Who to partner with for data recovery - Ontrack or Drivesavers?

[minc3d]

Hey all,

Im trying to find a data recovery firm to partner with in the case that I am brought onsite for some business that needs some emergency immediate data recovery I can't handle.

I've been hearing great things around the web about the trusted favorite Ontrack and DriveSavers. I just want to know what experiences people here have had with them. Does anyone here partner with these guys?

How are commissions? Do they cover shipping costs both ways? How is the customer service for when you need something done quickly? And of course, how reasonable is pricing?

Any feedback is appreciated on this - I want to make an educated decision on this one so I don't get stuck in a rut.

Ontrack's partner program: http://partnercertification.krollontrack.com/content/benefits

Drivesavers' Partner Program: http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/partner-programs/reseller-partner-program/

If you have some other third party, post them here and why you like them. Personal experience ranks highly on this one, please do not just talk up a company because you have "heard" of them merely. I only want honest opinions from those who have done business with these folks.

 

[TimJacobs]

Ok, I am a Partner with Drive Savers.

How are commissions?

10%

Do they cover shipping costs both ways?

Yes they do.

How is the customer service for when you need something done quickly?

Customer Service So far has seem great.
There turn around time for a quote is about 3 days - 5 day

And of course, how reasonable is pricing?

Depends on the Complexity of the Job but you are looking at a minimum of $1000, Even thought I have seen as high as $7000 (an probably higher) for Complex RAID recovery

Ok, I am a Partner with Drive Savers.

How are commissions?

10%

Do they cover shipping costs both ways?

Yes they do.

How is the customer service for when you need something done quickly?

Customer Service So far has seem great.
There turn around time for a quote is about 3 days - 5 day

If you have some other third party, post them here and why you like them. Personal experience ranks highly on this one, please do not just talk up a company because you have "heard" of them merely. I only want honest opinions from those who have done business with these folks.

I have been looking at these guys just cuz they are Close to home. So if I have a Problem with them I can just go over there and Bitch Slap them.......lol

http://www.abcdatainternational.com/

 

[minc3d]

That place you listed has a decent client list, but their website of circa 1999 scares me dearly. If I had to show a customer that was who I was going with in the year 2011, they would probably stare me down a bit.

But then again, we shouldn't just books by their covers.

Thanks for the posting, and I will take this into consideration.

 

[TimJacobs]

Yeah It kinda scares me too.... I have an Appointment with them next week to "talk business" and hopefully I can see about trading a decent website for some data recovery time......


Edit: It looks like they are trying to update it..... http://www.abcdatarecovered.com/index.cfm

But hey, if they specialize in data recovery and not web design, Well then Focus on Data Recovery........

 

[minc3d]

Can you post what kind of pricing this place offers and if they seem reasonable to work with? I may wait to hear back from you and go with them if you find them decent enough and if they offer a nice savings over the big boys.

 

[TimJacobs]

Yeah sure, as soon as I get the info I will post it up here.

 

[TimJacobs]

Ok, I just got off the Phone with Glenn.... Here is the break down.

For Partners:
You get moved to the front of the line, No Diagnostic Fee, They Pay shipping both way (unless no data is recovered, then you pay for return shipping). If no data is recovered then there is no fee. Diagnostic is Done within 24 hours for partners.

The only down side that I see so far is that you do have to pay for the parts drive if it is needed.

 

[Xander]

I've got nothing formal in place with them but you might want to look at RecoveryForce.com

 

[jdpetrov]

I just signed up with DriveSavers last month. They sent me a nice welcome box full of business cards and brochures with my reseller ID already on them, plus I got a nice mousepad to boot.

DriveSavers has a minimum charge of like $200 or so just for looking at the drive, then recovery goes from there. I haven't sent a client to them yet, but as soon as I do I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

 

[iHelp Computer Services]

I have used www.gillware.com many times. Average cost is under $400. One case they had to send it into the lab and it was under $700. Highly recommend them. I have never had a case where they were unable to retrieve data.

 

[itmgr]

I use Gillware and they have been great to work with. I have had 2 drives they could not recover.

 

[minc3d]

I received a call from Seagate Drive Recovery services last night as they read my post here. Very pleasant to speak with and have a nice system in place, with a warehouse in Chicago by me where I could physically take drives to in emergencies.

I am considering them at this point with Gillware - I find that $400 price point pretty nice.

When you did work with Gillware, what kind of damage on your drives did you have? Bad physical or just logical damage?

 

[tankman1989]

Is the recovery service for drives that are physically/mechanically dead or is it for drives which aren't recognized by BIOS or Windows? If it is the latter, I would be happy to do it for far less than that which the other companies charge. I have had incredible success doing data recovery on drives that other techs say are "unrecoverable" and "totally dead". I have yet to run into a drive that, which still spins, that I have not been able to rescue. I can definately say that I don't charge as much as those other companies. It's actually one of the services which I somewhat enjoy doing as it is kind of like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Let me know if you are interested.

 

[minc3d]

Tankman,

Send me an email to info (at) firelogic (dot) net if you can. I'd like to chat. Thanks.

 

[tankman1989]

Tankman,

Send me an email to info (at) firelogic (dot) net if you can. I'd like to chat. Thanks.

I sent you an email with some more details.

 

[callthatgirl]

I have a forensics guy in my referral network, but Kroll is down the street if we need them.

 

[vdub12]

I plan to offer this service myself.

Currently I do logical recovery's with the most sever I can handle being the Seagate firmware sleep bug. I plan to take Scott Moultons class as soon as I can afford it and offer complete recovery.

 

[frenchscottie]

Is the recovery service for drives that are physically/mechanically dead or is it for drives which aren't recognized by BIOS or Windows? If it is the latter, I would be happy to do it for far less than that which the other companies charge. I have had incredible success doing data recovery on drives that other techs say are "unrecoverable" and "totally dead". I have yet to run into a drive that, which still spins, that I have not been able to rescue. I can definately say that I don't charge as much as those other companies. It's actually one of the services which I somewhat enjoy doing as it is kind of like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Let me know if you are interested.

Do you strip the drives etc, or do you use special tools either mechanical or software? As I would like to get into Data recovery too when I start up.

 

[tankman1989]

Do you strip the drives etc, or do you use special tools either mechanical or software? As I would like to get into Data recovery too when I start up.

Much like the process I went through to figure out how to get totally free VoIP service/calling within the US/Can where I basically patched together information I discovered from extensive research, I use a combination of techniques I've come up with over the years. There is no special hardware (at least I don't consider any of it special or non-standard for comp repair) but I use some scripts and use a combination of Live rescue CD's and some Linux or BSD installs. I'm sure I could create a pc/server that is dedicated to data recovery and get rid of the live discs, but I haven't yet. I'm sorry if I didn't get as specific as you may like, but it is an extensive complicated process and I can't really get into it now.

 

[frenchscottie]

Much like the process I went through to figure out how to get totally free VoIP service/calling within the US/Can where I basically patched together information I discovered from extensive research, I use a combination of techniques I've come up with over the years. There is no special hardware (at least I don't consider any of it special or non-standard for comp repair) but I use some scripts and use a combination of Live rescue CD's and some Linux or BSD installs. I'm sure I could create a pc/server that is dedicated to data recovery and get rid of the live discs, but I haven't yet. I'm sorry if I didn't get as specific as you may like, but it is an extensive complicated process and I can't really get into it now.

Thanks anyway. I've got a couple of drives - to experiment on - that show up in windows but are impossible to read - they spin ok and they don't "knock". I've tried a couple of tools without success.
I've not tried using a live cd yet so i'll give that a try.