The answer is yes. I really have to wonder about this, because the representative also tells me about 50 hard drives were shipped from the Seattle office that day and that is the reason roundtrip shipping costs (overnight air to Los Angeles!) me only $25. I am supposed to believe that all 50 hard drives were diagnosed in a few hours (red flag #2) the morning they arrived. Now comes red flag #3. I tell the representative I simply cannot afford that amount and he immediately asks me how much then was I willing to spend. That I tell him: $1000. He then says he will have answer on that. Less than 24 hours later I receive an email from him stating the economy recovery (what does that mean?... either the data is recovered or it isn't!) will cost $1000 and $298 for parts.

The parts cost is red flag #4. The normal practice is to simply purchase an identical copy of the original hard drive and cannibalize it, if necessary. An exact copy of my hard drive is $110. I then ask the representative if all my data will be recovered; I don't get a straight answer (red flag #5). Legitimate data recovery services will at most only initially charge a diagnosis fee and then provide a complete list of all recoverable files to help the customer make a decision on whether to proceed with the recovery. At this company, I get none of that. I shortly thereafter demand the return of my hard drive. It was returned.

World Acceptance Group runs a con operation. There should be no doubt they have no clean room to perform a diagnosis or data recovery. In fact, when you read the fine print in their legal stuff, they tell you they reserve the right to send your defective hard drive to other labs that perform the work. Their business model is to simply act in the middle and gouge you. My suggestion is to simply save yourself the extra money that puts them in the middle and instead use a data recovery company that actually performs the work. One well known company is operated by Scott Moulton, located in Woodstock, Georgia,