Stipends (I know this has been asked before)

[Drizzt Naumova]

Hi everyone. I have a question. I was wanting to upgrade my account to premium, But I wasn't sure I would be getting the 500L stipend or not. My account was made back in 2005. (10/92005) to be exact. I signed up with the credit card info and I also still get a 50L stipend from back then. My question is, Since it is pre-2006, would I get the 500L or 300L? I tried contacting support via phone and talked to a rep there, and he said he wasn't sure that he hadn't had to deal with any accounts pre-2005, so he wasn't sure. He opened and escalated a ticket for me, and this is the email reply that I recieved:

Thank you for contacting Linden Lab Support.  I understand you have questions pertaining to L$ stipend and I'd be happy to assist.

Accounts created prior to July 21, 2006 should receive L$500 with their premium membership.

However, we unfortunately do not have any way to guarantee this. Due to the way the system works, it is possible your stipend could have been reset to L$300.

Regretfully, we're unable to fix it if the system reverts you to the current L$300 stipends.

If you have any additional concerns please don't hesitate to let me know.  For all new issues please submit a new case.

Hmm, Sounds pretty cryptic to me. It kinda sound like I would be playing a game of pay-in mystery box with no guarantees of the grand prize. Anyone have any suggestions or answers to this that they might want to share?

Thanks in advance.

[KarenMichelle Lane]

I'm pretty sure that becoming a Premium Member now regardless of your original sign-up date nets you only the current perks. The perks you stated were in effect back then for account holders that chose to become Premium Members while they were valid promotions. They have changed several times since with the new perks replacing the previous perks.

You would have needed to become a Premium Member back when the original offer of a L$500/week stipend was valid.

 

 

[BlueTrianon]

I was able to successfully upgrade an account that qualified for the $500/week stipend within the last two years or so.  It had never been premium before.  I think what sometimes resets you is having premium at $500/week, then dropping the premium for a while, and then signing back up for premium.  I've never tried it with my account that qualifies for the $50/week stipend.  I'd imagine if you sign up for premium that $50/week is lost, meaning, you'd get the $500/week but if you dropped premium you'd be left with nothing.