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Best Buy lost laptop – sued for $54 million
BestBuy lost a laptop that was in for repair and is getting sued for $54 million.
Even Raelyn Campbell considers her lawsuit against Best Buy to be somewhat silly. But the Washington, D.C. resident said she was forced to file a ridiculously large lawsuit against the electronics giant for the way she was treated after the retailer lost her laptop.
In 2006, Campbell paid an extra $300 for an extended warranty when she bought her $1,100 laptop. When her computer’s power button gave up in May 2007, Campbell decided to get it fixed.She said she was given a two- to six-week time frame for the repair. But after six weeks with no laptop, she started calling Best Buy, with no joy. A number of times in July, Campbell said Best Buy told her that her machine was sent to Louisville to be repaired and that it should be back soon. By August, one employee admitted that the laptop never left the store and was actually lost. Best Buy offered her a $900 gift card for her trouble.
Campbell thoughtt this amount was too low — citing the software she lost with the computer, her lost data and personal time. She wanted $2,100. But her counteroffer was met with silence, Campbell said. So Campbell contacted the Washington, D.C. attorney general’s office, and Best Buy immediately upped their offer to include a $1,100 credit card refund and a $500 gift card. Campbell then decided to file her $54 million lawsuit.
Campbell added that she knows she won’t get the amount she’s suing for but that she decided to file a multi-million dollar lawsuit anyway, figuring that picking such a large amount would be a good way to garner media attention and put some pressure on Best Buy. She has achieved that.
So has Campbell gone over the top or is Best Buy getting what it deserves for the way it handled her laptop loss? Either way, it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
