It’s official; the format wars are over.  Blu-Ray won.  HD-DVD owners are screwed, now stuck with obsolete hardware that can only play about 90 titles.  Who will come to the rescue of these unfortunate early adopters?  Would you believe Best Buy?

Yes, the folks at the world’s largest electronics retailer will be helping out those with buyer’s remorse.  Anyone who purchased an HD-DVD player or HD-DVD attachment will be eligible to receive a $50 Best Buy gift certificate.  Customers will be identified by Best Buy through their Rewards Zone program, performance service plans and online purchases, and will be sent the $50 cards automatically.  Customers who feel they will not be identified through these means can call Best Buy and provide either a receipt or credit card information to obtain their card.  Kind of surprising that a company with such commonly questioned ethics would be willing to fork over what could be tens of millions of dollars just because a format died, but that seems to be what’s happening here.

Last month, competitor Circuit City extended their return policy for all HD-DVD players for 90 days in an effort to take care of their customers.  Is Best Buy’s move a counter to this?  Who cares!  It’s $50 they’re giving us that they didn’t have to give us, so their motives are a moot point.  The deal does not apply to HD-DVD movies, but it still goes a long way towards building trust with customers who were burned by the downfall of the format.  I’ll betcha Woolworth’s didn’t do this for Betamax customers back in the early 80’s, now did they?  Does anyone even remember Woolworth’s?  God, I'm old.

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