Really, it's rather embarrassing it took this long! Effective immediately, ALL Killer Mobile ® Apps have been removed from Handango.com and all of it's related websites. We've been selling on Hanango since 2003. In fact our AutoPilot application was one of the first Symbian/S60 applications listed with them. So Why would we stop selling through them? Good question, even if the answer is a tad bit obvious. Here's our list of Why Handango Sucks.
- Handango is the greediest mobile apps portal anywhere. In most cases they take 50% of the sales price, but it doesn't come close to stopping there. They pile in fees, and skewed exchange rates so the average take ends up being 58% or higher. Our last sale on their site ended up being a purchase in Euros, and when converted reduced our so called "developer sales price" to $17.70, rather than the $19.95 sales price set by us. Handango didn't lose anything on the deal, quite the opposite. Since they only gave us a 1.36 exchange rate to the US Dollar, while the actual Euro to US Dollar Exchange rate is 1.45, they still took in about $20, but since they gave us the shaft on the exchange rate, we'll only see about $8.85 (if we're lucky), which is utterly ridiculous.
- Unreal Fraud Rates. Perhaps Handango likes chargebacks? We certainly don't. But even on purchases from Granny Smith out of Boca Raton, FL, Handango happily issues a registration code too
ulimatehacker@hotmail.com with zero questions asked. Why do they care anyways. The developer takes the hit. And to make matters worse, even after the chargeback comes, they're completely belligerent to the fact that
ultimatehacker@hotmail.com is requesting a new reg. code for another device.
- Unless you pay for top placement, you get buried so low, that who really cares how much Handango takes - you hardly sell anything anyways. Having a reseller rip you off is one thing, then having to pay for the privilege of them ripping you off any more is just stupid.
- Worthless & incompetent support. I'm starting to think they either hire non-english speaking minimum wage employees for their front line support, or they're not even using humans at all. Although it appears that someone is supposed to read the initial support emails that go to them (that's part of their rationale for such as high profit take), when it comes down to it, they absolutely do not. Half of the time you get an email with zero useful information, no device details, no IMEI details if it's a registration issue, no version issue - nothing! Not having to deal with their worthless support is enough of a reason do ditch them to begin with.
- They're hypocrites. A few years back, when Total Recall was named Spy Call, the application was disabled by Handango telling us they did not want to sell applications with the name "Spy". Fair enough. However a few weeks later we noticed them running Adwords & Yahoo Pay Per Click campaigns for "Spy Call" - the exact app they de-listed weeks prior. WTF???
- Handango is run by mental midgets. Not only is their technology completely out of date, it appears to have been created by ex-burger flippers. It comes as no surprise they're based out of Texas. For one, the US as a whole is completely backwards when it comes to Mobile Technology, but Texas? Jesus, you can't be any more backwater. I mean, Fresno California would be more fitting than ANYWHERE in Texas. Just their Geographical location speaks volumes. When you're known as the "Flea Market" of online mobile app stores, and the butt of many a joke, you know you're very close to the death spiral - and deservedly so.
With that said - why would you buy ANYTHING, let alone Killer Mobile ® apps, from Handango.com? For Killer Mobile ® apps you're better buying directly from
www.killermobile.com - For one, the application is far cheaper, in most cases 30% less than you'd pay for it on Handango.com. You'll receive better and faster customer support, discounts on future purchases, faster updates and more. For Mobile Apps in general, why not go to GetJar.com where you can download free demos, then link directly to the developers site. Or, check out the platform specific stores like Ovi.com, Android Market, WM Marketplace, or BlackBerry App World. They treat the developer in a much more fair, reasonable manner, and provide a far superior buying experience than handango.
Enough ranting. Give us your opinion and tell us Why Handango sucks in our forums, and let us know where you like to buy your Killer Apps!
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