Getting Premium membership

[kavakelyr]

Hello people, I have a question.

I'm planning to buy a premium membership for some time but I have some doubts about it. How does it work really?

I was thinking on getting a premium membership just to get some benefits like changing the name and some other things but someone around the grid told me that it's a risky decision because Linden Labs bans your account after your Premium membership ends, so idk , I'm kinda scared so I'm in need to ask first

[PekeNL]

No. They don't ban you for ending your premium. They do however have issue with signing up for one, paying for it once and then your card declining subsequent payments. This is what gets people in trouble. I once too forgot to top up my prepaid credit card I use for SL, and LL temporary locked me out until I payed what I owed then and cancelled the subscription.

It's a contract you essentially sign, so you're bound by it. If you can't? then well - They'll take action.

[Ceka Cianci]

If you pay the annual  99.00 a year, you only have to worry about that one payment all year long.. Plus it's much less expensive over the year compared to paying each month..

It's like 40+ dollars less paying annually.

also if you are in an area that has to pat the vat tax, you get hit with the vat tax on the monthly payments, where you don't on the annual.

 

 

[Coffee Pancake]

Always pay annually. You get a much better deal (like, wow, this really is MUCH better).

 

[Lindal Kidd]

1 hour ago, kavakelyr said:

someone around the grid told me that it's a risky decision because Linden Labs bans your account after your Premium membership ends

Absolutely not. But, this is a great example of how real information can get distorted.

For one thing, LL does not like banning accounts. They WANT people in SL, especially people who pay them money.

For another thing, your Premium membership does not "end". It's a subscription, and unless YOU act to cancel it, LL will bill your payment method automatically when it comes up for renewal. This can be monthly or annually, depending on which plan you've selected.

Now here is where that incorrect rumor has a kernel of truth: If LL goes to renew your membership, and the payment fails (for example, your credit card has expired), your account becomes "in arrears". If this goes on long enough (for example, you are taking an extended break from SL and never check your emails), LL may eventually delete your account, or suspend it until you pay what you owe.

[Teagan Tobias]

 

For me, Annual is the only way to go, pay for one year and nothing to worry about for one full year.

If however you do not intend to stay Premium, then BEFORE the end of the one year, downgrade back to basic.

Once you go into the next year you owe for that year.

 

But some things to think about, you can’t downgrade and still have a Linden Home or Mainland Property, you need to abandon your property to downgrade. I think that is wrong, but unless it has changed that is how it works. So abandon you home and property and downgrade to basic and you will have no problems at all.

But if you intend to stay Premium then do nothing and LL will use your payment method and renew your Premium for another year. So keep your payment method up to date and notify LL if it changes.

 

(I have not heard of this changing, but if it has then someone can point to the update document.)

[Polenth Yue]

Another thing that can get you banned would be reversing a payment at your end. So you pay Linden Lab, you get your bank to cancel the payment and return the money to you, and then you get banned. The solution is to always handle this stuff by contacting Linden Lab. For ending a premium membership, that means you change your membership type on the Second Life website, to let them know you're going and not to charge you again. You don't let it renew and then reverse the charge.

[Anna Nova]

I have upgraded several accounts for a month, so that I could buy them new names, and then I downgraded them.  Never had any bother.  The issues come if you claim your land tier, then you can't down-grade until you abandon or sell your land.

I am interested to see what happens to my partner's land.  They died (well, last heard of going to ER with low O2 and Covid) in the pandemic last year, so their annual payment will fail I assume.  LL probably will keep the land as is for some period of grace, send emails to a mailbox that no one looks at, or where the mail bounces, and eventually reclaim the land.  How long will that all take?  I drop by every day to see - a bit macabre really.

[junique Tigerfish]

I am very happy with my premium membership.It is nice to have a place of my own.Thru the help of some kind forum posters,I managed to snag a houseboat which I absolutely love.I agree the yearly membership is a better deal,just no idea where I will be in a year.With the weekly stipend,almost like having my spot for free.I was very excited by premium plus,but a lot of the perks aren't really necessary for me.Maybe when the larger parcels appear I might change my mind.I would recommend premium to anyone.

[Persephone Emerald]

On 7/11/2022 at 11:49 AM, Anna Nova said:

I have upgraded several accounts for a month, so that I could buy them new names, and then I downgraded them.  Never had any bother.  The issues come if you claim your land tier, then you can't down-grade until you abandon or sell your land.

I am interested to see what happens to my partner's land.  They died (well, last heard of going to ER with low O2 and Covid) in the pandemic last year, so their annual payment will fail I assume.  LL probably will keep the land as is for some period of grace, send emails to a mailbox that no one looks at, or where the mail bounces, and eventually reclaim the land.  How long will that all take?  I drop by every day to see - a bit macabre really.

As a reminder, if someone in your land group has donated tier and then disappeared from SL, their donation will stay until someone removes it or their Premium account is canceled. If they've donated tier and perhaps forgotten about it, LL will keep taking out their subscription fee until either their account runs out of money or someone stops this. Then their tier will disappear from your group's landholdings, and your group information will have a small notice on it saying that you don't have enough donated tier to cover the land you hold.

At this point you can either pay for more tier, get someone else to donate tier, slice off part of your land to abandon or sell the part you can't cover, or sell or abandon the whole parcel. I think LL is supposed to send you an email notice if you don't have enough tier to cover your land, but I never saw an email when this happened to me.

LL will not immediately do anything to penalize the group owner if the group doesn't hold enough tier for the land it has, so you have time to deal with the problem. Just be sure to check your land holdings regularly to make sure everything is still good. 

You can check your friend's land group notices if you're in the group too, without having to go to their land. If you're not in the group, you may still be able to see if the group doesn't have enough tier to cover their land. My neighbor was in this situation for years before their land was eventually abandoned.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Persephone Emerald