It’s nice to see billion dollar organizations offer gestures of customer service, especially when they do not have to.

Best Buy will be offering consumers who purchased HD DVD buyers rebates and trade-in’s. This wasn’t a matter of Best Buy rectifying its own error per se, it was Best Buy doing something to create goodwill and win over loyalty. Ultimately, Best Buy was a pawn in the broader HD DVD vs. Blue Ray war.

“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,” said Brian J. Dunn, president and chief operating officer for Best Buy. “At Best Buy, we understood and shared our 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.”

This is going to cost $10M, which frankly, is nothing more than smart marketing. Some companies spend $10M on advertising, Best Buy is planning on spending it on PR, basically. Kudos for them.

I have in the past chronicled Customer Disservice, including experiences with HP, Dell, Seagate and a few others. Ultimately, I get what I want because I am a ball-buster who doesn’t shy away from a fight. But I am in the minority, most customers ultimately don’t bother, they simply go elsewhere.

As a consumer who rarely buys much at Best Buy, I can say that even though I’ve never bought a HD DVD product, I will start buying things from Best Buy.

Too bad I can’t say the same thing about Staples after my Logitech heist. When I say “my heist” I actually mean their robbery. But I won’t get into that (who hates mail-in rebates?). I’ll just stop shopping at Staples and won’t buy Logitech…

Hmm… wonder what other brands of accessories Best Buy stocks in its stores.

Basic marketing 101: it’s easier to retain a client than to win one.