Usb data recovery is not the cheapest thing ever so if your drive hasn’t failed yet, make sure you have backup of your important files on multiple devices. Since these tools are not guaranteed to last forever, you are likely to run into problems sooner or later, if you rely on a single memory card or usb key.
Upon losing data your best bet is to contact specialist companies that are making a living of restoring information, because even though you’ll part with a few dollars, your data is still in the best hands, choosing the company is not easy though as there are many players on the market who do this kind of service.
Do not jump at the first result that pops up in google, look around first. Check out a few homepages, if there is a telephone number on them, try to give a call and ask about terms, conditions and prices.
It can take a day or up to a week to recover information, but in my own opinion it still worth it to have the professionals deal with the situation, because you are likely to fail to get data back from a damaged device, or one that has failed due to hardware related problems. If a data recovery company sees that someone has been tinkering with the device beforehand, as in trying to recover information, they can deny dealing with the unit and charge a diagnostic fee.
Some companies are so confident in their services that they don’t take money if they don’t succeed in getting back your documents, pictures or files in general.

How much does data recovery for an USB drive cost?

Prices for data recovery greatly vary depending on the case, particularly if the unit is damaged or just software problems exist, but the company you chose will tell you an exact price after evaluating the job in subject. Typical cost of retrieving info from a thumb drive is $150-$300, so next time you put some sensitive data on your portable media, make sure you have a copy on a separate device.