5 Tips For Getting the Best Price on Data Recovery Services
When you lose data, it can feel like your world is falling apart. Nothing is more soul-crushing than realizing you’ve deleted an important email or document, only to have no recollection of it ever occurring. There are, however, ways to recover data without breaking the bank.
The good news is that the prices for data recovery services vary greatly from service to service. The low-end is usually around $350, while the high-end can go up to $6,500. Here are five key tips for getting the best price on data recovery services.
Know Exactly What You Need
The first step to getting the best price on data recovery services is knowing precisely what you need. When you’re not sure of what you lost, it can be difficult to get a price quote from a company. There are different types of data recovery services for different scenarios.
If you have lost an email or document, your best option is likely to shoot them off to the cloud. This can help expedite the process and save time and money in the long run. Other options include physically recovering the device that contains your data, which may cost more depending on the size of the device and how much time it will take to recover them from it.
If you have lost photos or videos, consider going with a specialized service instead of uploading them yourself to a cloud service or using software like iPhoto or Windows Movie Maker. One way to find out how much these services will cost is by asking other companies what they charge for similar work.
Be Prepared to Meet With a Service Provider
Before you go out and meet with a service provider, it’s important to know what you’re looking for. You should have a clear idea of what type of data recovery service you need and what time frame you need it in. It also helps to know how much money you have to spend.
To put this into context, let’s say that you accidentally deleted your phone’s text messages. A simple recovery service would be as low-priced as $350. But if you needed to recover all text messages dating back two years, that could cost up to $6,500.
If the cost is too high for your budget, consider a simpler option like finding the phone on Craigslist or Amazon Marketplace and hiring someone else to find the messages for you.
Understand the Different Types of Data Recovery
The first thing to understand is that there are three different types of data recovery companies. The low-end service is known as an offsite recovery, in which the data is physically taken off the hard drive and copied to another location.
This type of service usually comes with a small fee, but it’s necessary because a hard drive can only handle so much damage before making it unusable. A high-end service, on the other hand, is known as onsite recovery, where the data is restored onto the same hard drive without any physical transfer.
These services often come with a higher price tag than low-end services. The third option for data recovery is hybrid services that do both onsite and offsite or have an additional fee for each type of service.
Don’t Be Afraid to Negotiate
As with most things in life, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. When it comes to data recovery services, asking for a lower price is the best way to get one. Start by researching the costs of similar services and what they offer.
If a company offers something that you need but they charge too much for it, call them up and ask if they can offer you a deal on the same service. Asking for a discount is also an easy way to get clients for your future data recovery projects.
Choose a Company Based on Their Reputation
When you’re in the market for data recovery services, it’s important that you consider the reputation of the company ahead of time. Make sure they have a solid reputation and are a trustworthy company that will be able to help. Considerations like this can make all the difference when you’re trying to find a place to recover your data.
If you’re not confident that a particular company can handle your data loss, then it might be best to steer clear of them. That being said, if you do choose a company with a reputable reputation, then there are several key factors that determine how much they’ll charge for their services.
These factors include:
- The size of the hard drive or amount of data on it
- The complexity of the task
How quickly they need to get your data Whether or not any additional hardware is needed
