Personal Injury Law

Backing up your hard drive - Red Tape Chronicles

By Steve Lombardi

Raelyn Campbell's lawsuit against Best Buy demonstrates another problem with Apple's iTunes back-up system. Just like Best Buy's extended warranty, the iTunes back-up system is designed to fail and they know it so they hit you with that warning to back up on CD's because when it fails they intend to blame the consumer.

Interesting situation reported on the Red Tape Chronicles website. In 2006 Raelyn Campbell of Washington, D.C. buys her computer at Best Buy for $1,100.00. At the time of the sale the store clerk talks her into an extended warranty for another $300.00. She uses this computer a lot and has her tax returns and music on it. Although not clear it appears she uses no backup system to protect her files. About a year later the on/off switch breaks so she uses the extended warranty and returns the computer to the Best Buy store where she bought it. She's told repairs will take about six weeks. They lose her computer, mislead her into believing it will be ready shortly, and then when she finds out the truth they offer her $900.00, not in cash, but in store coupons.

Sort of like a lawyer committing malpractice by allowing a client's case to not be filed before the statute of limitations runs and then to "make things right" offers the client a discounted fee on another lawsuit.

At the point where they lost her computer, Campbell became a problem rather than a customer. That is a problem for BB's business model. There is a glaring hole in the system. Why in the first place did BB place the customer in a position where she has to file a lawsuit? In this case it seems the only way to get this mega corporation's attention is with a lawsuit and a demand for compensation that commands respect. What the heck if Campbell is going to be forced to file suit she might as well answer the question: How many other people have you done this too? Without the lawsuit they weren't taking her claim seriously. As a consumer her bargaining power with BB is zero. But-for the court system, consumers would be treated as if they were illegal aliens in a foreign country. Why would BB offer her such a paltry sum? It was shameful and insulting.

Now the question is what did she sign when she brought it into the store for repair?
What type of backup system did she employ?
If she didn't use a backup system then does comparative fault apply and how much will be applied to her?

No matter what backup system she used or didn't use the repair process is faulty. My guess is BB doesn't even repair computers in-house. They probably outsource the repair work and were arguing with the repair shop over who should be liable for the loss. Probably neither knew who last had her computer. If they had been truthful about the situation Campbell may have reacted differently.

This case also points out a weakness in Campbell's system - she needed a backup of her data; including the music which she estimates her cost at several thousand's of dollars to purchase. This case demonstrates another corporate business model that is faulty - the iTunes back-up system.

I'm going to assume its iTunes music, it's nearly impossible to back up the iTunes music if you follow their instructions. If you buy thousands of songs from them how many CD's will it take to back it up and how much time? Who in their right mind would ever take the time to back up iTunes music as Apple instructs? You'd have to be nuts and they know it. It appears that entire back up system is designed to fail and cause the consumer to re-purchase all the same music while allowing iTunes to blame the consumer. Certainly iTunes has a record of all the songs you've already purchased. So why not allow the user to download the same songs at no additional cost? Why design the system to purposefully fail and then blame the consumer? The answer is in Apple's bottom line.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on May 11, 2008 (boomark / email).