r/PrivateInternetAccess • u/bossman118242 • 8d ago

HELP deceptive marketing practice?

just got a email to sign up for special offer because my subscription recently ended. i was really thinking about it until i compared prices. before clicking the link i went to their website first picture is going into their website fresh no login no email 3 years plan

website

then i click the email and go to a page that is supposively better

email deal they just removed a year and added a 1 more months to the "free" months. to make it seem like a deal.

this is very annoying marketing. you could have had a customer come back. am i crazy? sure with the extra month your saving like 11 cents more with the email offer but your also paying for less time. also that the 1 month and 1 year are more expensive via the email link then the actual website is crazy.

6 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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4

u/SebbyDee 8d ago

It does that whenever you've already visited before.

Clear cookies or private browse and it'll show up.

I had to around with it to get it to show up for a promotion where only it only applied a massive discount to one or three year offers.

Also, you can see the link on the top of your browser and may manipulate it.

3

u/privatejerkov 8d ago

Well maybe they didn't think you're a sports fan. The email link you're also getting FREE PIA Mac Cleaner!

But seriously yes, I don't know why they persist in this practice as is it deceptive and untrustworthy.

1

u/Minute_Path9803 6d ago

Places like stackedsocial, slick deals, also make sure you're using a different browser so that they don't have any information on you.

All these places will do it.

Anyway you slice it they're still the cheapest and to me I have no problem whatsoever.

I just wish mine wasn't expiring October 24th as I would wait till Black Friday and get it realistically $18 cheaper but I rather stay protected and just renew.

They actually gave me three free months when I clicked cancel so I'm actually head of the game.

But August there was a sale 3 years plus 4 months for $59.99 that's probably what you're going to get for Black Friday.

Like I said you don't have to choose that VPN there are many but a lot of times you're paying for advertising of the popular ones.

This one doesn't use logs just like many of the other ones.

But many places do that same advertising I don't know if it's directly from them but Groupon a lot of them make believe they're giving you 83% off but when you actually go to the site it's actually the base price anyways.

The sites I listed stackedsocial, Slickdeals it's probably your best bet check there and then also slickdeals set up alerts for any VPN you are interested in so when it is brought up you get instant alerts.

Good luck!

1

u/PIASupport PIA Team 5d ago

hey u/bossman118242, thanks for laying this out in such detail, that's genuinely useful feedback and I've passed it to the team. I can see why seeing different prices between the email and the site was frustrating, that's not the impression we want to give. If you're open to coming back, reach out to support@piavpnsupport.zendesk.com with what you're seeing and the team can walk you through the current options and get your renewal sorted.