Richmond (VA) - If you bought an HD DVD player at Circuit City and now want to switch over to Blu-ray, you're in luck.

The electronics retailer will allow consumers to trade in their HD DVD players at face value, as long as they have the original receipt, regardless of how long ago the purchase was made.  

The point of the program is to use that credit to purchase a new Blu-ray Disc player.  However, according to Gizmodo you can also get a gift card for the same amount.

The tech blog claims to have received an internal memo from the store explaining the promotion.  

"We do not want to upset our valued customers. For this special circumstance, we are happy to offer an exchange for a Blu-ray player (customer plays any difference in purchase price) - even if it has been several months since the customer made their HD DVD player purchase. If the customer does not want a Blu-ray player, we can issue a gift card refund for their original purchase price," said the memo.

Circuit City has not yet started avertising this offer but according to Gizmodo readers it is now valid.

This is true

Mar 06, 2008 12:05     

I work at circuit city and we got information about this program nearly a week ago. Not many people have taken advantage of it yet
Goat report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

?

Mar 06, 2008 12:10     

talk about lossing money. what are they going to do with all the HD players? can't send it to toshiba ...sell it on ebay? early adoptor should take the risk of the format lossing out. what's come to this world? people that can't afford house will got bail out because they get into a loan that they know they can't afford in the first place...they were hoping to re-finance down the road? but to save a few hundred bucks now? well, now they are lossing their house and they deserve it.

yo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

money back

Mar 06, 2008 12:11     

you don't get money back when you gamble at Vegas... oh...I should have bet on black...but now it's red...can I switch my bet back to red?
yo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

How ?

Mar 06, 2008 12:14     

I don't understand how they can afford this promotion unless they are sending them back to the manufacturer for a credit or turning around and selling them back to consumers who don't mind a used player at wholesale price.
C-Drive report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Good Faith on the Part of Retailers

Mar 06, 2008 12:18     

It's this kind of good-faith gestures that more and more retailers are adopting that will drive Blu-Ray adoption in spite of what the HD-DVD griefers nay-say. Good for you Circuit City.
Fredo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

What about the xbox hd-dvd add on?

Mar 06, 2008 12:33     

Bought that one for $159 ten months ago at CC.
tonyp12 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Embrace the future and quit bitching, lol

Mar 06, 2008 12:58     

Seriously, why do you care at all ? This is certainly good, I hope BestBuy run something like this.
kerberos238 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Silly

Mar 06, 2008 13:10     

On the other hand, they're helping to maintain a user-base that will be able to buy new BluRay movies when they come in. Expensive? Yes, but there's some amount of sense here. Obviously, they're not offering to buy back HD-DVDs, so people who switch over will have to re-buy whatever movies they already had. >> early adoptor should take the risk of the >> format lossing out. >> what's come to this world? >> people that can't afford house will got bail >> out because they get into a loan that they know >> they can't afford in the first place... Ayep. Same thing happened with the iPhone. Whiny consumers with buyers' remorse somehow convincing companies that they "deserve" their money back. Bad, bad mojo all 'round. :p

Steve report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

How exactly are they losing money on this?

Mar 06, 2008 17:19     

I don't get it. Any money the person DID spend on the HD-DVD player is still going to stay with the store, on the account that it's only being given back in gift card form. That means CC loses no money correct? Not only that, they're also hoping people might shell out an extra $100 or so for the Blu-Ray player. Doesn't seem like a bad idea at all to me...
al report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: How exactly are they losing money on this?

Mar 07, 2008 09:06     

Lets say Circuit City has a 10% markup (It is probably less than 5%). If they make a $100 sale, then eat the sale, They just lost $100. $10 of that sale was profit, $90 was no different than if someone shoplifted the product or bashed it with a baseball bat. Yes, they gave away a gift card VS cash, that gives them the chance to get the $10 back, not the $90.
Ralf The Dog report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Anyone wants a Circuit City HD-DVD recipt?

Mar 07, 2008 19:09     

Maybe they would have them soon on ebay.
Doug_d report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Owner

Mar 07, 2008 22:17     

Circuit City Rocks. They may markup more then the competition but the return and satisfaction policies are stand-up all the way. J Berkove Owner Exact Specs
jberkove report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: Owner

Mar 08, 2008 15:57     

>Circuit City Rocks. They may markup more then the >competition but the return and satisfaction policies >are stand-up all the way. In the end you save more money buying from cheaper stores. Paying for the markups at Circuit City is just like giving your money to all the idiots who bought HD DVD players in the first place. Why give your money away with every purchase just so you can make use of 'satisfaction policies' once a year or so?

Jeff report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Circuit City Sucks...

Mar 09, 2008 13:42     

Best Buy Cleaned their clock because they use to charge a 15% restocking fee on return...
Enlighten report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0