it was a problem that I could solve myself instead of taking it in and gave detailed instructions on what to do and said that I could bring it in if I couldn't fix it myself. I followed John's instructions and was able to solve the problem without spending a penny. I really appreciated John's advice and I don't think there are many businesses who would offer this if it was in my best interest not to bring it in. Would highly recommend.

I had just got back from a Japan trip and had been storing my trip photos and videos on a HDD that already had lots of data stored on it. When I got home and looked to backup I found I could no longer access my drive. I had looked up and found various data recovery specialists and found many to have hidden fees even taking my HDD to another “specialist” before finding Cheadle Data Recovery. John was very clear and upfront with costs. He explained the damage done to my HDD and the work that had to be done. He retrieved all the data and I can’t thank him enough! Note to self have at least two backups.

We used Cheadle Data Recovery to recover data from a NAS box which unfortunately had 2 drives fail in a RAID5 at the same time! John was incredibly knowledgeable, explained the process and quickly turned round the work for us. An extra bonus, everything from the NAS was fully recovered and we are now back up and running.

I would strongly recommend Cheadle Data recovery to do what it says on the tin! We live in Italy and my local IT technician was completely defeated when he replaced a hard drive and half our data was lost. On a return visit to Manchester I found this company, left the offending item with Dr Reid, who obviously knows all there is to know about the subject, and the information I had lost was returned to me, according to the stated terms, almost immediately. Thank you for providing an excellent service..

Really impressed by the standard of service provided. John talked me through the process and I was kept informed all along the way. Was able to get back some very precious data and made some family members very happy. Really recommend!

I thought I'd lost the majority of my last 12 month's photography, comprising tens of thousands of images, when three of my hard drives (two SSDs and a traditional drive) inexplicably became corrupted at the same time. To compound that I also had two Micro SD cards full of drone photographs which wouldn't open. I looked around on the Internet for data recovery services in the Cheshire area and was attracted to Cheadle Data Recovery's website. I 'phoned John who was extremely helpful and knowledgeable which gave me the confidence to use CDR. He also explained all the costs up-front and his 'no-recovery/no-fee' policy. He managed to recover all the lost data at the agreed price which was a massive relief to me. I wouldn't hesitate in using CDR again and cannot recommend them highly enough.

John was clear and professional, would highly recommend.

After a catastrophic HDD failure, I was shocked to find that my Mac’s Time Machine had excluded (apparently by default because it wasn’t an internal drive?) the drive from my backups. I then discovered I’d lost 52 years worth of photographs, many of which were irreplaceable. I contacted John after checking reviews of various data recovery companies and after discussing things with John, entrusted him with the recovery. John was very clear up front about costs and chances of recovery - given the specific type of Seagate drive involved - and then set about recovering the data. First efforts were largely successful after reading as far as the disk errors but after I was thinking that was it, John suggested he could made a second attempt - reading backwards to the errors - which indeed proved additionally successful. Results were: * Photo’s in library:  21,745 * Photo’s unrecovered: 450 * Unrecovered photo’s replaceable: 448 * Unrecoverable photo’s lost: 1 (possibly 2) …which equates to a 99.99% success rate! I’ve undoubtedly not recovered other files but it was the photo’s (and memories) that are crucially important and I only have the highest recommendation for the efforts that John put in over and above what could be expected in recovering them. I’m hoping I never have such a situation again but if I do, I know where to come to for help. Many thanks, John Kind regards, Stephen Owens

John is a first class data analyst, who offers a pristine and premium service, from the very outset of your enquiry to the completion of the data recovery project. I would not hestitate to highly recommend John, and, had I not been fortunate enough to live quite local, I would be willing to travel a considerable distance to use his unbeatable data skills. He doesn't have the letters, and 'Dr'., before his name for nothing! I am eternally grateful to him for recovering 4 TB of irreplaceable data for me. Thank you so much John, Kindest regards from, Yvonne Ledden.

CDR did a great job of recovering files from one of my 1TB HDDs. Despite a broken R/W head CDR recovered 99% of the files on the broken drive and within the timescale quoted. I would highly recommend CDR for data recovery on HDDs.