Why Does LL Hate Premium Account Referrals?
by Alphaville Herald on 24/01/09 at 10:00 pm
Is Robin Linden powerless to pay up -or- kill off the account referral program?
No L$2000 referral bonuses for accounts created after July 23rd 2008
by PIxeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk
At least one player grows restless over at http://www.profileslive.com/ and points out the Lab has run a broken premium account referral program for over 6 months. SHOCK!
Still, there is good news – the web page touting the wonders of premium account referrals has some washed-out-gray teeny-tiny-type saying the drag-yo-buddies-into-the-SL-lag-pit referral program could end at any time and without notice – but… guys? Maybe take the web page down now? You’ve had six months and it is getting a little embarrassing.
Our source points out the L$ spacebux financial implications of the issue saying, “Although still officially announced by Linden Lab, this program has been broken for about 6 months. It seems that the program hasn't made any payouts for new accounts signed up after July 21. A Jira was opened up by Adz Childs several months ago and the problem was acknowledged to me by Robin Harper on December 22 of 2008. Several times I've requested to either fix the issue, announce the end of the refer-a-friend program, or acknowledge the problem. As I mentioned to Linden Lab, this is false advertising and you can't just act as if nothing is wrong!“
According to our source, “this isn't the first time that the refer-a-friend program has been broken. A few years ago the refer-a-friend program was also broken for about 1/2 year.”
This sounds like a problem then. But if everyone will just try to plan for a collective summer, hold steady, and stay positive things will work out – eventually.
Rico Roizman
Jan 24th, 2009
Once again, Linden Labs with their never-ending bullshit.
nimrod yaffle
Jan 24th, 2009
LAB. Linden LAB. NOT Linden LABS. Why does everyone screw this up. Linden LAB.
Prokofy Neva
Jan 24th, 2009
There’s a very strange correlary to this, which I keep reporting on trouble tickets and no one does anything about it.
For a year now, in fact I’ve been getting payouts from the referrals system — but for people I referred about 4 years ago, some of whom don’t even log on any more. The system isn’t supposed to work that way. I also get payments from several shortlived day-old accounts of griefers who put my name down as a reference even when I haven’t referred them, in order to use the system as a kind of calling card forcer (it used to force a calling card exchange, but that’s broken for just about everybody — except I’m still getting the cards).
I get these referal payments sometimes even repeatedly in one month, $500 for each person, sometimes totalling to $2000. I keep reporting it, because obviously if I’m getting these payments, so are others, and it’s broken.
Sophia~
Jan 25th, 2009
Yesterday I received a call from a dear friend. I’ve known her since I was 5 years old and hated to see her move a few years back to Florida. Last year I suggested she join Second life so we could enjoy some laughs or maybe even help her start a business. She tried to join SL last January but for some reason she never made a touchdown. she couldn’t get on and she could not get in touch with LL.
she had given them all her information and was going to have a premium account. whoop -t- doo . Well she said the heck with it and gave up. I know she tried because we were on the phone trying to figure out what the heck happened and why she couldn’t get in.
Just yesterday I got an email from Second Life that i had been given 500L for refering my friend so and so. MY FRIEND!!! HAHA she never got in! and that was a year ago. Well she called yesterday to tell me that the swines tried to bill her credit card for her membership. Hello!!! What membership she never got in and her account has been inactive for a year!
Id like to say I find this very odd but I can’t. nothing surprises me anymore with them. They couldn’t get her cash lol because she closed the credit card anyway. How many other people are they going after that haven’t been on for over a year? But then again she wasn’t even ever able to ever log in.
I know things are tuff over there in the land of Linden but this is crossing the line. Thanks for the 500L even though its a little late. I’d like to know just how many people they are trying to bill that haven’t been on and that don’t look at their bills often. Bunch of crooks. And the service stinks.
Hey also someone mentioned in a reply about the Xstreet purchase and how LL could use it as a way to distribute goods to other grids. I had the same thoughts. It could just possibly be the way to distribute goods to other grids.
I don’t know what this year holds for me and sl but it isn’t looking to good right now and im sure others feel the same.
they Beta get going or I’m going to find another playground.
I worked for companies that were on the cutting edge of technology yesterday lol and they didn’t take this long to launch a decent product. This is getting a bit humiliating I would say to those who work there. Good luck to them lol.
Why don’t they go thru all the accounts and see who hasn’t logged in in over a year and send a sweet message asking them why? Instead of billing them first. It could be an easy task for one of their programmers to do.
Why the heck would they try and bill someone who never even made it in? Seems to be a bit of a scam to me. Why don’t they just check the status of the account before billing. Send a friendly reminder asking something like do you still want to be a member or not lol before we bill you. Billing people is just wrong to me because so many people could possibly miss it and LL would get the cash. Sounds like a Luke (you know who lol) email to me asking if they don’t replay to this email he gets to keep their Lindens.
Dear “My friends avatar name,”
This email is notification that we were unable to bill your Second Life account on January 22, 2009. Please review your Second Life membership and billing information, and make sure everything is up-to-date. Some of the more common mistakes are:
* Your credit card may have been declined for insufficient funds.
* Your credit card may be expired.
* You may have entered an incorrect expiration date for your credit card.
* Your billing address may not match the address on your credit card.
Additionally, your bank or credit card company may have flagged the charges for review. If none of the above are true and you suspect this to be the case, please contact them to authorize the charges from Linden Lab.
If you are using Paypal, check your Paypal account’s verification and backing. Your Paypal account must be verified and backed by a funding source other than a credit card. (We are unable to accept Paypal accounts backed by credit cards.) Make sure the Merchant Agreement with Linden Lab is current, and make sure you haven’t exceeded your Paypal transfer limits.
If everything looks correct, you may want to contact your credit card issuer (or Paypal as appropriate) to identify the problem.
Don’t worry; this billing failure will not prevent you from logging on with your Second Life account. We will simply try to bill your overdue balance again the next day. If we are unable to collect the amount due within seven (7) days, your account will be suspended pending payment for an additional thirty (30) days. During that time, you will not be able to log in to Second Life. Alt accounts may be placed into administrative hold and you may be logged out of active sessions during this time as well. Failure to resolve this billing issue by the end of the probation period may result in the cancellation of your account. If you have verified the accuracy of your billing information, and are not aware of other outstanding issues that would prevent billing, please contact us through the support portal (https://secondlife.com/support ) as soon as possible.
To review or modify your account details, or to change or cancel your Second Life membership, visit https://secondlife.com/account.
Best Wishes,
Linden Lab and the Second Life Team
http://www.secondlife.com
Linden Lab
945 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
Sophia~
Jan 25th, 2009
I knew something was wrong. But isnt that always the case now?
I just loved that email they sent. Dot YOUR I’s and cross YOUR T’s to make sure YOU or YOUR bank didn’t do anything wrong that prevented us from billing YOUR credit card. hehe Oh and the…
“Don’t worry; this billing failure will not prevent you from logging on with your Second Life account.”
Im laughing because it follows with this statement…
“We will simply try to bill your overdue balance again the next day. If we are unable to collect the amount due within seven (7) days, your account will be suspended pending payment for an additional thirty (30) days.”
Wouldn’t it have just been less painful for THEM to have just inquired first as to whether or not THEY /YOU wanted to remain a member? I mean they have to have some kind of database, search engine that spits out some kind of information regarding active and non-active accounts..come on.
Why don’t they just pull a Luke. Send out a mass mailing to all their customers. A survey of some kind asking how often do you log into second life or are you still or do you want to remain a resident of second life or something like why don’t you like us anymore kind of question.
I think it would save some time and money for many people involved in the transaction request. The bank or credit card company wouldn’t have to decline payment and the x-resident wouldn’t have to respond to their bank or what ever payment method they chose at the time that forget it thank you.
I mean isn’t it a good time now for Linden Labs to go out of their way now to just send out a mass email to all their clients / residents and straight out ask them to reply lol (ohhh big long list of emails to read thru hehe maybe not)but then again they could sort them as a yes or no to get a real figure as to home many people really are on Second life. I’d like to know I guess what the real numbers are.
hehe is it me or is there something really smelly there hehe. Oh boy they can be very entertaining.
WhoTheF*** Asked You?
Jan 25th, 2009
Rico who the PHUCK asked you? STFU you role playing nicholASS throw back piece O shit!
No one gives a rats ass what the **** you think or say douchebag.
SAME AS IT EVA WUZ MOTHER****ER
SAME
AS
IT
EVA
WUZ
Go run back to your “L” shaped compound of wasted SIM space and pull your pud to the likes of those nicholASS flee bitten internet chair potatoe skanky smellin hoes or if we had you all wrong, then one of your numerous butt buddies.
LOA’sO!
@ YEW
RICO
SUAVE
PIECE
O
SHIT
Sophia!
Jan 25th, 2009
To “WhoTheF*** Asked You?”
I usually would not respond to comments like but thank you. I am one of those that often types “Linden Labs” its habit.
I don’t care if it’s “Linden Lab” or “Linden Labs” or “Linden Research, Inc” people know what your talking about. I’m not looking to win the Pulitzer Prize here. I’m just conveying something I’ve either experienced or know about to an audience that’s related to what I’m writing about.
If they think that’s annoying well its just as annoying to have someone correct you all the time. Who the heck cares!
It all means the same thing.
We are just trying to say once again they messed up and I hope they get things straightened out soon because this is getting really old. Evey other day something comes out that’s wrong.
I understand what the new CEO was brought in to do. Ok yes a lot of what he is doing makes a lot of business sense but as far as I’m concerned what they should be more concerned about is stabilizing the product before restructuring its appeal and character. Meaning now its an educational tool for all ages to wonder about and engage in such a wonderful free environment.
Wink!
I think someone should have thunk a bit more before they tossed the batton to this guy as to the direction they wanted to take and what it had already become. Its an adult site period at the present moment.
On the other hand I could see this platform used the way they see it too. But they are going to be walking on some thin ice. Yes they got the go ahead as far as the legal issue of mixing the teens with the adults and that they would not be responsible for the teens that it should be the parents monitoring their children not them. Great concept but it doesn’t really protect kids from predators in a world like this.
How many times have we read or heard on television a young child had been talking with who they thought were their own age or someone that gained their trust on the internet and invited them to a real life meeting? Educators are not exempt from the profile of a pedophile either. I see it coming and it scares me.
It isn’t a product ready to open the flood gates number one because they just don’t have it together. Look at what has come down these past few months. Mr. Kingdon is trying to do a quick face lift on Second life but its not going to work. I’m not being negative here I’m being a realist.
Fix the fundamental problems first Linden Lab! Create separate grids for the areas that they want to mix players. Have classroom grids and then offer field trips to the adult grid with permission slips from their parents along with the background checks for the ones to bring them across so they can be held accountable if they see something inappropriate.
Being a bit sarcastic here… sorry. but the joint ain’t ready for Mr. Kingdon (g’s) vision yet. There’s a lot more cleaning up I guess with many issues. Mr. Rosedale I guess probably didn’t want to take the heat on this one because this is a biggy. Not an easy task.
I see it as a wonderful idea but its been known publicly for way to long that it was an adult site. We see the news we read the press. Its not just the explicit visuals they may come upon either. Voice has brought in a whole new sense of the word “ADULT”.
Have you walked around and listened to the voices lately? I have and I wouldn’t want my child to hear some of the things I’ve heard. So there has to be like in any educational experience a form of sensor ship ( UGHHH HATE THAT WORD ) and control of the environment. Maybe OHHHH hall monitors or something like that?
The first thing on their agenda has to be fixing the existing problems and then they can think about transforming its reputation as being a place for all to come. Its reputation is tainted with corruption, greed and sex. Its not ready to come out of the closet people yet lol.
The product idea is absolutely great! We all know that. There are so many creative talented people in Second Life now and sure the teens are probably as or may be just as talented but unfortunately its been geared more towards the adult entertainment business. I mean they do know that don’t they?
There does exist the offering of sex via skype and web cam. You can’t tell me they were not aware of that one. There has existed for a long time fraud in the financial sector. Look as far back as you can on the internet for banking scams in SL. It’s been an ever present danger lol since the early days from the data I’ve found on the internet and what has Linden Lab done about protecting it’s customers from that? NOTHING! They closed the banks yes but it was far to late then anway.
They went in front of Congress with an IBM executive and had a question directed to them from not one committee member but a few who were very interested in wanting to know if to Mr. Rosedale had any knowledge or was he aware of any money laundering or fraud in Second life. He looked to his IBM friend and shook his head like a cute little kid shrugged his body and said no not really. I not quoting his exact words but I saw it and that was basically it. NO!
Wasn’t that after the Jasper Tizzy and Investor Allen scams. Not to mention the bank closings because of what? FRAUD. There is way to much house cleaning to do in Second life for them to bring in teens.
Did he pull a Roger Clemens? Did he lie to our Congressional Committee? In away I think he did. I can’t say to much about Mr. Rosedales character because I don’t know him and I don’t know Mr. Kingdon so I can’t judge them honestly on what is going through their minds. I’m sure they are very nice people and want only what is best for the company.
I can although judge them both on the actions they seem to want to take at this juncture and it is just not ready for that. They have much more important issues to deal with and that’s stabilizing the product period so it can be enjoyed by the present population before they open the gates publically to teens. Yes I know there have been teens in there before were not that blind.
Give us a product NOW that justifies its cost or your going to see the population moved to another playground and your going to have to hire baby sitters for the next generation of residents and I’m not talking about for the kids. Stop playing games with our heads.
One incident could destroy that vision which is really what it should have been from the start. But that’s not what you have right now. So deal with the physical fundamental issues before you try and introduce the new wholesome family educational experience idea.
I also sense a smell of urgency in all this too. From what I’m reading out on the internet someones coming up from behind and has put a little bit of worry there that they could be left in the dust. Someone was given a wake up call and it came a little to late to play catch up.
It does worry me a bit too because I have grown very fond of Second life and put up with all its quirks. I would be really disappointed to see it fall behind and fall apart. So I do wish the best for them. But wake up man and put your priorities first. Fix what needs to be fixed then add what you need and then get on with the show.
Sophia~
JayR Cela
Jan 25th, 2009
Thanks for the article Pix / * by the way long time no see * / This does not surprise me at all. LL is one very mixed up company, why that refer a friend page has not been removed from the website, should only bolster the fact “Don’t trust LL” PERIOD!!! A couple of years ago I had problems with LL and my credit card. Solution : I went and bought a Visa Gift (Debit)Card for myself, in the amount of my yearly subscription fee / logged into the web site and changed my billing info to reflect the Gift Card account #, instead of my Master Card – credit card # / That Gift Card # is still on file but has long since expired two years ago. / Since I am a content creator in SL. I am able to produce enough income in L$ – convert the amount I need to cover my SL tier and subscription fee’s into RL U.S.$, and let the Lindens get my money owed to them that way / hell they already have it anyway. / Then I hoard my Linden $ until i have just over $100 RL – convert the L$ to U.S.$ and have the Lab send me a check via Mail, that takes about 10 days. I then take the LL check issued to me, up to the corner store, where I am charged 1% check cashing fee / about $1.10 / save 30% of the money I have earned for taxes – just in case – and I usually have around $70 cash left over for what ever I choose to spend it on. Now please don’t get me wrong, I am not trash talking the Lab or the people who work there. What I am saying is once bit twice shy, so I am covering my ass, making sure they cant make that particular mistake again.
JayR Cela :_)
JustMe
Jan 25th, 2009
to JayR Cela
quote – Then I hoard my Linden $ until i have just over $100 RL – convert the L$ to U.S.$ and have the Lab send me a check via Mail, that takes about 10 days. I then take the LL check issued to me, up to the corner store, where I am charged 1% check cashing fee / about $1.10 unquote
I too am a content creator. May I suggest the process I use ? I too wait until I have the equivalent of 100$ US in Lindens. I convert it and pay LL $ 1 to send it to my PayPal account and have it instantly available using my PayPal debit card. The process works quite well and is faster than yours.
Little Lost Linden
Jan 26th, 2009
If only some method could be arranged so that the bots could pay out these nice referrals. That would at least be something since half the linden traffic is just bots wasting resources and allowing for the false advertising traffic stats. Lindens, you need to do something about the bots. It’s a bot time!!!
Karl Reisman
Jan 27th, 2009
JayR Cela
Your method is correct, with tpaypal buyt I had and extra step by depositing all my ingame lindens into SLX or Xstreet/SL and getting it out, it’s not instantaneous, it takes about 10 minutes. However trying to get the cash from SL itself to Pauypal seems to have a problem in that I made a withdrawl at 6AM Jan 26, and as of Posting time 4:20PM Jan 27th, the transaction still has not yet cleared.
Scott