Ring the bench, or write it down below.

You will need to put one name on the label: Oxford Data Recovery. Below that goes John Eccles House, Science Park, Robert Robinson Ave, Littlemore, Oxford OX4 4GP. The reception staff know the building by that name, so a box labelled "Reading Data Recovery" can be turned away at the door. Use a tracked, insured service. Whatever happens with the job, your drive reaches a bench the day it arrives, and we pay for returning it to you.

You can certainly do that, though for most people the post is much less bother. In either event, please get a quote first, either by telephone or through our form. There is no counter in Reading. Anything handed over in person is taken in at the Oxford intake lab (John Eccles House, Science Park, Robert Robinson Ave, Littlemore, Oxford OX4 4GP), Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, no appointment needed.

Use the form instead of an email address: it gives the support desk all the details required for a case to be opened straight away. Or you can simply ring us on 0800 6890668. The desk is staffed Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm.

Three things: the drive (a single external drive goes as one unit, with its cable and power supply), any parts that have come away from it, such as a screw or a lead, and the shipping form, printed and filled in. For an encrypted volume, the password or recovery key must be written onto that form. Do not send any other power adapters unless an engineer asks for them.