Minneapolis (MN) – Best Buy today said that it will be sending out $50 gift cards to apparently more than 200,000 of its U.S. customers who purchased HD DVD players and Xbox 360 HD DVD units before February 23 of this year.

Best Buy is the latest company in line that wants to ease your pain (and quickly transition to Blu-ray), in case your high-def bets were placed on HD DVD. In prepared statement, the company’s president and chief operating officer, Brian Dunn, said that “the DVD format war has divided our customers in a way we haven’t seen since Betamax took on VHS more than 20 years ago.”

Dunn said that Best Buy “shared [its] customers’ frustrations as they were being asked to choose one format or the other. Now that the format war is over, we hope these gift cards will reassure our customers that we will help them make a smooth transition into the right technology for their needs.”

According to Best Buy, more than $10 million in gift cards will be sent out to customers – and most buyers will receive those cards automatically by May 1, since the majority of purchases have been registered through the firm’s “Reward Zone” program, the company stated.

If you are one of those 200,000, keep enjoying your HD DVD player as up-converting DVD player for some years to come and treat yourself to a few free movies. Of course, that offer is especially rewarding if you were lucky enough to pick one of those players when prices were plummeting in late January and early February.  

In case you are wondering why Saturday, February 23 is the cut-off date: It is the end of the week, in which Toshiba announced to cancel HD DVD (February 19).
 

If you didnt already know,...

Mar 19, 2008 11:22     

BB's scam of a "rewards" program forces you to spend more than the $50 to be able to use it. Way to go American Capitalism!!
REM report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: forces..

Mar 19, 2008 12:58     

It doesnt really forces you. You can always sell your gift card. It's a good marketing tactic, in a way like you said most likely people would buy things more than $50 just to use the gift cert. on the other hand it shows their company "care" for their customers ('s credit card)
eeto report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

@REM

Mar 19, 2008 15:53     

Well REM, you can choose to take your dollars to a different store if you dislike BestBuy so much. That's how "American Capitalism" works. No one forced people to buy the HD-DVD players in the first place. So they should take the $50 gift card at face value: as a gesture from the company who wants more of your business. If you don't like the system, you can go live in Cuba where people can't even get electric toasters or air conditioners much less HD electronics. Way to go Marxism!

Fredo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Trade-in value of $54

Mar 19, 2008 16:29     

For anyone interested, I looked into trading in my player with 6 movies. And assuming it's in "excellent" condition, the trade-in value is $54. Here's a screenshot: http://www.techconsumer.com/2008/03/19/best-buy-giving-10-million-in-gift-cards-to-hd-dvd-buyers/
Bob Caswell report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

$54 trade-in value

Mar 19, 2008 16:34     

It looks like, assuming it's in "excellent" condition, the trade-in value is around $54. Here's a screenshot: http://www.techconsumer.com/2008/03/19/best-buy-giving-10-million-in-gift-cards-to-hd-dvd-buyers/
Bob Caswell report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

sheeps

Mar 19, 2008 16:36     

they are betting on the HD sheeps will put down another 350$ on top of the 50$ gift card to get a BD player.
yo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re: if you didnt already know

Mar 22, 2008 19:09     

best buy is sending a gift card, not their rewardzone certificate. so the $50 can be spent however the customer wants, whether it be on a $1 or $1000 item. this "scam" you're talking about is completely different and has nothing to do with the HD giftcard.
ldgj report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0