Deals, Mourned

By consumerist.com May 26, 2006

Way back in the olde tyme of March 1, 2006, our Morning Deals Roundup led many of our readers to lie to Microsoft in hopes of receiving a free USB drive.

Instead of receiving the freebie 6-8 weeks later, they got a message 12 weeks later that Bill Gates had run out of USB drives.

Would-be flashers received an email today informing, “Supply is depleted at this time, so we encourage you to please utilize the online alternative today.” What? An online version of a flash drive? No, the online alternative they suggest is to purchase Windows licenses.

A strange bait and switch, almost, a mystery…which is a mystery unto itself because the guiding drive of the campaign was, “Some things will always be a mystery, Windows Licensing doesn’t have to be.”

Apprently it chooses to be so anyway all on its lonesome. (Thanks to Jpa and Jim!)

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Comments

  1. CTSLICK says:
    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Hah! I just got my “too late their all gone” email too. Looking back on this I realize they probably had a fairly small quantity available to begin with. I know, I know…it was going to be free but I still feel a little jilted by the whole thing.

  2. kerry says:
    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    So sad — I actually opted not to purchase inexpensive flash drives at a couple points during the last 12 weeks thinking “oh, my free one from MS should be here any day now.” Dammit!

  3. any such name says:
    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    as if they couldn’t afford 100,000 drives to send to us all. please.

  4. CTSLICK says:
    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    For that matter, who actually got one? Time for a Consumerist follow up poll?

  5. crayonshinobi says:
    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Isn’t that false advertising? I mean…did it say supplies are limited anywhere?

  6. thrillhouse says:
    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    false advertising? no, there really is 10 hotdogs per pack vs. 8 buns per pack.

    it does seem as tho you’d be hard pressed to find someone who actually got one.

  7. matto says:
    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I’m sure they’ll be happy to abuse the contact and other information we gave them in exchange for the drive, however.

    What a shafty bait-and-switch. I’m never buying MS again!