Data Recovery - PLEASE HELP!

Well it had to happen - one of my USB Flash Drives died; light comes on when plugged in but it doesn't get detected at all.

* no show in Disk Management
* no visible signs of damage
* no soldering issues

I've got 2 options -

1) solder chip from dud flash to another flash; problem is that they're not identical
2) pay for data recovery firm

this is from a mate

Hello,

Your flash drive's firmware is probably corrupted. Nothing we can do for you here, if it is still under warranty, send it back.

ah.. okie dokie... thanks