Serious question

Ok, im not going to write an essay on how bad the server has been the last two weeks, and why people who are "paying" to play this game should have some form of compensation for a game that is in effect ripping people off.

Over the past weeks due to the game hickuping (i dont use the voice server so any IN game bug on the proper version of SL such as objects dissapearing etc i blame on lindens, after all, im using the official release, people aren't supposed to pay for a beta). but that's not what my question is about, as losing 20,000 l worth of stuff due to mini roll backs, and money hungry developers in game that wont just give you another version when its not your fault. Blame has to be with either lindens or the item maker, can't be the user if its a game glitch.

Anyways, my real question.

Why when we "instant bank transfer" to buy lindens, does it take 4 days or so for it to go out of my bank....

This "not instant at all" transfer has led me to have unpaid direct debits twice recently purely because i check my bank see how much is in, buy lindens to that value, then a couple of days later check the bank, see i have money so i buy again. It doesn't tell you on the website that even though it has instant in the title it will take you guys 5-6 days to try to take it outta my bank. It costs me the price of the value of Lindens + 70 dollars each time i get one of those. Im not made of money.

To me at the moment it just feels like this game is all about taking money and then yourselves (lindens) not accepting the blame for things that are your fault.

Its just depressing, i am not rich, i budget myself for how many lindens i buy etc, so this effects RL heavily.

Anyways thanks for reading. Though i already know similar to when i report bugs in game, it will fall on deaf ears. But you's do need to do something about compensating people for pretend this mess of a Beta is really a finished article.

And before people think "oh look another noob only been here 2 months" no, i've had accounts throughout the past 3 years, where the game is at right now is the worst its been in that time. Just I love the game when it works, but for the past couple of weeks its just conned people constantly outta money with little to no compensation from the people who are to blame.

If the item sellers wont resend the item that was lost due to a rollback, then lindens surely must? otherwise the customers are getting ripped off constantly, and rl legal action could be taken. (not by me but im sure there's some power hungry people that will take anything to court).

I stopped reading after this comment you made. So in effect.. you knew you charged something to your bank account but since your transactions did not show it yet.. you went ahead and charged more without being able to cover both transactions? Please go back to common sense school. This is not the Lindens fault. This is called basic account balancing. Many companies do not charge instantly.. including gas stations and various worldwide retailers. It sounds like you actually beieved that you got linden dollars for free so you went and bought more thinking it would only charge you once.

Note to you: Start making money in game by producing a product.. and stop blaming others for your own personal lack of mathematics.

Sorry to be so harsh.. but the entire world needs to start taking more responsibility for actions.

If the $Ls are showing up in SL right away, then the transaction is "instant" as far as LL is concerned. Ask your bank why it takes them days to show cleared transactions, and get a copy of Quicken or GnuCash in the meantime to help you keep track of your money.

Balance you checkbook. The most simplistic financial advice there is. If you're bouncing checks becuase you don't know what's in YOUR account, it's your fault. Most likely it's not LL, but the credit card processing company they use. It's more the fault of the banking institutions in this world than LL's, but in the end... it's yours.

LOL! Reminds me of my finacee's first bank account where she was overdrawn & thought it was the banks responsibility to not charge her account!

I make money in game, at least enough to pay for things i need, so don't talk down to me like im some dumbass noob. (ive dj'd in game for a few stations over the years)

I do take "control" of my money, but i only get paid every 2 weeks, and I buy lindens say on the Wednesday, (instant transfer) then on friday i get my landlord irl to draw out of the bank and then he/she gives me a receipt of how much i have in my bank, then i go :cool i've got xx: and spend that.

Then 5 days to 7 days later, it will say "We're now charging this credit card as the bank refused us the instant bank transfer paypal and lindens said was complete the day it was done".

Yet that's my fault? for accepting that Complete means complete.

Its not going to happen again i might add, but the vehement replies from zealots i coulda done without.

The money is always in the bank when i spend it.

I was just asking them why it took 4 days, and non of you can answer as your not part of Linden billing, and the support portal and world help sections are always screwed. So really anyone with a serious question will never get it answered, because fellow players feel their opinion matters more than other fellow players, when the only ruling authority is the lindens, and they dont read jack. So why are any of us posting in here?

I may be blonde but im not stupid, i was just asking why when it says complete on paypal, and as you guys say, Lindens say its complete, then 5 days later it goes "Oh hey, about that thing we said all went through fine, well it didn't, and now your screwed".

I do learn from the mistakes i make, which is why i applied for online banking with my bank, and that is why this will never happen again, this post was more a Vent out, after 2 weeks of rarely being able to say hi to someone in game without something crashing/lagging or conning people outta money. Was a "straw that broke the camels back" so to speak.

And that's why yer in this mess. Yer not balancing yer account...you simply look at what's in the account. That's not taking control of yer money. You may not be an SL noob but it sounds like yer an accounting noob. LOL

Seriously tho. Balance yer checkbook or look at yer online statements *daily* if yer bouncing payments. My online bank account lets me see what's cleared and what hasn't. Subtract what hasn't cleared from yer current balance. Problem solved.

Or even better just get a prepaid Visa or Mastercard gift card from yer local mall. Use that for yer payment info in SL. Not enuf money? Ohwell, the transaction just doesn't go thru. No fee, just refuel the card with cash at the mall.

Simple. Cuz *most* transactions are like that. Look at yer statement. Look when you use yer bank card to buy gas or whatever. When was the last time every single transaction on yer statement lined up with the date you actually paid for it? My gas purchases lag by a couple days. My PayPal transfers lag by up to a week.

I'm not hammering you with my opinion, I'm giving you advice (which you can take or not). Simply put, determine your balance when you know all checks/debit's are cleared. Once you know that number, put that in your check register as the balance, and, whenever you spend money, debit your register to reflect that. Whenever you deposit, credit that. Do not depend on online account balances, as you've found out, not all transactions are instant.

Don't waste your time calling LL, it's not them. They're charging your card, and receiving approval BEFORE the lindens are transfered into your account. It's the credit proccessing company that's dragging your feet, or your bank. Talk to your bank, or the credit processing company.

My question is, what's the difference? Who cares if it's debited from your account 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 year after you make the transaction? So you can use your online bank balance as an indicator as to the balance of your account? If so, as you've found out, that's bad. Online account information is for informational purposes, so you can see the transactions that have been made, not to use it as a check register.

Thanks Johan least your reply didn't contain so many "yer"'s ....

I got the online banking so this doesn't happen again so i know once i get money into my account how much i spend then i can tell landlord to take the rest out, and this'll never happen again.

It was venting.

But to say it shouldn't matter WHEN they take the money out?

To me instant is instant, if it takes 5 days to clear, then its not instant.

If instant mash took 5 days to make no one would eat it. Which was my main point.

When I buy lindens in game, then log into paypal, and it says "Complete" i assume that complete means just that, the transaction is complete. Not "Complete but wait a week".... that's not complete. And that's all my argument/discussion is about.

Not about me balancing chequebooks etc.

And im english, prepaid cards over here require you to put at least 50 Pounds on per transaction... so that's not an option really.

Yah, but I'm not the one bouncing payments...

Perhaps to save yourself the abuse, perhaps you should change this thread to:

"Why Does Pay Pal take so Long"

and then your opening statement:

I make a transaction in SL via PP but it takes 4-5 days to show on my Bank account, can anyone explain this?

Simple really, instead we get war and piece and the only 2 things you didn't tell us was your landlords name and your bank account number. (we don't need to know before you type it)

Just be a little cautious as to what you are asking or saying, or you will open yourself up to these kind of comments.

But I must agree, the fault does lie with you and your abilities to account or unaccount in this case.

You should keep a system with 3 columns, the first for the date you made the payment, the next 2, a left hand column for money received and a right hand column for your money paid out.

Left is money in, right is money out, add the left one, TOTAL MONEY IN, add the right, TOTAL MONEY SPENT then subtract the right from the left, and then you know how much money you have left, when it is ZERO, you have nothing regardless of what your bank says.

Thats simple book keeping the old fashion way.

Yes and as i said now that i have online banking it wont happen again, but i still fail to see how an "instant" payment that says complete the minute a buy it, then takes 5-7 days to clear, i coulda paid with a fricken cheque and not had the payment issues at all.....

I understand you all overlook that and go "oh but your the person that spent money"... yes i did. But non of you seem to even consider that something that says its instant but takes 5 days is far far far from instant.

Its another case of someone posts, so everyone who wants an opinion chooses to give it, probably just because they enjoy reading there name on the forums. But i'll drop the point now. Clearly its all my fault, clearly EVERYTHING everyone posts here that is in at least some part lindens fault is all their fault too.....

I'll log out so i dont feel urges to reply to reply's.

As it was said above, the L$ is "instantly" available to you, therefore it is "instant". If you want "instant" on both sides then use a credit card.

Out of curiosity, where did you find the term "instant"? The only place I remember seeing it, and I just looked for it again, is in the Knowledgebase:

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=4420

"If you bought Linden Dollars (L$) through the LindeX, they should show up in your balance more or less instantly."

Doesn't say anything about billing instantly.

See? Not a single "yer" in there.

*hangs head*

Humanity never ceases to amaze me.

Everytime I view this post it cracks me up, perhaps we should mark this one and put it forward for Augusts post of the month award......