ATP Data Services

Reviews

• JM

  Jordan Miles

  Apr 21, 2025
  5.0
  I recently used ATP in April 2025 for a Seagate OneTouch 2TB drive that got dropped while plugged in and then my devices wouldn't recognize it. It powered up but just kept beeping every 2 seconds like a hospital cardiac monitor. My newest laptop would see that USB was plugged in and gave the option to safely remove it but it never read the drive or showed up as a drive, nor could it tell me the capacity, etc. I removed the casing and tried to connect the HDD via my external SATA hardware to USB thinking maybe the USB connector/board in the drive could have been damaged but I got the same response. I contacted Seagate and they did a lot of troubleshooting with me and ultimately we figured out it was not in warranty for their free 2yr data recovery. They were pretty thorough with their suggestions and got fairly technical with me, not just basic stuff like unplug it and restart your computer. Since it was out of warranty they referred me to ATP data services since they offer a discount for Seagate drive owners, flat rate of $749 for data recovery and no fee if data isn't recovered, just your shipping to them. I suspect Seagate probably uses ATP for things in warranty vs. Seagate doing it, but I can't confirm that. I I decided to move forward, shipped the drive in original box, padded up, via FedEx. They checked it in quickly and I got an email the day after arrival that it was "scheduled". I didn't pay for the rush service, so my clock time was ~25 days per their quote. A week went by, got an email saying it was now "in work", and then another email the next week stating that it was still in that state. The third week, I got an email stating they were returning my drive to me and that it was not recoverable. The email didn't jump into many details other than " mechanical failure". I wrote back inquiring about the status of my $749 refund and if they could elaborate more on the failure. Below is a collection of the work done /responses: Results -- Following a clean-room inspection, the technician determined that your drive had suffered catastrophic physical damage. Specifically, they reported: "Opened drive, multiple heads have crashed spreading dust through cage to remaining surfaces. Performed physical recovery. Recovery unsuccessful, MD too severe." To elaborate, this means that several of the drive’s read/write heads experienced a mechanical failure, known as a head crash. During a head crash, the heads—which normally float just above the disk platters—come into direct contact with them. This not only damages the platters where your data is stored, but also causes microscopic debris (from both the heads and platter surfaces) to spread throughout the drive’s internal chamber. The phrase "spreading dust through cage to remaining surfaces" indicates that this debris dispersed across all data surfaces inside the drive enclosure, contaminating areas that might have otherwise been viable for recovery. Unfortunately, in these cases, the presence of fine particulate matter can severely compromise even the most advanced recovery tools and methods. After performing a physical recovery, the technician concluded that the "media damage (MD)" was too severe. Once damage reaches this level, even specialized cleanroom procedures and equipment are unable to read or reconstruct usable data from the platters. Overall, I was pleased with the level of service they offered, ATP shipped my damaged drive back to me free of charge incase I wanted to get a second opinion. The refund to my credit card was applied quickly and received the same day my drive was returned. While I didn't get my data back, It felt like their efforts were thorough. If your drive has a simpler issue, then yes there are probably cheaper providers out there, but unless you know that is the case, the $749 flat fee is cheaper than most. Several companies quoted me $999-2500 depending on the complexity.
• KK

  kiyonobutomita

  Dec 3, 2024
  1.0
  do not use their service as they kept us waiting for almost 2 month and finally told my device is unrecoverable but still charge full amount for nothing.

Frequently Asked Questions About ATP Data Services