I've been seeing these Trial Pay options for a while now, for the likes of Avira etc. I've always been skeptical of these, and always recommended people stay away from them (if you don't want to pay for a licence to use a program, don't use the program - there are almost always free alternatives). Sadly, people still believe Trial Pay are going to give you a free subscription to something - this is simply NOT TRUE.In the vast majority of cases, you have to either PURCHASE or REGISTER for something in order to get this "free" licence. As I've said many times before, if you've got to pay or register for something - IT IS NOT FREE!.
Don't believe me? Check their terms of service, specifically;
Completing a TrialPay Checkout and Offer
a. In order to successfully complete the TrialPay checkout and receive your product, you must initiate the completion of the third-party offer ("advertiser offer") from within the TrialPay checkout. Any transactions (offer completions) initiated directly on the third-party website without originating from within the TrialPay checkout will not be tracked by our advertising partners and you will not be credited for your product/service.
a. In order to successfully complete the TrialPay checkout and receive your product, you must initiate the completion of the third-party offer ("advertiser offer") from within the TrialPay checkout. Any transactions (offer completions) initiated directly on the third-party website without originating from within the TrialPay checkout will not be tracked by our advertising partners and you will not be credited for your product/service.
Still don't believe me? See what my friend Donna has to say;
http://www.calendarofupdates.com/updates/calendar54718
Posts
9 comments:
Free means Free!
Trial Pay means con as users either purchase or complete 'offers' for their freeware application.
It stinks!
Colin
I think someone's suffering sour grapes at discovering that the trialpay offer does 'exactly what it says on the tin'
I followed their instructions, I got some free downloadable music and then cancelled the offer within the 14 days - Heh - More accurately within 14 hours, I didn't want to risk actually forking out on anything by mistake :-)
Ok, I had to enter my Debit Card number, but the account was empty, and I fetched the whois reports for the music company and for the owners of the SSL payment page before I pushed submit. They both came back searchably safe so I was at no visible risk of fraud.
What's to complain about?
TrialPay explain how they work before you begin acceptance of their offer, and they do exactly what they say. You take a sample of product (A) (B) or (C) and company (D) gives you whatever you were after, for nothing. Where's the problem?
To give you an idea of my standard mentality, the biggest hurdle to *me* receiving free licence keys was having to type my *real* name into a web form. I seriously don't like doing that, I believe one's internet-identity and one's wetware identity should be two completely separate things and I have always kept it that way. I believe anyone who uses their real name online is either being pointlessly naive or they're trying to pose, perhaps with some meaningless RL qualification or title, in the belief that they're respectable online. (They not, what's a bit of paper that no one can see? It's what you say and do over years that adds up to an online ident!)
Binary digits over a wire are certainly not worth cold hard cash, I pay enough for my linkup, thankyou very much..
Anyway, there's my longwinded way of saying I wouldn't recommend something unless I'd checked it out very carefully and tried it personally.
So, yes, I recommend trialpay, just be sure you understand what they want in return for what they give. They genuinely do pay up.
I take the time to post this because true free offers, for anything other than worthless demos or adware junk, are so *very* rare. It upsets me to see folk reacting ungratefully when it actually happens.
To 'Cotojo' Yes, Free means exactly that. Free.
I got 30MB plus of free MP3 music (James Taylor, a couple from Laughing Lenny and a Judie Tzuke IIRC), and then a free licence for Headlight Software's Getright download manager, plus a free licence for Headlight's Where'd'MySpaceGo Hmmm, that second piece of software (a filespace management utility) was sweet icing on the cake, a freebie on the freebie ;)
I'm still using all of the above, and none of them cost me a penny.
I have no association with any of these companies.
Regards,
Dave J. ( blahdiblah 'snailything' freeuk 'dot' com <<-- Yes, that's a real address, yes it works and no the google account one doesn't!)
Sorry for the long posting, I'm more used to Usenet.
@Gabbo,
No sour grapes here, I stay away from them and will continue to do so (I'm a very skeptical and suspicious bugger by nature).
Whilst I'm glad you got what was on offer, there's something you mention that kinda concerns me - you had to give your credit card info. This once again, makes it quite clear that their "for free" offer isn't quite as free as they claim.
The fact you can cancel is not the point here, the point is you had to give those details in the first place. Would you give them to Google for a free e-mail account? Give them to another company for a free trial? Didn't think so.
The point you're missing is, the CC details are now held by them (you can ask them to remove the records, but there's no guarantee they will). You should NEVER have to give credit card information over for ANYTHING that claims to be free (alot of rogue companies use their services too remember).
Indeed, someone commented on the Web of Trust thread earlier, with a little information that you should find interesting;
http://www.mywot.com/en/forum/3066-trial-pay-a-free-subscription-is-not-as-free-as-you-think?comment=10146#comment-10146
A link is also provided there, to the Donation Coder forums, which have been visited by someone from Trial Pay - makes for very interesting reading.
TrialPay lets you get products online for free by trying another service or buying something you were planning on purchasing anyway. For example, many people are already planning to spend $40 to send flowers to Mom for Mother’s Day. Why not get a free full software license valued at $29.99+ as part of the deal?
Many software companies do offer free versions of their software, but these often have feature restrictions and/or expire after 15 to 30 days. But TrialPay lets customers get FULL versions for free simply by trying or buying something else. Think of it more like a 2-for-1 deal, which is especially compelling in today’s economy.
Melissa A.
TrialPay, Inc.
I am a loyal user of TrialPay! There is no con about it. There terms are very simple. I have received the following 3 items free in exchange for purchasing something (but those items I purchased, I actually wanted).
1) I purchased a membership with Columbia House DVD in exchange for receiving WinRAR license. I got 3 seasons of movies I wanted for next to nothing and got WinRAR for free.
2)I tried a RealPlayer Superpass in exchange for license for Tag&Rename. I got to try a service for a few days and ended up canceling without any charge.
3) Then I tried out Boca Java Coffee in exchange for a 1yr license to ZoneAlarm. I paid about $15 dollars for coffee that I already normally spend and received a 1yrs license to a software I use.
So I see no con in this outfit. I do not use it all the time, but if I am going to purchase something I always check to see If I can use trialpay to buy what I need in exchange for free software.
the post by Melissa A. hits on the spot. So the "Trial-Pay: A free subscription is not as free as you think!" It is. Its the most legitimate thing out there.
Richard L.
hi
i got "zonealarm" by trialpay! i cant see the problem! y get the software for free, by bying another program to a much cheaper price! i cant see anykind of cheating in this!
Its made totally clear, that you BUY another product, that sponsor the first one, here it was zonealarm, sponsored by another program that was much cheaper thhan zonealarm! If you dont like the programm you payd for, no-one say that y hAVe to keep that program on your pc!
Ive got mine vERy cheap in this way!
Trialpay is free. It doesn't cost you a THING to use Trialpay. So stop your whining and your misconceptions, and try reading it over again. I've signed up for four things so far that all have been free trials > without costing me a dime. As long as you follow up with any subscription services and make sure your account is completely canceled, you will not be billed a penny. And sometimes even if you are, you'll get some sort of refund. So if you're paying for anything in respect to free trialpay offers, thats you're own fault. And if this comment isn't approved, it only proves my point that much further.
i have received the offer but no software, if i am receiving dvd's why don't i have the right to the software. has anyone tried to contact trialpay? there is no support no interaction with the customers just take take take. it is frustrating and makes u feel like finding the creator and giving him what for.
I TRIED TRIAL PAY AND DID NOT GET MY FREE PRODUCT. BUT i WAS CHARGED BY GAMEFLY. i TRIED TO CONTACT TRIAL PAY AND THEY SAID THEY WERE SO BUSY IT WOULD TAKE SEVERAL DAYS TO RECEIVE MY OFFER.THIS WAS 3 DAYS AGO AND STILL NO REGISTRATION KEY FOR MY FREE ORDER.( leave trial pay along )
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