Anyone used Rapid Data Recovery (rapid-data.net)

[ritchiem]

Hi noTHINGface, did your mate get his data back? Who did he use? Must be disk failure season, the heat of the study got to our iMac and it is now clicking

Was thinking of rapid-data.net but after the bad PR I'm not willing to risk it. Would rather freeze the disk and dd the raw drive from linux.

Would just like to know some first hand reports not on the company's websites.

[noTHINGface]

Hey

Nah, steered him well clear of this lot. Seems they have a terrible reputation and I didn't want him to be the next victim. He wrote off the loss in the end Good luck in securing your data!

[smelly]

I've used Vogon or what is now called http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.co.uk/ they cost the earth but so does the data (well my job actually) anyway they've been great so far but they are costly and are a last resort.

[AlastairCrashed]

Sorry to hear about your exprience elbi, pretty much exactly what happened to me. Start with Bridgeend trading standards in order to help them build up their case history against this company, although they cannot discuss other complaints against these bunch of con-artists.

Public Protection Section
Legal & Regulatory Services
Bridgend County Borough Council
Civic Offices
Angel Street
Bridgend
CF31 4WB
Tel: (01656) 643260
Fax: (01656) 643247

publicprotectionATbridgend.gov.uk

Its important to report your case otherwise more people will get ripped off. I notice on companies house rapid-data and fields are listed at the same address, even though they have to "ship it off to our specialist recovery partners". I cant state my sources but the International Professional Data Recovery Association have a legal case against them, i surprised they are still able to trade.

regards,

Hi folks!

I'm Alastair - first time reader, first time poster.
I was just wondering of anyone else here had contacted Bridgend, and had it been successful?
I've just been fleeced by Rapid-Data as well (wish I'd found your posts BEFORE sending off my HD!) and would like to attempt to reclaim the £195 they took for "parts and labour".

Has anyone had any follow-up from Bridgend...?

Thanks!

- Alastair

[Lucio]

Hi folks!

I'm Alastair - first time reader, first time poster.
I was just wondering of anyone else here had contacted Bridgend, and had it been successful?
I've just been fleeced by Rapid-Data as well (wish I'd found your posts BEFORE sending off my HD!) and would like to attempt to reclaim the £195 they took for "parts and labour".

Has anyone had any follow-up from Bridgend...?

Thanks!

- Alastair

Trading Standards do not comment on individual cases, only take note of the number, frequency and type of cases and then act when they're sure of a legally sound case. It sounds slow but when you consider the alternative is having legitmate businesses shut down by loudmouth know it alls, it makes sense.

Best advice I can offer is if you paid on credit card, dispute the charge and file a case via the small claims court.

[angrysmurf]

Hi folks!

I'm Alastair - first time reader, first time poster.
I was just wondering of anyone else here had contacted Bridgend, and had it been successful?
I've just been fleeced by Rapid-Data as well (wish I'd found your posts BEFORE sending off my HD!) and would like to attempt to reclaim the £195 they took for "parts and labour".

Has anyone had any follow-up from Bridgend...?

Thanks!

- Alastair

Alatair can you please contact me at rowlandATremoteaccessDOTorgDOTuk to find out more about what steps I am taking.

[pkaneiv]

DON'T USE THESE GUYS. HAD THE SAME SCAM WHERE THEY OFFERED GBP 97 to recover and then suggested it was too complicated and would cost GBP399. I sent them a backup drive origianlly too. I declined their offer and then had to chase them to get my hard drives back, but they only sent the broken one!!!! I am pursuing legal action against them now.

[vladman]

Hm, very interesting.

Having read this thread, it appears I'm another one these guys have managed to rip off.

However, I used Fields Data Recovery and always dealt with them exclusively, never heard of Rapid Data Recovery until I discovered this thread. Just checked on Companies House, and it's true, like someone said earlier, both companies are registered under the same address, and their websites are pretty similar.

My experience was both similar and different to the ones described here previously.

Similar in the chronology of events, i.e. speak to them on the phone, get assured they're reputable and know what they're doing, and that there's a high chance of quick recovery, for about £230-300 all in. Then, after sending the drive in, I get a call saying it's not as simple as they hoped for, the drive's heads have failed, they can order new ones, for £195 plus VAT (parts and labour), and this is NON-REFUNDABLE, and that this process has an 80% chance of success, and then if it succeeds, data recovery would be £150 plus VAT on top of this (which I later managed to get them to reduce to £55 plus VAT, however, this will prove irrelevant). I nearly give up, but after being offered this discount on data recovery, I give the go ahead. 3-4 days later, I get an email saying the process has failed, they're sorry, do I want the drive back. This was 3-4 days ago, and I still haven't responded as I'm considering my options.

Certainly not happy I've found this thread which seems to confirm my fears that these are some con-artists, but perhaps it's good in a way too, as at least now I know what/who I'm dealing with.

So, basically, my case only differs in that they actually have been pretty communicative, and not difficult to reach (up to this stage), but everything else seems pretty much the same as the others here have experienced.

I'm going on holiday tomorrow, and have no time to deal with this now, but will have to get back on the case when I come back, early January. Not sure whether to reply to them now (and say what?), or wait until I come back (but then I don't know how they may interpret my silence, they may either send the drive back to me, or even dispose of it).

Just realised they charged me FOUR times £225! When I was paying over the phone, there were some problems with my card or their system, and the card was getting rejected. I tried 3 cards in total, and they were all being rejected. I checked with my bank and there was no problem. The next day, I saw that the charge (single) had gone through on the first card I used, so I thought whatever the problem was, got resolved. Only now, I saw a statement from one of the other two cards, and there are 3 charges for £225 on it, all from Fields Data Recovery. So those "failed" attempts, weren't so failed after all...

[Whiternoise]

Surely any reputable company would have a "no win, no fee" kind of clause when you sign up. Or at least a simple admin fee if your disk is deemed unrecoverable.

http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/index.aspx are the guys who recovered that drive covered in barnacles (and mentioned above)

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security...ths-in-the-sea

[SteveH]

Have to hold my hands up to just having been done by them as well.

I cannot get my head round how there are so many stories of problems people have had with Rapid/Feilds/Phoenix/all the other names they are using and yet they are still trading.

If anyone has had any direct dealings with Bridgend Trading Standards I'd be very grateful if I could get hold of a contact name there.

Cheers

Steve

[daveyhue]

Thanks for these links guys will deffo be bookmarking them for future use, my last HDD got fried and I lost everything...

[angrysmurf]

I have been dealing with this problem for a long time, including informing Trading Standards in Bridgend about every case I come across, contacting consumer Watchdogs (they expect 1000s of victims before they will move an inch), finding a lawyer who can do a joint claim in the courts and collecting data privately and securely about each case.

I am preparing a more informative blog page where you can upload privately your sworn affidavit which other victims can use to support their claim in the courts. I will also be posting detailed steps on how to deal with Fields, and a lot of background information on their nefarious activities.

Don't feel helpless, cooperative action is the best way to deal with these bandits, but dont expect instant justice.

Find an independent EXPERT data recovery company to review the damage to your drive, write down your story and share it with Bridgend Trading Standards (and my blog), save all evidence, value the damage to your drive based on what EXPERTS will tell you it will cost to repair and use this amount as the basis of your claim in the small court. I will give help on how to prepare a statement of particulars.

Some good firms have been mentioned in this thread, although beware that Fields fund or their directors are also directors of other Data Recovery Companies. They are remarkable sharks.

I used Seagate's own recovery division since my drive was made by seagate, but I also recommend ABCdatarecovery

www.r3cover.com no data no fee download free trial for Mac and Windows

www.abcdatarecovery.com is the ISO-3 certified data recovery lab which first flagged the problems within the data recovery industry

http://www.abc-data-recovery.co.uk/News/2009/5/page_18/


Please note that I make no financial gain by mentioning the above. Actually Andy Butler has done extensive investigation into the unbelievable scams perpetrated by Fields et. al.

please email me on rowlandATremoteaccessDOTorgDOTuk to be included in my mailings or ask for advice.

[vladman]

I am preparing a more informative blog page where you can upload privately your sworn affidavit which other victims can use to support their claim in the courts. I will also be posting detailed steps on how to deal with Fields, and a lot of background information on their nefarious activities.

I'm looking forward to reading this blog and the additional info on Fields.

[angrysmurf]

I'm looking forward to reading this blog and the additional info on Fields.

I have done a lot of research into this company and the crooks behind it. I would appreciate it if people shared their experiences on

http://www.data-recovery-blog.co.uk/blog

[allie]

I was also scammed by them -- and wish I'd seen this forum!

My story is similar to the others. In my initial phone call, I was impressed by their friendliness and assurance of 24-hour free diagnostic, and work within 10 days, and that they could "loan" me a spare hard drive for my data if I returned it.

The good news: after 4 weeks of annoying hell, they did actually recover quite a bit of data. I'll give them that.

The bad news: Lots of things, including paying more than £400 and waiting more than a a month, trying to chase them up. Having lots of problems, having them deny that any of them were problems, and change their stories. I went to Pall Mall to drop off hard drive, finding just a receptionist and no office; expecting to fill out a job form on their letterhead; but was shocked when the receptionist said to just "leave it" there with no sign or documentation. I ripped of a piece of paper to scribble down my details to attach to the hard drive. My diagnostic came after 2 weeks; and the "work" took 2 weeks more. They never once called me back -- it was I who always called them; and despite leaving messages, my account mgr said he'd never gotten any. I was told the heads were not working, and to pay £195 to get new heads, and 80% chance of recovery; then £97 for data recovery; then £55 for a new hard drive w my data (no they didnt remember anything about saying they'd "loan" me one). They didnt bother to say this didnt include Vat, but so be it. I didnt get a hard drive at all but disks, being told by Fields that I didnt pay enough for a hard drive, being told by RapidData that they saved me money actually. Of course the invoices all said the same thing, some standard phrase about recovery, and didnt specify that the £55 was for a new hard drive. They sent an extra small hard drive (obviously an old one) without proper software cd, and after being told I could get a refund then they said I couldnt; and had some minor parts missing from my computer when it was returned; being told they couldnt help me about that. Got same story about "our partner Fields data." I recently discovered that the customer service people do the job for both Fields and Rapid Data, and their email address is Rapid Data.

The worst part is, they are weirdly friendly and flippant when talking to you, they never apologise for causing any problems, or for changing their story, or telling you the wrong info.

In theory I'd love to take them to court, but I really dont want to spend any more money, not to mention stress or time. But please do keep giving us details of where and how to send complaints to authorities. And any other data on these evil companies.

[PRaines]

Hello all,

I have sent off a damaged hard drive to Rapid Data Recovery (before reading this thread unfortunately).

So far my experience hasn't been all that bad, however the intial estimate as between £97 and £250 and now they are saying the cost will be £425 (+VAT) as the recovery was especially difficult.

My account manager said they have recovered the files I have priorities and are now going through some advanced recovery process to find the rest of the files. I have said I will only pay once the recovery process is complete and I have a full list of recovered files.

Do you guys think I should go ahead and pay or should I just say I want my drive back?

Either way I am planning to pay using a credit card so if I dont get the data I will be covered, however I really need the data and if these guys cant do it then I need my damaged drive back so I can send it to someone who can.

Thoughts?????