tos [ANSWERED] Question(s) about premium "sponsoring" a friend

[Ceradala Heartsong]

Edit: Thanks to all who answered my questions! It means a great deal to me!

Since the decision to bring back last names and also first names has become an actual effort (timing's irrelevant to me here), I've been in contact with a very close friend, who joined SL long before I did. I would like to, if the ToS even allows it (been a while since I skimmed it), sponsor a temporary (possibly even permanent) premium membership for her, to allow her to change her first name in-game and to receive a larger stipend than she does now (she got lucky and receives the L$100 legacy stipend).

My questions about the matter are:

• Is it against the ToS to make such an arrangement, sponsoring two different users on a single payment method if all involved parties consent to it?
• If she needs to downgrade to basic for any reason, will she lose her legacy stipend?

Anybody who can provide me with any answers will have my gratitude!

Edited January 25, 2020 by Ceradala
Question has been satisfactorily answered.

[Alyona Su]

43 minutes ago, Ceradala said:

Since the decision to bring back last names and also first names has become an actual effort (timing's irrelevant to me here), I've been in contact with a very close friend, who joined SL long before I did. I would like to, if the ToS even allows it (been a while since I skimmed it), sponsor a temporary (possibly even permanent) premium membership for her, to allow her to change her first name in-game and to receive a larger stipend than she does now (she got lucky and receives the L$100 legacy stipend).

My questions about the matter are:

• Is it against the ToS to make such an arrangement, sponsoring two different users on a single payment method if all involved parties consent to it?
• If she needs to downgrade to basic for any reason, will she lose her legacy stipend?

Anybody who can provide me with any answers will have my gratitude!

You can "gift" a premium subscription to someone else. @Patch Linden (okay, maybe not Patch, but I recall it was he) mentioned this in a long-ago forum post in a thread with the same question. I recalll the official comment was - and I paraphrase:

"It can be done, though it's a manual process for back-end reasons and we are happy to do it. Just message me directly about it."

So, perhaps send a Forum Private Message to Patch Linden. If he cannot help you directly, I'm sure he will be happy to direct you to the Linden who can.

As for putting two different users on the same "Payment information" - yes you can do that, but if it's not an alt you control, I'm not sure I would recommend it.

Edited January 24, 2020 by Alyona Su

[Lindal Kidd]

And, if someone downgrades to Basic and then becomes Premium again, they do lose any legacy stipend arrangements and are covered under whatever the current stipend rules may be.

[Alwin Alcott]

And (2) just going premium won't cover the name change, there is a additional fee of  nearly USD 50.. and (3) permanent nor temporary premium excist, it's on subscription base.
Not mentioned yet, but the basic stipend doesn't continue during premium, ánd loose both when downgrading.

Edited January 24, 2020 by Alwin Alcott

[LittleMe Jewell]

If you are Premium, contact Live Support and they'll give you the details of how to do it.  Otherwise, open up a Support ticket.  Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure you can also call the Billing Support number:
    Toll-Free (US/Canada): 800.294.1067
    Long-Distance: 703.286.6277  

I paid for a year of my mom's membership, but that was back in 2008/2009, so I don't remember the exact process, though it isn't difficult.

Edited January 25, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell