Terms and Conditions

We have written these terms in plain English so you can read them in a few minutes. Please read them before you send us a device. These terms apply to every job. The current version is always at www.payam.com.au/terms-and-conditions/. We link to it on the job form and on every quote.

Our principal place of business is in New South Wales. We also have labs and drop-off offices in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The office holding your device is the one named on your job and on your quote.

1. Your device and our assessment

1.1 Ownership

You confirm that you own the device or have the owner’s permission to ask us to recover its data. We may ask for proof, such as a receipt, identification or a statutory declaration, and we may pause the job until we receive it. If someone else claims to own the device or its data, you are responsible for that claim, not us.

You are responsible for sending the correct device. If you are not sure what is on a device, tell us before we start. Once we have completed a recovery you approved, payment is due even if you sent the wrong device or do not recognise the files.

1.2 We have to open your device to test it

To test a device properly we have to get to the drive or the logic board inside it. That means opening it. Many devices are not designed to be opened:

• External hard drives (including LaCie, Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba) are held together by plastic clips, glue or sealed metal shells. We have to make a gap and prise the case open to remove the drive. The case is often marked, cracked or destroyed in the process, and some cases cannot be put back together.
• Laptops, MacBooks, iMacs and desktop computers have to be opened to reach the storage or the logic board. Screws, clips, adhesive and panels may not go back exactly as they were, and light marks on the housing are possible.
• Phones and tablets are glued shut. We open them and, unless you ask us to, we do not re-glue or fully reassemble them afterwards. The back panel may sit loose, and the screen or back glass can crack when a glued device is opened.
• USB sticks, memory cards and soldered SSDs that need chip removal are destroyed by the process. They will not work again and may not come back in one piece.

This happens during the free assessment, before you receive a quote, and it applies even if you decide not to go ahead. A phone or tablet has no assessment (section 5.1), so for a phone or tablet it happens when we start work. The device may come back to you in a different physical condition from the one it arrived in. Cases that rely on clips or glue do not sit tight once opened, and we may close them with tape rather than reassemble them. Drives, boards and parts come back loose or in an antistatic bag. We do not reinstall drives into laptops, NAS units or RAID enclosures. Any manufacturer, extended or third party warranty may be void.

The condition and symptoms of your device may also change. We work on faulty devices, and a faulty device can behave differently after it has been opened, tested or worked on. A phone that arrived showing a logo may not turn on afterwards. A drive that was detected may stop being detected. This is a normal part of data recovery work, not something we do on purpose, and it is often outside our control. We never intentionally damage a device.

We do this work carefully and every day. If you want to keep the outside of the device in good condition, tell us before you send it and we will tell you whether that is possible for your model. If it is not, you can choose not to proceed.

By sending a device for assessment you accept that opening it will often mark, crack or destroy the case, and that this is a normal part of testing, even if you then decide not to go ahead. We are not responsible for that expected opening damage. We are responsible if we fail to take due care. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected (see section 9).

1.3 What the assessment can and cannot see

Our assessment finds the first fault that stops a device from working. Some faults hide others. For example, a hard drive with a dead circuit board cannot spin up, so we cannot tell whether its heads are also damaged until the board is repaired. An SSD that is not detected may turn out to need chip removal. A MacBook logic board repair may fail and need a chip transplant. Section 4.3 explains what happens to the price when this occurs.

1.4 When work starts

For hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, memory cards, RAID and NAS, and computers, work starts when you approve a written quote and we begin the chargeable recovery described in that quote. The free assessment is not “work” for the purposes of cancellation charges in section 7. For mobile phones and tablets, and the other fixed price services, see section 5.

1.5 iMacs and glued screens

An iMac screen is glued to the glass. If you want to keep using the iMac, have Apple or an Apple Authorised Service Provider remove the drive and send us only the drive. If you send us the whole iMac and ask us to open it, the screen and glass will very likely be damaged, the screen will be held on with tape afterwards, and the iMac may not go back together. We only open an iMac on that condition. That expected damage is covered by section 1.2. We do not replace the iMac or the screen.

2. Damage, failure and what we are responsible for

2.1 Expected damage from opening a device

We are not liable for any change in the appearance, physical condition, symptoms or behaviour of a device, or any loss of warranty, that comes from opening, testing or working on it in the way described in section 1.2. We do not repair the device, replace its case or restore it to its original condition as part of a data recovery job, and we do not pay for any drop in its value. This does not apply where a change was caused by a failure to take due care.

2.2 Warranties

Any work we do, including the assessment, may void a manufacturer, extended or third party warranty. If you want to make a warranty claim on the device with the manufacturer or retailer, seek their permission or approval before you send it to us. We do not compensate you for a warranty that is voided by our work.

2.3 Devices that fail while with us

Failed devices are unreliable. A drive can stop working completely at any moment, including while we are testing it. When that happens because the device was already failing, we are not liable for the extra data that was lost. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for loss of data, loss of income or profit, or any indirect or consequential loss. If we fail to take due care, section 9 applies.

2.4 Devices that come back working

We repair a device only as far as needed to recover the data, so most devices are not returned in working condition. Sometimes, though, a device does come back to you working, especially iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and iMacs. This does not mean there was nothing wrong with it. It means we repaired it enough to recover the data.

Modern Apple devices and many phones use hardware encryption. The only way to get the data is to make the original device work again, at least temporarily, so the data can be read and backed up. This is skilled logic board level work.

Please understand:

• The repair is a temporary repair done for data recovery purposes only. The device may fail again at any time without warning. We do not recommend that you rely on it.
• A device that now passes a diagnostic test at an Apple Store or a repair shop passes because we fixed the fault, not because there was no fault. When the device arrived, it was not working. That was the reason you sent it.
• Where an iPhone or iPad was stuck because its storage was full or its operating system was corrupt, the data was still not accessible until we did our work.

This section applies where we recovered your data as defined in section 3. The fee is for recovering your data. It does not change because the device happens to work afterwards, and a device that now turns on is not, by itself, a reason for a refund of a successful recovery. If we did not recover the data, section 3.4 applies (or section 5.1 for a phone or tablet), unless section 6.2 applies.

2.5 This is data recovery, not a repair and not a new device

We do not repair devices for ongoing use. We do not replace an iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iMac or any other device, and we do not pay out a voided warranty. A phone job you only pay for if we recover the data, or a liquid damaged MacBook we cannot recover and therefore do not charge for, is still a data recovery job. The device was not working when it arrived. A scratch on the lid, a marked screw, a cracked or taped case, a phone that no longer shows a logo, or a voided warranty is expected under section 1.2. It is not a reason for a new device, a repair, or a refund, including on a job where no recovery fee was charged.

3. What counts as a successful recovery

3.1 No guarantees

Data recovery cannot be guaranteed. Some devices give back nothing, some give back part of the data. Data recovery is an emergency service, not a replacement for keeping backups.

3.2 Success

A recovery is successful when we recover:

• the critical files you listed in writing when you approved the quote, or
• 95% or more of the files that were still present on the device, counting a file as recovered if its contents can be opened.

If you do not list critical files, the 95% rule applies. Files recovered without their original name or folder (see 3.3) count towards that figure. Before you pay the balance we send you a list of the recovered files so you can check them, and we say on that list if names or folders could not be restored. We will answer any question you have about the list before payment. Please check the list as soon as you receive it. If files you expected are missing, tell us in writing which files or folders they are and where they were stored, and we will search for them and send you an updated list before any payment is due. Payment is due under section 4.1 once the recovery is successful as defined here. We do not treat silence on its own as proof that you are satisfied, so please tell us either way.

Success is measured by what was recovered, not by whether the data turns out to be useful to you, whether you later find a copy somewhere else, or whether your circumstances have changed.

Section 6.2 is a separate basis for the price. It applies when our work is complete and only your security stops the copy.

3.3 What “recovered” means

• A file is recovered when its contents are intact and can be opened. Some files, particularly from damaged drives, are recovered without their original file name or folder (“RAW” recovery). These files are complete, they just have a new name. This is a normal outcome and is still a recovered file.
• A small number of files on a badly damaged device may be corrupt or missing. We tell you when that is the case.
• We can only recover data that was on the device. If a message, photo or file was deleted, was never saved to the device, or lived only in iCloud, Google Photos or another cloud service, it is not on the device and cannot be recovered from it.
• If you need a specific file or type of file, tell us in writing when you approve the quote. Otherwise the scope is everything on the device that can be recovered.

3.4 Attempt fees

Some work is time consuming, needs donor parts, or has a lower chance of success. For this work part of the quoted price is paid up front as an attempt fee. This applies to, among others:

• hard drives with damaged heads or seized motors (clean room work)
• drives that have been opened by someone else
• deleted, formatted or reinstalled hard drives, SSDs, memory cards and USB drives
• SSDs with hardware or controller failure, and chip removal work on SSDs, USB drives and memory cards
• RAID, NAS and server recovery.

The attempt fee is part of the total price, not an extra charge on top of it. You pay the attempt fee to begin and, if the recovery is successful, the remaining balance to reach the quoted total. If the recovery is not successful, the attempt fee is your only cost and it is not refunded, because it pays for the data recovery engineer time and parts we committed regardless of the result. The attempt fee is always stated in your quote before you approve anything.

Discount codes, partner discounts and promotional offers apply to the attempt fee and the completion fee. They do not apply to a hard drive or SSD we sell as a destination drive.

Mobile phones and tablets, and the other fixed price services in section 5, do not carry an attempt fee. See section 5.

3.5 How your data is returned

Recovered data is returned on a drive formatted to suit the device it came from: Mac format for Apple computers and Windows format for Windows computers, unless you ask for a different format when you approve the quote. Some Mac only files and applications cannot be opened on Windows, and the reverse. Tell us which computer you will use the data on and we will format the drive to suit. Files come back in the folder structure the device held, so a file may sit in a different folder from where you expect it. If you cannot find something, ask us and we will help you locate it.

4. Prices and payment

4.1 When payment is due

Payment is due within 14 days of the date we tell you the work is complete, and before the data is released. We may keep the device and the recovered files until the approved amount is paid. Payment is required when a recovery is successful as defined in section 3, when section 6.2 applies, or when section 6.3 applies, regardless of whether the data turns out to be useful to you.

Approving a quote is a commitment to pay if the recovery is successful, if section 6.2 applies, or if section 6.3 applies. For a fixed price service, submitting the job form is that approval (section 5). This applies even if you sent the wrong device, the data is not what you expected, you found the data elsewhere in the meantime, or you no longer need it.

Prices are in Australian dollars and include GST unless the quote says otherwise. Return delivery after a successful recovery is free within Australia and to New Zealand. Return delivery to other countries is charged at cost. The only extra cost is a destination drive if you need us to supply one. Once we have released the recovered data and you have confirmed the file list, the job is complete for payment purposes. This does not take away any right you have under the Australian Consumer Law if we failed to take due care. New Zealand jobs are quoted in New Zealand dollars through www.payam.co.nz and these terms still apply. New Zealand customers also keep their rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

4.2 Late payment

If payment is more than 14 days late we may charge a late administration fee of $55 including GST.

If payment is more than 60 days late we may refer the debt to a collection agency. You will then also pay the collection commission the agency actually charges us on that debt, and any reasonable solicitor costs. We will tell you the commission rate when we refer the debt.

Discounts on the original quote lapse if payment is more than 14 days late.

We do not hold a device or recovered data indefinitely while payment is outstanding. If the amount owed is still unpaid 12 months after the due date, we will give notice under the uncollected goods law of the state where the device is held and then dispose of the device and delete the recovered data as that law allows. The debt remains payable.

4.3 If we find a second fault

Because of section 1.3, we sometimes fix the first fault and then find a second one. If that happens:

• we stop and send you a revised quote before any further chargeable work
• you can accept the revised quote or decline it and have the device returned
• if you decline, you pay nothing for the first stage unless your original quote included an attempt fee, in which case only that attempt fee applies
• any amount you have already paid is refunded or credited towards the new quote
• the revised quote is a new total price, not an amount added to the old one, and
• discounts on the original quote do not automatically carry over to a revised quote.

A quote is for the fault we could see at the time. It is not a promise that the device has no other faults. If we find during the work that the device was opened or worked on by someone else and you did not tell us, we may send a revised quote in the same way. The same applies if the fault history you gave us was wrong or incomplete, for example the device had been dropped, opened or run through recovery software. Any price, discount or pay-on-success promise based on that history no longer applies. A revised quote issued after a second fault is our final quote for that job. We will not increase the price again.

4.4 Price ranges on the website and by telephone

For hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, memory cards, RAID and NAS, and computers, prices on our website and given over the telephone before assessment are ranges. Your actual price depends on the fault, and it is set only by the written quote you receive after the free assessment. Nothing before that quote is a price for your job. A quote is valid for 30 days from the date we send it, unless it says otherwise. For mobile phones and tablets, data destruction and iTunes backup recovery, which are fixed price services, see section 5.

4.5 Turnaround times

Our Economy, Priority and Emergency services set how quickly we start and prioritise your job. The times shown are estimates based on typical jobs. Some jobs take longer because of the complexity of the fault, slow reading media, or waiting for donor parts to arrive. We do not charge by the hour, so a job that takes longer does not cost you more, and a job that takes longer than the estimate because of the fault or parts does not entitle you to a discount or refund. If you need a firm deadline, tell us before you approve the quote and we will tell you whether we can meet it. If a delay is because we have not started work that we had capacity to start, talk to us and we will move the job forward, or you may cancel under section 7. You can ask us to stop work and return the device at any time.

4.6 Promotional offers

Promotional prices shown on a quote are valid for 14 days from the date of the quote. If you approve within that time the promotional price applies. After that the standard price applies. Discount codes and partner discounts apply to the attempt fee and the completion fee, not to a hard drive or SSD we sell as a destination drive.

4.7 Backup copy after your data is returned

After you collect your recovered data, or we post the destination drive to you, we keep a backup copy for two weeks. It is there in case you need another copy: the parcel is lost in the post, the new drive is dropped or formatted by accident, files are deleted, or a file is missing or will not open. Ask us within those two weeks and we will supply another copy from the backup. About a week after you collect or we post the drive, we email you to ask whether you need any help and to remind you that the backup will be erased a week later. If you need more time, reply to that email and we will hold the backup for two more weeks. After that the backup copy is erased for your privacy, and we can no longer supply another copy or check a missing file. Please check your data as soon as you receive it. If you have paid but have not yet collected, we keep the backup and your device for up to 12 months from the date you paid. Collect or ask us to post it within that time, and the two week backup period then runs from collection or posting. After 12 months the backup is erased and the device is dealt with under section 7.2.

4.8 Communication

We send quotes (for quoted services), updates and results to the email address the job was created under. Please check it, including your spam folder. To add or change a contact, email help@payam.com.au with your job number and we will confirm the change in writing. If you will be away, tell us who to contact in your absence before you go.

4.9 Chargebacks

If you think an invoice is wrong, please email help@payam.com.au first so we can look at it with you. If you instead raise a chargeback with your bank on an invoice that matches the quote you approved and the result we sent you, we treat the amount as unpaid until the bank decides, and sections 4.1 and 4.2 may apply. We may give the bank a copy of your approved quote, these terms and a short summary of the result. We do not send the bank your file list unless the bank asks for it to decide the claim.

5. Fixed price services

Most of our work is quoted. Hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, memory cards, RAID and NAS, and computers (including MacBooks, iMacs and Microsoft Surface devices) get a free assessment and a written quote, and no chargeable work starts until you approve that quote (sections 1.4 and 4.4).

The services in this section work differently. Each has a fixed price that you choose on our website job form before we start. There is no assessment and no separate quote. Where these terms refer to a quote, the quote you approved, or the quoted price, for a fixed price service that means the job form you submitted and the price you selected on it.

5.1 Mobile phones and tablets

• The price is the one you choose. On the mobile job form you choose the Economy, Priority or Emergency service. The price shown for that service is the price for your job. Any extra you select on the form, such as additional data extraction or a destination drive, is added at the price shown on the form.
• Submitting the form is your approval. For these terms, the job form you submit, with the service and price you selected, is your written quote, and the confirmation email we send you is your copy of it. We do not send a separate quote.
• Work starts when we have your device and its passcode. When your phone or tablet arrives we ask you for the passcode, and we start work as soon as we have it. If you do not want us to start, tell us before you give us the passcode and we will return the device under section 7.1.
• You pay only if we recover your data. Payment is due under section 4.1 when the recovery is successful as defined in section 3, or when section 6.2 (we repaired the device but cannot unlock it) or section 6.3 (iCloud backup) applies. If we cannot recover your data, nothing is due for the recovery. Mobile phones and tablets do not carry an attempt fee.
• The files you list on the job form as most important to you are your critical files for section 3.2.
• You can check your files before you pay. Before payment is due we send you a list of the recovered files, and you can view the files remotely with us before you pay.
• The one exception is a logic board transplant. A small number of badly damaged phones can only be recovered by moving key chips to a donor logic board. If your phone or tablet needs this, we stop, tell you, and send you a separate written quote for the transplant before we do it. These rare cases usually cost $1,500 to $2,500, plus any donor phone or parts we need to buy. You can decline that quote and have the device returned free of charge, and you pay nothing for the work done before then. The transplant quote says whether any part of it is paid up front (for example the cost of a donor phone). If you approve it, the transplant quote replaces the price you chose on the form and works like a revised quote under section 4.3.
• Standard or Extreme. On the job form you choose Standard or Extreme. In both, we make temporary repairs to the logic board so the data can be read (section 2.4). With Standard we keep the phone as intact as we can: we do not remove chips, reball them or move them to another board, and if that is the only way to reach the data we stop and ask you first. With Extreme you agree that we may use any method to recover the data, including wires, advanced soldering, chip removal and reballing, special chip readers and jigs, and moving components to another phone using parts we hold, without stopping to ask you. There is no extra charge for that work. A logic board transplant that needs a donor phone we have to buy is still quoted separately first, as set out above. Choosing Extreme is final: if we recover your data, we securely dispose of the phone and its parts instead of returning them under section 7.2, and you cannot ask for them back later. If we cannot recover your data on Extreme, we return the phone on request, as it is, which may be in pieces.
• The condition of your phone. We do not do a full visual inspection when a phone or tablet arrives. Sections 1.2 and 2.5 apply whether or not we recover your data: opening it can leave scratches or marks or crack the screen or back glass, and its symptoms can change. A new screen can cost $800 to $1,000, and we do not repair or replace phones, tablets, screens or other parts.
• Who owns and who pays. Section 1.1 applies, and for a phone or tablet the owner’s permission must be in writing, or you must have legal authority, for example as the executor of an estate. The person who submits the job form is responsible for payment, even if someone else, such as a friend, family member or your own customer, was meant to pay. We do not accept a phone or tablet belonging to a partner or former partner without their permission, including during a separation.
• Only data that was on the phone. Section 3.3 applies, and data removed by a factory reset is not on the phone either. If a particular item, such as a note from several years ago, is not there after a full recovery, it was not on the phone when it arrived, and that does not stop the recovery being successful under section 3.2.
• Private use, not forensic. Section 8.2 applies. You receive your files and an invoice. We do not provide affidavits or signed statements either. If you need evidence for a legal matter, use a mobile phone forensic specialist.
• Stolen Device Protection. If section 6.3 applies to your iPhone, we only find out once it is working again. We then email and text you. Please upgrade your iCloud storage and pay within 15 minutes of our message, because a repaired phone can stop working again while it waits. If you do not reply in time, we pause the job and try again when you reply, but we cannot promise the phone will still work then.
• Emergency service. We start straight away and work on it 24/7 as our top priority until it is finished, as fast as humanly possible. Usually finished within 24 hours, but complex cases or a large amount of data can take 2 to 3 days. Priority is usually 4 to 7 days and Economy usually 1 to 2 weeks. All times are counted from when we have your phone and its passcode, and are estimates under section 4.5.
• Payment. The 14 days in section 4.1 run from the date we tell you your data is recovered or, where section 6.2 applies, from the date we tell you our work is complete. Section 4.2 applies to late payment.

5.2 Data destruction services

We offer free hard drive and SSD recycling, and paid data destruction services. You choose the service on the data destruction job form.

• Free hard drive and SSD recycling. When you bring your hard drives and SSDs to our Rhodes, NSW lab, or post them to us there at your own cost, and let us keep the usable parts, the service is free. Working drives are erased with data erasing software that overwrites every sector. A hard drive that cannot be erased because it is faulty is erased with a degausser, and an SSD that cannot be erased is physically shredded, at no charge. We keep the read and write heads and circuit boards as donor parts, we never look at the data, and the rest of the drive is recycled. The drives are not returned. A free certificate showing the number of devices and the method used is included if you ask for one.
• Paid services. Erasing and returning your drives, degaussing hard drives and backup tapes, physical shredding, and a detailed certificate listing the model and serial number of every device are paid services. The price per device is the one shown on the data destruction job form and on our data destruction pages.
• Paid services are paid in full up front. You pay when you submit the job form, before we start the work. Submitting the form and paying is your approval. There is no assessment and no separate quote.
• Destruction is permanent. Once a device has been erased, degaussed or shredded, nobody can recover its data, including us. Make sure you have a copy of anything you need before you send it. Degaussed and shredded devices will not work again.
• Returning devices. Erased drives you paid us to return, degaussed devices, and the pieces of shredded devices, are returned on request. You can collect them from our Rhodes lab, or we post them back to you and charge the postage at cost, with no handling fee.
• Refunds. If we receive fewer devices than you paid for, we refund the difference. If you cancel before any work has started, we refund what you paid in full.
• Sections 1.2 to 1.5, 3 and 4.3 do not apply to data destruction. Section 1.1 (ownership) does: you confirm that you own the devices or are authorised to have their data destroyed.

5.3 iTunes and Finder backup file recovery

• The price is fixed. On the iTunes backup job form you choose the Economy or Priority service. The price shown is the price for your job, plus a destination drive if you ask us to supply one.
• It is paid up front. You pay when you submit the job form. Submitting the form and paying is your approval, and there is no assessment and no separate quote.
• Full refund if the recovery is not successful. If the recovery is not successful as defined in section 3.2 (the critical files you listed on the job form, or 95% or more of the files in the backup), we refund the recovery fee in full. A destination drive you bought from us is refunded only if you return it to us unused.
• Forgotten backup passwords. If your backup is encrypted and you do not know its password, password recovery is not part of the fixed price. We may offer it by separate written quote, and we only do it if you approve that quote. Section 6.1 explains that this is the only case where we try to recover a password.
• What you send us. Copy the backup to an external drive and send us that drive. We do not need your iPhone or iPad.
• What you get back. The recovered photos, videos, messages and other data come back as files on a drive. They are not an iTunes or Finder backup and cannot be restored to an iPhone or iPad in the usual way.
• Turnaround times are estimates, as set out in section 4.5.

6. Passcodes, passwords and encryption

6.1 Our work and your part

Phones, tablets, MacBooks, iMacs, computers and many drives are protected by security: a passcode, PIN, pattern, Apple ID password or Activation Lock, login password, BitLocker or FileVault key, iTunes backup password or another encryption key. Our service on an encrypted device is to repair it far enough that the data can be read once the correct credentials are entered. We call this a backup-ready state. Getting past the security is your part. We do not crack, bypass or reset passcodes, Activation Lock or encryption. Only the correct credentials can unlock the data. The one exception is an encrypted iTunes or Finder backup whose password you have forgotten: we may offer password recovery for it by separate written quote, outside the fixed price (section 5.3).

You confirm that you know the credentials for your device. We ask for them when we need them. Please give us the correct ones, by phone or in writing as we instruct, within 7 days of our request.

6.2 If the security cannot be unlocked

If we complete our work and bring the device to a backup-ready state, and the only reason we cannot copy the data is one of the following:

• you cannot remember or provide the passcode, password or key within 7 days of our request
• the credentials you gave us are wrong
• after we have repaired the device to a backup-ready state it is or becomes locked, disabled, unavailable or activation-locked, or wrong attempts lock or erase it, or
• you change your mind about providing the credentials

then our work is complete and the full quoted price is payable. This applies to phones, tablets, MacBooks, iMacs, BitLocker or FileVault drives, and any other encrypted device. It is the same acknowledgement you give on the job form and when you approve the quote.

If we cannot repair the device at all, nothing is due for a phone or tablet (section 5.1), and for other devices only any attempt fee stated in your quote (section 3.4).

We do not accept jobs where the only problem is a forgotten passcode on a working device, or a device that arrived already Unavailable or Disabled from too many wrong attempts.

6.3 When the only way to back up an iPhone or iPad is iCloud

Some iPhones and iPads on iOS 17.3 or later have a security feature called Stolen Device Protection turned on. It is designed to stop a thief who has watched you type your passcode. When it is on and the device is away from the places it knows, such as your home or workplace, it will not let a new computer be trusted or a cable backup be made unless Face ID or Touch ID is used. The passcode alone is not accepted. Our lab is not a place your device knows, so even with the correct passcode we cannot back it up to a drive, and if the Face ID or Touch ID hardware is damaged there is no way around this at all. Other iOS security settings can have the same effect. In these cases the only way to save your data is a complete iCloud backup to your own Apple account, made on your repaired device. This is done at no extra charge: our fee is the same as for a backup to a drive, and no destination drive is charged. When this happens we email you to explain the reason, and the job continues like this:

• You upgrade your iCloud storage to a plan large enough for everything on the device. We usually recommend the 2TB plan. You can do this at icloud.com or on another Apple device signed in to the same Apple ID, and you can reduce the plan again once you have restored the backup. The iCloud subscription is paid to Apple and is not part of our fee.
• On these jobs the iCloud backup is how your data is released. Because you have access to the data the moment the backup completes, and a repaired device can fail again, our recovery fee is paid when we are ready to start the backup. This is the one exception to the usual order in section 4.1, where payment comes after we tell you the work is complete.
• A backup of this kind usually takes 24 to 72 hours, though that is an estimate. We email you when it is complete, with instructions for restoring it to your iPhone or iPad.

The result is a full device backup in your iCloud account, not an iCloud Photos library, so you will not see the photos at icloud.com until the backup is restored to a device. Restoring a backup replaces everything on the device you restore to, so back that device up first. We use your device to run the backup and do not otherwise access your iCloud account, and we cannot recover data from iCloud itself. On these jobs the only copy of your data is the backup in your iCloud account. We do not hold a backup copy ourselves, so the two week backup in section 4.7 does not apply. Keep your iCloud plan active until you have restored the backup and checked it.

7. Cancelling and returns

7.1 Cancellation

• Before work starts (see 1.4 for quoted services, and section 5 for fixed price services): no charge, apart from return postage if you want the device posted back, unless your quote says otherwise.
• After work has started on a quoted service: you pay the attempt fee if your quote had one. If your quote had no attempt fee, you pay a reasonable charge for the hours and parts already used, and that charge will not exceed 50% of the quoted price.
• After work has started on a mobile phone or tablet: you pay nothing, unless we have already recovered your data when you cancel, in which case the price you selected on the job form is payable.
• Data destruction and iTunes backup recovery are paid up front. If you cancel before any work has started, we refund what you paid in full. Once the work has started it cannot be undone, and refunds are only as set out in sections 5.2 and 5.3.
• Return postage on cancelled or declined jobs: $20, unless your quote says otherwise.

7.2 Uncollected devices

If you leave a device with us after we have told you the result, the device is uncollected goods. We will give you notice that we intend to deal with it. The notice period and the way we may sell, recycle or destroy it follow the uncollected goods law of the state where the device is held (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia or Western Australia). Recovered data copies we hold are kept as set out in 4.7. A device held because of an unpaid invoice is dealt with under section 4.2 after 12 months.

After a successful recovery we only keep a device for parts if you have not asked for it back and that law allows us to dispose of it. All data is securely wiped first. If you want the device back, ask when you approve the quote.

7.3 Donor parts

Donor drives, boards and parts we use during a recovery remain ours. You are not buying the donor part.

8. Limits on what we do

8.1 Confidentiality and privacy

Your data stays private. We only look at it as far as needed to do the recovery. We handle personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, as set out in our privacy policy at www.payam.com.au/privacy-policy/. If a data breach were ever likely to cause serious harm, we would notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the people affected, as that Act requires. If the device holds other people’s personal information, you confirm you are allowed to give it to us to recover. We must report child exploitation material to the police, and we provide data to law enforcement where the law requires it. We may decline or stop a job if completing it would break the law.

8.2 Forensic and legal work

We do not provide forensic services, formal reports, chain of custody documents or expert evidence, except where a court orders us to attend. If we are compelled to attend court, our fee is $600 per hour including preparation.

8.3 Accessories, transit and our labs

Do not send cables, cases, SIM cards, memory cards or other accessories unless we ask for them. We are not responsible for accessories sent with a device.

We are not responsible for loss or damage while a device is with a courier or postal service. If you want the parcel insured, arrange that with the carrier. Return parcels go to the address you give us in writing.

We may move your device between our own offices and labs. Most recovery work is done at our main lab in Rhodes, NSW. We never send your device to another company to recover; the work stays in our labs. Confidentiality applies wherever the device is.

8.4 Complaints

If you have a complaint, email help@payam.com.au with your job number and we will respond.

9. Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law, including that we must provide the service with due care and skill. If we fail to meet a consumer guarantee, the remedies in that Law apply, including for a major or a minor failure.

Where the service is not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, and the law lets us limit our liability, that liability is limited to supplying the service again or paying the cost of having it supplied again.

10. General

10.1 Pausing a job

We may pause a job if the law requires it, if a technical problem means we cannot continue safely, or if an event in section 10.2 stops the work. We will tell you. You can then accept a revised plan, or cancel under section 7. If we cancel because we cannot do the work, we refund anything paid for work not done.

10.2 Events outside our control

Neither of us is responsible for delays caused by events outside reasonable control, such as natural disasters, strikes, pandemics, government restrictions, courier failures or power outages.

10.3 Law

These terms are governed by the law of New South Wales. The courts of New South Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction. You may also bring a claim in the courts where you live or where the service was performed. These terms apply to customers in every Australian state and territory, whether you visit one of our offices or post your device to us. Nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, which applies wherever you live.

10.4 Changes to these terms

We may change these terms with 7 days’ notice by email or on our website. The terms that apply to your job are the ones in force when you submitted the device.

11. Acceptance

These terms apply when you submit a job form on our website, or when you drop off or post a device under a job number we have given you. They also apply when you approve a written quote. By doing any of those things you confirm that you have read and understood these terms and agree to them. For a fixed price service (section 5), submitting the job form is also your approval of the price you selected, and no separate quote follows. An email or telephone enquiry about price, before you submit a job, is not acceptance of these terms.