- Report: #1429101
Complaint Review: Clever Files Disk Drill - Atlanta Georgia
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Clever Files Disk Drill
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Web:
https://www.cleverfiles.com
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Clever Files Disk Drill 508 Software - Unusable Software, Poor Support, Shadowy Company - Atlanta Georgia
I have wasted half a dozen hours with Disk Drill data recovery software by Clever Files, also known as 508 Software, LLC.
Their documentation makes it sound like you use the free version to, among other things, assess the recoverability of your files. However, in my case, the information it provides is so limited and useless that I truly cannot determine whether my files are recoverable.
I contacted support for this and they've said that the preview does not always work as intended, and also that the file names, modification dates, etc. may display incorrectly sometimes. What's the point of this software if it can't tell you the filenames or provide accurate metadata?
Their solution to this, of course, is "buy at your own risk." They are strict on their policy of not providing any refunds, which makes sense to me if the software could be used to verify that the files can be recovered. But in cases where that cannot be done, which is 100% of the time that I've used Disk Drill, it just seems wantonly unfriendly to customers.
I reached out to support and asked if they would be willing to provide a refund in my case, since the "free data" they're giving me is very ambiguous. The answer was no. I asked if I could potentially plead my case to a member of management, and support flat out denied my escalation. Even though they have nothing to lose, they are simply not willing to work with you, even when it's because their softwre is not working as intended. I'm not gonig to gamble $89 to see if their software works or not.
Finally, I'll point out that this company just looks plain shady. The domain registration is anonymous. They don't name anybody on their websites. They do have an LLC filed in Georgia, but the only information I could find in its filings was for a registered agent. That same registered agent is listed as its CEO by the Better Business Bureau, but does not list anything about 508 Software or Clever Files on his LinkedIn profile. So my inference from that is that this company takes great pains to remain anonymous. That plus their refusal to allow for an escalation, and the lack of last names on their support emails, would have me question purchasing anything from them, and sort of make me regret installing their freeware on my computer.
Finally, they have 3 positive reviews on their Better Business Bureau listing. I find it very hard to believe that 3 satisfied customers all randomly decided to go to the BBB of all places to leave reviews for them, all wrote about the same length and in similar writing styles, and all within 35 days of each other in 2017. I cannot be certain of this, but I believe they have done a significant amount of SEO and posting of fake reviews in order to drown out criticism of their broken software.
Indeed, if you search more carefully, you will find numerous complaints from customers talking about the problems they've had with this software and the company's refusal to provide a refund when it has not worked as intended.
"Buy at your own risk" indeed.
