[DEAD as of 7/3] Red Hot (?): Western Digital 3TB external HD deals at Tigerdirect

[Muse]

Got an email today from them, subject:

? HOT: 3TB Ext Hard Drive $99 (or $59 w/ bundle) - Ends Tonight 7/3

I have a look and the HD is $99.99 after rebate but bundled with Total Defense Internet Security, apparently with the same HD, the deal is $59.99 after rebate.

Why would it be cheaper with the other item? Can't you just ignore or toss the other item? What is that stuff???

Is this a good/hot deal??? Sure looks cheap to me, is there a catch?

Hard drive alone: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=556458&CatId=136

Hard drive bundle: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8036714&csid=_22

 

[ElFenix]

you have to sign up for their service, give them a credit card number, and remember to cancel it before they charge you. guess which of these 3 steps people don't do?

 

[CPA]

Looks like the security software has a 60 annual fee, so they are subsidizing the harddrive in hopes to have enough signups that will pay the fee. That said, many of the reviews of the software state it's horrible.

 

[NickelPlate]

It's a good deal if you're willing to put up with the sleazy sales bundle tactic and want to try your luck at cancelling the subscription to the required shovelware. I'd be willing to bet it's a very frustrating process.

 

[Muse]

Thanks for the aha demystifications.

Edit: Isn't the $100 HD only (after rebate) a pretty good deal?

 

[smackababy]

Eh, it is $119.99 on Amazon with no rebate, so I don't know how much of a good deal it is.

 

[Wyndru]

Ugh tigerdirect and their shady deals. That place really has gone down the drain over the last 10 years.

It surprises me, they are a pretty big company, but they still handle their business like a small mom and pop internet storefront.

 

[Muse]

I bought the HD, without the bundle. Just printed out my rebate form. I did one like this before through Tigerdirect, they send you a $30 American Express card. You have ~9 months (something like that) to use it or you start incurring $2/month service fees. My last one expired end of June, I found out about the fees a couple of weeks before and used up the card. You have to keep track of what's left on the card, i.e. if you don't, you have to call American Express to find out how much remains... my local grocery had no way to find out if X remained on the card, I could only say try X and if it went through, you're good, if not, guess again!
- - - -

copy/paste:

The American Express ® Reward Card

This Prepaid Card is a prepaid American Express Card and may be used at merchants in the U.S. that accept American Express® Cards.
This Card can be used instantly.
This Card is given to you as a Reward and no consideration, value, or money has been paid by you in exchange for this Card.
Free replacement of lost or stolen card.
Card cannot be used at cruise lines, for recurring billing charges, at casinos or ATMs.
Funds do not expire, service fees apply.
See Cardholder agreement for complete terms and conditions.
Cardholder agreement available at www.americanexpress.com/reward.
Issued by AEPCMC under license from ©2010 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
For questions about the Card, including balance inquiries, contact 1-800-297-7327.

 

[WilhelmII]

I now use all my rebate cards to immediately buy Amazon gift certificates. They can be any amount and don't expire. I buy more from Amazon than anywhere else.

For these things that require credit card subscriptions, I always use virtual CC numbers for a couple of dollars and make them expire long before the subscription is up.

 

[Craig234]

These marketing approaches have them offer big discounts for signing up for their product, counting on people who won't cancel.

We're entitled to take advantage of that and get the discount with no plan to consider buying the subscription, but I don't feel it's right.

It seems to me there's an implied deal you should at least be willing to consider buying that subscription - if you decide it's not worth it, cancel.

It's their fault for offering that deal - and the customers who buy their product have to pay for all those others who just grab the discount, making it a lot more expensive.

Kind of like timeshares where the few buyers pay for all those goodies given to the people who just attend and have no plan to buy.

So personally I'd lean towards either buying or not buying the $100 deal - that seems more honest and fair - and that seems like a good deal.

For people embarrassingly who don't bother with the install of an internal hard drive.

Not sure how much worse the performance is for the USB 2.0 compared to an internal mount, but I'd think it has to be a lot slower. But a nice deal for storage. Considering.

 

[Muse]

So personally I'd lean towards either buying or not buying the $100 deal - that seems more honest and fair - and that seems like a good deal.

For people embarrassingly who don't bother with the install of an internal hard drive.

Not sure how much worse the performance is for the USB 2.0 compared to an internal mount, but I'd think it has to be a lot slower. But a nice deal for storage. Considering.

Yeah, I have enough mularky to deal with, I don't need a hidden cancel-or-else deal, so I went for the $100.

I "don't bother with the install of an internal hard drive" because my desktop doesn't support drives that big... yes, I'm overdue for an upgrade. I will not buy a PC outright, I'll buy a mobo, CPU, RAM, at least one internal HD, and assemble like I always do.

I need external HDs for backup purposes, also storage. I am buying this one so I can support an off-site backup regimen wherein I prepare the latest backup and swap the drive with the last one placed off-site. I have a lot of data I'd hate to lose. I actually have three 2TB WD Elements externals now, but I need two in the house, at least with my present systems. I had one die on me around 1.5 years ago, I lost a lot of data. I believe in redundancy!

 

[Ricochet]

Thought I would chime in as I did get a $70 Total Defense rebate card from a prior deal.

Read the thread on the core i5 cpu deal. Pay specific attention to DeadMilkman's posts. Key points:
1. You do NOT have to install the software to take advantage of the rebate.
2. Do NOT use your credit card for subscription activation. Use your prepaid debit card.

 

[killster1]

i think the title should be changed because i instantly thought of wd red 3tb when i saw it. but i guess i dont read the same as everyone else i have purchased 3 of the red 3tb for 125$ each so far imagine they have 4 years warranty at least. would this be a comparable drive with only 1 year warranty?


i was wondering if you really needed to install it.. what is the activation for then.. no charge but in a month they will do 60$ 1 year fee?