Hard drive emergencies are horribly painful. But they happen. And when they do, you just hope that the tech folks in charge are competent, professional, knowledgeable, AND honest. Thank god this was the case with the people at Hard Drive 911 (I worked with their San Francisco team, led by Tom P.). Tom pretty much saved my life:

I had a large video project stored on a Seagate 1.5TB hard drive. The drive failed. After a panic attack and some yelling, I started making calls to local (and more distant) data recovery people. Some companies located in the South Bay. Others in L.A.. I quickly learned that data recovery can be ridiculously expensive. Most companies out there know that it's an emergency--and they make you pay for it. I was getting quotes STARTING in the $5k range (for a hard drive that cost me $100, no less). And it's even more expensive the quicker you need your data recovered...

Anyway, I ended up going with Hard Drive 911 Data Recovery because of their approach to customer service--and their simple, conscientious policy. They didn't make any changes in pricing or timing because I was a small-time, individual client. And they didn't charge me a premium or take advantage of my desperation. I dropped my hard drive off with Tom, got the drive diagnosed--and then fixed--within a week. And was back in business with my video files without having to shell out an exorbitant amount of capital.

Although I cringe at the thought of ever having another situation where I need data recovery--if it happens...I'll certainly know who to call for help. I'd recommend the people at Hard Drive 911 to anyone who needs solid, professional data recovery.

Morgan W - Berkeley, CA, August 17, 2010