Washington, D.C. – Best Buy is yet again at the center of an unusual lawsuit: A customer sues the retailer for $54 million over her laptop that the company apparently lost during a repair process. A ridiculous amount? Sure. But this is actually one of the smarter lawsuits we hear about these days.

The story of Raelyn Campbell may sound like a familiar scenario to many of us. There is a technical problem, in this case with Campbell’s notebook, which results in a submitting the device to repair. Communication with the customer and repair service at Best Buy did not go exactly as you would expect. After purchasing her laptop at Best Buy in early 2006 for $1100, which included the price for the system itself as well as a $300 extended warranty, Campbell brought the computer back to the store for repair in May. The problem, however, is that the computer has not been returned since then.

Campbell says Best Buy has stalled communications throughout the summer, without providing reasonable information about the status of the repair, and was finally told in August that the laptop had been lost. Best Buy then offered a $900 gift card as compensation. She initially demanded $2100 in cash, claiming that she not only did she pay $1100 for the computer, but she would also have to replace the system, software and music stored on the system. Best Buy eventually raised its offer to a $1100 refund and a $500 gift card, but Campbell ran out of patience.

Without legal representation, she filed a $54 million lawsuit against Best Buy last November and actually admits that this is a ridiculous amount. But she hoped that this amount would attract plenty of media attention, which it actually does. While she knows that she will not get those $54 million, the strategy appears to be working: Best Buy’s last offer was $2500 in cash, in addition to the refund and the gift card. Campbell did not accept, saying that here expenses have risen since the time of her $2100 demand. She also said that she is still waiting for an explanation how her computer could have been stolen from a secure area.”
 

I wish

Feb 12, 2008 10:19     

I am sorry to say but this woman's story pales in comparison to mine. My laptop was lost for about 3 months and between repairs needed by it's original problem and repairs triggered by Acer's less than technical handling of the notebook itself, in the 3 years time it took me to pay the 2500€ (euros) I loaned to buy it, it spent more time travelling/sitting in Acer's technical center than it spent with me. It finally ended with it getting replaced by an Acer Travelmate 8215WLMi. After much battling, they wanted to give me a very inferior model and much cheaper then the one I previously owned (Acer Aspire 2026 WLMi) they gradually bettered the proposal until it reached what I thought was a fair trade considering the money I had spent and all the aggravation I had suffered. As a Computer Science student my notebook is indispensable. And to top all of this nonsense out, the Travelmate was broke after a day. 2-3 more months to get it repaired... It came with Windows XP and it never booted, it always froze, i tried reinstalling many times, but it kept freezing, until it would no longer power. I never got any offer of refund or gift cards or whatever. Nothing! Just aggravation.

Hitman report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

Repair not a priority

Feb 12, 2008 10:37     

Most these places that sell computers are only interested in the sale. The service is just put out there to help sell it. I think they're hoping that buy the time it malfunctions, the customer will want to upgrade and purchase a newer model.
Overkill report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

good for her.

Feb 12, 2008 10:37     

I hope she succeeds in getting a reasonable amount, hey maybe the RIAA can assist in pricing the songs that were on her laptop?
Wmcgritt report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Repair not a priority just the Extended Warrantee

Feb 12, 2008 11:09     

If you took the amount of money you would spend on extended warrantees and put it in a savings account instead, you could have any item that failed repaired by a compentent repair service and still have money in the bank. Although the extended warrantee does not seem like a lot of money, it is the most profitable item they sell.
bigaldepr report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I wish I was an attorney. I would help her against ...

Feb 12, 2008 11:47     

I wish I was an attorney. I would help her against Best Buy. They are the scum of consumer business. Bait and switch, not honoring warranties, lousy customer service etc etc..I have not been in a store in years because of their stupidity. Best Buy is the pits...I hope she gets a good award out of it
Bill report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

She can quantify what the trouble was worth

Feb 12, 2008 12:02     

Frankly, it's insulting that their initial offer was a $900 gift card. That doesn't even cover the amount she initially paid of $1100. Now she has the ability to sue for the laptop, warranty, loss of enjoyment of life (she enjoyed her laptop, cost of software installed, cost of music downloaded, labor costs to reinstall software on a new laptop, and mental anguish over the frustration of dealing with their incompetence. All that plus court costs can get pretty high. Best Buy treats their customers like garbage and it's good to see someone make them pay.

Task report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Similar experience

Feb 12, 2008 12:13     

My wife bought a laptop from Best Buy back in 2005, it died 2 weeks later. We also had purchased the extended warranty. After 1 1/2 weeks, we received a "replacement" unit direct from HP. HP had sent the original unit back with a note attached, "No repair, store replace". When we returned to the store, they said that they would have to send it out again. We demanded a replacement and we got it. Forward to a month later. We receive a letter in the mail asking us to come to the store and pickup our replacement laptop. So, they want to give us a second one, eh? We call the store, inform them of the confusion. A second, third and fourth letter arrive along with countless phone calls, asking us to come to the store and pickup our replacement laptop. We finally return to the store and speak with the manager who got us the replacement months ago. She laughs and says, yeah, it happens all the time. In fact, we have accidently given out customer laptops to the wrong people. Wonder if that happened here.

Riley report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

LOL best buy is gay

Feb 12, 2008 16:12     

lol she paid 1100 for the laptop and they only offered her 900 origionally oh man thats so dumb .... hope the woman gets lots of money form this. i'd be pissed off 2 if i was in the same position.
Andrew report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

@bigaldepr

Feb 12, 2008 17:39     

LOL! I love when people have nooo idea what they are talking about. You couldn't be more wrong. Because I work at Best Buy I will TELL YOU what is what. The Performance Service Plan (extended warranty) IS NOT the most profitable thing. It only brings in about 25% GM (Gross Margin, same as profit). The thing that brings in the most profit are accessories. They bring in in most cases from 40-95% GM. That is followed closely by Geek Squad services at about 30-80% GM. Also if you are without your laptop for 60 days the policy is to replace the laptop with an equivalent one or one at the same value as the originally purchased one. It says that in the paper in black and white... gosh some people are stupid...

cabose369 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

greedy b****

Feb 12, 2008 21:09     

wow what a greedy b****. i know that the first offer was totally not right, but when being offered $2100, which is probably more what she actually did spend on that computer with warranty, she should of just taken it. her excuse for all the music she lost( which she probably downloaded anyways) is complete bs. she says that the costs have gone up. how can that cost have gone up? what is she smoking? she justs wants what everyone wants in this country, fast money. i bet she doesnt even care that her laptop is gone anymore, she justs wants that fat check if she wins (which i hope she doesnt).

john report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

@john

Feb 13, 2008 00:28     

1. You can't know if the music is downloaded or bought legally. 2. Do you know what computer programs cost these days? If she had, let's say, even 4 legal programs in her computer, they could have cost more than 500$ easily. 3. Add to this the amount of time she has spent calling after her laptop and the long time without her laptop which she paid for, and maybe lost profit (if she works through internet etc.) and I would say that 2100$ is far too low.

Reiv report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I completely agree with Task here. Probably the war...

Feb 13, 2008 03:51     

I completely agree with Task here. Probably the warranty terms do not include loss of data and software, but there are plenty of other trouble to sue them for. If she paid the 300$ both parts agreed upon, she has the right to sue for incompetence and much more. Especially lying. I would not pay the 300$ for electronic devices, but I would pay it for a car or anything else I'm not into and want the peace of mind of knowing where to turn towards in case of a problem. We are mostly watching the episode from the point of view of the incompetence of Best Buy, but we might forget the incompetence of the buyer (in the good sense, as the example of the car above explains) and the peace of mind each buyer should receive. She has every right to sue them, in the name of every person who has been mistreated by any company ever. And if the law making forces of the world want to stay in power, they'd better listen to the vote casting force, not the money making opinion.

Virtualban report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Total Greed

Feb 13, 2008 10:22     

I think the person sueing is totally greedy. The person must have taken lessons from Scrooge or from the Ferengi (of Star Trek Next Generation). If she wins, I hope she gets less than what the computer is worth. I hope she loses and has to pay the lawyer and court fees for both.
TomLeeM/BigWarpGuy report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Big Box Support Services = BAD Idea

Feb 13, 2008 13:38     

Given the razor thin margins in today's commodity PC business (CompUSA is only the beginning) the only way for big box retailers to gain revenue is to charge unholy amounts of cash for unqualified service technicians. CC's recent decision to slash their experienced workforce (those making greater than some "optimal performance wage limit" ) is exactly the disregard towards customers this lawsuit is trying to fight. I applaud her for making this known to those unsuspecting individuals conned into $300 service fees. If it was my grandmother I'd be pissed as well. My $0.02.

Tom report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Get a clue people!

Feb 13, 2008 16:18     

This is not about greed or money, this is about publicity! She's trying to get people's attention on this matter! Why do you think she went for the amount of $54 Million? Does the "Pants at the drycleaners" sound familiar? Even she said she know she's not going to get that much, so why call her greedy or that she doesn't know better? I hate BestBuy just like the next person, but you got to read the fine line between greed and publicity and so far, I think its working.

Brent report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Get A clue?

Feb 15, 2008 11:20     

The guy with the pants did not get anything at all. He tried to get more out of them than they even had. It is a stupid lawsuit and she should get nothing at all.
TomLeeM/BigWarpGuy report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I'd like to join in the law suit

Feb 16, 2008 21:31     

I agree. I am going through a huge problem myself with Best Buy and Verizon wireless. It's costing my business and my sanity!!
D. Sundquist report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

BB and warranty and computer loss

Feb 17, 2008 00:12     

One can only guess that BB lost her PC either via sloppy handling or internal/external theft. What is reprehensible is that they tried to stonewall this person, just hoping she would go away. Someone else said it correctly - extended warranties are super profit items for the store. Buy one and you are essentially betting 3 or 4 to one against yourself. Half to 60% of the cost is pure store profit, about 20% goes to an administrative agency who handles this lousy insurance biz, and the balancce - only about 1/4 of the cost goes towards actually repairing the product, as well as providing a fair profit for the repair shops. Furthermore, you are apt to find that regardless of a warranty, they will not tell you the problem is most likely software and is not covered by warranty until you come in to try and get them to make good. Let the buyer beware.

Stanley James report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

extended warranty's

Feb 17, 2008 00:13     

I meant to mention that the cost breakdown info was from a Business week magazine article about 1-1&1/2 years ago
Stanley James report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Best Buy dropped my laptop and duck taped it back t...

Feb 28, 2008 13:43     

Best Buy dropped my laptop and duck taped it back together.
cynthia smith report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

They used Duck Tape ??

Mar 26, 2008 19:07     

"Best Buy dropped my laptop and duck taped it back together." I hope that at least they didn't charge you for the Duck tape...
George Miron report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0