Lost laptop, $54 million lawsuit.
polycounter lvl 18
WOW. Seriously. A little compensation is understandable but....I'll let you guys judge before I post what I have to.
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/02/a-lost-laptop-a.html#posts
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/02/a-lost-laptop-a.html#posts
Replies
- BoBo
Considering how easy it is for fkers to use your info and put you in debt... Some places need a wake up call on better procedures for handling personal belongings and information.
On penny-arcade they had a thread about it where some of the employees posted. They said that they frequently just looked through the computer files searching for good porn. They also felt like they were within their rights to do it. Another posted that he had accidentally kicked a hole in the side of the case and made the customer pay for it.
So sure this is a headache dealing with issues like this but she isn't the only one and it happens from time to time. Paperwork gets lost or some people just don't do their job. I don't think Best Buy should have to compensate this chick because of a broken laptop leading to her losing all her pictures and music.
I agree they should replace it but no money will replace the photos. She should have been smarter and backed her shit up.
And as far as identity thieves and those worries well I can drive around and find unsecure wireless networks with all kinds of information shared up that should never be available. People just don't know what they are doing half the time.
This chick is obviously another one. People are so damn sue happy it makes me sick.
Hell when I worked for geek squad we had a family blame us for installing bear share, kazaa, limewire etc. We did a backup, format, restore and sent them on there way. 3 Days later and they are back with all the file sharing shit back on their computer. We did this two more times and then said if you bring it back again we will have to charge you.
They got cute and brought it in under the chicks sisters name. We saw the last name and the same rig and told them it would have to be paid for before they could pick it up. They didn't want to pay and said we could "undo" our services. So I just wiped the hard drive clean with one of our disk erase utilities and handed them their computer with no os / files.
Now, on the subject of Best Buy "losing" her product. Here's the deal, when you check someone in because their computer is b0rked, you ask them if they want a data back up (like mentioned above), if they decline, you write "DECLINED" all over the page, and make them sign it. They ALSO sign a service order, and a sheet that says that we'll only hold their item for a certain number of days within our warehouse.
If, by chance, they don't pick up their machine, we call them and let them know that they only have a couple days to pick it up. We give them about 30 days of grace period... Then it either gets shipped back to the service center, or we find other means of disposal.
Best Buy probably wasn't able to contact her, since she was somewhere in Asia, as the article even says. They probably tried a couple times, then, unfortunately, probably sent it out for disposal. If it was our store, in order for us to send out a computer, they have to sign that agreement. So from my knowledge, its her own god damn fault for leaving it at a store and then running off where she cant be contacted.
She should have taken the 2 grand.
Edit: on the issue of geeksquad employees just looking for porn, where I work its extremely restricted as to what files are actually opened. We can't go "looking". Besides, we don't have TIME to do those things, without getting people calling us and blaming us for "Holding their computer hostage" because we've had it for an hour past when we said it would be done...
its her own god damn fault for leaving it at a store and then running off where she cant be contacted.
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Ya stupid woman for having a real job and being out of country. Lets just lose her pc and blame it on her. :P
Might as well blame america for being fat and stupid.
They lost her pc. they gave her a fuck you offer of only 900 bucks store credit to start with. Gave her the run around for weeks. And so far it seems that only geeksquadteers don't see the problem with that??
After plugging it in and going through her history, I show her that the porn was downloaded after she bought it. I also show her the couple of gigs worth downloaded through limewire. She still insits that it was on there before she bought it- and that her son "who works with computers everyday" said I wouldnt know what I was talking about. I ended up giving her a different computer because it was easier than arguing with her..Customer Serive with comps sucks because no one ever says "I fucked up my computer"..its always "this computer YOU sold me is messed up"...
Sucks about her laptop..she should probly have read the fine print she signed when she dropped it off
What they did, offering her $900 is about right... She said she spent $1100 total? Thats a $900 computer with a $300 service plan, which means that they essentially covered the Service Plan (not extended warranty) that she bought. It was probably the GeekSquad Supervisor who did this, since thats all the power he has. The Service Plan gives you the same amount back that you paid for the computer* if you have unrecoverable issues.
They ended up admitting that yes, indeed they lost it, but it was also on her lack of reading what she signs that probably got her screwed.
You don't just check in a computer and leave, you wait until you have enough time to 1. get it back, or 2. have someone else get it back, and check it in under two phone numbers.
Just another case of Best Buy Geeksquad trying to fuck you out of your money.
I would rather fix someones computer for them for free, than see them take it into best buy.
I personally think that the Data Backup should be included in the cost of the service plan, but if you bring in a computer that doesn't have a service plan, and isn't covered by manufacturer's warranty, then a charge applies.
People don't backup their data. why I don't know. I've brow beat certain members of my family to keep regular backups, and its only after loosing, or nearly loosing massive amounts of data that they started listening.
This all takes time, money (cost of pc, hard drives, dvds, etc)
You can't just do it for free. It's a business. Would you guys go to work for free while EA or whoever you work for makes money off your art in their games? Fuck no you wouldn't.
Everyone is so critical of best buys geek squad but there is obviously a huge demand for it or they wouldn't be around.
Sucks about her laptop..she should probly have read the fine print she signed when she dropped it off
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If there had been fine print then i guess Best Buy would be smart enough that they had shown her that and gotten out of this mess. But since this has been going on for that long and they offer her refunds and stuff i really doubt they have any kind of waterproof contract.
And data backup should be free if your stuff gets deleted under warranty repair.
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If there had been fine print then i guess Best Buy would be smart enough that they had shown her that and gotten out of this mess.
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I'm sure there's plenty of fine print to cover their ass, It's just more cost effective to placate a customer than to prove the fine print in court.
You don't charge extra for UV mapping do you? No, it's most likely part of your job description.
(if it's actually not, you still know exactly what I mean, so my point stands. :P)
Did she act like a total bitch to the best buy employees?
Things happen and it's a shame she had to lose all her shit but I don't think Best Buy owes her anything other than a new laptop, warranty, and an apology.
Customer Service is bad at a lot of places but that doesn't give anyone a legal reason to sue anyone.
Slum yeah I agree. I used to hook people up with free data back ups all the time and shit I could get done in 5 minutes I never charged for.
Memory Install. I did that shit for free.
Hot chicks got the best deals too.
...I have an hp and my LSD screen got messed up...
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Ahhhhh, the Timothy Leary model monitor. It's not messed up, those color swirls are intentional. ;D
I couldn't help it... hahaha
I also worked for geeksquad and we always offered to perform a backup just in case they were to reset the hard drive to correct any issues at all or whatever. So many people declined cause they wanted to save money and when the laptop came back with a new hard drive or it was wiped they were pissed but there it was on the sheet that they signed that they DECLINED a data backup.
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Not to insult you, but i've often found geek squads eagerness to jump to simply wiping the hard drive to fix a problem a bit scary. I've seen some bad computers in my time, and often get some screwed up computers (both hardware and software problems) from family members and from work. I have yet found the need to wipe a drive to fix any of the problems.
This results in a large amount of time saved for the end user/customer. Even if you backup their files, there are still so many things the customer has to put back on there (certain programs, redo all of their settings...etc). Sometimes they do it when it doesn't even make sense. A friend of mine had a laptop whos dvd-rom drive died, he took it in, they replaced his dvd-rom drive and had wipe his hard drive...
The service centers are a different story. They wipe everything so that the customer has a fresh clean install.
Hmm so that's worth $54 million...
And we don't know the whole story. The service, from the way I see it working at best buy, is better than most people get. They probably offered a bunch, she turned them down, they probably showed her the fine print, and she probably just ignored it (Like everyone else that comes in and throws a fit). Its not like Best Buy tortured her, pissed on her children, then farted on her head. They offered to pay for the new laptop. I agree they should have paid for a new service plan. But going out of their way to do something for someone just isn't in their business model. Not to mention that if we held people's computers for months on end until they decided to get their asses in the store to pick it up, our warehouse would have to be quadrupled in size!
Though, obviously, she has taken it a bit too far. If i were her, i'd ask for around $3000 and close the lawsuit.
Some people just don't know when to stop, going all sue happy.
Maybe she did?
This was a hardware problem, right?
Lets face it, they lost her laptop and then left her to swill in bureaucracy loops.
Also the framework isn't in place to help customers outside the country of purchase. Owning a laptop and then going off to Asia is no big deal, it's a laptop for christs sake, a portable computer!
There was no mention of this being a software problem, and no mention of an expired pickup date.
Campbell freely admits she picked the same amount in an effort to attract media attention."
good for her. bringing her bad experience to the media's eye and demanding proper treatment and a truthful answer is a worthy cause.
i wish i had $54 million worth of porn on my computer
There was no mention of this being a software problem, and no mention of an expired pickup date.
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That's the problem! There is no mention of the other side of the story. But as an employee, I know the customer has to sign certain forms that accept OR decline (sign of either) in order for it to be serviced. The forms also state that if she doesn't pick up her laptop within a certain amount of time, it gets to be tossed.
Again...why would it be so hard to back up the stuff on that comp ???
I wish we could see how she behaved and how she treated best buy employees and know the full story. This lady could be a total bitch and personally I know that managers don't go out on a limb to help people that are total assholes and treat the Best Buy employees like shit.
And again. She signed all the paper work. She had to or the service centers would likely reject the laptop and send it back.
I have had a personal experience with an item getting lost. I sent out my video camera because it wasn't working right. 2 weeks later I checked the status and it said it had been shipped back to the store. It wasn't there. After another week I was told I would just get a store credit for the amount I paid plus a new service plan. Fine by me. I got a much better camera and they fixed the situation.
I didn't threaten lawsuit or any of that garbage. Mistakes happen. Things get misplaced. I can't blame Best Buy for it when it was the Service centers fault.
What can't Geek Squad handle? Data backups?
I wish we could see how she behaved and how she treated best buy employees and know the full story. This lady could be a total bitch and personally I know that managers don't go out on a limb to help people that are total assholes and treat the Best Buy employees like shit.
And again. She signed all the paper work. She had to or the service centers would likely reject the laptop and send it back.
I have had a personal experience with an item getting lost. I sent out my video camera because it wasn't working right. 2 weeks later I checked the status and it said it had been shipped back to the store. It wasn't there. After another week I was told I would just get a store credit for the amount I paid plus a new service plan. Fine by me. I got a much better camera and they fixed the situation.
I didn't threaten lawsuit or any of that garbage. Mistakes happen. Things get misplaced. I can't blame Best Buy for it when it was the Service centers fault.
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would you feel the same way if that camera had a video inside it of your new born baby, or since deceased relative, or other potentially irreplaceable "data"?
She sent it in for simple hardware fix, but it got lost, along with all her data. I mean, when's the last time you backed up your entire system to blow the frikken dust out of your fans or whatever?
Backups should be done for all equipment regularly or immediately depending on how critical the data is.
If I f'd up and lost data for a newborn my wife would put my nuts in a blender.
Hope this broad gets a little attention for this cause customer service for most major brands has taken a downturn in recent years but really the data loss is her own fault.
I back up my data regularly (photos, documents, etc) because any second a hd can take a dive. It is not Best Buys fault as a company that she lost her itunes and all her photos. Plus I am pretty sure that itunes since it is account based keeps track of all purchases.
Hell when my 360 went out and I had to get a new one I just phone customer support and they hooked me back up with all the downloadable content I had before.
It is not Best Buys fault as a company that she lost her itunes and all her photos.
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Best Buy lost her computer... they've admitted to losing it... how are they not at fault?
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 (stores) 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 hadnt heard anything from the company.
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How is that even remotely ok? How is that even her fault? It's not a data back up issue its a "Geek Squad lost her shit and then lied to her for weeks" issue. Chances are even if she opted for the data back up they would have bungled that up and lost it too. As for backing it up at home on her own, you can't predict when your hardware is going to crap out, maybe she was about to back up. It doesn't actually matter, they lost her stuff and lied about it. They deserve to be rolled in broken glass for giving her a few weeks full of BS.
I think no one talked to her about pick up date/times, because she would have remembered that she was going out of town. Then when she didn't come in to pick it up someone "recycled" it.
She's still dumb for not backing up such important files though. Their both at fault. Best buy should reimburse her for her losses and she should accept responsibility for not backing up...
No one likes to get in a car accident and not have insurance. That's what insurance is for, so we have something to fall back on. Unfortunately she wasn't covered (which was her choice) and has to bit the bullet as far as her personal files go. Best Buy should cover the rest.
Best Buy isn't at fault because of her photos and shit being gone. Theres a disclaimer on there that Best Buy is not responsible for the content, blah blah blah.
Is it wrong they have taken so long. Sure. Does Best Buy owe her. You bet. I never said they didn't. Can some people not do their job correctly and fuck people over. Sure. I dealt with it when I worked at Geek Squad about some guy not doing his job and telling customers bogus shit. It's a huge fucking headache. Managers calling people back. They probably never got the message to call her.
I was a geeksquad employee and uhm GeekSquad is a leech there motto is to get every penny you can from customers. I am anti-GeekSquad now and have quit because there prices are unfair and they will always try to sell you a new computer pc or laptop amongst other things you don't need and they get people that will do exactly what they tell them, I always tried to help some people and tell them they don't really need some of these things but I wasn't going to work for a crook anymore. There is a 30-day holding timeframe for any laptop or pc to my recollection and if no one comes back for it, it gets recycled for parts and resold if it can be. (Now you tell me if that's fair.)
Everything they can do you can do with a little searching and time, they don't do nothing special but wear suits and drive buggys
-End Rant.
Sry for cluttering this thread up with my muck but it's been simmering for some time.
I just went over the thread. Jesse companies like Best Buy, Sears, Circuit City love to charge money for shit. Backing up data is easy and the employees get paid by the hour. It's not hard work. How would you feel if the artist next to you that made as much as you or more was bitching about how he didn't get paid 100 bucks extra to unwrap each model he did. 300 bucks bucks for each texture he made, double that if the texture size was bigger. Now before you bring well some contractors do that... I simply stating what these companies do. They charge a huge fee for a plan and then things that are essential to make sure the customer is not screwed if the something goes wrong like backing up their data and replacing their computer are not covered. The employee tells the customer whatever, when they need the company to do what they promised then they come with all the extra charges. Besides they lost her laptop, how does a data backup help? They could have lost that too, or the data that got backed up might not work. These companies just sugar coat things to get the money, then they don't care about the customer, especially if something goes wrong. Then the customer is just an expense that they want to just go away. Hell Sear trains the employees to lie about how to sell the plan. So I hope she does get her money cause these service plans do suck and are a rip off. And they told her the time it would take to service her laptop would be longer than what her trip would be and that is why she was alright with it.
The other thing, if your product costs less than a certain amount they just replace it but if it's over a grand then they give you the finger.
I had an issue back when I had NT4. I bought a scanner there was a sign that said the scanner was supported for NT4. I was stupid and believed it and didn't check so I got the thing. Sure enough it wasn't supported. I went back and because I had opened it to install it, they charged me a restocking fee. I talk to the store manager and explained the problem and he agreed that I shouldn't pay the fee and they fixed their sign. I learned that day not to trust anything I could not verify.
So is the amount of the lawsuit too high, yes, but yeah they shouldn't be selling shit services, and treating people like garbage. 45 billion for the win, and I hope she gets it.
Alex
like the judge that did the same thing, she doesn't expect to win that amount of money.