Product looked like a bomb

I am in southern California. I recently bought a computer Hard Drive from a reputable Computer dealer. The box was shrink wrapped and had the company sticker and security tab on it.

When I got home I opened the box and what was inside appeared to be an explosive device and not a hard drive. I moved the item outside and called the Sheriff. The Sheriff stopped by and upon examining the device called the bomb squad. The Bomb Squad did an initial investigation and then decided that it looked serious enough to call in additional resources (Hazmat, Environmental health, Fire department, paramedics, additional police).

The bomb squad blocked off my street and evacuated 7 houses surrounding mine. They then went through their routine. The whole process started at 8:30 am and lasted until 3pm that day. After performing an xray and then cutting open the device, the Bomb Squad determined that the device was two pieces of drywall stacked on top of each other (the pieces resembled the length and width of a hardrive). The end of a golf club putter (heavy part) was placed on top of the drywall. These items were then wrapped over and over with black industrial duct tape so you couldn't tell what it was. The stainless steel hosle was sticking out of one side and made the package look very suspicious. The police guess is that someone bought a hard drive then removed it and put in this device. The golf putter gave the package the right weight. Apparently someone at the store did not check the box before this item ended up back on the shelf.

My question is as follows. I lost full day of work because of this incident. I am also out a hard drive. the company is willing to give me a drive but only in exchange for this device and the packaging that it came in. I want to hold on to this as evidence. I was told that I could also be charged by some of the agencies that showed up to my home to respond to this indicent. I was told that the whole opperation cost about $30,000.

Has anyone ever heard of anything so wackey? I am trying to find out what my legal rights are here. Feel free to post a reply.

Thanks**************....

[JETX]

Did you make this purchase with a credit card??
If so, dispute the purchase as provided by the Fair Credit Billing Act.

I bought it with my bank ATM card (which also has a mastercard logo). I assume I used the Mastercard to purchase this since I did not provide my pin # during the purchase. I will have to check with my bank on their policy.

I am not too concerned with the $140 hard drive. I can get that back by simply returning the packaging and device. I am concerned about two other issues. If I get any bills from the agencies that responded can I sue the computer retailer for negligence. It's possible that I could get a bill for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Also, can I recover my lost wages from one day of work even though I ended up using a vacation day for this incident.

If I give this device and packaging back to the computer retailer in return for a new hard drive do I lose any valuable evidence if I need to sue later for the two issues mentioned above......Thanks