If your hard drive, SSD, phone, MacBook or RAID has failed and you are outside Australia, you can post it to our main data recovery lab in Rhodes, NSW. We have been recovering data since 1998, we are listed on Apple’s data recovery provider page, and over the past ten years devices have reached us from more than 50 countries. International customers are always welcome, and the process is the same as for our Australian customers: a free assessment, a written quote in Australian dollars, and you see your files before you pay.
The easiest way to start from overseas is an email to help@payam.com.au with your device, what happened and your country. We reply with the job form and the address for the box.
Who sends devices to us from overseas
Three kinds of customer post to us from outside Australia. The first has a device that another data recovery service has already worked on without success and wants a second attempt by a lab with more experience and a larger stock of donor parts. The second has a rare or difficult fault, such as a cracked iPhone processor, a RAID with several failed drives or a drive that has been opened, and wants it done once, properly. The third does the arithmetic: our prices are in Australian dollars, so when your own currency is strong against the Australian dollar, recovery here can cost less than the same work at home, even after postage. For some countries the exchange rate works the other way, and we will say so if you ask.
In the past twelve months we have received work from data recovery labs in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Dubai, China and Japan, as well as from private customers in those and other countries. The United States and China send us the most.
Before you post anything
Stop using the device. Do not run recovery software, do not open it, and do not let anyone else open it. A drive that is clicking, a phone that will not turn on or a RAID that has dropped two disks is at its most recoverable the moment it fails; every attempt after that can reduce what comes back.
Email us first. We will tell you whether the fault is one we can help with, send you the job form so your device arrives with a job number, and give you the exact address for the parcel. Tell us which files matter most, because those are the ones we recover and check first.
How to pack and declare the parcel
Put the device in a cardboard box with bubble wrap on every side. Send only the device itself: a bare hard drive or SSD, an external drive in its own case, or the phone, tablet or laptop, without chargers, cables, bags or protective cases. If you would like your recovered files returned on your own external drive or SSD, you can include that in the same box.
On the customs declaration write “Faulty computer parts, for repair only. No commercial value.” and declare a low value, for example $10. The device is being sent for repair and is not for sale, and the declaration should say so.
Please do not declare the full retail value of a working device. Australian customs charges import duty and tax on the declared value, and any import charges that result are payable by you in full; they are not covered by Payam Data Recovery and we cannot reduce or refund them. One customer declared a faulty iPhone at $1,000 and the import bill was about $400. Declare the value of a dead or broken device being sent for repair, not the value of a new one.
We do not recommend one carrier over another. In our experience FedEx, DHL and UPS are all fast and reliable, and the national post of most countries also works well with tracking. Whatever you choose, use a service with a tracking number and signature on delivery, and keep the photo proof of posting. Insuring the parcel for a high value will usually raise the declared value, and with it the import charges, so weigh that up before you pay for insurance.
What happens when it arrives
Your device goes into the same queue as every Australian job and gets the same service. For everything except phones and tablets, our data recovery engineers assess it free of charge and send you a written quote by email. The quote gives the price in Australian dollars, the service level and the expected timeframe, and nothing is charged until you approve it. About 90% of our jobs are no fix, no fee. The hardest 10% carry an attempt fee, which the quote states before you decide. For most hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives and memory cards the Economy service is usually between $375 and $1,750 including GST; the cost page has the full ranges by device.
Phones and tablets are different: there is no assessment and no quote. They are a fixed price, the work starts when the phone arrives, and you pay at the end, only if the data is recovered. Phones and tablets are always no fix, no fee.
Economy service is typically 1 to 3 weeks in the lab, and Priority and Emergency services bring that down to a few days; international customers can choose any of them. Add the transit time each way for your country. When the recovery is finished we email you a list of the recovered files, and for larger jobs a short video of them, so you can check that the files you asked for are there before you pay.
Paying from overseas
We charge in Australian dollars and accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express with no surcharge from us. Your card issuer converts the amount at its own rate. Payment is made through the secure link in your approval email once you have seen the file list.
Getting your data back
There are three ways to get your files home, and the quote sets out the cost of each for your country.
- Upload to your own cloud account. If you do not need the faulty device back, we can upload the recovered files to your own Apple iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox account. This is usually the lowest cost option, because nothing has to be shipped.
- A new drive we supply. We copy the files to a new external hard drive or SSD, priced in the quote, and post it to you. We normally use Australia Post international express or EMS, with a tracking number and signature on delivery. The postage cost depends on the size of the box and the destination, and is quoted before you approve.
- Your own courier account. If you have a DHL, UPS or FedEx account, book the pickup from our lab on your account and email us the PDF label or consignment note. We give you the box size, dimensions and weight, print and sign your paperwork and hand the parcel to the courier when they call.
Return delivery outside Australia is quoted at cost rather than included, whether or not you go ahead with the recovery. New Zealand is the exception: return delivery to New Zealand is free, and New Zealand customers are served through payam.co.nz.
If you decide not to go ahead after the free quote, we quote the return postage for your device by the same tracked and signed-for service, or you can book your own courier to collect it.
Your privacy
We recover your files; we do not read them. The recovered data is held on our secure systems for two weeks after it is sent to you, so a second copy can be supplied if the drive is lost in the post, and is then erased. Encrypted devices stay encrypted unless you give us the key, and if your brief is that the device is never to be unlocked, that is how we work. Business customers may send their own non-disclosure agreement and we will sign it.
Recent jobs from overseas
- An iPhone 15 posted from Massachusetts after an attempt in the United States was unsuccessful. The processor was cracked; after weeks of work every photo and video was recovered. The owner recorded a video review about sending a phone to Australia.
- A Samsung T7 Shield 4TB flown in from the United States by its owner, who asked that the encrypted drive never be unlocked. We found the fault in the USB-C port and made a complete clone without opening a single file.
- Three 8TB drives from a WD My Cloud NAS sent from Papua New Guinea. The RAID 5 was rebuilt, 18TB of business backups came back, and the drives went home by FedEx.
- A Synology NAS from New Zealand that had already been declared unrecoverable. The hybrid RAID was rebuilt and the data shipped back on a new 20TB drive.
- Robert Schneider from California, USA, sent a liquid damaged iPhone 14 and recorded a video review after his photos, videos and messages came back.
If you are sending a phone, our short FAQ on shipping a broken phone from overseas covers the same customs point in a minute.
Questions overseas customers ask
Will my device be charged by Australian customs? Declared as faulty computer parts for repair only, with no commercial value and a nominal value, parcels normally reach us without import charges. Parcels declared at a high value attract import duty and tax, which you pay in full before release.
Do you charge more for international jobs? No. The assessment is free, the prices are the same as for Australian customers, and there is no surcharge for overseas cards. The only extra costs are the postage to us and the return delivery, which is quoted for your country.
Can I pay in my own currency? Quotes and invoices are in Australian dollars. Pay with Visa, Mastercard or American Express and your bank converts the amount; we add nothing.
How long will it take from my country? The lab time is the same as for Australian jobs, typically 1 to 3 weeks on Economy service and a few days on Priority or Emergency, plus transit each way, which your carrier can tell you for your country.
Can you send my files online instead of posting a drive? Yes. We can upload the recovered files to your own iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox account, which avoids return postage altogether if you do not need the faulty device back.
What if the quote is more than I expected? Nothing is charged until you approve it. If you decline, we quote the return postage for your device, or you can arrange your own courier to collect it.
Is my data safe with you? Yes. Your files are not read, encrypted devices stay encrypted unless you give us the key, and the recovered data is erased from our systems two weeks after it is delivered to you.
Do you take jobs from other data recovery companies? Yes. Data recovery labs in several countries send us their difficult cases, and IT companies anywhere in the world can send a customer’s device under their own name.
How to start
Email help@payam.com.au with your device, what happened and your country, or request a free quote. Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm Sydney time, and email is the best way to reach us from overseas. Service pages: hard drive, SSD, RAID and NAS, iPhone, MacBook, iMac, mobile phone, USB flash drive, memory card.