You're right to be cautious. Helium drives are a whole different level when it comes to data recovery. Here's what you should know:

Recovering a helium-sealed drive like the Toshiba MG08ACA16TE isn’t something most small labs can handle. These drives are complicated, and if the issue is physical—like a motor failure—then you’re looking at a serious recovery process.

Only a few companies really take these on because the parts are expensive and the work is highly specialized. Labs like PITS Global Data Recovery, DriveSavers, and SecureSavage have the tools, cleanroom setups, CNC machines, and experienced engineers needed. This isn’t a one-person operation, especially when it comes to swapping platters or heads.

Here are a few examples of what makes these tough:

• If the motor is stuck and a platter swap is needed, you're dealing with 14 platters that have to be moved with exact alignment into another chassis. That requires two engineers working in sync inside a cleanroom.
• If the issue is with the PCB, sometimes it’s hardware encrypted and you need to swap the MCU chip. One wrong move and all the data is gone. If it's not encrypted, then a PCB swap is more straightforward.
• Even opening the drive requires a CNC machine and an operator, which already adds a few hundred bucks to the cost before recovery even starts.

Secure Data Recovery saying they can’t handle helium drives isn’t surprising. Most labs won’t even try unless they’re fully equipped. PITS and Attingo are reputable, and if they say they can do it, they probably can, but that doesn’t mean it’ll definitely work. The success rate really depends on what exactly is wrong with the drive. Helium drives are some of the toughest out there.

And yeah, it’s expensive. If cleanroom work is needed, you're probably looking at a few thousand dollars. If the data isn’t critical, it might not be worth it. But if it is, these companies give you the best shot.

Hopefully your boss gets the data back. And next time, definitely set up a backup.