My story of going purple, then back to Blu...

[lewi1913]

I originally posted this on highdefdigest, so I apologize if anyone came across it twice...

Well, I have been a blu supporter since the 2 formats have been out. Let me preface this story by saying that I am not fanatical about either format, but I like the picture quality on BD, and have always thought BD would win the war (based on studio support, marketing, ps3 compatibility, and a sexier name).

I finally bit the bullet after xmas and picked up the A3 for $175 with the 10 free movies. I figured this is a very low investment is something that may die in a few years. After the purchase, I was sucked into the amazon BOGO for hd dvd, and it was inevitable, more movies purchased on a dying format.

When I got back home from the holidays, I was ecstatic to open all of my mail that was waiting for me, including the A3 and about 30 movies. 1st was Transformers, which was great. Then, Jan 4th rolled around, and the news about Warner hit. I think this has to be the end for hd dvd, and doubt they will be in the market for another year.

I boxed up the A3, and returned to amazon since they have a great return policy within the 1st 30 days. Then that left me with the 30 movies, and only one was opened (transformers). So since I got them so cheap with the BOGO (avg $10 a disc), I figured I would try to unload some at various stores to get a store credit, since returning such low priced movies to amazon didn't do me much good...

Well, it worked out great!
~Best Buy gave me $195 gift card for the matrix and heroes set I got on ebay (for $95 shipped).
~Borders gave me a $155 giftcard for 5 movies returned to them
~Wal-mart #1 gave me $80 giftcard for the 4 harry potters
~Wal-mart #2 gave me $89 in blu ray exchanges for 4 hd dvds

So far, I'm up about $250 in giftcards compared to what I paid, and I unloaded all the HD DVD gear before it falls off the planet. In the words of Iron Maiden, "Run for the hills, run for your life!"

[Bizdady]

Someone made money off their dud lol

[jkwest]

not really one of those feel warm kind of stories...

seems like a lot of people are taking advantage of retailers lately..

[hc666]

You should write a book lol

[aristotles]

I'm not sure what to make of that. If you can live with that then so be it. I feel bad for the retailers and I would never be dumb enough to accept a return without a receipt.

[lewi1913]

Originally Posted by aristotles

I'm not sure what to make of that. If you can live with that then so be it. I feel bad for the retailers and I would never be dumb enough to accept a return without a receipt.

How can anyone feel bad for a retailer? This is corporate America, not a human being. None of the places I went to had a problem with this at all, because they will just sell my return merchandise anyway. And how is it dishonest that I exchange 1 hd dvd movie at MSRP $30 for a $30 BD? None of those companies will lose a dime based on what I did, they break even.

[darinp2]

Originally Posted by lewi1913

And how is it dishonest that I exchange 1 hd dvd movie at MSRP $30 for a $30 BD? None of those companies will lose a dime based on what I did, they break even.

It is likely to be a lot harder for them to sell HD DVDs than BDs going forward. If they have to return the HD DVD then they are unlikely to get close to that price. And less chance they would have to return the BD (since there will be more demand for them). If they can't return the HD DVD, then they might have to sell it on clearance to get it to sell.

--Darin

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by aristotles

I'm not sure what to make of that. If you can live with that then so be it. I feel bad for the retailers and I would never be dumb enough to accept a return without a receipt.

Well, I've worked for many years in retail, and, as far as I'm concerned, nothing he did was "inappropriate" in my mind. Unopened software can pretty much always be returned for store credit, as long as its a title the store carries... no big deal there. And every store that has chosen to stock both Blu-ray and HD DVD (which is pretty much all of them) knew that a time would come when one would fail, and they would get a TON of returns.

Some stores, undoubtedly, have contracts that allow them to return titles they can't get rid of once HD DVD officially dies, and the others knew the risks when they decided to carry the product.

There is a reason stores like Best Buy and Circuit City charge more for product than online retailers -- and the costs associated with returns is a part of that. That said, I would have returned the unopened discs to Amazon if that's where I had gotten them, and they were still within the return period... but I can hardly fault the guy for doing what he did. All he got were giftcards... so he'll likely end up bringing a profit to those stores in the end, anyway.

Just my $.02.