1. General
1.1 Data Recovery Expert is used as a trade name of Data Recovery Services Limited. The term “Customer” refers to any companies, partnerships, or other parties that send media to Data Recovery Expert for the purpose of diagnostics or data recovery.
1.2 The word "full/complete" or the phrase "Full Recovery/Complete Data Recovery," when used in relation to the data recovery process or the total amount of recovered data, refers only to the successful recovery of data from the media and does not refer to the quantity of data that was originally present on the storage device.
1.3 Data Recovery Expert agrees to apply its best commercial knowledge and expertise in the course of the diagnostic process to determine the likelihood and extent of data that may potentially be recovered from the Customer’s media.
1.4 Data Recovery Expert will strive to recover or replicate the maximum amount of data from the Customer's media to the best of its ability.
1.5 Business hours are Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:30, excluding public holidays. Data recovery may also occur outside of these business hours. All diagnostic and/or recovery services outside of these business hours will be provided at an agreed-upon rate, depending on the individual case.
1.6 Data Recovery Expert will make reasonable efforts to achieve appropriate response times. However, the achievement of response times is not a contractual condition, except for special agreements.
2. Quotes, Offers, and Payment
2.1 All fixed-price quotes created by Data Recovery Expert are valid for a period of seven days, except for special agreements. After this period, the offer may change without prior notice.
2.2 All prices offered by representatives of Data Recovery Expert are exclusive of VAT (currently 20% of the total invoice amount).
2.3 An offer may be accepted in writing, verbally by a person, or via telephone, fax, or email. Data Recovery Expert reserves the right to begin recovery work only after receiving the corresponding authorization.
2.4 If the Customer decides not to proceed with data recovery after authorization has been granted, Data Recovery Expert reserves the right to charge the Customer for all work performed and parts used up to that point. The costs will be determined at the discretion of Data Recovery Expert and may correspond to the total amount approved for recovery, but not exceed it.
2.5 The Customer is aware that payment is due upon completion of data recovery and before the release of data and/or original media (whether by shipping, collection, or download), unless otherwise agreed. Payment may be made by credit/debit card (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Switch, Maestro, Electron, etc.), company or personal check, or bank transfer. Under certain circumstances, Data Recovery Expert may require that payment be made in full before the data is released to the Customer.
2.6 Data Recovery Expert reserves the right to charge interest and/or administrative fees for payments that remain outstanding after a specified due date. The current interest rate charged by Data Phoenix is 1.5% for each month of payment delay. The currently charged administrative fees are as follows: Outstanding amounts; £75 for each month of delay, £10 for each telephone call regarding the outstanding amount, £30 for each letter regarding the outstanding amount, and £10 for a copy of the original invoice. All amounts are exclusive of VAT.
3. Confidentiality
3.1 In line with its confidentiality provisions, Data Recovery Expert agrees not to disclose any information or files provided by the Customer's equipment, stored on it, or recovered from it, without the Customer's consent, except to employees or representatives of Data Recovery Expert, as permitted under a confidentiality agreement or as required by law.
3.2 Data Recovery Expert agrees to use only authorized personnel for data recovery and to securely store all media provided to Data Recovery Expert in its premises. The Customer is aware that the location of their storage may not necessarily be the same location to which the media was originally delivered.
3.3 All data recovered from the Customer's media will be stored on secure servers in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
4. Diagnostics and Recovery
4.1 All diagnostic reports will be communicated to the Customer via telephone or email, unless otherwise agreed with a representative of Data Recovery Expert.
4.2 Due to the nature of data recovery, our technicians may need to perform physical work on the media/data/devices provided to Fields Data Recovery. The Customer acknowledges this.
4.3 that the media/data/devices are already damaged,
4.4 Efforts to recover data may lead to further damage to the media/data/devices,
4.5 the warranties for media/data/devices may become void, and
4.6 Fields Data Recovery is not liable for these or other damages.
4.7 The Customer understands that it may occasionally be necessary for Data Recovery Expert to use additional media to carry out diagnostics and/or recovery, such as replacement parts for drives or specific adapters or sockets. Data Recovery Expert reserves the right to charge the Customer for such additional media at an agreed price.
4.8 In very rare cases, Data Recovery Expert may charge the Customer a portion of the costs for a recovery attempt. Such a non-binding fixed-price offer only applies in the case of a complicated recovery or when significant damage has occurred and is not offered under Data Recovery Expert’s “no recovery, no fee” service.
4.9 Data Recovery Expert agrees to process payments for recovery work only in the event of successful recovery of data from the Customer's media. The Customer is aware that due to the complex nature of data recovery, it is not always possible to recover all information from the Customer's media. Data Recovery Expert makes no guarantees regarding the completeness, relevance, or significance of the data recovered for the Customer, unless otherwise agreed in writing between Data Recovery Expert and the Customer.
4.10 Data Recovery Expert reserves the right to send or redirect equipment or media received at our locations to the most suitable locations for data recovery. This includes the use of laboratory facilities of sister companies or the parent company. In such cases, Data Recovery Expert will use a courier service for the transport of media or equipment. The Customer agrees that a) Data Recovery Expert will bear the costs of this transport and b) Data Phoenix accepts no liability for damage to or loss of items transported as part of the general efforts to recover the Customer's lost data.
5. Fulfillment, Delivery & Transport
5.1 Data Recovery Expert is committed to returning all recovered data on suitable media. Examples include a USB stick, an external replacement hard drive, or an FTP download (up to a size of 250 GB). As part of its standard data recovery service, Data Recovery Expert currently returns a maximum of 230 GB of data on a USB stick. Fields Data Recovery reserves the right to refuse the return or to charge the Customer an agreed amount for the return of data on these media forms if the recovered data exceeds these limits. The Customer must pay an agreed amount for all replacement media, which will be in addition to the costs agreed upon for the data recovery service unless otherwise agreed in writing by a representative of Data Recovery Expert.
5.2 All replacement media come with a warranty period of seven calendar days from the date of shipping from one of Data Recovery Expert’s offices, and Data Recovery Expert will replace or repair any items deemed defective during this period. After this period, the warranty rests solely with the manufacturer of the items and not with Data Recovery Expert. If additional data recovery services are required for the returned media after a period of three working days, these will be charged at the standard rate of Data Recovery Expert.
5.3 All data recovered by Data Recovery Expert will be returned to the Customer using an overnight track & trace service, such as UPS, TNT, or FedEx. However, other arrangements for the return of Customer data may be agreed upon. Data Phoenix reserves the right to occasionally charge the Customer for postal shipping costs and associated administrative fees. These costs will then be in addition to the costs agreed upon for data recovery.
5.4 Data Phoenix assumes no liability for delays caused by the postal network. Under these circumstances, no compensation will be provided for lost profits, inconveniences, etc., unless previously approved by Data Phoenix.
5.5 The Customer agrees to inspect the delivered items as soon as possible after their delivery. If any damage to the delivered items is found, the Customer must notify Data Recovery Expert immediately, at the latest within 48 hours, and submit the damaged items back to the company for assessment. If Data Recovery Expert is not informed within this period, the Customer waives all claims for compensation for damages caused by loss or incorrect delivery.
6. Warranty
6.1 The Customer is aware that Data Recovery Expert only offers a limited warranty, and this does not extend to the recovery of data from media that may have suffered physical damage. Data Recovery Expert's limited warranty is only applicable for a period of thirty days following the date of the completion of the data recovery process.
6.2 Data Recovery Expert guarantees that the services provided will be performed with reasonable skill and care. No other warranties are provided, whether express or implied.
7. Liability
7.1 The liability of Data Recovery Expert, its employees, or any person acting on behalf of Data Recovery Expert is limited to the amount paid by the Customer for the services provided and cannot be more than this amount.
7.2 Under no circumstances will Data Recovery Expert, its employees, or any person acting on behalf of Data Recovery Expert be liable for indirect damages or loss of profits, unless otherwise agreed in writing between Data Recovery Expert and the Customer.
8. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
8.1 These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. The Customer agrees that any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with these terms and conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
8.2 The Customer acknowledges and agrees that all communications will be in the English language.
9. Amendments
9.1 Data Recovery Expert reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time. Such amendments will become effective as soon as they are published on the website of Data Recovery Expert.