Woman to sue BestBuy for $54M because of lost laptop
Posted February 13th, 2008 by Alex Ion
There’s been stories on the Internet with BestBuy’s terrifying warranty service. It looks like the store is having problems this time because Raelyn Campbell from DC, just filed a $54M lawsuit against them.
The story is simple. In 2006 Raelyn bought a laptop and paid $300 for extended warranty while in May the power switch broke. She had to get it back for service and was told that it will take two to six weeks (do those guys sleep at work or what?) to get it fixed. Though it wasn’t the best answer for her, she accepted. As you may have guessed nothing happened and she had no news about her laptop until August 24 when she decided to file a complaint letter to BestBuy. This was just the beginning and more delays came in.
Finally, the company admitted losing her laptop and here’s the big surprise. In exchange for the $1,000 laptop with a $300 extended warranty and lots of personal data on the hard drive, she was offered a $900 gift certificate to buy her out. I am sure she was either offended or resentful of the offer so decided to file a lawsuit for $54 million. At this point BestBuy understood that this is a serious problem and sweetened the deal: $2,100 and a $500 gift car. WOW! The lady said “see you in court”.
I think she has a chance of getting that kind of money considering the fact that there were personal data on the hard drive. She’ll probably win it, yes! What do you guys think?
February 13th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
As a former employee, I highly recommend that no one buy their extended warranty. Your better off contacting the vendor to see if they offer an extended warranty on their product. And if you do need work done, call vendor for “local” shops that do the work locally. BB doesn’t do in store warranty work. The extended warranty work is BS. It’s just more money in their pockets. I hope this person wins her case and it becomes very public.
February 13th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Hopefully she wins, it might teach Best Buy a lesson they desperately need.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I am all for getting back at a corporation, because I think they are one of the more evil things out there. However, bullshit lawsuits like this are also incredibly harmful. Did best buy deserve to pay some, sure, maybe even as much as ten thousand dollars. But 54 million? No. This lawsuit should be thrown out because of its ridiculousness. Its lawsuits like this that add to the overly safe, put a warning label on everything society that this now is or we might get sued for $54 million, society we are now living in.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I think her lawsuit is assinine beyond belief. I don’t doubt that the people at Best Buy are incompetent at best and probably negligent, and perhaps, even outright liars. How does the loss of a $1300 investment deserve $54 million??? If she was so concerned about all of this ‘personal data’ then maybe she should have taken steps to backup the information and then wiped the hard drive clean or taken it to a professional who could encrypt the information or wipe the drive or a variety of other things to protect her precious personal data? This just sounds like she got advice from some sleazeball lawyer who wanted to take his 40% and get rich quick. She should have received her $1300 back and perhaps some payment for their negligence. This amount would be decided by a judge who hears EVIDENCE of what her actual loss is. There could also be a stipulation that if there is any evidence of identity theft in the future, Best Buy might have some financial responsibility. $54 million? Why not $100 billion? Rediculous.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Win? 54 million dollars? I knew that these kind of things get huge proportions over there but I would never have expected that someone could even get an idea to demand 54 million dollars over some 1300 dollars plus lost data. Over here in Finland you’d be lucky if you got the $2100, let alone more than that..
February 13th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Well guys to be honest that’s the price for losing personal info.
What if you were a researcher and you had all your data stored on THAT laptop. I know it would be stupid not to backup, but still. She may have lost critical data.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Where does someone come up with such a number?
The fact someone could have their laptop stolen with 54 million dollars worth of info on it, is the reason america has a 700 trillion dollar debt.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I suppose its possible that when she actually goes to court the amount shes suing for will be drastically reduced, she was probably really mad. But yes why 54 million? why no 50 million? too little?
February 14th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Now guys. One comment: Such lawsuits are ONLY possible in AMERICA. If she wins its even worse. Anywhere else in the world a lawyer would say the demand is rediculous and not even start the case, let alone the sueing party actually having a chance to win.
Anyways, Alex, you make a good point but no ways is even the most critical data a woman has on a _private_ laptop EVER going to be worth anywhere near 54b$. I would agree that even if it were research data which was completely lost this may not be worth significantly more than 50k$ at the max. I would rather say 2000$ or for a lawsuit maybe try 10k$ but anything beyond just asks for a loss.
Lastly, I would say that she herself had played quite a big role in losing that data if she was stupid enough to not backup it (suppose it actually is worth 54b$, which is kind of rediculous in itself).
Doomed to fail unless you have a real stupid lawyer.
Period
February 14th, 2008 at 12:14 am
As a current Best Buy employee I will let you know that the Service Plans suck, don’t buy those, but the Replacement Plans do work. And not all Best Buy employees are morons and incompetent. Geek Squad…maybe. I have met very few exceptionally intelligent Geek Squad employees. But not all of us are morons, many to most…sure I will give you that, but at least acknowledge the few that are knowledgeable and are working there just to get by because surprisingly enough they pay you well if you know what you are talking about.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:28 am
We’re never going to know if she wins the case or not, because this case is going to be settled, as almost all of these kinds of cases are.
However, let’s just say that it did go to court, which would only happen if the plaintiff didn’t care about the large sums of money that Best Buy would throw at her. In that case, no, she would never ever win $54 million. Simply because someone sues for an amount doesn’t mean that there is any legal reason that they are entitled to that amount. She could have sued for $100 billion, as another poster pointed out. No judge or jury would award that in this kind of case. You only see the big awards in cases where people have been severely disabled or killed due to gross negligence.
A judge would instead approach the situation considering first the base amount of money the woman is entitled to, which would be the cost of the laptop, the cost of the warranty, and the cost of her time spent dealing with this issue. Past that, the plaintiff would have argued for damages due to lost information, lost productivity, pain and suffering, etc, which is where the bigger money comes in to play, but we’re not talking past a million.
So, in the end, the big number of $54 million was simply to get this case in the news. The more exposure the case has, the more money the plaintiff’s lawyer can squeeze out of Best Buy at the settlement table, which is where this case will end. We’ll also never know how much money the plaintiff will get, but it’s going to be way less than $54 million, less than $1 million, and likely less than $200,000. So it’s all just sensational.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Good for her… I know best buy is probably a big evil company that has a shit load of cash at hand, but that seems a bit excessive. If she wins that full amount, lets just hope best buy will make some changes in their services.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:02 am
well… I highly doubt she will win. for one in the service plan brochure it specifically states that your data is your responsibility. same for the service order agreement that she signed before the laptop was sent off. so the data is a dead issue
Also in the service plan agreement it says somewhere that if the laptop is to be replaced because it can not be repaired (doesnt say lost, but if they can’t find it they cant fix it) It will be replaced for a comparable product. and I’d be willing to bet with $900 that she was offered she could have gotten a superior lap top to her original
So I really don’t think she can win, but Best Buy may give her money anyway like many of you are saying
another thing. I know if something gets lost or damaged at our store during shipping, UPS is responsible for replacing it.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Where can I find a lawyer that would sue for that amount over something so trivial?
Someone looked at me weird today…think I can sue for 10 mil?
February 14th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Barring any important details that have been left out of the article, I can’t sympathize with her. I don’t care how much she paid for the laptop, nor how much personal data she kept on it. If she believed the thing to be worth $54 million, she was an idiot to trust it to a $300 protection plan. What has happened to this country? Is there no sense of proportion? There should be a tax on frivolous litigation. She should be stiffly fined, and required to hand write an apology to everyone involved.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:18 am
I work for Best Buy.
She will not win her touted $54M because like most customers they don’t read all the fine print, thusly if she wanted to be taken seriously she should have taken their offer and not gone through such lengths as to make a bigger fool out of herself. Sure mistakes happen, shipping problems occur, blizzards wreck havoc at the service centers and usually Geek City in Kentucky will just about lose their god-damned minds for no reason and not fix a darned thing.
Too bad she’s going to lose more money in the long run, good thing we’re building our new stores to be GREEN friendly. Oh and our stock has seemed to go down, wonder if this has had any impact? Probably not.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Yes, the bitch deserves some money but $54 million?!?!? Come on, that’s ri-donk-ulous. $10,000-$50,000 max. anything more she can go fuck herself. If you think i sound immature. than your probably a newfawg, and if you don’t know what that is, then GTFO. whinny whore do not want!
February 14th, 2008 at 6:21 am
It is not a matter of if it is worth $54 million. That, as was said before, is simply a way to get it into the public eye. That being said, bringing it into the public eye may mean that Best Buy will begin to think about what they are doing and how they need to change it. I had several very bad experiences with Geek Squad and with the Best Buy team. All revolved around replacing a computer that they had messed up. I even wrote a letter to the corporate office, and my reply was a brush off telling me that there hadn’t been rude service (how would they know) and that I got exactally what I deserved.
As for data loss, it is not the matter of if she backed it up or not. That is not the issue. The issue is if someone got ahold of her personal data in any way. The Best Buy warrenty does not say that you must wipe any hard drive you give to them; in fact, they have backup services and other data protection services.
Probably the best thing for people to do when they buy a new laptop is put $50 away into a savings account every month. That way, when two years are up, or when your computer dies, you have the money to deal with it yourself without the frustrations of dealing with warrenties.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:04 am
OK.. on all labor work.. which she signed. BB is not responsible for lost data, if unavoidable. She signed that. I work at the geeksquad. Yes hate me?.. No but we receive over 100+ computers a day for service. The ones for hardware repairs get sent to one place. 500+ BB stores plus 100 computers each.. 50,00 computers a day.. well that a bit exaggerated. But it is hard to keep track of each computer when you have eight of the same models laying around. If people dont like BB. DOnt bring it there. They should have admitted to losing the PC earlier, but 54m is stupid. No computer loss is worth that much including data. Even if we lost all of NASA’s data base. It would not be worth that much. After working there i see warranties are the best thing, especially product replacement plans. Get a brand new one in store the same day! I mean pay $300+ for a new LCd screen for your laptop out of manufacturing warranty or get extended and get it shipped, fixed, and all that for what three-four weeks. People need to learn to live without computers. Go to the library, get a book, send a letter, play yahtzee. I dont know. Many people do have bad experiences and i have been yelled at enough times, but your paying for us to fix it.
Kentucky handles all the stuff.. Blame them!?
I have been hailed as a God, I have been deemed an crook. I have been offered extra money, I have given back many refunds. But all in all, people need to get off their computers and get a life. Adios
February 14th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Attempting to resolve the customer’s satisfaction does not imply extended warranty beyond the original agreement. They offered her ample funds to replace the hardware and more. They don’t owe her anything.
http://www.geeksquad.com/detail.aspx?id=209
PAY FOR SUPPORT
(a) Services: Geek Squad will attempt to diagnose and solve problems over the telephone for an applicable fee. In certain cases, however, this may not be possible because of problems with your computer or its configuration that are beyond our control.
(b) User Responsibility: You understand and agree that before Geek Squad performs diagnostic repair on your computer, it is your responsibility to back up the data, software, information, or other files stored on your computer disks and/or drives. You acknowledge and agree that Geek Squad shall not be responsible under any circumstance for any loss or corruption of data and/or software.
LIMITATION OF REMEDY
Under no circumstances shall Best Buy, Geek Squad, and/or its third-party service provider be liable to you or any other person for any damages, including without limitation any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, expenses costs, profits, lost savings or earnings, lost or corrupted data, or other liability arising out of or related to the services provided by Geek Squad and/or its third-party service provider or out of the installation, de-installation, use of, or inability to use your computer equipment, hardware, peripherals, or the network as a result of the services provided hereunder.
Geek Squad shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance due to any cause beyond its control. If Geek Squad’s ability to render services is impaired by your failure to cooperate or circumstances beyond the control of Geek Squad, Geek Squad may choose not to provide services. Service can also be denied if dangerous or unhealthy conditions are present including possible code violations. For any un-installation services provided, Geek Squad shall not be responsible for repairing any damage or changes made to your residence.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:41 am
The damages are punitive, not restorative. Basically the actual fine, if she won, would be 54 million + cost of laptop + legal fees.
Best Buy asked for this, by trying to give her the brush-off. The big number is simply a way to get their attention; anything smaller, and they’ll either ignore it, or try to cut her a cheque.
I don’t think most people really grasp how out-of-control American corporations are, or how much they deliberately abuse their customers. Anyone who can strike back, make them pay for their iniquities, deserves support because until they learn to respect their customers, they’ll keep doing the absolute minimum they think they can get away with.
February 15th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Oh no you don’t “S”. The American corporations are that way because it works, there are only a few situations in which customers hear what they want to hear and do what they want, regardless of the consequences.
Both Pete and Eli are correct, she is owed no money, other than the settlement cost, simply because it was her fault for purchasing the laptop and probably breaking it in the first place, so if she were to win anything more than a few thousand then it’s merely reliant on how good a lawyer she might hire.
I’ll admit that there are several things that need changing at Best Buy, but the Warranty program is solid and has it’s place. The Geek Squad, all knowing entities that they are can only do so much to fix an issue, anything more and it’s begging for a problem. The brush-off was what they do for everyone simply due to the fact that 99.873% of claims against a particular store have to do with miscommunication and stupid customers, sadly this figure isn’t exaggerated.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
If she is claiming $54 million then I hope she had everything in place to encrypt any secure data on there. If not then that’s just stupidity. If there was no PI type data then I do not see why $54 mil should go to her. I think it would be better that Best Buy got fined $54M for loosing the laptop to teach them that they should have procedures in place to prevent this. They then work out a “reasonable” payout to the lady of the $1300 or so for the laptop + compensation of a few K for the hassle. I don’t see why she should see 54Mil though.
If the data was worth that much then you would expect she would have a backup in place and a quick $1000 dollar laptop and restore of the backup will get her on her feet again.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Well, if you can’t win the lottery…
February 18th, 2008 at 5:10 am
She has no grounds for the lawsuit. One of the items on the document that she signed when she dropped off her laptop for service indicates that she cannot hold best buy responsible for lost data (that’s why they offer a backup service). I agree that losing the laptop is ridiculous, and they should have offered her more up front, but $54M is just a scare tactic on her part. She’s hoping she can use this to retire. I hate this country because of people like her.l
February 18th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I wonder what lost data means though. Does it mean lost when replacing a hard drive, or formatting it? Or does it include their stupidity in loosing the whole laptop (ie, possibly stolen (lost) data)?
54 mil though… crazy.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Former Geeksquad agent, here. When you sign to release the computer, it says you agree that bestbuy is not responsible for lost data whatsoever. Best Buy’s legal team is utterly ridiculous, they’re almost as bad as scientologists. Good luck to her though, it was the worst job I ever had. Every day I had to make excuses for other people’s stupidity and carelessness. You try telling a gorgeous person of the opposite sex (or same; whatever floats your boat) that their graduation gift (a nice nikon camera or hp laptop or whatever) isn’t warranted for whatever goofy reason less than a month after the purchase and they wasted $1000+. I can’t tell you how many laptops/cameras/tv’s the service center lost/broke, and they didn’t allow us in-shop agents to fix any of that because we’re “incapable”. Now I work for a competitor and enjoy fixing laptop screens/buttons/jacks, etc.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:30 am
She will lose, trust me, I know. Being an insider on the case and all, she’s bluffing.
February 19th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Hello? The laptop was “misplaced” - which translates to possibly stolen. It contained all her personal information on it: credit cards, SS#, Bank Statements, etc. She’s suing for 54Mil simply because the risk of having her identity stolen is so high. Identity theft happens more than people believe. There have been cases of laptops being stolen at coffee shops and wifi spots where sensitive information was leeched from them and used with malicious intent. It isn’t a joke when it comes to losing something that contains so much personal and private information. I am sure when she dropped the laptop off at Best Buy she didn’t expect one of the nit-wits working there to “misplace” it. The 54Mil will cover her financial losses and scarred credit if it comes down to it. Regaining your creditability after identity theft is not easy AND IS VERY VERY EXPENSIVE. I wish her the best of luck.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I wouldn’t doubt she’s bluffing. We had a ton of people who came in and claimed that their product was lost or released to someone else. We had huge files containing all signatures paperwork. There’s no proof of what a person has on the machines (who saves their credit cards as “MY CREDIT CARD AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.TXT” anyway?). The service center most of the time reformats a machine as a very first step so they can dissolve any chance of it being a software issue (not covered under warranty, wastes time with the volume of machines they get in, etc) before working on it.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Most definitely she will, or at the least she will learn that even though she might think that what action she is taking would solve something in the future of the business, it probably won’t, it’s been run that way for a long time and has been working since that time. Geek Squad isn’t very old and the company isn’t either, so it only goes to show that they were created after the fact of so many other companies and based upon the claims that those customers had in the first place, if it is bad that they aren’t supporting the loss of data, then so be it, 54 million won’t solve it. Regardless of if her identity was stolen. The laptop was probably lost in the shipping cycle, which happens from time to time. She was to be reimbursed for the thing, so she should have taken the money and run in my opinion.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
bitch needs a fucking job, stop fucking sueing everyone you dumb fucking Americans
March 12th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
tell me why she didnt take 2100+500? thats more than she paid and more than hey fuckin bubble bobble games, you know that dumb bitch dont do nothin but look at pictures and she doesnt have any data