Scheduled downgrade from Premium revokes land rights

[lumi]

Hello dear forum,

A couple of weeks ago,  I decided to downgrade to Basic again after about a year at Premium.  This is the only avatar I've kept at Premium during this period, although I have had premium accounts for most of the past several years, often more than one.  Although I did take a break for a year or two, I feel I have a good handle on managing land, and most of the quirks of billing as relates to group land.

After releasing my Mainland parcel (abandoned), and removing my tier contribution to the group land, I then proceeded to the dashboard to set to downgrade even though I had 2 months left at Premium.  Of course, the stipend does continue to be paid to me every Tuesday, but all other rights seem to be revoked.  Specifically, there is no option to claim a Linden home for the duration of my prepaid premium period. 

Also, the premium account on the dashboard is locked; showing a light brown narrative window that states my downgrade date in mid-November, so I cannot change it to monthly billing or make any change at all.  It is locked on course.

What I would like to know is whether one is allowed to claim a Linden home before setting the account to downgrade to Basic at some far off time in the future.  Or does the downgrade process require you to surrender even the Linden home, despite that one might have a long time left in "prepaid" premium status, especially if the renewal was set for annual. There is a warning on the premium page that states:

Quote

^*Downgrade Warning: If you choose to downgrade from Premium to a Basic membership, all Premium benefits will be lost, and re-upgrading to Premium at a later date will gain whatever premium membership benefits are in effect at the time the membership is upgraded. Original Premium benefits will not be restored.

"All Premium benefits will be lost"...ok, got that, but when?  Wouldn't most people think this implies that those "benefits" will be lost at the effective date of the downgrade, and not immediately?? That's what I thought, although I'm sure I should gotten a clue when it made me release my land tier first. 

For the future, I would like clarification on this, so that I can make a note to not downgrade until closer to the end of the paid Premium subscription.

And yes, I did file a ticket but haven't heard anything, although I guess it's a bad idea to pose a rhetorical question in a Billing support queue. 

[MoiraKathleen]

It is true that you cannot own land - or a Linden Home - once you start the downgrade to Basic membership.  In fact, if you have a Linden Home, you won't be able to downgrade until you abandon the Linden Home.  As far as I can tell from my past experiences, owning land (or Linden Home) is the only premium right that is revoked at the time you make the downgrade request.

Once when I changed my mind after initiating the downgrade process, and wanted to keep my premium status, I used Live Chat to make that request, and my premium status was reinstated during the Live Chat session. 

[lumi]

Thanks, moirakathleen!

I couldn't recall if one had to abandon the Linden Home to set the account to downgrade, but thanks for verifying that for me.

Yes, the Live Chat might be a better approach to just reverse the downgrade, thanks for the suggestion.

Frankly, I did not realize how much I need my own music stream! 

[BilliJo Aldrin]

You can use all that money you saved by giving up premium to buy a parcel on an estate and have your own stream again.

*rolls eyes*

[Chic Aeon]

IF you don't remember to downgrade a month PRIOR to when premium is up --- you end up paying $5 (for a 512) or more for the month during your downgrade since land tier is for the previous month. So you did fine. You can always rent :D.

[Chic Aeon]

3 hours ago, lumi said:

 

Frankly, I did not realize how much I need my own music stream! 

Some landlords let you set your own stream and you can rent a 512 lot for around $125 a week. So fifty cents ish

[lumi]

Thanks for the useful reminders about renting; I had checked out a few yesterday but nothing at that rate! 

 

[lumi]

Live Chat did simply reverse the downgrade for me, and I have my music in an alpine setting but of course i crave that altitude.

I suppose the old advice that lag is reduced above 3000 meters still applies? But regardless, i like to rez platforms ridiculously high, and never see giant black boxes nearby, and so on.

Very useful advice about renting on an estate, and obviously, can never be repeated enough.  Renting is always an option without premium; unless your account wants to purchase Mainland. I will have to decide if it's only the music stream that I need.  Of course, if I am absent for awhile as a premium, it's nice to find the stipend balance. 

Plus, Live Chat is a very nice feature, when you need it.   Thanks, everyone, for the help and advice!