1. Humans make mistake, do you want to be fired every time you make a mistake big or small. I am most certain BB will take disciplinary action up to termination when they can pin point where the mistake happened. 2)Again, removing the harddrive to perform a data backup does not void the warranty. Installing additional RAM, upgrading the video and other hardware does not void the warranty. There is a service plan that does cover data backups, it can be a very lengthly process and does cost the company. No they should not do it automatically for everybody, but should offer it as a service (wait they do that). It might not be cheap but if your data is worth $54 mil, then spending $200 to make sure you don't lose it might have been worth it. 3) Manufactures carry the warranty on the products not the retailers, unless they offer a service plan that takes over after the manufactures warranty. I agree that retailers should back the product up for the first month, after that it is the manufactures warranty. Do you go to any retailer and buy a name brand TV, then turn around and tell your friend you bought a Retailers Name TV, nope you say you bought the brand of TV. Same products are sold at multiple retailers. BBY does offer the service that they will ship your item to the manufacture or authorized repair center for free under manufacturers warranty. 4) I never said BBY was not responsible for the laptop, just informed you that once it leaves the store it is out of Geek Squads hands. The only info they have at that point is what the service center puts into the service computer database. If it was still under manufactures warranty then it would have been shipped to them for repair. Manufactures do not always update the database as they should, since they are working for the customer, not BBY. 5) The on\off switch cannot be replaced WHILE SHE WAITED in the store, it would be a logistical nightmare to stock all the parts at each store for every laptop. Common sense. 6) I am not saying BBY has done no wrong here. Yes they should have contacted her when the laptop could not be located and offered her compensation for the hardware only. She had the option to have BBY backup the data before sending it off, she had the option to back it up herself, she had the option of taking it anywhere else to have it backed up. She did not think her data was worth enough at the time to back it up. So now its worth $54 mil. Give me a break. 6) Remember the judge lost the law suit. 7) $54 Mill for data you would not pay

ghle wrote:

There is ABSOLUTELY no reasonable excuse for loosing the laptop with today's technology, cameras, RFID, bar codes. Every time the thing moves, you make a record of it. Period. Works for FedEx.

Remember even FedEx, UPS, USPS and all the others loss packages. Thats why they offer you the option to buy insurance. Even with all of todays technology you still have humans involved. There is no excuse for not backing up your own information, even if a system will not power on it can still be easily done. That is why I always stressed backing up before sending off to service centers. How is Best Buy to know that she left sensitive personal info on her system, unless you want a repair center to go through your information. One thing to note, once it leaves the store it is no longer in the hands of the geek squad, but as somebody else has pointed out a third party repair center. It would be nice to see the big retail chains counter sue for lost revenue for frivolous law suits like this.

This is nothing but another frivolous lawsuit. She should have read her contract before signing it. Systems can get lost or damaged in shipping, I have never hard of any repair shop guaranty no lost data. Your data is only worth to you what you are willing to pay to back it up. Its her own fault, she could have easily asked to have the hard drive removed or a data backup performed for her. If she was just being cheap and did not want to pay for the backup, she could have purchased a USB adapter for the harddrive from BB, Wal-Mart or any other retailer. Then if she treated them the way she wanted to be treated, they would offer to show her how to do it herself for free. Best Buy should only have to cover the cost of replacing the laptop with a comparable model. If its older then 6 months, guess what it is now not worth what you paid for it, same as a car. Shopping at small or big retailers, you always treat the people you deal with respect. When I worked retail, any customer who thought giving me a hard time was going to get their way was always wrong. They received the minimum effort it took, if I would deal with them without passing them off to a manager. The ones who treated me nice, and understood problems can happen, I would bend over backwards to make sure they where treated the same way. Yes, I worked for the Geek Squad at Best Buy (and other big and small retailers) and have seen all types of customers. I've seen a couple of lost computers, it does take time to track down where it might have gotten lost at. The customers who treated the manager and staff with respect and where patient where given brand new computers, always better then the one they sent in with free service and a gift card. Those that cussed or treated the employees as scum, did not get the new laptop.