Best Buy Offers HD DVD Buyers $10 Million in Gift Cards

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 19, 2008 - 7:58am.

Minneapolis - In light of the format's impending demise at the hands of Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray, electronics and media retail chain Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) announced on Wednesday that it will provide $50 gift cards to customers who purchased an HD DVD player or HD DVD attachment from its U.S. stores before Feb. 23 -- and expects to shell out more than $10 million during the program.

"At Best Buy, we understood and shared our customers' frustrations as they were being asked to choose one format or the other," said Brian J. Dunn, president and COO for Best Buy.

"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."

Best Buy will proactively mail gift cards to any customers it can identify as having purchased HD DVD players.

The company is also offering a trade-in program and website, where consumers who purchased HD DVD players or movies -- from any retailer -- can receive estimates of their values, ship them to Best Buy free of charge, and receive gift cards for the value of their trades.