Fields Data Recovery USA, LLC

This client declined service on March 26. It can take up to 28 business days to process a free return. Between the time she emailed declining service on March 26, and today, the only email contact from her was "Today I filed a complaint with the Revdex.com. I just want my "book" hard drive back please. You...

are not responding to my e mails.    [redacted]   Job # [redacted] We are processing her device for return, and are confident she had not contacted us between the time she declined service and filed this complaint.

We received only one device from this client, a new, in package, USB memory stick with a sticker on the package from a competitor of ours. We have offered to open a claim with UPS to see if they can find the device they claim was shipped with the USB stick we received, but to date the client has...

resorted only to blaming us for not receiving the device.

We moved offices in March, which caused free returns to take as long as 28 business days, or more in some cases.In the case of this client, his hard drive was removed from its external enclosure in order to attempt direct access. This was necessary due to the number of bad sectors present on the...

drive. The caddy is completely unnecessary for "data access" at this point, and actually would impede any attempt at recovery. Regardless, we've located his enclosure and will return by USPS today. He has not called or contacted us directly to resolve this issue.

We do not have a voicemail system, so he must have been calling the wrong number. He was informed that the data was unrecoverable on June 15 via email, and we received a "read receipt" that day from the client. The drive was returned via USPS on June 19, and tracking can be provided if necessary....

According to the tracking, it was delivered on June 26.We apologize the data was unrecoverable even after the advanced work required to attempt recovery.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/03) */
This client sent a recovery for free diagnostics. At the conclusion of recovery it was explained that 234.8 GB of data was recovered from 36449 files in 15268 folders. This is exactly what he received.
He was not told he would be receiving...

all data that was on the drive prior to the failure as we have no way of knowing if what is recoverable is everything that was on the drive prior to failure. He was also not told nor ever given the implication that he would receive a sector-by-sector copy of the drive.
A recording of the call explaining the findings of the diagnostics is attached.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I have received notification from UPS on the delivery status of my belongings. I pray that they are retuned in one piece and working appropriately. If not, you can expect to hear from me again. This type of treatment is below my standards of customer service.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/07/06) */
There was a misunderstanding between the account manager and the client as to what the terms of the sale would be. This payment was refunded. His hard drive was sent because it was not properly working, it was returned by UPS in the same,...

nonworking condition.

The client will be notified as soon as this is ready for pickup, as instructed on June 6.

We completed a full recovery for this client and provided her with results on May 11. From May 11 until June 22 we were unable to successfully reach this client via phone, and she was not responsive to email. We sent an email and left a voicemail on June 22 informing her that we would need a reply...

of some kind by June 26, or we'd be forced to consider this case closed. We did not receive a reply, and did not hear anything from this client until receiving this complaint. Since receiving this complaint, we have not been able to successfully reach the client via phone or email.

This client submitted a 2 disk [redacted] under the impression that it was a mirrored [redacted]. Inspection showed that this was likely not a mirrored [redacted], but a striped [redacted] instead as during the short period that disk 2 was in a state where the hex code of the data was accessible, no structured data was accessible. The client disagreed with our assessment and argued with his account manager about our findings. These results were reviewed with the client on December 1, and on December 11 he declined service. His original hard drives were returned that same day.On the afternoon 12/13/2017 we were made aware that the backup drive the client supplied was not returned with his original drives. Within 90 minutes, we sent the following reply:"I'm sorry your [redacted] presented itself with such difficulty, I wish you the best in attempts to recover the data elsewhere. I'll make sure your backup is returned posthaste."We treat this situation seriously, made no jokes of the situation, and as he was told, he will receive his backup drive soon.

This client was provided with an online file list in an effort to show her exactly what was recoverable, which was viewed by the client prior to making payment. Further, she stated that she was interested in files pertaining to "[redacted]..." and "[redacted]...". There were many files either...

referencing these names, or in folders referencing these names, that have been returned to the client. We are very sorry that this is evidently not the data she was seeking, but this is why we provide the list of recoverable data for clients to review prior to making payment and we have performed the work for which she paid.We thoroughly reviewed this case in July, and attempted to recover more data at no additional cost to the client. We were fully transparent and made every effort to inform her what was recovered, exactly, with no ambiguity whatsoever. Her original hard drive was returned in July when all options were exhausted.

We performed a data recovery service for this client after we received her hard drive on October 16. She informed us she was seeking a folder with a company name in it, which we located. We sent her data on October 23rd. She received this October 24th. We keep the original drive to ensure that A)...

everything arrives safely and B) to have it readily available in the case more data or more work is needed. On October 25th, after she had her data for a day, she called to request the return of the original drive. This was sent the same day, and received by her on October 28 (tracking available for both shipments).On October 30, she called saying the files were "corrupt" and needed help. We noticed no problems with her recovered data at the time of diagnostics, apologized that she was having problems and informed her that she would need to return her original device so we could re-recover, and again verify functionality. She was upset that she would have to send this back in, but ultimately agreed. About 2 hours later she called back saying she was having trouble opening the prepaid [redacted] shipping label that was emailed to her, and went on to complain about how long it took and how much longer it would be, and asked to talk to a manager. She called back, again, after not receiving a call back and was told that a manager would be unavailable to speak with her and we reiterated she simply needed to return her hard drive using the prepaid shipping label we had provided.She visibly upset one of our employees today (November 2), and I gave her a call back. She refuses to return the original for a re-recovery, and keeps referencing timelines that are not accurate. We shipped her data exactly one week after receiving her hard drive, not three, and remain more than happy to attempt re-recovery of her data at no additional cost. We consider this more than fair and do not understand her refusal to accept help. When she requested the return of her original drive, after she had her data, she left us with no recourse and no way to offer help. She will not be issued or offered a refund of any kind, but the offer to attempt re-recovery stands.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/02/09) */
This client sent a hard drive for recovery, received on October 9, 2014. A PCB/ROM swap was attempted but the board still failed to power. This can indicate, in many cases, a faulty pre-amp in the HDA (Head/Disk Assembly), and the drive was...

opened to check the condition of the heads and platter surface. Ultimately, it was determined that no recovery was possible due to the fact that it was the ROM that was faulty, and not the PCB itself. The drive was returned by UPS on November 4, 2014.
We are very sorry this client remains unhappy, but unfortunately the drive fault rendered any recovery impossible.

This device was returned in the specified timeframe, at no cost to the client. He confirmed delivery. [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/21) */
Client contacted us on November 18 explaining that he had an EXTERNAL hard drive that was clicking that he would like recovered, and informed us that he would also be sending in a drive for backup.
Client sent drives, which were received...

November 19. Upon receipt there were two drives: 1) Toshiba EXTERNAL USB hard drive and 2) 3.5" SATA INTERNAL Western Digital Hard Drive (photo attached). Because the client indicated that it was an external hard drive that failed, the casing ("caddie") of the Toshiba hard drive was removed to begin diagnostics.
In subsequent conversations with the client it was made apparent that it was actually the 3.5" SATA drive that needed recovery, and the caddie of the Toshiba drive was replaced. While there are some marks on the caddie and it is possibly bent because it is metallic, the Toshiba drive remains fully functional.
We apologize that the client is unhappy that the Toshiba hard drive does not look "new" anymore, but we had every reason to believe that the Toshiba hard drive was the drive that was submitted for recovery, as it was the only EXTERNAL hard drive sent by the client.

The client has received the original device he submitted for data recovery services. Unfortunately, this drive was unrecoverable due to the severe damage he is seeing now. As is standard with our service, this client has not paid us anything at all for inbound or return shipping, or diagnostic evaluation. Finally, on January 7, before the client even had the drive back in hand he sent an email stating:"I am letting you if you switched drives on me I will know. I build computers and I have taken that drive apart if its not the same as I sent I will sue"Not only was he preemptively accusing us of sending the wrong drive, but his drive had not been opened prior to our evaluation, as evidenced by the intact label and seals on the hard drive shown in the booking in photo.We are very sorry that this data is unrecoverable, but it is unrecoverable because of the damage that we saw in our clean lab and that he's seeing now. He has the correct drive, without question.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: The complaint does not regard your excuse of a [redacted] Array (which is was not) and you insist on rubbing that in my face) You made it a priority to ship me dead drives overnight for $40.00, however I still have not received the new drive back after 10 days (13 minimum after Christmas Now). I sent a follow up asking when I might receive the drive after 1 week and still don’t know when MY drive is going to arrive. My [redacted] is in pieces waiting for that drive. thank you 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Fields Data Recovery offers a free return option that follows free inbound shipping and free diagnostics, should the client choose not to proceed with the recovery process due to any reason. We do not know the underlying issues with the drive prior to evaluation, which is why we structure our...

process at no risk to the client whatsoever. The client told the initial representative that his drive fell, and was clicking. Our notes show she informed the client this would likely range between $400 and $800, with a maximum of about $1200.Upon receipt of the drive we confirmed the fault and gave him the exact quote within the range he was quoted over the phone. He declined this service, and it was set for return. We offer an expedited return option that would have ensured packaging and shipping more quickly, but the client did not want to pay the $20.00 fee for this service. As stated above, our free return is provided as a courtesy and the only way we can provide this is to continue to prioritize our clients who proceed with and pay for the data recovery services, followed by those who pay for an expedited return, and finally the free return. Typically, this takes 2-3 weeks from the time return is requested until the drive is received but due to the volume of recoveries performed over the past several weeks there simply hasn't been an opportunity to return this clients drive, as well as many other free returns. We will ensure this is shipped via USPS tomorrow in order to close this case.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/06) */
This client submitted a hard drive for recovery. We do not test the computers from which the devices are pulled (that is not where our expertise lies), and work under the assumption that the problems disclosed by the customers are at least...

somewhat accurate. Because of this, we simply wouldn't just "plug in" a hard drive that potentially was mechanically damaged, as that could then ruin any chance of recovery. In this case, specifically, the client said they had already taken the drive to Best Buy for analysis, and that they were not able to recover any data (they couldn't identify partitions on the drive).
The client declined the initial quote due to cost, but because he required only a subset of the files that allowed us to use a USB memory stick instead of a backup hard drive, we offered a discount, which he accepted. Our services were not misrepresented in any way, and the work performed on the clients hard drive followed standard procedures for handling failed hard drives.
Please note that the recovery of this hard drive completed on April 23, paid for on April 24, and we were then contacted more than two months later, on July 2.

The client was clearly informed of exactly how many folders and files they would be receiving. We apologize this was evidently not all data on the drive prior to the failure but there was nothing further we made clear exactly the amount of data they would receive prior to making payment. This was...

completed in June of 2017.