[Buckaroo]

What is really stupid about this is, she's following the lead of another lawsuit filled by someone else who also lost his case.

Lost laptop? Sue for millions!

Is your laptop worth $54 million? Raelyn Campbell of Washington, D.C., is suing Richfield-based Best Buy for that amount after it lost her laptop computer while it was in for repairs.

. . .

According to Campbell's blog at bestbuybadbuyboycott.blogspot.com, Geek Squad employees spent three months telling her different stories about where her laptop might be before finally acknowledging that it had been lost.

Campbell said that she doesn’t really expect to get $54 million, but chose the amount to attract attention to her case. It’s the same amount a D.C. judge sought against a dry cleaner last year that lost a pair of his pants.

. . .


More of the story at the link above.

[Eriamjh]

While I don't think the pants lawsuit had any merit (the pants were recovered before the lawsuit was filed), this woman had her personal information lost (or stolen) by employees of Best Buy. The $54M comes from the potential for identity theft.

She won't get the money, ever, but it sends a good message to Best Buy.

I hate Best Buy and have never had to bring a computer to a shop for service, the potential for identity theft is high when you bring a personal machine to a repair center. One can't be expected to wipe the computer before doing so since the problem might be related to that particular SW installation.

Better than suing Apple, I guess.

[Oisín]

One can't be expected to wipe the computer before doing so since the problem might be related to that particular SW installation.

That’s exactly why it should be expected that you wipe the machine before bringing it in for repair. If it’s a software issue, it’s not for the vendor to repair at all, it’s your own fault and responsibility.


At least this one seems to realise that she’s not going to get $54 million for a lost laptop. If I recall correctly, that judge was frighteningly serious in thinking he would seriously get that kind of money for a (not) lost pair of trousers.

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

While I don't think the pants lawsuit had any merit (the pants were recovered before the lawsuit was filed), this woman had her personal information lost (or stolen) by employees of Best Buy. The $54M comes from the potential for identity theft.

I read this story on msnbc the other day and you're right, and even the lady knows it. Its not like she's wanting the 54m. Infact she only wants a fair deal but this was the only way to get their attention.

As for the indentity theft, BB is on the hook because they did break DC laws about not notifying her about the loss of the laptop. they're on the hook.

Sometimes it takes a hufe lawsuit even if its over the top to get a large corporation to change. They're now getting bad press about this, and consumers may think twice about using them. theirs the identity theft issue and the problem of them giving this poor lady the run around for months when they lost the laptop days after it was dropped off.

I'm not one for extravagant lawsuits as i think its bad for everyone but lawyers but in this case I think there's merit to it

[dav]

she's not going to get that kind of money, but the attention she's bringing to the poor service she got from best buy is priceless. i'd be angry too if they indeed lied about my missing laptop for months.

[ghporter]

She IS getting attention. Lots of it. This is not a frivolous suit, but an emphatic one. Geek Squad is generally a bunch of people who could qualify for special class if they cleaned up a bit, but since they don't they don't have any class at all. I am VERY serious about this-the majority of Geek Squad employees are uneducated, untrained people with a mandate to SELL stuff, not fix it. This will not be the last suit against BB by a long shot. And the lady should win a bunch of money, plus BestBuy paying for any potential identity theft losses for...forever.

Are ANY Geek Squad people certified in even the lowest level of computer repair? A+? MCSE? ANYTHING? What is the minimum qualification level for these people? And more important, how does BestBuy hold them accountable for safeguarding and controlling customer property (including data)? They do not boast of being bonded, certified, warranted or otherwise being reliable, so what do they have at all? As a professional in a number of fields, I hold the whole Geek Squad concept in contempt of the highest order.

Not that I have any real feelings about the issue...

[JoshuaZ]

The same thing happened to one of my college room mates! He had his laptop taken in and it was something like 3 or 4 months before they admitted that they had lost it. At least they were nice enough to give him a computer worth the exact same amount as his old one. Which ended up working in his favor, as the other computer wasn't that good and the new one was much much better.

I honestly wonder how often this kind of thing happens with Best Buy. Most of their computer staff are high school kids (I had high school friends who worked there. They had great stories to tell about how **** the store was.)

Best Buy sucks. But has such great deals...

[Uncle Skeleton]

The way I heard it, they low-balled her with store credit until she retained a lawyer, and only then did they give her the full value of her laptop and do it in cash. Too little, too late. They're civilly liable for losing the product and criminally liable (literally) for failing to inform her that her personal information had been stolen.

Also, she couldn't have wiped her drive before bringing it in because the reason she was bringing it in was for a broken power switch.

She doesn't deserve the money, and she knows it, but Best Buy certainly deserves to lose it, and given their absolutely terrible track record for honoring their commitments, I hope she wins and it puts them out of business. Best Buy deserves utter annihilation. When CompUSA went under I was actually surprised because it wasn't Best Buy.

[ort888]

I would hand my computer to a monkey before I would give it to an employee at a place like Best Buy or CompUSA.

[driven]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I would hand my computer to a monkey before I would give it to an employee at a place like Best Buy or CompUSA.

At least if your monkey lost your laptop then you could still spank it.

Originally Posted by Oisín 

That’s exactly why it should be expected that you wipe the machine before bringing it in for repair. If it’s a software issue, it’s not for the vendor to repair at all, it’s your own fault and responsibility.

Not always possible if the laptop is broken.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by hayesk 

Not always possible if the laptop is broken.

No, but if possible, wiping the machine should always come before sending it off for repair (unless it’s something very obviously not software-related, like smoke coming out of the hard drive).

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

No, but if possible, wiping the machine should always come before sending it off for repair (unless it’s something very obviously not software-related, like smoke coming out of the hard drive).

Thats the problem with electronics. Once you let the smoke out of em they stop working.

The only good thing about this lawsuit is that it will might bring attention to people about their personal data on computers and cheap repair facilities.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Thats the problem with electronics. Once you let the smoke out of em they stop working.

The only good thing about this lawsuit is that it will might bring attention to people about their personal data on computers and cheap repair facilities.

One more thing it should do is make it obvious to the average BestBuy customer that they don't bother to protect their customers' property, let alone their data. I think that's more important-notifying the world that "we don't really care" is BestBuy's slogan.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

... "we don't really care" is BestBuy's slogan.

"... and we will lie about it".

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

"... and we will lie about it".

Thanks for the correction-I forgot about that part.

[olePigeon]

You could just shorten their motto to: "meh"