For me it's the combination of the freebies and the fact that a 3-pack bought directly from them has 5 seeds in it, together that makes a real difference. So yeah, it's been a time suck and unnecessarily stressful to buy from them directly, but I guess to me it's worth it. I've been lucky, except for this last Monday when the site went completely down, every time I've tried I've gotten something. Also, for some reason all of the banks that I've gone to for Meph seeds either don't take CC's, only have overpriced 7 packs, or require I send a picture of my photo ID and CC, and I won't do that. So far for me, seed banks haven't been an alternative.
The Night Owl strain that tempted me was Spotless Mind, I love the combination (Fugue State x Cosmic Queen). I've got some STS, I understand how random making my own F1's can be (pretty much zero pheno selection, just hit or miss), but starting this winter I'm thinking I'll make some of my own "freebies", and then try a SOG, 1/2 homemade freebies and 1/2 Meph freebies, and see how they compare.