I recently moved to the Bay Area, and as I was unpacking and setting up my things, I went to turn on my external hard drive and... whirrrrrr... whirrrrr.... it wouldn't mount. I had photos, music, and some really important files I use for work on that drive, and -- stupidly -- no backup.

After a couple hours of freaking out, and a few more hours of attempting the few feeble diagnostics I knew of (with no luck), I turned to Yelp and found the great reviews for Hard Drive 911. My boyfriend dealt with the initial call/handing over the drive so I can't speak to that experience directly, but it seemed like it was a very smooth, convenient process. They picked up the drive from his apartment and had a diagnosis for me the next day. Luckily, they were able to recover everything! I ordered a brand new drive and had it shipped to them, which they put my data on and then shipped back to me. I got regular updates from Tom on the status of the drive, and all in all, the process took about a week and a half from handing over the drive to receiving the new one at my door (and this was with me opting for the slowest service time -- they will rush service for an extra fee).

While it cost slightly more than I had been originally hoping for (my move was expensive enough!!), it was still an extremely reasonable price and waaaaay cheaper than many other places probably would have charged me.

I learned my data-loss lesson and I hope I never have to use Hard Drive 911 again, but if my multiple backups ever fail simultaneously, I know who to call.

Katelyn M - San Francisco , CA, December 21, 2010