On this page
The agreement
These terms apply when you ask Kiwi Data Recovery ("we", "us") to assess a device or carry out data recovery work. By leaving a device with us, sending one to us, or approving a quote, you agree to these terms.
Kiwi Data Recovery is based at 213 Dominion Road, Mount Eden, Auckland 1024, New Zealand.
Assessment and fees
Every job begins with a diagnostic assessment. The assessment establishes what has failed and whether your data is recoverable, and produces a firm quote for the recovery.
- Assessment fees start from $230 (including GST). The exact assessment fee for your device is confirmed with you before you commit.
- The assessment fee is payable whether or not the outcome is good news, and whether or not you proceed with recovery. It pays for diagnostic work that has been carried out.
- The assessment fee is charged separately from the cost of recovery and is not credited against it.
- If we can tell you before any work is done that we cannot help, we will - and there will be no assessment fee to pay.
Quotes and approval
After assessment we give you a firm quote for the recovery work. No recovery work is carried out until you approve that quote.
- The quote is the price you pay for the recovery described in it. We will not increase it without your agreement.
- If, during recovery, we discover something that materially changes the work required, we will stop and come back to you with a revised quote for your approval before continuing.
- You are free to decline the quote. If you decline, your device is returned to you (or securely disposed of if you ask us to), and the assessment fee is all you owe.
Recovery cannot be guaranteed
This is the most important term on this page, and we would rather over-explain it than have it surprise anyone.
Data recovery is not a repair with a predictable outcome. Whether data can be recovered depends on the physical condition of the device, what has already happened to it, and factors that can only be established once work begins. We cannot and do not guarantee that any particular data, or any data at all, will be recovered.
- Recovery may be complete, partial, or unsuccessful.
- Recovered files may be damaged or incomplete, particularly where storage has been physically damaged or partly overwritten.
- Folder names, file names, dates and structure may not survive certain kinds of recovery.
- Where data is encrypted, recovery produces encrypted data. We do not bypass encryption, passwords, PINs or device locks. Without the correct key or credential from you, encrypted data cannot be made readable.
- Data that has been overwritten, or destroyed by a factory reset on a modern encrypted device, cannot be recovered by us or by anyone else.
We tell you honestly at assessment what we believe is achievable in your case, including any risk specific to your device.
Your responsibilities
By asking us to work on a device, you confirm that:
- You own the device and its data, or you have the authority of the owner to instruct us.
- The information you give us about the device and what has happened to it is accurate and complete, including any previous recovery or repair attempts.
- You have told us about anything hazardous - a swollen or damaged battery, liquid or chemical contamination, or physical damage that makes the device unsafe to handle.
- You will keep your own backups of any data you still have access to. We are not a backup service, and work we do is not a substitute for one.
If a device or its data turns out not to be yours to instruct us about, we may stop work and, where the law requires it, take the steps that law requires.
Risk and the condition of devices
Devices that come to us have already failed, and some are physically fragile. Certain recovery techniques carry inherent risk - opening a drive, replacing internal parts, or applying power to a damaged board can, in some cases, alter the condition of a device.
- We use methods designed to preserve data first: wherever possible, assessment is read-only, and recovery works from an image rather than from your original device.
- Where a technique carries material risk to your device or its data, we will tell you before you approve the quote.
- Devices are accepted for assessment on the basis that they have already failed. We are not responsible for a pre-existing fault, or for the device being unusable afterwards where the recovery required us to alter it.
- We do not return a recovered device to service as reliable storage. A failed device should never be trusted with data again.
Delivery, collection and uncollected devices
- You are responsible for getting your device to us, including packaging it so it survives transit. We will advise on packing if you ask.
- Devices sent by courier travel at your risk. We recommend using a tracked service, and insuring anything valuable.
- We will let you know when your device and data are ready. Please collect or arrange return promptly.
- If a device remains uncollected and you have not responded to our attempts to contact you at the details you gave us, we may store, return, or dispose of it in accordance with New Zealand law - including the Disputes Tribunal and unclaimed goods provisions that apply. We will always try to reach you first, and we will tell you before any deadline applies.
Your data and confidentiality
We treat everything on your device as confidential.
- We access your data only as far as assessment, recovery and verification require.
- All work is carried out in-house in our Auckland lab. We do not send devices offshore and we do not subcontract recovery.
- Recovered data is returned to you, and our working copies are securely erased once you confirm receipt, unless we agree otherwise with you in writing.
- We are willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement where your situation requires it.
- Our privacy policy explains in full how we handle personal information.
We may be required by law to report material that is objectionable or unlawful under New Zealand law if we encounter it during recovery.
Payment
- The assessment fee is payable when the assessment is booked in.
- The recovery fee is payable on completion, before or at the time your recovered data is handed over.
- All prices are in New Zealand dollars and include GST unless stated otherwise.
- For business, insurance and legal work we can invoice by arrangement.
- Where recovery is complete and payment has not been made, we may retain the recovered data until the account is settled. Your original device remains yours and will be returned to you.
[BUILD NOTE - Spiro: payment methods (EFTPOS, credit cards, bank transfer, Afterpay etc.) should be listed here once you confirm them - the same list as the Pricing page.]
Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by law, and subject to the Consumer Guarantees Act section below:
- Our total liability arising out of any job is limited to the amount you have paid us for that job.
- We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including lost profits, lost business, lost opportunity, or the cost of recreating data.
- We are not liable for data that cannot be recovered, or for the pre-existing failure that caused you to contact us.
- Nothing in these terms limits liability where the law does not allow it to be limited.
Consumer Guarantees Act and Fair Trading Act
If you are a consumer as defined by the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, you have guarantees under that Act that cannot be excluded, and nothing in these terms limits or excludes them. Our services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and be fit for purpose - and they are.
Where you acquire our services for the purposes of a business, the parties agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act does not apply, to the extent permitted by section 43 of that Act.
Nothing in these terms is intended to mislead, and nothing limits your rights under the Fair Trading Act 1986.
Governing law
These terms are governed by New Zealand law, and the New Zealand courts have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.
If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.
We may update these terms from time to time. The terms that apply to your job are the ones published on this page at the time you approve your quote.
Contact
Kiwi Data Recovery
213 Dominion Road, Mount Eden, Auckland 1024
Phone: 027 667 7661
Email: [email protected]