The plaintiff in this case, Raelyn Campbell, stated that the laptop had been left at Best Buy for repairs for over six months, a period after which the retailer had no other option but to admit the laptop was impossible to find.

Campbell claims that the laptop contained personal information which could turn her into a victim of identity theft. She added that Best Buy violated the law by not warning her about such a risk.

"What in the world is a sane number? What is it going to take for this company to take this issue seriously, to get them to change their policies so the next customer won’t have to go through the same thing?" Campbell told The Examiner. "It shouldn’t take a $54m lawsuit to get Best Buy to do what it is legally required to do."

Best Buy stated that the company paid Campbell $1,110 for the laptop, plus a $500 bonus gift card as an apology.

Incidentally (or not), the figure is the same one asked by an US judge when suing a drycleaners for losing a pair of pants. The US judge lost the lawsuit and managed to ruin his public image.