I found Neowin through a sponsored post (Adobe CC Pay What You Want)


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Believe me, I have read through the TOS and this post abides by the TOS, probably a great place to start if you're new to this website.

 

Look at this picture [attached] a FOMO tomer with an ad for 12 apps. And those 12 apps are the entire Adobe Creative Suite. I was so thrilled I bought 2!

 

Then, I realized that they confused the word 'Video' with 'Apps' and I didn't buy 12 Apps x2, I bought a video series about an industry that I have no real interest in x2.

 

I don't know about the rest of you but for my first experience with Neowin and I can't believe how Neowin handled the refund request.

 

Quote

I'm sorry you're unhappy with your purchase. Unfortunately, this order has been claimed, making it nonrefundable. For more information, you can always find our Refund Policy in the 'Terms' section on the deal page.

 

12apps.PNG

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They were courses...  

 

 

Capture.JPG

 

Please note ... this response is coming from me as a member as I have nothing to do with Neowin deals/etc.

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The ad does appear to be intentionally misleading in his screenshot by saying you get 12 apps, not 12 courses.

 

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.   Consider it a lesson learned unfortunately.

 

/edited post. Tone wasn't fair.

Edited by Malechai
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44 minutes ago, Jim K said:

They were courses...  

 

 

Capture.JPG

 

Please note ... this response is coming from me as a member as I have nothing to do with Neowin deals/etc.

"Beat the average to get all 12" apps" would typically seem to imply you are purchasing applications. The term 'apps' has never to my knowledge been used to refer to video courses, and it seems like a rather bizarre term to use if it was intended to imply the user was purchasing courses.

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  • Steven P. changed the title to I found Neowin when they advertised the Adobe Creative Suite for $17 - 12 apps, for $17, what a steal!

The Neowin Deals sponsored posts are handled by a third party, but more importantly as others have said: if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.

 

The lesson here is to take some care about what you are purchasing, on other sites you can buy "genuine ** LEGAL ** Windows 10 keys for $8 !!!!" do you think it really is legal and proper when OEM and retail Windows 10 digital keys cost so much more in a proper retail outlet or at Microsoft? THINK ... PEOPLE  .. and don't blame us.

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  • Steven P. changed the title to I found Neowin through a sponsored post (Adobe CC Pay What You Want)
On 4/23/2019 at 9:25 AM, Steven P. said:

The Neowin Deals sponsored posts are handled by a third party, but more importantly as others have said: if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.

 

The lesson here is to take some care about what you are purchasing, on other sites you can buy "genuine ** LEGAL ** Windows 10 keys for $8 !!!!" do you think it really is legal and proper when OEM and retail Windows 10 digital keys cost so much more in a proper retail outlet or at Microsoft? THINK ... PEOPLE  .. and don't blame us.

Not that I'm defending this person for not reading the fine print, but that's a lousy response.

 

Neowin deals are advertised here, on the main page, and endorsed by you. The whole sounds too good to be true notion falls flat, if deals provided by Neowin are sketchy, then perhaps not provide them? Or find a better service for doing so? Would you have the same response for an advertisement placed on your page that ended up serving malware? 

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On 4/23/2019 at 6:25 AM, Steven P. said:

The Neowin Deals sponsored posts are handled by a third party, but more importantly as others have said: if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.

 

The lesson here is to take some care about what you are purchasing, on other sites you can buy "genuine ** LEGAL ** Windows 10 keys for $8 !!!!" do you think it really is legal and proper when OEM and retail Windows 10 digital keys cost so much more in a proper retail outlet or at Microsoft? THINK ... PEOPLE  .. and don't blame us.

Bad PR costs a lot more than good will. Remember what name is on the deal. 

 

I would also personally check that they don't pull bait and switch tactics like this in the future, again, remember what name is on the deal.

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To me it would appear that Neowin has a special deal with Adobe for Neowin's members to get the apps at that price.

 

To advertise videos as apps is pretty shady, and I think that advertiser is taking advantage of not only Neowin's members, but Neowin and its staff as well.

 

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You are all right. I raised this concern with StackCommerce who handles these deals for us (under our name, this is true) because in our article on Neowin we do not claim they are for apps like what is claimed on the 3rd party site. I can only say that they were going to look into it. If they send this deal to me again I will make sure they have changed the wording of apps to courses, in fact I will check now as well.

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On 4/23/2019 at 9:25 AM, Steven P. said:

The Neowin Deals sponsored posts are handled by a third party, but more importantly as others have said: if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.

 

The lesson here is to take some care about what you are purchasing, on other sites you can buy "genuine ** LEGAL ** Windows 10 keys for $8 !!!!" do you think it really is legal and proper when OEM and retail Windows 10 digital keys cost so much more in a proper retail outlet or at Microsoft? THINK ... PEOPLE  .. and don't blame us.

 

@Steven P.,

 

there is definitely truth to what you are saying, but Neowin is not faultless.

 

I do not know if StackSocial / StackCommerce (SS/SC) is the 3rd party behind this particular deal, but I have had at least 2 or 3 deals that I bought from SS/SC through Neowin Deals that were quite poor.  In my case, the deals either were sold without full disclosure (and were deceptive) or flat out didn't provide the service claimed.  It's been a while, but in 1 or maybe 2 cases, I was able to get SS/SC to refund, but they tried to play the "all sales are final" card.  If I recall correctly, in 1 case, I went to the bank to get my money back.

 

A basic principle (maxim) of law is that a contract/agreement is void on its face if there was a lack of full disclosure and/or false information was provided.  This came into play with the above mentioned SS/SC sales.  They could not get away with "all sales are final" due to lack of full disclosure, providing false information, or the agreed upon service not being provided.

 

From my experience, Neowin should be careful with SS/SC.  Most deals are probably good deals, but sometimes the wording or details on the deal pages is screwy or somewhat misleading.  Again, some deals are just crap and SS/SC should have never let them get published.  Furthermore, Neowin doesn't just get a free pass for deals being offered on Neowin because a 3rd party is actually selling the products and services.  If a 3rd party was selling illegal drugs or some other illegal or controversial products, do you think Neowin would be able to just shrug and say "We aren't selling the items, a 3rd party is."?  You know as well as I do that stance would not "cut the mustard."

 

In the case of this deal for the courses, the "get all 12 apps" is misleading, but I agree with Jim K that careful inspection of the information provided would suggest that it is clearly courses and/or training, not applications in the normal sense like Photoshop CC.  Even if apps were being provided, all of the information as a whole would make one think that the apps would each be a course or training about a particular topic.  This is where your advice is important and has truth.  When there appears to be a contradiction or all of the information doesn't quite make sense, the buyer would be better off to ask questions and.or not assume the crazy good deal is as good as is might be.  In this case, it makes more sense that the apps are course/training apps of some sort, if they are apps and not videos.  It makes less sense that one is getting the actual programs/applications (Photoshop CC, etc.)

 

-JayZJay

 

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@JayZJay

 

I agree with your points, but I would like to see examples of those poor deals, because I am aware of certain deals where "lifetime" is a part of the offering but there were special circumstances in order to get the lifetime service, which could mean that the service or app needs to be requested to lengthen every 1,2 or even 5 years at the actual service. This kind of makes sense to me if their service doesn't even have a lifetime option, just multiples of x years, but even this is even disclosed in the terms, and I try to highlight it now under the "Good to know" section of the articles at Neowin.

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