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Heck, I spent many minutes perusing most (not all!) of this thread, and some of the comments on the Tor site, so might as well weigh in with my 2 cents' worth (or less).
Honestly, I am more in line with Tor on this issue than with the complainers. I mean, look at this thread title even. "Screwed" by Tor? For giving away free samples? I find complaining about that to be silly also.
Reality check: Tor sells books. To advertise, attract more customers, raise awareness about their products, etc., they advertise. Give away free samples even.How? Well, one relatively easy and definitely inexpensive way is to make samples available in electronic form. Which is exactly what they did. And not little teaser excerpts, but entire books! (Even if some are part of a series--consider them 'excerpts on steroids' if you must.)
So what did they do wrong? Nothing. They gave away FREE samples to promote their authors. Never claimed to be doing otherwise. How else should they do this? Print up thousands of paper books and distribute them with zero cover price, hoping some will make it to interested customers? Inefficient, expensive, and just not a viable approach.
So they gave away free electronic samples. Anyone with a computer can read them. No manufacturing costs. Here's the advertising concept: You read a free book, like the author and/or the beginning of a series, and seek out more by buying their other books! If you want to read something, you will go out and borrow or buy it.
What I see here is a lot of self-centerdness by some folks who feel they were 'duped' or 'screwed' by seeking out and accepting something that was free. Assuming they should have the 'right' to get more product in their preferred format, which was NEVER stated or promised, as far as I can tell. That *is* an attitude of entitlement, no way around it (despite many denials I've seen). The samples were in electronic format because it is a great advertising/distribution option for samples. You like the sample, you buy the company's product. Tor's product is paper books. You don't like it, oh well. It didn't cost you anything. No one forced you to download it, much less read it.
I can see why Tor reps think it's silly that a reader who got free samples of entire books feels 'screwed' and 'misled' because of their own assumptions, not based on any statement or announcement by Tor itself. I think it's silly too. Good book or series? I'll look for more of the same. Even in paper format. I'm not going to whine and complain because the 'more' isn't available in my preferred format. Heck, I've been reading paper books my entire life. Have many shelves crammed full of them, even. Just because I have a Reader, I have not lost the ability to buy or borrow paper books, nor turn pages made of wood pulp. If I want to read something, I will read it in whatever form. And if I do like any of these samples, after I get around to reading them, I will seek out and read more.
The other thing I see from this is Tor's awareness that there is a demand for more books in electronic form. As far as I can tell, they are listening and did not at any time say "screw you, we only publish paper books and that's the only way it will ever be." Tor's reaction to people complaining about getting free samples parallels my own above. DL'ing free e-books does not "entitle" you to get more in that same format. Expressing indignation about being 'misled' is silly, IMO.
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