Help! How do I retrieve the photos in my cell phone?

Last night I bought a new phone and when they transferred the photos they were all lost! I’m so upset. My old phone says there are no photos and we tried the card in another phone, same thing, no photos.

Is there any way to restore the photos? Are they stored in the machine they use to transfer the photos?

Also, can you explain to me how that machine works that moves the data?

Additionally, is there some way the salesperson could easily wipe out the photos while attempting the transfer? I don’t think he did anything on purpose, I just want to know if it is possible. He didn’t go through the steps on my old phone to wipe all the data or anything like that. I can still see my contacts in my old phone.