Premium account lapsing?

I just realised that my premium account is due to be paid today, and I know there's not enough money in the credit card account to pay for it. I'm currently on vacation with only limited dialup access and no access to my bank until Saturday, which will be 4 days too late. My question is, when my payment bounces, what will happen to the land I own? Will it be instantly lost? Or will it still be there if I pay on Saturday?

I'm almost positive there is a grace period. Dig around the support area, I don't quite remember where I saw it. I think you should be okay. You can also do the live chat text support thing and ask them directly

being you said you are premium, get onto the support live help for billing and see what they can do for you

I believe there is an arrearage period, and you'll be able to deal with it.

The loss is not instant, no. The following is extracted from the Knowledgebase:

At the end of a subscription period or other account cancellation by you, your cancelled account will become dormant for 60 days. If during that time you want to reopen your account, you will be able to return to your My Account page and click the "re-activate" button at which time you will be prompted to review billing details to confirm that the plan you want is selected and that your credit card or other payment method is still valid. Linden Lab may require a reactivation fee in the event Linden Lab determines, in its sole discretion, that activation and reactivation of an account is being conducted in a manner designed to evade compliance with this Agreement or other Linden Lab policies and procedures. If, for any reason, your credit card or other payment method cannot be charged or payment is withheld, your account will become dormant as if you had cancelled it.

In the event that Linden Lab suspends or terminates your Account, you understand and agree that: (a) Linden Lab may attempt to sell at auction any "virtual land" (i.e. the instances of simulated land associated with your Account) that you hold in Second Life, and that any money received from such auctions will be applied to satisfy your existing obligations to Linden Lab and others, as determined by Linden Lab in its sole discretion; and (b) in addition to any money that you owe, you will be charged the lesser of (i) the aggregate amount received from such auctions and (ii) one hundred dollars ($100) (the "Resale Fee" as reimbursement for costs associated with the resale of virtual land. Any money remaining from the sale of land after the repayment of your obligations and the Resale Fee may be returned to you.

From the knowledge base:

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=4525

That one seems to indicate you have 7 days before your account becomes inactive for nonpayment.

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=4572

That one says your virtual land will be sold after an account is suspended.

Based on that, I'd think you'd have at least 7 days to clear it up.

But who knows what harder-to-find policies lurk.

Before anyone else suggests contacting Live support - I can't do that on my current net connection. I'm on dialup in the middle of the Scottish Highlands with very limited access until I finish my vacation. Live chat just won't work here.

There is a grace period. I know this because I got an email today telling me that Paypal had rejected it. Paypal rejected because ONE or the TWO credit cards on my paypal account has expired - even though my checking account is my primary funding source and LL does not even accept credit cards via paypal -- geez, whatever.
Anyway, here is what the email says:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This email is notification that we were unable to bill your Second Life account on July 1, 2008. 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. 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 as soon as possible.

Hi Karl! Hope you're having a great holiday, say hi to Russ!

Is it the yearly payment, or monthly or three monthly you pay? If it's the monthly or three monthly I can pay the L$ into your sl account, if yearly I can of Friday if that helps? You will get a week to pay, but i'm fine with sending the L$ over if it'll help x

Just a wild thought, is there anyway you could you get a close friend or family member to credit your account for you temporarily?

EDIT: Ooops did not see the preceding post - good luck getting it ironed out Karl.

Aww hun thanks for the offer but I pay a year at a time and anyway it looks like they give 7 days and I'll be back by Saturday. So it won't be a problem. And we're having a great time (even though its rained ever day so far).

lol typical! Ok, if you do change yer mind I can pay a year in on Friday! Other than that have funnnnn & get back here soon!