# Charge for evaluating usb stick damage?



## willbee (25 Mar 2008)

I looked up Dublin company on the internet about repairing a memory stick. When i emailed them they said send it in and they'd have a look, which I did. After a day they got back to me saying they would be able recover the data on my usb stick for €300. I said not to bother it was too dear and return my stick. They then came down to €175 and said that was their last price. I said forget about it just return my usb stick. They then said I owe them €45 for evaluating the problem in the first place, when i told them they did n't make me aware of this, their reply was that it is posted on their website. When I checked this up, I see that it is on their FAQ section about a Diagnostic charge but not on the section that sets out the process of the repair at the beginning of the website. It is not the money, I just feel this is a sly way for them to work. I've signed no contract even though there is one i should have downloaded and sent away 'accepting all costs' with the stick in the first place. Any suggestions?


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## Trustmeh (25 Mar 2008)

id say you are stuck. they have the stick, you have the money. what size is the stick? 50 quid will buy you a nice sized usb stick these days.


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## DrMoriarty (25 Mar 2008)

willbee said:


> I've signed no contract even though there is one i should have downloaded and sent away 'accepting all costs' with the stick in the first place. Any suggestions?


If you were genuinely unaware of the diagnostic charge, I suppose you could 'walk away' and lose your USB stick. I doubt they'll come after you for the sake of €45. But did you think they'd examine it for free? Did their email imply as much? 



yankinlk said:


> 50 quid will buy you a nice sized usb stick these days.


You can say that again; see some of the links from this post on Boards.ie's _Bargain alerts_ forum.


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## Technologist (25 Mar 2008)

willbee said:


> It is not the money, I just feel this is a sly way for them to work. I've signed no contract even though there is one i should have downloaded and sent away 'accepting all costs' with the stick in the first place. Any suggestions?


It's common practice to charge something for evaluating a repair. Be it a watch, camera, washing machine or memory stick. With contract support staff costing hundreds of euro a day, €45 is not much to pay for someone's expertise.

I think you should have expected it. 

Data recovery charges relate more to the value of the data (and the cost of the loss to your business) than the value of the device.


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## Orga (26 Mar 2008)

I'm going to run contrary to the opinions so far - you should fight this one and done correctly you will win. The data stick is of no use to the company in question (I presume). €45 is approx equivalent to one hour's work for a high-end technician/software engineer. You should make them aware of this and you should indicate that you are prepared to go to the small claims court to get your data stick back. Whether it says something on the web site or not you were following instructions - send it and we will have a look - there is no mention of a charge there nor is there mention of checking the web site. In fairness you should have asked at the time but you have a strong case and I believe that argued tactically you will win it - the keys to success in this are persistence and focus on what you want.


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## Blueberry08 (26 Mar 2008)

willbee said:


> When i emailed them they said send it in and they'd have a look



Is this not the key part of the whole business? Should they not have mentioned/confirmed a charge in the email? Who's to say the customer even looked at the website (and its FAQ), they may well have just got the email address from elsewhere and contacted the company directly?

Would be interested to know in such a case if the onus is on the customer or the company to clarify in advance what charge there might be?


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## jhegarty (26 Mar 2008)

Technologist said:


> It's common practice to charge something for evaluating a repair. Be it a watch, camera, washing machine or memory stick. With contract support staff costing hundreds of euro a day, €45 is not much to pay for someone's expertise.
> 
> I think you should have expected it.
> 
> Data recovery charges relate more to the value of the data (and the cost of the loss to your business) than the value of the device.



It is common place to pay for it , but unless you are told up front then the company have no right to demand payment...


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## galwegian44 (26 Mar 2008)

Don't be put off by some of the less that supportive comments on this thread as it is exactly this kind of attitude that allows service providers to survive with this kind of customer service in Ireland when it would not be condoned in other countries.

The terms and conditions were not explicitly laid out for you and you should definitely take Orga's advice and follow up with the service provider. I would go so far as to send them a solicitor's letter also as I don't believe they can retain your "sensitive data" because of non-payment of a bill.

Give these guys a tough time even if you end up having to pay the money in the end. The least it will do is make them invest some time and effort for their €45 and hopefully make them think about changing their processes (not holding my breath here). If enough people did this then these guys would go out of business or improve.

Not wanting to sound preachy here (I've done plenty of stupid things myself) but let it be a lesson learned also for future transactions.

Good Luck.


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## rmelly (26 Mar 2008)

pay up - common sense says they weren't going to spend time evaluating the problem for free.

If you ring an emergency plumber and ask him to come to evaluate your heating problem, then don't proceed with him, do you expect to pay for his initial time?


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## shipibo (27 Mar 2008)

rmelly said:


> pay up - common sense says they weren't going to spend time evaluating the problem for free.
> 
> If you ring an emergency plumber and ask him to come to evaluate your heating problem, then don't proceed with him, do you expect to pay for his initial time?


 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_sense

If they had explicitely stated in comms to OP there was a charge for pre testing , (s)he should pay, they did not . 

What has plumbing , and using diagnostic software on USB got in common ??


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## mathepac (27 Mar 2008)

There are two issues here, as I see it:

1) Return of OP's property - the USB stick is not the property of the diagnostic service, they need to return the stick immediately.

2) Payment for the diagnostic service - moot point; was OP advised in advance of a charge for diagnosis as distinct from a charge for data-recovery? If not then there is no basis to demand money after the event.


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## shipibo (27 Mar 2008)

mathepac said:


> There are two issues here, as I see it:
> 
> 1) Return of OP's property - the USB stick is not the property of the diagnostic service, they need to return the stick immediately.
> 
> 2) Payment for the diagnostic service - moot point; was OP advised in advance of a charge for diagnosis as distinct from a charge for data-recovery? If not then there is no basis to demand money after the event.


 

Could,nt have put it better


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## ubiquitous (27 Mar 2008)

Its hardly worth losing sleep over a €45 charge?


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## rmelly (27 Mar 2008)

crumdub12 said:


> Could,nt have put it better


 
I don't agree.

I dropped a watch in for servicing recently with a jeweller. One of the T & C's was that if I didn't collect the watch (and pay) within a certain period of being notified that it was available, they reserved the right to sell the watch and use the proceeds to pay the amount due. I would imagine that they have a similar clause. The USB may be worthless to them, but same principle applies.

As the OP pointed out, the site makes reference to the diagnosis charges - he just didn't spot it. Ignorance is generally not regarded as an excuse. 

Can the OP point us to the site?


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## ubiquitous (27 Mar 2008)

datarecovery.ie charge a diagnostic fee of €95 per their website

http://www.datarecovery.ie/faq.htm



> Is there a diagnostic fee?
> 
> We have an initial € 95 evaluation fee (inclusive of VAT) for the full and comprehensive evalaution of the supect drive. Once this evaluation is completed we will be able to give you a full breakdown of any additional costs and we will seek your full approval before progressing any further.



ecom-ireland.ie do not seem to charge a diagnostic fee.
[broken link removed]


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## shipibo (27 Mar 2008)

rmelly said:


> I don't agree.
> 
> I dropped a watch in for servicing recently with a jeweller. One of the T & C's was that if I didn't collect the watch (and pay) within a certain period of being notified that it was available, they reserved the right to sell the watch and use the proceeds to pay the amount due. ?


 
Did jeweller state this to you verbally, if so , I agree. If jeweller could not fix watch, would you expect to pay him ....



rmelly said:


> As the OP pointed out, the site makes reference to the diagnosis charges - he just didn't spot it. Ignorance is generally not regarded as an excuse.


 
First off , less of the personalised comments. Point I am making is , when transaction took place, was OP told if price was too much, he would still have to pay for getting key back ?? who says website was not updated after OP called , unlikely, but possible with websites..


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## mathepac (27 Mar 2008)

rmelly said:


> ...One of the T & C's was that if I didn't collect the watch (and pay) within a certain period of being notified that it was available, they reserved the right to sell the watch and use the proceeds to pay the amount due...


The specification by a trader of any particular term or condition of trade doesn't make it legal or binding on the customer even if he/she is informed in advance and, if its not legal, its not (legally) enforceable.

In OP's case, it is not clear from what's posted here that the trader provided information  regarding the diagnostic charge as a service separate from and independent of the data-recovery charge. To be told afterwards that such a service with a 45.00 euro charge exists and is documented "in our T&C's on the website" is not insufficient.

In agreement with the point made in crumdub12's posting above.


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## TreeTiger (27 Mar 2008)

I'm not surprised at a company wanting to charge for their time, but I certainly believe it should be made clear up front.  I don't get the plumber comparison as that means someone calling out to my house, but, for example, if I leave my car into a garage and am not told that I will be charged for it to be examined then I don't believe the garage has the right to hold my car to ransom.  And I believe the same should hold true for a memory stick.  After all, if a person isn't told in advance what they are going to be charged for an item to be examined then they can't make a properly informed choice as to what business they wish to have their item examined at.


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## willbee (28 Mar 2008)

*Yes ubiquitous,  you ve got the company, but on the Services link on their web-site which is what I was looking at afterwards, there is no mention of an initial diagnostic charge. (See below). This is where I think it is a sly way to charge its customers. In this case, thankfully, I can do without the memory stick but if I really needed it I would have to fork out money to get it back. Really appreciate all the thoughts so far by the way. *

*"The recovery process"*

The Recovery Process is divided into two distinct stages:
*The Evaluation Process:* This process starts once the media to be recovered is delivered to us. The evaluation defines exactly what damage has taken place and what techniques we will be used to recover the data. At the end of the evaluation stage the customer will be contacted the next steps will be explained in detail. We will explain the process and the likelihood of success in each step. The customer will also be informed of the lead-time and costs associated and once agreed, we will proceed to the next stage. During the rest of the process we will keep the customer regularly updated on all developments.


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## ubiquitous (28 Mar 2008)

willbee said:


> Yes ubiquitous,  you ve got the company, but on the Services link on their web-site which is what I was looking at afterwards, there is no mention of an initial diagnostic charge. (See below). This is where I think it is a sly way to charge its customers. In this case, thankfully, I can do without the memory stick but if I really needed it I would have to fork out money to get it back. Really appreciate all the thoughts so far by the way.



Why not put us out of our misery and post a link to the company's site, so that we can make up our own minds?


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## jhegarty (28 Mar 2008)

ubiquitous said:


> Why not put us out of our misery and post a link to the company's site, so that we can make up our own minds?




http://www.datarecovery.ie/services.htm


And I don't see any mention of a fee on the page....


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## ubiquitous (28 Mar 2008)

The Data Recovery Stage One form linked to on that page makes it clear that payment is required by asking for credit card details etc. There is no underhandedness apparent there.


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## Seagull (28 Mar 2008)

That form gives no indication of the charge. They have no T&C page. Listing the charges in the FAQ seems inadequate to me, and I would say they need to significantly upgrade their website to make the initial charge obvious. They need to add a link with T&Cs, and make the charges obvious up front.


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## ubiquitous (28 Mar 2008)

Their FAQ page includes the following:



> Is there a diagnostic fee?
> 
> We have an initial € 95 evaluation fee (inclusive of VAT) for the full and comprehensive evalaution of the supect drive. Once this evaluation is completed we will be able to give you a full breakdown of any additional costs and we will seek your full approval before progressing any further.
> 
> ...



http://www.datarecovery.ie/faq.htm


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## willbee (28 Mar 2008)

ubiquitous said:


> Why not put us out of our misery and post a link to the company's site, so that we can make up our own minds?


My apologies, I was n't sure if I was allowed to name the company involved or not, on the thread. Anyway ye have all the information now, and I still think it is a very unclear way they have it explained on the website. I justwished they were more upfront from the start.


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