Partner Workflow

Submit an inquiry

Contact us through our Submit a Case form or by email with your case details — affected media type, device and model, operating system, the data to be recovered, and urgency. If the device is locked or encrypted, let us know; you can share the password later, only if you choose to.

Free pre-assessment

We review your inquiry and reply with an initial assessment, the likely difficulty, and a rough timeframe. This step is free, and you're under no obligation to proceed.

Ship the media to our lab

Send the device to our lab in Tokyo at the address below. Use any carrier and packing method you prefer — we recommend an expedited courier such as DHL, FedEx, or UPS for speed, tracking, and customs handling.

you are concerned about shipping, you are also welcome to visit Japan and drop off the device directly at our store.
We will provide a storage device (e.g., HDD/SSD) to deliver your recovered data at the local Japanese retail price plus a small handling fee. However, if the recovered data is small enough to be delivered online, no physical storage device or fee is required.

Scratch Lab (FIX Inc.)
Spacia Akihabara B1, 4-9-7 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0021, Japan

See our Legal page for shipping cost responsibility and terms.

Approximate transit time to Japan (express courier, business days, excluding customs):

• East & Southeast Asia: 1–3 days
• North America: 2–4 days
• Europe: 2–4 days
• Oceania: 2–4 days
• Middle East & South Asia: 3–5 days
• Latin America & Africa: 4–7 days

Important — Declared Values

Your waybill has TWO separate value fields. Please complete them as follows:

1) Declared Value for Customs: USD 20 (or the actual value of the physical drive)

• This is the value of the physical, used, non-functioning drive only.
• Do NOT include the value of your data. Data has no customs value.
• Overstating this value causes customs delays and postpones your recovery process.

2) Declared Value for Carriage (Insurance): Your choice

• Please note: Carriers do NOT insure stored data. Their terms explicitly exclude loss or erasure of data.
• Coverage is strictly limited to replacing the physical media. Insuring above the drive’s replacement value provides no additional data protection.

3) Importer of Record & Duties

• Please list FIX Inc. as the Importer of Record. We handle all Japanese import duties and taxes. Note: To ensure smooth customs clearance, please strictly declare the customs value as USD 20.
• Bill duties and taxes to the receiver (FIX Inc.). We handle all Japanese import duties and taxes.

Diagnosis & Final Quotation

After the device arrives, we perform a full diagnosis and notify you of the fixed quotation. Our pricing is success-based: if we cannot recover your data, no service fee is charged. For certain special cases a partial fee may apply, but we always inform you in advance — we never bill you unexpectedly. The final price is confirmed in writing before any recovery work begins.

Approve the quotation

You confirm the quotation and give us the go-ahead. There are no surprise charges, as the final quote rarely exceeds the range of the previously provided price list. If you choose to cancel at this stage, the item will be returned at your expense. Cancellations here are generally only expected if the issue is unrecoverable or if your circumstances have changed.

Recovery

Recovery is performed under strict confidentiality. Your data and case details are never shared with any third party. NDAs are available on request.

Verification

When recovery is complete, we provide a file list so the end user — or you — can confirm the recovered data before delivery.
The file list shows the condition of each recovered file, classified by status such as Good, Broken, or Dead. For any file affected by bad sectors, the error rate is also indicated.
The list itself is provided as a CSV file, but it can be loaded into a dedicated HTML viewer, which lets you expand the folder tree and review the contents.
If you would prefer the list to be generated with a specific tool, please let us know and we will accommodate your request.

Invoice & Payment

Once the results are confirmed, we will issue an invoice. Japanese consumption tax is not charged on our services to overseas clients.

We offer the following payment options:

• Credit Card (Stripe): We will send you a secure payment link via email.
• Bank Transfer via Wise: For major currencies (e.g., USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, SGD), you can send payment as a local bank transfer through Wise with lower fees and without needing a Wise account. (Note: This local transfer option is not available for certain countries or currencies.)
• International Wire Transfer: You can remit funds directly to our Japanese bank account using the details below.
• PayPal: We will send you a payment link via email.

Account with Bank (Paying Bank)	THE KOSAN SHINKIN BANK, AKIHABARA BRANCH
Through Bank	SHINKIN CENTRAL BANK
SWIFT Code	ZENBJPJT
Beneficiary's Name	FIX INC.
Beneficiary's A/C No.	1305-032-0286775

Delivery & return of media

We deliver the recovered data and return your original media using the pre-agreed method (shipment on a new device, or online delivery for smaller datasets). Return shipping is covered by us.

When returning the item, we will accurately declare the value of the delivery HDD. However, if you have a preferred declared value, please let us know and we will accommodate your request to the extent possible.

*Please note that declaring an excessively low value carries a risk of customs clearance failure. We accept no liability if the shipment fails to clear customs.

Data erasure & closeout

After delivery, all recovered data and working copies are securely erased from our systems within a defined retention period, and the case is closed.