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Campbell, who could not be reached Tuesday, filed a negligence lawsuit suit against the company in Washington Superior Court on Nov. 16, seeking fair compensation for replacement of the $1,100 computer and extended warranty, plus expenses related to identity theft protection.
Best Buy spokeswoman Nissa French said in an e-mail that Campbell “was offered and collected $1,110.35” as well as “a $500 gift card for her inconvenience.”
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.
Most computer service shops will have you sign a waiver that clearly states they aren’t responsible for lost data. While I sympathize with her situation, this is ridiculous. Maybe next time, she’ll take it to a professional.
Sounds like that judge who sued the dry cleaners for $60 million for ruining his pants.
How much would I need to sue for to get them shut down altogether?
Hates me some Geek Squad I do…
I saw this news item yesterday and my first thought was another cry baby that can not handle the fact that sometimes shyte happens. But after I read the entire story I decided that she is not asking for enough money!
She’s not really expecting the money. She’s just pissed and wants to give Best Buy some bad publicity. I don’t blame her.
read this more complete version of the story:
http://tinyurl.com/2c45jh
[Please use TinyUrl for long url – ed.]
Her company Advanced Medical Technology Assn. could maybe download some free encryption.
#5) Obviously, it’s her fault for Best Buy’s incompetence.
Would you give Best Buy your computer to fix without heavily encrypting every sensitive file on it? I sure wouldn’t….
#6. So would YOU trust one of the Geek Squad with your tax return information? These guys don’t know what confidential means, they aren’t doctors, priests or lawyers. just don’t trust anyone with your personal stuff.
…sign a waiver that clearly states they aren’t responsible for lost data.
I think that means not recoverable or damaged data, not allowing the data to fall into a third party’s hands.
Most users are not technically savy enough to remove the hard drive or otherwise protect their data.
Best Buy should have better protocols in place to ensure that property of their customers does not get misplaced.
Hope this woman wins; maybe this will set a precedent where companies and government agencies will be more mindful of data that does not belong to them or that shouldn’t fall into the wrong hands (be it one’s SSN or personal info on a hard drive). They should be accountable for their idiocy and negligence.
Someone needs to teach BestBuy a lesson! The only service they seem to offer is the one that empties your wallet. After that, they tell you shut up, take a number and get in line. GOOD FOR HER. Hope she pinches them BIG TIME!
There’s a difference between data being ‘lost’ as in the unrecoverable due to damage or reformatting and ‘lost’ as in “Yeah someone picked up your laptop from the backroom with all your personal information and is currently using it to apply for a credit card and get a new car for his girlfriend. Best Buy definately should take a hit. I wouldn’t say 54 million but something signifacant to cover her damages
I hope she gets at least $10000 so Best Buy won’t be tempted to screw around with irate customers again.
#11. Malicious intent? Good luck trying to prove that.
The real question here is: Why did she not buy a Dell and use the next business day replacement?
“# 13 McCullough said, on February 13th, 2008 at 11:14 am #11. Malicious intent? Good luck trying to prove that.”
Not necessarily malicious intent. In case 1, the data is destroyed. In case 2, it’s “lost”. They don’t know what happened.
http://tinyurl.com/37y3fu
Scuba Steve
She asked for 54 million dollars because that is the exact amount asked for by a local DC judge when his dry cleaner lost his favorite pair of pants. The judge had a convoluted algorithm for determining the figure. This woman simply decided to use the same figure in hopes of getting as much press as he did…using an ironic figure. She has stated that she has no illusions of getting any type of large judgment, but that she does want the press to expose Best Buy’s (apparent) malfeasance, fraud, and outright lies.
Like most, I thought that this was another story of a greedy consumer looking to get rich because “coffee is hot”…but hunt down the real story and read about what this woman went through and how Best Buy treated her and I expect that you will soon be cheering her on.
OK,
How many of you have Ever RECOVERED a system, and tried to SAVE the data??
NOW, add being a BUSINESS laptop..ANd you NEED TO SAVE THE DATA..
Then add 3months of “WHERE DID IT GO?”, in WHICH time THEY’ could have replaced, and reloaded and mitigated MOST of the problem..
what some kid could have Formated, and reinstalled, and Updated, reinstalled needed software, virus protection, Bot protection…In about 1 day….Took 3+ MONTHS…
I know how business works..
And IF it had been brought to NOTICE, the company COULD have gone through the VIDEO RECORDS and Watched/seen IF’ anything had happened to the computer AFTER drop-off.
then let us consider that BB isnt the cheapeest place in the world, and has markups that would MAKE a Maggot GAG… Cant we MARKUP the value of the product value THEY LOST(??) Equally?? 3,4,5, TIMES the original price and value??
Yup. Best Buy isn’t the best service. I wonder if someone’s job is on the line?
JOB??
Id fire the whole department..
1. NOT following procedure
2. Lying to a customer
3. Hiding negligence
4. falsifying information and documents
The core problem I see within this story is the integrity of the data…BestBuy cannot tell the woman where her machine went and thus where the data on it went or who had access to it. Recently a PC was purchased from Circuit City as an “open-box” item…when the PC was started the first thing the new owner noticed was the 120GB of private data left on the machine…
…Now…as in the case of the woman vs BestBuy…the fault lies with both the end-user and the company…the end-user is ultimately responsible for their data; however when the data is placed into the hands of “trianed professionals” it becomes they’re responsiblity to handle it ethically. Geek Squad should know exactly where the laptop is at all times and take measure to protect the users data…just as CircuitCity should have checked the PC for existing data prior to re-selling it.
If you don’t consider encrypting your data important, how about this nightmare?
Keyboard failure. You can’t even get the machine to boot to delete your data, but you’re not going to throw away a $1,700 notebook for a $50 repair. If you try to remove the HDD, kiss the warranty goodbye.
What now? Thank goodness for TrueCrypt and its competition.
What an eye-opener. BB has completely lost me as a customer with this one.
It never ocurred to me that if I brought a computer in for service, they might simply lose it. And that the best I’d get (after a lot of hassle) would be their idea of the fully depreciated value of the hardware alone.
#22. I worked at a large Japanese electronic manufacturer’s service center for a couple of years, salesmen regularly raided the workshop for gadgets to fill sales orders for corporate clients. At the end of a business quarter, don’t have anything out for repair.
I don’t think her suit is excessive considering the way she was jerked around and lied to. BB needs to pay punitive damages for their negligence. Punitive damages must be high enough that it ‘hurts’. Maybe 54 million isn’t enough.
Of course IMHO no reasonably savvy person would ever consider having geek squad so much as touch their equipment.
24,
Considering that GEEKSQUAD’s latest news??
If they find ANYTHING on your computer/laptop that is illegal, they can report you…
that the ONLY recovery they guarantee, is a CLEAN reformatted drive..
I can empathize with this lady. The Best Buy service agreement is a racket. I purchased one for a Big Screen (old style large projection style) JVC television a couple of years back. A year into the service plan the TV goes out. It took 4 months for Best Buy to finally credit my account for the original television. This was after making weekly calls and even finding a supplier for the damaged part.
Buyer beware! These warranty plans are how Big Box Retailers make their profit.
I’ve never had any problems with Circuit City’s warranties. They’ve replaced the lamp and the color wheel on a DLP. And the lamp isn’t even a guaranteeed replacement.
#23 — aaaaagh!
When BB bought it, Geek Squad was about 50 guys, right here in Minneapolis. They weren’t cheap but had a decent reputation and they weren’t losing anybody’s computers. BB then took the Geek Squad brand national and hired thousands of “agents” in a big rush. The results are predictable.