Best Buy customer sues after being clobbered by falling TV
By Donald Melanson 
posted October 2nd 2007 3:33PM
posted October 2nd 2007 3:33PM
It looks like Texas Best Buy customer Sam Fisher recently found himself at the center of a slightly more perilous problem than a dubious intranet site, when an employee at the store accidentally dropped a 27-inch from the top shelf straight onto his head. Unsurprisingly, the man (no doubt already under distress from a barrage of "Where's your goggles?" jokes) is now suing Best Buy for gross negligence, although not the individual employee, who he says was simply following the store's policies. According to TG Daily, Fisher is alleging that Best Buy did not provide the proper training or necessary safety warnings, and that it has no official procedure for getting items down off a high shelf. As a result, he's seeking "exemplary damages" for Best Buy's "willful, wanton, and reckless disregard for the safety and welfare of its customers," although it's not been revealed exactly how exemplary those damages might be.
You, really don't understand the concept of the Darwin Award do you?
@John Doe Not really you win the internet thanks for playing
Splinter cell:Double Lawsuit
I worked at BestBuy a couple years ago, and this is the same type of things that happened there. Stacks of computers were sometimes so high, that people would step on the hand rails just to reach them. The managers never said anything and even the senior people on the floor told everyone to do this.
The inventory crew at night were even worse, they would toss everything up and down the ladders. Some people would even stand on the highest hand rails of the ladder.
Again, management never said anything. And I, for one, never received any stock/ladder training.
Holy shit. Must have been a flat panel else its amazing that the man is even alive. 27" tube == Heavy as hell.
i utterly hate best buy employees. they're all inexperienced teens with terrible customer service.i bet the guy was stoned too when he dropped the tv. poor sam.
He must really have a good friend lawyer to be pulling this stunt off.
Hmmm this was supposed to go under Derbeste's comment. I lose at Engadget.
to many bitchy people in this world.
If that happened to me...
First, if I was hurt I would expect best buy to cover all of the medical expenses.
If I wasn't hurt...then that would be the end of it...it would always make for a good dtory to tell people.
oh, and I would be nice it Best Buy, ...as apoligy, were to give me a 65" HDTV. :)
When I worked there, we had to watch several videos and take a few tests on how to get items from top stock. Items heavier than a certain amount can ONLY be taken down with "Big Joe" (the automated lift) and "Big Joe" can ONLY be used by people who are certified to use it. This TV would definitely fall into the category of being too heavy to get down with the mobile staircase/ladder. "Big Joe" should have been used.
Best Buy DOES train people on these things. If the dumbass employee paid attention during his two-week training before even being allowed on the floor, AND took all his regularly-scheduled tests on company policies and procedures (every few weeks they make you sit at a computer and watch videos and answer questions), AND attended store meetings, then he would know DAMN WELL not to get a big TV down from top stock that way.
Or maybe that particular Best Buy is just lax on their training. I know the company does train thoroughly, though.
I hope he checked out whatever he was buying with his best buy rewards card.
Best Buy could be worse off and have been as severe as this kid here:
"Boy Injured by Falling TV Awarded $19M" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401966.html?tid=informbox
Insert crass politically incorrect joke about TV wallmount being banged loose as 4th grader was being molested by priest HERE.
I used to work at best buy and you'd be surprised at how often this happens. I had heard of it happening at other stores, and it happened twice during the 8 months I worked there.
Yeah, obviously the employee was not following their SOP book.
I used to work for Best Buy. Only accident we ever had was with a TV, was an inventory employee put it up wrong, and it fell from top stock to the floor, making a loud-assed boom as it splattered.
There was glass everywhere. (It was a 32" Insignia CRT HDTV)
The inventory person was on his last straw anyhoo, and got canned promptly.
Actually, I fully support this man's lawsuit. This is one rare example of a lawsuit that needs to be made to make a point.
The night crew stacks things way too high in Best Buy stores, the employees are provided ladders that don't reach high enough, and are frequently broken, and provided no support in getting things down. They're generally left to improvise, and risk injury to themselves and others to get things down in the timely fashion customers expect.
I wish the plaintiff well, and I hope this case forces Best Buy to make some nationwide changes.
Boy that sucks.
Sam, you need to infiltrate the home entertainment section of Best Buy, hack into the POS system, and download the pricing for every TV 42" and up. Evac will be available at 0300 hours, be there sharp, they won't be waiting around for long. Watch out for falling TVs, Sam.