why is linden labs screwin people over as far as prepaid credit cards go?..

[Gina Godric]

i recently called up second life billing support and was far less than pleased as they told me that prepaid mastercards, etc are no longer accepted as a form of payment. they never informed anyone of this and i find it rather unfair as it leaves people like me with no recourse for putting money into sl.. im extremely angry over this matter.. now.. does anyone have any idea besides pay pal and a card registered in your name as to how to get money into sl simply to buy the goddamn L's... excuse my lang.. but im extremely dissapointed and angry with second life as a whole. if this issue isn't fixed.. i don't see much reason to stay in sl.. i work in rl.. i don't come to sl to work when i get home. i have already dropped my premium status as i have no way to keep it paid up due to this issue.

[Rolig Loon]

Most prepaid cards have never been accepted for Second Life.  That's not a new policy.  It has been true as long as I have been in SL --- nearly six years. 

When you list a credit card with LL as a payment method, they want some assurance that they will always be able to draw against it.  If your card is a credit card, then its balance is always backed up by your bank account.  If it's a prepaid card, however, LL can't be sure that it will always have money in it.  Unfortunately, LL's accounting system isn't fast, like an ATM, so it can't double check in real time to find out either.  Being conservative, LL decides not to trust prepaid cards on principle.  (It doesn't help, either, that many prepaid cards are untraceable.  Gift cards that you can buy at the local supermarket are very handy, but they are also favorites of people who are trying to leave no paper trail.  If you run up a balance with LL and your gift card can't cover it, LL has no way to go after you for it. PIOF is only as good if it is verifiable.)

[Innula Zenovka]

You might check out some of the Third Party Exchanges listed here.   A lot of them seem to be more flexible about payment arrangements than are LL.