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.
View: Full Article @ Yahoo! News
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.
View: Full Article @ Yahoo! News
The 54 millions is only to get people's attention on her story.
And it worked!
Last edited by Lewism on 18 Feb 2008 - 14:52
Ah yes, that article was quite abbreviated, and paints the woman out to be more of an opportunistic whore than she really appears to be. The explanation for how she arrived at the $54 figure was left out of the abbreviated version. The source for the article should probably be changed. That said, she really should have backed up her photos and music before taking the machine in to be serviced. I imagine BestBuy might have even told her to do so, since there's always a risk when shipping and jacking around inside the box.
Ah yes, that article was quite abbreviated, and paints the woman out to be more of an opportunistic whore than she really appears to be. The explanation for how she arrived at the $54 figure was left out of the abbreviated version. The source for the article should probably be changed. That said, she really should have backed up her photos and music before taking the machine in to be serviced. I imagine BestBuy might have even told her to do so, since there's always a risk when shipping and jacking around inside the box.
...see here's the thing - the power button on the laptop was broken. How exactly does she back it up if she can't power on the laptop? Don't tell me to yank out the drive and put it in another laptop yada yada... if she could do that she wouldn't have been at that geeksquad desk to begin with. Yes she should have backed up her photos and data but the fact of the matter is she didn't and she would have been fine had BB not dropped the ball.
Maybe she had a business, or MP3 collection. Not our problem.
What would you do if you had a business that makes $50,000 a year? And all your data is on there. Forget your backups, what are they worth if your ideas got stolen?
Maybe she had a business, or MP3 collection. Not our problem.
What would you do if you had a business that makes $50,000 a year? And all your data is on there. Forget your backups, what are they worth if your ideas got stolen?
It's all supposition that adds up to an assertion in jest. Don't be an idiot.
As for ideas being stolen, ideas aren't worth a dime unless something is done with them. No one that's going to steal a laptop is going to have the drive or sense to do something even (against the astronomical odds that there are loads of amazing, world-changing ideas on that laptop) if there's some valuable "idea" on there. Besides, no one's going to take the time to wade through the photos of her ugly kids, MP3s, church files, and Beanie Baby database to find that multi-million-dollar intellectual property.
Ah yes, that article was quite abbreviated, and paints the woman out to be more of an opportunistic whore than she really appears to be. The explanation for how she arrived at the $54 figure was left out of the abbreviated version. The source for the article should probably be changed. That said, she really should have backed up her photos and music before taking the machine in to be serviced. I imagine BestBuy might have even told her to do so, since there's always a risk when shipping and jacking around inside the box.
...see here's the thing - the power button on the laptop was broken. How exactly does she back it up if she can't power on the laptop? Don't tell me to yank out the drive and put it in another laptop yada yada... if she could do that she wouldn't have been at that geeksquad desk to begin with. Yes she should have backed up her photos and data but the fact of the matter is she didn't and she would have been fine had BB not dropped the ball.
It never said she couldn't turn the machine on! How would she know the power button was the problem if the machine wouldn't come on? The article stated that the "power button broke off." That probably just means the plastic shell of the button broke- not the mechanism itself.
And will those of you who voted that she is justified, please provide your reasoning, ought to make for a darn good laugh.
Either way, the lady is an idiot. She's a fool for a multitude of reasons. However, my main beef with her is that she is making a mockery of the legal system. She is the reason people look down on America. She is wasting peoples time, money, and efforts. I hope that Best Buy wins and counter-sues her for all of their legal fees.
BTW.. best buy sucks.
But the fact is, if you took it to court, the civil system has to decide "what would a normal person expect from a legitimate business?" 1. you'd expect your problem to be taken seriously 2. you'd expect them to do a thorough diagnosis/repair 3. you'd expect them to return the item to you with the problem fixed, or a legitimate reason why it can't be fixed. If any of those three expectations are not satisfied, theres a serious problem and the consumer would undoubtedly be entitled to some compensation.
Again, I can't emphasize enough that the bottom line is this: Businesses are beginning to forget there's a face to the consumer. They're not just a number. They are human beings with feelings, and they put their trust in your abilities and products. When you don't take their trust seriously, and negligently break or lose their merchandise, you are liable for any costs associated with the recovery/replacement of the item.
i can't believe some of the idiot comments about her....she is the one who wanted to settle cheap and move on...its Best Buy that thought the little person will disappear....sure she should have back-up'd..but maybe she isn't as intelligent as some of your computer guru's who don't have a life outside of a harddrive.
As someone was kind enough to point out above, the Yahoo link is missing some important parts of the story. This woman actually sounds fairly sensible. Read the full article below, rather than the link on the Neowin story.
A more complete report on the story
At the very least, she deserves a refund of the full retail price, 100 percent comp for her legal bills, lost time at work/pain and suffering, and MAYBE some punitive damages (although without making the number ridiculously high, Best Buy will never feel a financial blow from it.
Assuming legal bills of around 50k by the time they stop dicking around with her, as a judge (as if i know what THATs like lol), i would see fit to give her at least 500k.... maybe even a mil if i wanted to at least make SOME amount of a statement to Best Buy. Again, that's not necessarily needed, as this woman isn't trying to make a statement, but sometimes corporations need to be reminded that they work for the consumer, the consumer does not work for them.
Last edited by QDaMan on 18 Feb 2008 - 15:04
This is where your wrong. She had all her personal financial info on there which anyone could have stolen, thus stealing her identity. Thats worth a lot more then 10,000
That's like losing your car keys and reporting to the police you've cars been stolen.
It would be more analogous to say that it is like bringing your car to the Toyota service department, and having them give you a run-around for a while before admitting they don't know where they put your car.
Also I retract my "this is what's wrong with America" statement, I don't like broad epic cliches such as this and I should have refrained from making one.
For a start what company would offer her less than what the laptop cost when she bought it from THEM and THEY lost it. Normal no brainer company would just replace her laptop for an equivalenty priced one, not give her less money and make her fork out for the rest so they can get richer. Its just stupid.
It is hard to put a value on someone else's data.
Their repair warantee does not specify a time limit to the repair and the interpretation of "comparable" replacement is left up to the discretion, or lack there of, of either the store manager or worse yet the computer department manager. At my local Best Buy store neither of these azzhats give a ratzazz about any individual customer.
Best Buy cares only about their profit margins and therefore the only way to really punish them is to carve out a chunk of that margin big enough to make upper management take notice.
Does she deserve that much money? Of course not but they deserve that much punishment without question.
Of course she won't get 54mil but at least she got their attention now I am sure.
I hope she gets fairly compensated and that this whole mess will teach Best Buy not to dismiss or ignore their customers and most importantly not to loose customers equipment while it's being repaired, I also hope that BB competitors take note also that this could happen to them.
I'm hoping she'll get at least $500, 000 for this whole mess along with a public note of appology from the CEO of Best Buy. - if it was me I wouldn't settle for anything less, I think all the media attention this is going to bring will put a big dent in BB sales, not too mention repairs and selling extended warranties.
Personally I have had a couple of great experiences with Best Buy and their warranty policy. Could it have been just the folks I dealt with were just in a good mood, or maybe I had the rare competent manager? Sure. The thing to remember is most of the time the only folks who speak up or post are the ones who have had a problem, and not the ones who haven't.
How much compensation does a consumer deserve for the loss of a laptop computer loaded with personal information? Raelyn Campbell figures it’s $54 million -- if you throw in a little extra for lost time and frustration.
Six months after bringing a damaged laptop computer into a Best Buy electronics store for repairs, and three months after the firm admitted losing it, Campbell filed the whopper of a lawsuit recently in Washington, D.C., Superior Court.
Best Buy has told Campbell that her demands are unreasonable, and has tried to settle for far less. But Campbell said she didn’t start out making astronomical demands. Months of stalling and brush-offs by the company led her to the drastic measures, she said.
Best Buy spokeswoman Nissa French said the company couldn’t comment on Campbell’s story, citing the ongoing litigation. A lawyer for Best Buy did not return phone calls or e-mails.
When Campbell bought her new laptop in 2006 at a Best Buy store near her D.C. home, she said a clerk talked her into paying $300 for an extended warranty. She thought that was a fortunate choice when the computer's on/off switch broke about a year later.
In May, she brought the computer back to the store and was told repairs would take two to six weeks. That wasn't terribly convenient for Campbell, who works for a nonprofit Asia research firm and travels frequently overseas.
But six weeks turned out to be a wildly optimistic estimate.
The run-around
By late August, when she returned from a trip to Asia, she still had heard nothing from the company and started to get anxious. Her Aug. 24 complaint letter to the firm was filled with exasperation.
“On July 11, I contacted the (store’s) helpline and was instructed by ‘Agent David Goodfellow’ that it would be ‘ready within days,’” she wrote to the firm in a letter dated Aug. 24. “I called the service line again on July 19, and was told by a female agent that the computer appeared to be at the ‘Louisville Services Center since July 4.’ On July 25, I called again and spoke to Brenda, who transferred me to Daniel. Daniel confirmed that a ‘part had just been ordered. It should leave Louisville soon.’ …When I heard nothing further, I called yet again on Aug. 7 and spoke with Ashley. When she could not confirm any additional information, I asked to speak to a manager. I was told the manager, ‘Marsha,’ was in a meeting. I asked her to call ASAP. My call was not returned, so I called again on Aug. 9. I explained the whole situation yet again to ‘Cicero,’ who indicated that there seemed to be a problem.”
The problem was severe: “It never appears to have left the store,” she recounted Cicero as telling her. A few days later, he called back and admitted that the computer had been lost. The way she sees it, the other company clerks had been lying to her all along.
Cicero was considerate, Campbell said, and told her she would be compensated. But two weeks passed, and she hadn’t heard anything from the company.
Raelyn Campbell
Raelyn_2
After several more weeks of fruitless phone calls, she received an offer she calls insulting: $900 for her trouble -- in the form of a store gift card. Her blood boiled. She had paid more than $1,100 for the computer and the warranty. And she’d also lost thousands dollars worth of music and thousands of irreplaceable photos.
"It wouldn't even cover the cost of replacing the computer, let alone the software, or my time,” she said of the gift card offer. “And why would I want to go spend money at their store again after the way I was treated?"
Campbell rejected the offer, instead demanding $2,100 in cash. She said her request went unanswered. In October, she urged family and friends to write to the store saying they wouldn't shop there until the matter was resolved. To her surprise, the store's general manager, Robert Delissio, replied to two of them.
"For every customer that has had an unpleasant experience I can show you hundreds who have had a great experience. I have been in retail for a long time and the one conclusion I have come to is that not every customer can be satisfied," he wrote in an e-mail supplied by Campbell. "Does my store have opportunities? Absolutely! What I can say is that we strive to deliver the experience that every customer deserves to receive."
Delissio didn’t respond to requests from msnbc.com to discuss the situation; Best Buy wouldn't comment on the authenticity of the note.
Her frustration mounting, Campbell contacted the Washington, D.C., attorney general's office, which in turn contacted the store. In November, the store increased its compensation offer, this time offering a $1,100 refund to her credit card and a $500 gift card.
A bigger problem: ID theft
At the same time, she visited a legal aid office and was asked by a lawyer there whether she had any personal information on the computer?
"Of course I did," she replied. "My tax returns were on there."
Campbell was informed that she had a bigger problem than a lost computer – the potential for identity theft. She also learned that Best Buy was in violation of the district's security breach notification law, which requires companies that have lost a consumer's data to tell them. To date, she has not received that notification.
Campbell immediately enrolled in a $10-a-month identity theft monitoring service.
She also had reached the limit of her patience. In November, she filed her $54 million lawsuit against Best Buy -- by herself, without legal representation.
The amount intentionally echoes another lawsuit that made headlines last year -- a case involving a D.C. judge who sued a dry cleaner for $54 million over a lost pair of pants. That case was eventually dismissed.
Campbell freely admits she picked the same amount in an effort to attract media attention.
The lawsuit apparently got company's attention, too. On Dec. 20, it offered $2,500 -- in addition to the refund and the gift card -- if she would withdraw her lawsuit and sign a confidentiality agreement.
But that's not enough, Campbell said, because she has yet to hear any explanation for the lost computer.
"It shouldn't take a $54 million lawsuit to motivate Best Buy to address these issues," she said. Her initial offer to settle for $2,100 has been withdrawn because her expenses have risen, including time spent filing a police report and consulting with lawyers about her case, she said. Concerns about identity theft also add to her potential damages, she said.
Wants an explanation
While Campbell has no expectation she will win a multimillion-dollar judgment, she feels she is entitled to damages related to store negligence and an "explanation as to how my computer could have been stolen from a secure area" of the store.
She also wants a promise from the company that it will train employees on privacy issues and on procedures for preventing loss or theft of returned items.
“I can't help but wonder how many other people have had their computer stolen (or) lost by Best Buy and then been bullied into accepting lowball compensation offers for replacement expenses and no compensation for identity theft protection expenses,” she said.
end quote.
She actually sounds like a reasonable woman who has an idea about what it takes for a corporation to sit up and take notice. If you've read above, you'll also notice that she didn't pluck the figure out of her a$$. (although perhaps she could have chosen a case that didn't get dismissed....!
Is she asked for something like $50,000 or $100,000 or even $250,000 she might stand a chance. But $54m is a joke... sounds more like she wants to buy a island.
Sure its an huge inconvenience and she should get a largish payout, but she's being a little crazy. Also claiming to loose thousands of pounds of music and software is strange... doesn't she back up or have the original CDs - it can't be that important if she doesn't back them up, as she could easily loose her laptop herself.
So she sent in the laptop WITH her personal information on it WHILE signing a RELEASE OF LIABILITY contract with Best Buy? Not asking her to low-level format her drive and write zeros all over it 20 times, but she should've had the least idea of what release of liability contract means and I'm pretty sure it's stated under the original terms of service to not leave valuable data when sending anything in for repairs. I was once told by Panasonic service department to restore the notebook hard drive to manufacturer's default before sending it in for repairs.
Best Buy's only fault is lying about the status of the notebook. 2-6 weeks meaning it was shipped to a contract servicing facility. Should've been a simple shipping loss, but apparently this person has experienced none of that.
Last edited by coolvi on 18 Feb 2008 - 20:35
The lawsuit is good for attention, but she shouldn't necessarily get more than a new laptop out of it.
Actually, the whole corporation sucks. There is nothing I would buy from Best Buy, unless they started selling explosives. Then I would buy the explosives and blow them up with them.
If it sucked, it wouldn't be a multi-billion dollar corporation now would it?
I don't love Best Buy either, only their cheap dvds on Black Friday.
Of course, she still deserves a settlement and explanation but $54 million just makes her claim look laughable.
After reading the original article it looks like Best Buy ****ed up. Then they broke a law by not telling her they ****ed up. (Not telling her about possible idenity theft). They first offered her less than what her computer was worth. Then tried to offer $4100 just to keep it under wraps.
She knows the court isn't going to reward her 54 million.
It's actually a very interesting read.
The only thing I see a problem with is that she is doing this without representation. That's probably not the best choice. I hope her information wasn't actually stolen because no amount of money she can get from Best Buy will actually be enough.
Last edited by Ned on 18 Feb 2008 - 23:03
Can she even prove she had ANY data on her laptop, much less "thousands of dollars worth of music, and priceless pictures"?
As I've said before, we are hearing just her side of the story in her words. Be aware of that before you make any judgments in this case.
i think that the sue is right, but not for that amount of money. i think that more than $10000 is greedy.
she should get a brand new laptop, lifetime $10-a-month id theft monitoring subscription for about 2-3 years and a few thousand dollars for compensation. this should be fair enough in a perfect world.
the fact that she says the amount accounts for media attention brings a question on how the BBB or other consumer associations in united states are working...
anyway, sadly this type of cases causes waste of money, time, resources, etc.
Every person makes mistakes; on a larger scale, every company makes mistakes. The loss of the lady's laptop is not the problem here--it's the company's response to the loss. Campbell's original claim of $2,100 and request for an explanation on why her laptop was lost was reasonable (although the explanation could not possibly have been anything but a vague idea of what might have taken place).
After making several phone calls to Best Buy customer support and receiving unhelpful responses (been there, done that), Campbell (like every other person who's also been through this tedious process) became frustrated. But if you really think about it, the fault shouldn't lie fully with the telephone operators; to them, you're just some random person that's calling in and it's just another boring day for them and all they're doing is their job--what makes your particular phone call more special than anyone else's?
Back to Campbell's view again, imagine if your laptop just suddenly disappeared one day. What about all of your software? Your photos (especially the ones you hide in some secret little folder)? Your games? Your documents? Your 10,000 illegally downloaded movies and music which took several days combined to download?
So suing Best Buy for $54 million is an attempt to expose this situation to the public that occurs perhaps every week, or every day. How many others have faced this issue but never had it addressed with a satisfactory solution? How many have not spoken out publically?
Well, time for change; let everyone know of Best Buy's shady extended warranty. Let everyone know of the poor quality of its customer support. This is how things improve.
However, despite this seemingly moral act for justice, it makes you wonder how many times Campbell has sat down and wondered, "What would happen if I really won?". And therein comes the greedy side of the lawsuit...but hey, I would be thinking the same way--it's 54 million dollars, you just won Who Wants to Be a Millionaire 54 times!
~Mythex
These people deserve each other. Perhaps if the retailer had offer a replacement PC, or sold decent models in the first place, it would not have come to this. USA, the land of the free, sadly the experiment is now coming untangled, bye bye, USA, your day as the world policeman and banker are over.
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