Payam Data Recovery was founded by Payam Toloo after his own hard drive failed and he could not afford professional recovery services. He spent two years learning the craft and has since built a company recognized as Australia’s most trusted data recovery provider, with over 150,000 successful recoveries to date.
Official Website: payam.com.au
1. Core Business
Payam Data Recovery offers comprehensive services covering a wide array of devices and data loss scenarios:
| Category | Supported Devices and Scenarios |
|---|---|
| Consumer Devices | Hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, memory cards, iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, iMacs, Microsoft Surface |
| Enterprise and Professional | RAID arrays (0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50), NAS/SAN systems, servers |
| Specialized Recoveries | Ransomware attacks, liquid damage, fire/flood damage, extreme physical destruction, encrypted drives, proprietary file systems |
All work is performed in-house at their Australian facilities, with no outsourcing.
2. Technical Strengths
Class-100 Cleanroom and Advanced Lab
Payam operates ISO-certified Class-100 cleanroom environments and ESD-safe labs with anti-static workstations. Their Rhodes facility houses advanced micro-electronics repair equipment, including nano-soldering stations and chip-off recovery tools.
Extensive Parts Inventory
To support fast turnaround times, the company maintains a large inventory of donor parts, including over 20,000 hard drive parts, 15,000 PCB donor parts, 4,000 SSD parts, and hundreds of Apple logic boards.
Industry-Leading Tools
Engineers use a full suite of professional recovery tools, including PC-3000 Professional systems, DeepSpar Disk Imager, Atola Insight, Cellebrite, MRT Pro, and UFS Explorer.
Trusted by Industry Leaders
Payam is trusted by Apple and Apple Authorised Service Providers, as well as major brands like Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Samsung, who refer customers to them globally.
3. Service Process
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Contact | Call or fill out the online form to start your case. You can speak directly with a technician, not a call centre. |
| 2. Free Assessment | For most devices, a free assessment is provided within 1-2 days to diagnose the issue and provide a written quote. |
| 3. Quote and Approval | A fixed, all-inclusive price is offered. There are no hidden fees or bait-and-switch pricing tactics. |
| 4. Recovery | Work begins only after you approve the quote. Engineers use mirroring techniques to work on a copy, leaving the original untouched. |
| 5. Payment and Return | You only pay if recovery is successful. Recovered data is delivered on a new drive, via cloud upload, or secure FTP. |
Service Tiers: Economy (1-3 weeks), Priority (few days), and Emergency (same-day) options are available.
4. Use Cases
Payam Data Recovery is particularly known for handling extreme physical damage cases that other providers consider impossible. Examples include:
| Scenario | Description |
|---|---|
| Lawn Mower Shredding | An iPhone fell under a ride-on lawn mower and was shredded into multiple pieces. Engineers identified the memory chip fragments and performed chip-off recovery to retrieve all data. |
| Dishwasher Exposure | A 2TB external SSD containing 10 years of family photos went through a full hot wash cycle. Despite severe heat and chemical damage, data was recovered. |
| Insect Infestation | A MacBook Pro that would not turn on was found to be completely infested with ants eating the motherboard. Engineers performed logic board repair to recover the data. |
| Concrete Mixer Truck | An iPhone 15 was run over and crushed by a massive industrial vehicle, with the metal chassis completely compressed. Data was successfully recovered. |
These cases demonstrate the company’s expertise in chip-off recovery, micro-soldering, and logic board transplant procedures.
5. Pricing and Turnaround
Pricing varies based on the complexity of the case. Simple recoveries can cost around $375, while complex cases requiring extensive work and specialized tools can cost up to about $2,000.
| Service Level | Typical Turnaround | Price Range |
|---|---|---|
| Economy Service | 1-3 weeks | Starts from $650 for basic recoveries |
| Priority Service | Few days | Additional cost |
| Emergency Service | Same day | Premium pricing |
Key Policy: No Data, No Charge. You only pay if recovery is successful.
6. Customer Feedback
Positive Reviews
- Successful recovery from devices others deemed unrecoverable
- Transparent communication and regular updates throughout the process
- Reasonable pricing compared to competitors
- Direct access to engineers who actually perform the work
Negative Feedback
| Complaint | Typical Description |
|---|---|
| Cost | Some clients note the service is expensive, though many acknowledge it is worth the price given the success rate. |
| Partial Data Recovery | In some cases, clients have reported not receiving all data back; however, the company generally does not offer partial recovery pricing. |
7. Pros and Cons Summary
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Over 27 years of experience and 150,000+ successful recoveries | Pricing can be high for complex cases (up to $2,000+) |
| Known for recovering data from extreme physical damage | No partial recovery pricing; full cost applies even if only some data is needed |
| Trusted by Apple, major manufacturers, government agencies, and law enforcement | Economy service can take 1-3 weeks, which may be too slow for some urgent cases |
| In-house Australian operations with Class-100 cleanrooms and advanced tools | Client must ship or travel to one of their physical locations for service |
| No Data, No Charge policy with transparent fixed pricing | International clients must ship to Australia |
8. Official Website and Contact
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Website | payam.com.au |
| Headquarters Address | Level 11, 65 York Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia |
| Phone (Head Office) | 1300 444 800 |
| Founder’s Direct Line | Available for special requests or privacy concerns via the website |
| help@payam.com.au |
Editor’s Note
Payam Data Recovery stands out for its remarkable ability to recover data from devices subjected to extreme physical damage—cases that many other providers, including global companies, have deemed impossible. This capability is backed by over 27 years of specialization, advanced chip-off recovery techniques, and a substantial parts inventory. The company’s transparency, direct engineer access, and No Data, No Charge policy provide significant peace of mind. However, for clients who cannot afford the premium pricing or are unwilling to ship their devices to Australia, alternative providers may be more suitable. For anyone facing a complex data loss scenario, especially if other companies have declined the case, Payam Data Recovery is a highly recommended option to consider.