Best Buy Loses Laptop: Owner Sues... for $54 Million
Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:33PM EST
See Comments (5425)
Don't dismiss Raelyn Campbell as a crackpot. Not yet. Listen to her story, and then decide if she's doing the right thing by asking Best Buy to compensate her to the tune of $54 million for a laptop that went missing when she took it in to Best Buy for repair under the store's own extended warranty.
Like many people, Campbell bought an extended warranty for her laptop when she bought it from Best Buy, and she took advantage of that when the power button broke off after a year. Best Buy accepted the machine for repair and said it would be ready in two to six weeks. But six weeks passed and the computer wasn't ready. After three months of ruthlessly hounding the company, Best Buy finally admitted it couldn't find the machine.
Ultimately, Best Buy offered to pay her $900 for losing the machine... as a gift card. She countered that it had originally cost over $1,100, not to mention all her data that was now gone for good. She demanded $2,100, and Best Buy simply ignored her.
At this point, Campbell was made aware that all her personal data on the machine could lead to a major identity theft issue, though Best Buy never filed their legally required notice that she was at risk. That was the last straw, and she filed suit for $54 million, representing herself. Best Buy has since upped its offer to a total of $4,100 if she withdraws the case. She says she doesn't expect to win, but wants to go to court anyway to force Best Buy to explain how her laptop was lost.
I have to agree that $54 million seems wildly optimistic, but it's amazing to hear how smug Best Buy has been throughout this process. Lowball, "go-away" offers that don't even value property properly, much less the value of the data inside it, are frankly embarrassing, and good for Campbell for making an issue out of it... even if she doesn't ultimately prevail.
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5407 Posted by em.melee on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:54PM EDT Report Abuse
#5919: I never said thanks. Although I will say that now: thanks for nothing. I already told you that I didn't care about what your common sense tells you. I guess you didn't actually read my post. The law is the law. The point of being legally bound to notify consumers of security risks is because not everyone comes to the same drama-queen conclusions as you do, like sledgehammering all of your darn computers. If Best Buy warned her and she didn't take heed, then she is obviously at fault, because she had been warned. But she wasn't, and so she was never prompted to think of that possibility. Best Buy broke the law, so they are at fault, even if it's because the lady was a complete dimwit, as you believe.
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5408 Posted by datonechick2003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:37PM EDT Report Abuse
I think she should go ahead and sue them, she has every right to. She gave best buy many chances to do the right thing and they ignored her, until they found out that she is suing them. Identity theft hurts alot of people, and best buy don't care because it's not their identity that's being stolen. So, all the BEST OF LUCK to her and I hope she wins more than the $4100.00 that they are now trying to offer her.
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5409 Posted by johnpbrownrealty on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:39PM EDT Report Abuse
All this could have been avoided had Best Buy acted responsibly initially, and tried to make the customer whole again. This justifies a higher settlement figure to compensate the customer for the extra effort and mental anguish due to the actions of Best Buy. Then, breaking the law in not filing proper data security notices is inexcusable, particularly since large corporations maintain a sizeable legal staff. Potential harm to the customer in this regard justifies more money, and punititve damages. The total award should be much less, in line with reality.
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5410 Posted by alycdy on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:51PM EDT Report Abuse
Serves Best Buy right . . . several years ago my sister-in-law was in a BB store waiting to pick up a big purchase when an employee pushed a new vcr box off a shelf onto her head causing all types of neck and head problems. Although an ambulance was called and she suffered through many years of treatment, Best Buy corporate acted as if nothing had happened, accused her of climbing up and knocking off the box and basically ignored her case and stretched it out over a long period of time. No sympathy or even a settlement of discount or gift card or anything. Just a denial even though there were witnesses. Eventually there was a settlement for medical bills and such, but it took a major effort and much heartache to get to that point. Amazing, isnt it?
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5411 Posted by plinyjr2000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse
Hey magpagbst, I don't know which best buy you work for, but as someone who has had a similar experience with the retail monolith in question I whole heartedly support her efforts. You have never really been shined on until you are over the counter from the so-called service department @ best buy. I was in my second year of med school and had tons of assignments and data that was simply lost, never to be seen again. And i received nothing but grief lame excuses and low ball offers on a new computer i had just bought. I hope she gets some justice for the rest of us who have been jerked around by these guys. By the way the judges rule the LOSER in these cases to pay for court costs.
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5412 Posted by magpagbst on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse
king blunt . . . what conclusion did i jump to? . . . you certainly jumped to a premature conclusion that this woman actually had data on her computer: "3. adhere to legal requirements for corporations in the event of theft of private information." . . . where is the proof that there ever was any data on her computer at all? . . . this woman initially wanted to file a small claims case . . . it wasn't until AFTER she contacted a lawyer that she started to worry about her personal data on her laptop . . . gives one pause for thought doesn't it? . . . this is supported if you follow the links provided in the article . . . oh yeah . . . and lo . . . NO corporation will ever publicly comment on a case while it is in litigation . . . good try . . .
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5413 Posted by magpagbst on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse
plinyjr2000 . . . never worked for best buy . . . i represent common sense . . . it is too bad that you neglected to back up your valuable data on your laptop before you decided to hand it (your future!) over to a best buy employee . . . so it's easy to understand your support for this lady's lawsuit . . . and do you really believe that court costs come close to covering the fiscal requirements necessary to maintain the monolith that is the civil court system?
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5414 Posted by magpagbst on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse
em.melee #5925 . . . hmmmm . . . i agree with you . . . the law is the law . . . it appears that this lady has no proof that there ever was ANY data of value on her laptop . . . no monetary damages for that . . . this lady waited to inform best buy about her alleged data six months AFTER she gave it to them for repair . . . this lady wasn't concerned about her personal data (in this case, her alleged tax returns) until AFTER she hired a lawyer (yes she has one!) . . . i'm here to enlighten . . .
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5415 Posted by acatstalksinthedark on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:44PM EDT Report Abuse
lol! that woman's crazy come on now 54 mio ? she deserves 10.000 USD to the most
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5416 Posted by jesterofsanity on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:33PM EDT Report Abuse
I don't know why you people are still arguing about this, the case was dismissed Feb. 22nd on the defendent's motion to quash service of process. Basically the judge thought she had no case. The fact that she was representing pro se probably didn't help matters (though she had an attorney advising her).
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5417 Posted by jesterofsanity on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:33PM EDT Report Abuse
Edit: the defendents motion is a result of improper service of summonses, and it would not have been granted unless there were serious problems with the manner in which they were issued. The judge would not let the case proceed on its own merits. Speculation would be that as naming two top executives as defendents, Ms. Campbell screwed herself by having no reasonable ability to serve court documents to a corporation with headquarters in Minnesota. Thus, a cause of action for the defense to file a motion to dismiss. In a nutsheck she should have hired a legal team. Sad, but that's how it goes in superior courts. Due process is a serious consideration, unlike small claims court.
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5418 Posted by magpagbst on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse
i knew i was right . . .
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5419 Posted by moreland_vickie@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:26PM EDT Report Abuse
magpagbst wah wah If this had happened to you I doubt you would be so flippant about what happened to this lady. And what is this comment about her cheap laptop. If you can afford a more expensive one then maybe you should lay off the whining about your tax dollars. I'm sick and tired of spending my hard earned money on products and getting treated like she did. This attitude is what is wrong with our nation.
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5420 Posted by moreland_vickie@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:26PM EDT Report Abuse
hey magpagbst my son worked at BB too but that doesnt mean he is so arrogant that he thinks this was right. I'm sure it's a different story for you though when you shop there, right?
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5421 Posted by magpagbst on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse
moreland . . . i'm not wah wah-ing . . . i'm simply laughing at the general ignorance of society . . . actually, i have way too much common sense for an incident like this to happen to me . . . get it? . . . where did you get the idea that i ever worked at best buy anyway? . . . you jump to way to many conclusions . . .
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5422 Posted by blkdog44 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:09PM EDT Report Abuse
Didn't need best buy to loose identity theft. A hacker could get it anyway. With all these stupid lawsuits I wonder why were having problems in this world.
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5423 Posted by magpagbst on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse
justamailn . . . it is easy to discern that you are not a judge . . . maybe you've been a judge for a wet t-shirt contest . . . who knows . . . you chose to attack me personally (an ad hominem) and did nothing to support your position . . . good try . . . try again if you like . . .
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5424 Posted by rusdenys on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:55PM EDT Report Abuse
I have very big problem with best buy.Can somebody give the adress of advokat,who can take that.Thanks a lot.
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5425 Posted by loom121 on Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse
Hope she wins, BestBuy sd well as other big box stores take advantage of all people all the time..
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5406 Posted by commorancy on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse
Oh, and for those who say, "They should just give me another hard drive under warranty even though they've told me to keep the other one". Think again. This means you'll get two or more hard drives for free. They have every right to protect themselves from lawsuits and from being bilked, thus, they have every right to require you to pay for a hard drive to replace the one you're taking with you. Of course, they could use a temporary drive to test the system and return the system empty, which is what they should do if it is a hardware issue. But, they could also request you buy a new hard drive to ensure that the old hard drive isn't the problem since the repair center won't be able to test it.