disk0s2 i/o error recovery?

So here's the deal. The other day while I was restarting I got stuck on the grey/blue boot screen with the apple and spinning circle. After many attempts at rebooting, it still got stuck. I tried booting in safe mode, recovery mode, and booting with the OS X disk. Still, none of this worked and everytime I got stuck on the boot screen. Finally I tried booting in single user mode and it told me I had a disk0s2 i/o error. After inputting the fsck command and eventually getting the ok after it modified the files i rebooted and still got stuck. At that point I decided to just get it checked out at the apple store. They ran a diagnostics check and said the hard drive was basically screwed and they wouldn't be able to recover the data unless I brought it to data recovery place, where it still may not even be fixed. Anyway, I may just be in denial that I lost all my files, music, etc. but based on what i've read on other forums and on support websites, it seems that most people are able to recover their data after a disk0s2 i/o error, and pretty easily for that matter. So, I was wondering if the guy at the apple store is right and I really can't recover my data or if I can still firewire it, run it from an external source, etc.

The laptop is a Macbook Pro (bought it summer '09) and one more detail that may or may not be important: When I tried to boot in safe mode, as I was holding down shift, every 5-10 seconds a Ø sign would flash into where the apple was. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.