Given that, how are you so absolutely 100% positive he has a legitimate complaint? ("anyone who can't grasp how this guy has a legitimate complaint is a pure idiot..")
because its pretty clear that a television fell off a shelf on to a customer's head. i understand you're a business owner major and you don't like bs lawsuits. but i'll give you some advise don't drop a tv on a customer's head. i'm going to assume that will keep you safe.
So the customer has no responsibility here whatsoever? If a customer does something stupid that leads to an accident, it's entirely Best Buy's fault no matter the circumstances?
I don't think standing around is that stupid. It's not like he was wondering around the warehouse or anything. Best Buy should rethink their layout and not stack items to the ceiling on the sales floor. Someone just walking by could've been hit by that too. They need a back room to store the larger items. I'm honestly surprised this hasn't happened already.
We don't even know where he was standing (which is my point). But maybe it hasn't happened already because it's not real dangerous if people have some common sense. It certainly might be dangerous - I don't really know - but the lawsuit makes some weird assertions that it was willful neglect or whatnot by Best Buy. Best Buy's been around for something like 15-20 years, right? If it hasn't happened before, is it really that dangerous a situation, or might it just be a random fluke? If you requires businesses to prevent all random flukes, no retail business would exist anymore.
Someone already pointed out how big those ladders are at Best Buy, so it's pretty much impossible he was standing right underneath the ladder.
standing in a best buy aisle, you should expect a television to fall on your head? its a retail store, no the customer has no responsibility. its a normal situation to be standing in a retail store, that's what its there for.
I agree that getting in a huff without knowing where he was standing is kinda pointless... But I DO see how standing high up on a latter, losing control of a box can force it to fall forward much more than you'd think, especially if you're trying to regain control as it's falling. Who knows really if this guy is an idiot or just trying to make a buck, but I know I'd be pissed if some pimple faced teenager dropped a TV on my head.
He wasn't simply standing in a best buy aisle. He was standing next to a ladder where someone is moving stuff somewhere above him - and he knew that because he specifically asked the guy to do so. It seems to be pretty much common sense that when heavy things are being moved generally above you (even if it's not directly overhead), that you should be generally aware of the situation. Even if the TV didn't fall, it's possible the employee might slip and fall or something like that. On the surface, it seems to me to be common sense to be paying attention.
If an employee drops a box on a customer's head, it's not the customer's fault. It's the employee's responsibility to make sure he moves stuff around safely. And if the customer is too close -- he has to ask him to move. But if the customer is not hurt, he should just walk that **** off. It seems they are trying to capitalize on BestBuy not having a written policy about reaching the higher shelves with customers near by. I do find it funny that they allege "willful, wanton, and reckless disregard for the safety and welfare of its customers". Apart from the safety bit...the rest just might be the mission statement for some of the BestBuy's I've shopped at.
No, I read them all. I just didn't get the construction site reference. Anyway, I hear what some of you are saying about "being aware," but I'm not sure what planet you're living on. As someone who hardly ever uses his cell phone, I walk around this city (San Francisco, not Houston), and I see basically everyone else walking around in a zombie-like state, lost in a mindless conversation. Every day, I see someone almost get mowed down by a car, hit by a bicycle, etc, and not even notice that they were almost injured severely. I did see someone roll an ankle pretty badly because they couldn't talk on the phone and see curbs simultaneously. So I wouldn't let that goober sue the city for the sidewalk curb, but being clueless and having someone drop an enormous object on your head... it seems different. If he ignored posted warning signs ("beware falling CRTs"), then he has no rights, but this whole "you're supposed to stay away from ladders," starts to sound like superstition. I'll bet you anything this SamFisher guy was on his cell phone, or maybe using a blackberry to post nasty comments on ClutchFans.
Sure - but at what point does it go from "it was an accident" to "Best Buy is responsible for it". Why can't it simply be an accident? Does it have to be the customer's fault or Best Buy's fault? To me, this sounds like one of those random 1-in-a-million flukes that's no one's fault. I don't fault the customer necessarily, but I also don't fault Best Buy for having an employee that has something slip out of his hand. What kind of policy are you supposed to have for that? "Employees are not allowed to have things fall out of their hands?" "When moving things, employees should clear a 30 feet radius to ensure no harm comes to anyone?" If it happened repetitively, I can see that being a problem. If he sustained injuries, I could see compensation for that. I fail to see how's lawsuit-worthy and shows some type of willful neglect on the part of Best Buy.
because a store should have a policy in place. its not unreasonable for an employee to get something off a shelf so it shouldn't be unreasonable to have safety procedures in place. it isn't that flukey
again, i worked at circuit city and they had policies for helping customers load large items into their vehicles. this was over ten years ago.l
What kind of policy would you suggest for this? "Clear a 30 foot radius?" "Don't drop things by accident?" You say it isn't flukey - how often has Best Buy had this problem before? They've been around for at least 15 years. Probably moved many tens of millions of items from shelves during that time. How many people have had things fall on them?
because another store i worked at had a similar policy. as a matter of fact i'm sure I've been told by someone at a store not to help them reach for a product because of liability issues, or to call someone to get on a ladder.
You have mentioned this multiple times - that was a policy on helping people load things into their car, right? What about in-store? You said "call someone to get on a ladder" - isn't that what happened here? What was Circuit City's policy on moving stuff within the store?
