Woman Files $54m Lawsuit Against Best Buy for Lost Laptop

[Jimmy 2004]

A woman in Washington D.C. has filed a $54 million lawsuit against Best Buy after the Geek Squad lost her $1,100 laptop when it was taken in for repairs. When Raelyn Campbell purchased the laptop she was persuaded to buy Best Buy’s $300 extended warranty which offered three years of free repairs. In under a year the laptop in question developed a fault with the power switch so she took it to Best Buy where she was told it would take two to six weeks to repair. Campbell made numerous calls to Best Buy to check on how the repair was progressing and was continually told it should be fixed soon, however nothing happened so she left a message for the manager of the branch but received no reply.

Eventually one worker she spoke to revealed that the laptop had never been sent away for repair and had been lost in store – and all Best Buy were willing to offer was a $900 gift card, leaving Campbell $500 out of pocket. She then demanded $2,100 in cash, which Best Buy rejected, before contacting the Washington D.C. attorney general’s office who contacted the store. The compensation was then raised to $1,100 cash and a $500 gift card, however Campbell discovered that her identity was at risk and filed a $54 million lawsuit against the firm, rejecting a further offer of $2,500 cash and a confidentiality agreement. Campbell admits that she doesn’t expect to win a multi-million dollar settlement but is still chasing substantial damages.

Source: DailyTech

[Easy Rhino]

normally i am against these ridiculous lawsuits, but this time i hope she wins. someone needs to keep best buy in check.

[AddSub]

Geek Squad = overpaid, clueless bozos.

[Easy Rhino]

Originally Posted by AddSub

Geek Squad = overpaid, clueless bozos.

how much do members of the geek squad make? i agree they are clueless bozos.

[Whilhelm]

Why in the hell does she think that she is entitled to 54 million dollars. What is totally ridiculous is she rejected the cash that would have more than covered the lost laptop. Maybe she had something on the laptop that could have been cause for its disappearance into the geek squads hands

[niko084]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

how much do members of the geek squad make? i agree they are clueless bozos.

Depends on the location they start as low as $8.50 an hour, I think they cap at like $13.75..

Yes overpaid, overcharged idiots! I mean there are always a few that are good at their job and even too good for it but as a general whole...

Depending on her net worth, it could be very easy for her to get an out of court settlement for well over a million in this case... I hope she does, corporations need to learn not to step on peoples toes when they screw them over.

[niko084]

Originally Posted by Whilhelm

Why in the hell does she think that she is entitled to 54 million dollars. What is totally ridiculous is she rejected the cash that would have more than covered the lost laptop. Maybe she had something on the laptop that could have been cause for its disappearance into the geek squads hands

Possible Identity Theft, and she can sue for time/money wasted and lost due to their losing the notebook.... 54 Million will not happen, but depending like I said on her net worth and use of the notebook *claiming anyways* she could VERY easily get over a million.

[rick22]

Welll you would think by now WTF shop at BEST BUY for pc stuff....

[happita]

Originally Posted by rick22

Welll you would think by now WTF shop at BEST BUY for pc stuff....

Screw Best Buy. As soon as I found Newegg, everything has been so much more convenient, cheaper, and courteous. Given that most corporations have screwed people over, I think Newegg has an extremely good reputation.

[Paulieg]

Originally Posted by AddSub

Geek Squad = overpaid, clueless bozos.

Wow, you have no idea. Occasionally, I'll go into my local Best Buy just to mess with them a little. I'll make up a list of Hardware related questions that I'm sure that they will not know the answer to. I love the ridiculous answers I get...not to mention the blank stares.

[Paulieg]

She should be compensated for her identity placed at risk. I will be interested what value the courts will place on her identity.

[suraswami]

All are stupid here. Who ever wins are just lucky. Who the bloody hell will store sensitive information on a laptop and mug around? My friend's Dell laptop broke and you know they walked him thru to open the laptop and pull out the hdd and then ship it.

Those idiots should have done that.

[candle_86]

Originally Posted by niko084

Depends on the location they start as low as $8.50 an hour, I think they cap at like $13.75..

Yes overpaid, overcharged idiots! I mean there are always a few that are good at their job and even too good for it but as a general whole...

Depending on her net worth, it could be very easy for her to get an out of court settlement for well over a million in this case... I hope she does, corporations need to learn not to step on peoples toes when they screw them over.

I worked for Firedogs, its comparable but i think we did a better job lol, i was paid 9 an hour. Entry level of course

[zekrahminator]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

how much do members of the geek squad make? i agree they are clueless bozos.

$11 an hour, unless they have a college degree of some form, in which they are likely offered considerably more.

[WarEagleAU]

I ought to go work for My local Best Buy in the geek squad. Make it the super sexy and cool squad. I hope she gets something, maybe not multimillions but something to check that ass for Best Buy.

next time you need to install something on your pc, call geek squad and come up with something stupid. I once put and agp card in a pci box and it took the guy three hours to figure out what was wrong.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by Whilhelm

Why in the hell does she think that she is entitled to 54 million dollars. What is totally ridiculous is she rejected the cash that would have more than covered the lost laptop. Maybe she had something on the laptop that could have been cause for its disappearance into the geek squads hands

obviously your not concidering the cost of identity theft, it cost tens of thousands of dollars to straighten out your bad credit and sometimes you can never get your good credit rating back and must settle for just stoping the harrasment from bill collectors.

millions in damages is way overdoing it but if her personal info was on it, it could cost this lady anywhere from 10k to 50k to straighten it out plus whatever they can steal from her as well depending on who has her information and what they do with it. getting your life back to normal after identity theft is near impossible. a fair offer from best buy IMO would be around 25k plus any expenses she has straightening out her credit.

you have to pay lawyers to spend weeks filling out documents and legal forms so the guy in basran who bought a new bmw on your credit doesnt have bills coming to your house and your paycheck docked by bill collectors. they dont care who charged it but they want you to pay for it or they make your life hell.

[a111087]

Best Buy should have admitted the mistake sooner and offered an appropriate amount that should cover the damages.
2500 is good, but it came to their head too late, now they are going to learn their lesson, good for them

[EastCoasthandle]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

normally i am against these ridiculous lawsuits, but this time i hope she wins. someone needs to keep best buy in check.

Couldn't agree more

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by happita

Screw Best Buy. As soon as I found Newegg, everything has been so much more convenient, cheaper, and courteous. Given that most corporations have screwed people over, I think Newegg has an extremely good reputation.

+1

although, I would usually go to CompUSA first, before online ordering - willing to pay the slighlty higher (although lower than Circuit City or Best Buy) price for the conveinence.

Anyhow, as with most lawsuits like this, one needs to over shoot what you expect to make out of it - very rarely is anyone ever awarded the full amount, usually it's less than 50%.

Originally Posted by WarEagleAU

I ought to go work for My local Best Buy in the geek squad. Make it the super sexy and cool squad. I hope she gets something, maybe not multimillions but something to check that ass for Best Buy.

I had thought of snagging a part time job at (CompUSA when they were still open) BB or CC on the weekends, but my personal boycott wouldn't let me.

[Cold Storm]

OMFG... I hope she wins something! I mean they did a piss poor job about everything, and then loses her stuff.. Yeah, no one should leave stuff like she left on a computer, but not everyone thinks that this can happen! Not everyone is like us, the people on this forum. We know what to do and not to do..

And I wish All BB and CC staff would understand to let people know that... And I for one never got the reason for Firedog, or Geek Squad. the people on the floor knew more about computers then the ones that had the fancy title... IMO

[DEFEATEST]

And thats the problem with this side of the world................ just sick. And that's also why we are all treated like criminals when we return stuff and make a fuss about anything. That's why there is endless EULA's and fine print up the wazoo. This is where all this stuff comes from.

[ChillyMyst]

Originally Posted by Whilhelm

Why in the hell does she think that she is entitled to 54 million dollars. What is totally ridiculous is she rejected the cash that would have more than covered the lost laptop. Maybe she had something on the laptop that could have been cause for its disappearance into the geek squads hands

no she rejected 900bucks for a 1100$ laptop that had a 300$ repair plan on it, she orignaly just wanted payed back for their fuckup, they shot themselves in the foot because now she knows about possable identity theft and has a good case in court......hope bb gets their asses handed to them!!!

Originally Posted by niko084

Depends on the location they start as low as $8.50 an hour, I think they cap at like $13.75..

Yes overpaid, overcharged idiots! I mean there are always a few that are good at their job and even too good for it but as a general whole...

Depending on her net worth, it could be very easy for her to get an out of court settlement for well over a million in this case... I hope she does, corporations need to learn not to step on peoples toes when they screw them over.

just a little info on geeksquad, they where decent till bb bought them out, now their whole excistance is NOTHING TO DO WITH FIXING COMPUTERS, its all about selling people new stuff/services, my buddy was a geeksquad employ, lasted a year, he quit after he got demoted for not selling some poor old lady a new computer when all she needed was a memory upgrade and fresh install of windows, she was in her 70's and didnt have much$ and called to have them come out and fix her comp, the rule to become an on the road rep, you gotta sell sell sell to get into a car, then to stay in it you gotta sell sell sell, he couldnt take it anymore he was at 15/hr and got bumped downt to working in the store again at 12/hr because he didnt push people to buy new pc's from bestbuy.

and yeah most, i would say 97% of geeksquad employs are tards, theres a decent one at the bb closist to me, he tryed to get me a 2900 for the 8800gt that died on me just after i got it, but he wasnt able to order one from the warhouse as they where being disscontinued (3870 was around corner!!)

hes a good guy, and asked me if i had seen a problem on a lappy a lady droped off and i was able to tell him how to fix it, was just a little tweak to 3 settings and it was fixed, he took notes(good sign), told me i should work there ROFL

[0elemental0]

i too am curious on the value they place on her identity. I hope the courts raker BB over the coals on this one, Bad customer service is inexcusable in this day and age where everything is a click away.

[Kreij]

The amount of her suit is way over the top.
It's not about her getting that much money, it's about slapping BB with a wake up call.

Identity theft is a problem, but unless she is extremely wealthy, I doubt someone could make more than a few thousand using her identity.

Courts should do this;
Replace laptop with best thing they have for her trouble : $3000
Compensate her time and effort and attorney fees : $20,000
Pain and suffering for having to deal with BB : $2000.00
Kick a geek squad noob in the groin and post it on YouTube : Priceless.