Terms of Service & Custody

Last updated: 27 July 2026

These terms cover the recovery analysis, data recovery, and device preservation provided by RecoverLater (Brisbane Device Preservation, ABN 54 640 598 412). By submitting a device for analysis, recovery, or preservation, you agree to them. Nothing in these terms excludes rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law.

1. Lawful authority

We accept only devices that you own or are lawfully authorised to act for — for example as an executor, administrator, or holder of written authority from the owner. We may require documentation of ownership or authority before any work begins, and we may refuse or discontinue service where authority cannot be established.

2. Free inquiry

Sending us the details of your device costs nothing and carries no obligation. We reply with the strongest available pathway and, where relevant, a written quote. This preliminary reply is based only on what you tell us — it is not the forensic analysis described below, and it cannot tell you with certainty what is recoverable. No work is performed on a device and nothing is charged until you book.

3. Recovery analysis — $150 founding flat rate

A recovery analysis is a one-time founding flat fee of $150 AUD, locked in for the life of the device: if pricing for new customers changes later, including a move to a subscription, your device stays on the rate you paid. The fee covers:

• a forensic analysis of your device, its failure mode, and its software and lock state;
• intake photographs and an itemised condition report;
• a documented device profile (model, firmware version, lock type, target data);
• a custody record, issued to you before storage begins, with a unique reference ID;
• the recovery itself, wherever your data can be recovered with a method we run in house — there is no second charge; and
• where no method exists for your device yet, protected powered-down storage — with no resets, updates, part substitution, or unnecessary power cycles — and ongoing review of your device profile against new tools, laboratory capabilities, and recovery methods, at no ongoing fee, with contact when a credible pathway emerges.

4. What is included, and what is quoted

After the analysis, one of three things is true, and you are told which before anything further is charged:

• Recoverable in house. The recovery is included in your $150. There is no further charge.
• Recoverable only with paid specialist work. Some devices can be recovered only with licensed commercial forensic software, specialist laboratory services, or board-level repair — each of which charges a per-device or per-job fee. We do not perform board-level repair in house; that work is carried out by a specialist partner. We quote the cost to you exactly and in writing, and you choose — proceed, or remain in preservation at no extra charge in case a less costly method appears later.
• No method exists yet. Your device is preserved and monitored at no ongoing fee. If a method later becomes available, we contact you with a written quote: included if we can run it in house, quoted upfront if it requires licensed tools or specialist work.

The $150 analysis fee is the only charge we make. Nothing further is ever charged without your prior written approval, and we no longer add a mail-in shipping charge of any kind.

5. Getting your device to us

Drop-off in Brisbane is available by arrangement at no charge. Mail-in also carries no surcharge: after payment we email you our Australia Post Parcel Collect address together with packing instructions, and you buy and pay for the postage yourself. Send the device with Australia Post as a tracked parcel — a Parcel Collect point only accepts items lodged with Australia Post, and does not accept letter-class mail.

Risk in transit sits with you until we take custody. Because you arrange and pay for the postage, the parcel remains at your risk until it is delivered to our Parcel Collect point and we record it into custody. We do not insure devices in transit and are not liable for loss or damage occurring before delivery to us. You may add Extra Cover through Australia Post at your own cost; any such cover protects the physical device's replacement value only and never the data on it. Power the device down and do not charge, reset, or update it before it reaches us.

6. No guarantee of recovery

The analysis tells you what is possible today; preservation protects the possibility of recovery tomorrow. Neither can create a method that does not exist. Whether your data is recoverable now, and whether a future tool, laboratory capability, or device-specific method emerges for your exact model, software state, and lock configuration, depends on factors outside our control, and we make no representation that either will succeed. What we promise is a truthful answer about your device, and that if a method emerges later your device will be in the best achievable state to use it and you will be told.

7. Custody, care and liability

From intake to return, your device is stored powered down and protected from moisture, impact, and unnecessary handling, and is accessed only for the services you have authorised. Our liability for loss of or damage to a device in our custody is limited, to the extent the law permits, to the cost of re-supplying equivalent hardware; we cannot assign or accept liability for the market or sentimental value of unrecovered data. Consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected.

8. Your device, returned on request

The device remains your property at all times. You may end the service and have the device returned or collected whenever you choose. The $150 fee is not refunded once the analysis, intake and documentation are complete, as those services have been performed. This does not limit any refund or remedy you are entitled to under the Australian Consumer Law if the service is not provided as described.

9. Business continuity

Your device remains your property at all times, and that does not depend on RecoverLater continuing to trade. If RecoverLater ceases operating, every preserved device will be returned to its owner by insured, tracked post to the address on file, or released to a contact you have nominated in writing, at no cost to you. Your custody record — reference ID, intake photographs, and condition report — stands as your proof of ownership and of the device’s condition, independent of us. Keep your contact details current so a return can always reach you.

10. Abandoned devices

If we cannot reach you using the contact details you provided, we will attempt contact over a period of no less than 12 months before treating a device as uncollected, and will then deal with it in accordance with Queensland uncollected-goods legislation.

11. Credentials

Passcodes or account credentials are collected only when a specific authorised pathway requires them, only under a signed authority at intake, and are handled as described in our Privacy Policy. Never send credentials through the website form or by unencrypted email.

12. Contact

Questions about these terms: contact@recoverlater.com.au or 0423 056 889.