Rant! Handango’s Download Protection Is A Joke Gone Sour – Use Gmail As Free Download Protection
Louis reminded me about Handango’s "Download Protection" racket. This is where Handango tries to charge you $4.99 for each application you purchase to (and I quote) "Fee safe" about your purchase. This is the reason I boycotted them a bit back but there is quite a bit of software that can only be found on Handango. This really gets ridiculous when your are buying a $10 game with a $5 protection fee.
Now the joke gets even worse! If you need to re-download an application from Handango after 30 days from your purchase they will now charge you $6.99 to buy "Download Protection" after the fact. This is starting to sound like a car/TV warranty… Oh and the best part is that even the "Download Protection" is only good for 3 years. These files must be really expensive for Handango to store… Especially at a few hundred kilobytes a piece. 
Oh and it gets even better. They still try to charge you $6.99 for applications that have a free trial in their store!!! That free trial is the SAME file they are charging you a "Protection" fee to store for you. Kind of sounds like the mob.
So like I recommend a simple and free "Download Protection" service. Just email the install files to your Gmail account for some free download protection. Or most developers will gladly send you the install files free if you send them your order confirmation. They don’t see any of the money from the "Download Protection" fee and so are usually glad to screw Handango.
If you tried both of the ways above with no luck you can always try the BBB. Handango is accredited with the BBB and has resolved all of their complaints in the last 36 months.
I wonder if Handango is going to try to sell extended warranties along with the download protection soon… I can see it already: $10 app + $4.99 protection + $3.99 extended warranty + $2.99 extended support…
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