As expected, the Email came...

Mine works.

I make no excuses for LL. I am merely stating the facts of (second) life. They own the whole show, and if you are not happy with that, you are making the right decision to depart.

Thanks for the info on your credit score. Mine is also very high. there are a number of things you can do to reduce your exposure to CC theft on line. Get a temp card, or one with a low limit (that's my strategy).

I just get a little tired of all the posters who seem to think LL gives a flying f... about customer service. it should be obvious to all by now that they continue to be successful without the need to be nice to us. When you leave, you will be replaced by someone else. They already have your money.

I enjoy the experience, so I put up with this crap (for now).

Ah, well, at least I can take pleasure in the fact that NO, they do not in fact have MY money.... their own screwup did that... and now, the agreement is cancelled, PayPal has been informed that they are not to honor ANY request from Linden Labs for any payment and I'm SL free.... so one small victory for the little people

I was referring to the money you had previously ponied up for the SL experience. Very wise to cut your losses and run. If you have land, you should sell it to a freind or else Governor Linden will get it. Also offer your freinds good stuff from your inventory that is transferrable.

If there is no way for you to convert your L$ to US$, offer good deals to your freinds.

Love, Jannae

I did give away anything I could, but most of it was NT, so basically just a bunch of freebies I had collected, and since I couldn't buy any Lindens, I had a grand balance of L$58, which I paid to a random newbie just as I logged off for the last time

You're right, they did get about $150 of my real money over the past 4 months, but I also, for the most part, got to enjoy that time... it wasn't until 1.17 that all hell really broke loose, at least for me, so I don't really count that money a loss (like renting a car, I paid for what I got at the time).

It's a pitty they can't get it together, because I really DID enjoy SL, when it worked... it just didn't work enough to be worth the frustrations it created...

"If you decline to use an existing payment method that's your choice. If you lose your account, land, objects, etc. for failure to take advantage of an existing payment options it's not Linden Labs fault."

Well, that's one way of looking at it.

Another way of looking at it is that any company that makes it DIFFICULT for their customers to give them money may well lose their customers.

And that certainly will be their fault, wouldn't you say?

coco

They don't care about fault. They exercise a monopoly. There really isn't anything quite like SL in existence (I know about, and have investigated the other alternative online worlds, so don't go there).

People keep coming in to make up for the ones that leave. It's a revolving door that makes the LL people lots of money. Even if they don't buy a premium membership, most use the old CC to buy some L$ and spend them. LL is the sole purveyor of L$ no matter how or where you buy them.

The only thing that will shake them up is competition, and so far it isn't out there.

Heh. I got the same email x3 today (three family members are premium subscribers), and hadda go sell off a bunch of L$ at horrible exchange rates to cover the negative balances.

On the other hand, I also got an email that I finally got $500L for referring my daughter and paying for her to go premium. Almost a year ago

.

I arrive at the local liquor store. Remove a fine six-pack of malt liquor from the shelf, walk up to the counter and the clerk rings me up.

"US$3.50," he says.

I proffer a handful of colorful Guatemalan quetzal.

He declines and insists that I pay in US currency or use a card.

Is he being unreasonable? Is he declining my custom? Or is he simply trying to complete the transaction? As the costs to convert the quetzel, and thus meet my need to acquire the lip-smacking beverage, exceeds the total value the liquor store owner will derive from my purchase, should I continue to insist on what I feel to be my right to pay?

The customer can only expect service up to the point where their account becomes unprofitable.

There is just ONE little problem with your analogy, Elex.... this "liquor store" had a BIG sign on the window.... "Wa Accept Guatemalan Quetzals!"

THEN, after the customers came in and made their selections, the store owner decided, for whatever reason, that he no longer wanted to accept payment in quetzals. This does NOT make it the fault of the customer, and maybe it doesn't even make it the "fault" of the store owner, but the fact that he ADVERTISED acceptance of one form of payment then fails to accept it means the inability to pay is certainly NOT the burden of the customer. If the store owner wants to maintain good customer relations, he appologises to the customer and takes the loss, then PROMPTLY changes his policy for all NEW customers.

At any rate, I'm not visiting the Linden ABCC store anymore... they water their liquor and rely on fancy packaging and advertising hype to cover it up...

And under that is another sign that says, "Sorry, we can't accept Guatemalan quetzals today."
[You were sent an e-mail describing the situation]



It's out of the shopkeeper's hands if the intergalactic Guatemalan quetzal machine goes kablooey while one is wandering the shelves. Other forms of payment are accepted.
[You have other payment options]



As you've decided to not be a customer why are you persisting in hanging around in front of the store? Unpennied vagrants get in the way of profitable trade.
[How much time should be wasted on an account that is unwilling to pay while demanding service?]

*Elex Dusk drinks his malt liquor that he paid for using a substance known as "real live grown-up money." Admires the foil hat on the ranting person in front of the Linden package store and declines to hug them. Wanders off to better threads*

Look, Paypal is not exactly Guatemalan quetzals ... the analogy is inapposite. Paypal is a major means of payment for internet services, and disabling it is a dumb business move.

I really don't understand the attitude of posters who say "Hey, it's LL's business, they have the right to wreck it if they want!".

Well paypal might me for parts of the world. But IC credit online systems are getting to be standard in Japan. For almost 7 years now....Wonders if LLABS ever going to get with the year 2007 and start doing what is NOW not waht was 10 years ago.



Usagi

A business can set up whatever preferred accepted payment methods (and set minimum transaction limits) they wish. [This is why the dude at the corner gas station doesn't have to accept the jar of pennies for the microwave burrito: It exceeds his PITA limit.]

PayPal offers a Mastercard-branded debit card which can be accepted by Linden Lab. Maybe the OP can use that particular card. It's accepted everywhere Mastercard is accepted.

It's unlikely that the present "Linden Lab/PayPal Ain't Makin' the Sweet Sweet Payment Love to Each Other the Way They Used To" situation will persist indefinitely. Note that the OP's impatience with the situation does not suddenly warp time to a point in the future where the problem is no longer there.

Please note that a variety of payment workarounds have been offered by a number of people. Use a credit card. Use a stored value card. Use a stored value card that was purchased using a credit card. Get Linden dollars, convert them, cover the account fee with the proceeds.

I personally wish LL would both accept payment and make credit transfers using phlogiston gas but there's other options.

If a person insists on only using PayPal and is unable to do so and also decides that this is the minimum threshold for account cancellation then so be it. It's not up to us to rend our shirts and pull out our hair that someone is leaving SL (or reducing their account status) thus resulting in fractals of sad kitties appearing on our client software windows for days on end in lamentation of the unsuccessful PayPal transfer that took the bright spot of our universe away. People quit and reduce their account status all the time and for all sorts of reasons (Ranging from "O noes... no 1 warned me not 2 hopz on teh pink & blu ballz... i ain'tz giving teh LL mah monnies" to "O noes... sunspotz... I aint'z giving teh LL mah monnies".

Note the title of the thread: "As expected, the Email came..." Err... what? LL sent out an e-mail informing people that there might be a potential problem with PayPal so be prepared to use another payment method within X-days? And this message was anticipated? And this notification must be cursed and the organization that sent it must be marked by hanging a red P around its neck? And LL even mentioned it on the blob? The same blob that has its headlines displayed on the startup screen of the client software? Today's Sesame Street letters are W.T.F.

If it weren't so annoying, I'd find the arrogant, self-righteous attitude of the "bartender" amusing...

Not once did I speak in "haxorz" nor did I ever indicate I was "penniless"... but then, if you're going to kiss Linden ass, I suppose you have to sound as highborn as possible. I'm sure he's earned his keep for the month...

Oh, and btw, the "guy at the gas station" may refuse to take your pennies to pay for your "burrito", but if he does, he may also lose his business license... they are legal tender, and as such, must be accepted for payment of all debts... Likewise, the little sign that says he will not accept bills larget than $20 is also a bluff... and a decent lawyer would have him shut down in a heartbeat if he refused any legal tender for payment....

If you want to bluster for the rest of the crowd, you go right ahead, but I thought I'd save you some time by telling you I've ignored your posts... perhaps others find you more entertaining, though I doubt it...

Cool. Go for it. Retaining the expensive services of a lawyer to take action against Dudie McBong at the Shell station for failure to accept the pennies in exchange for the burrito sounds like a fantastic plan.

But... what if the lawyer won't accept PayPal? Will you pay him in pennies?

Yeah...not that it matters considering that this topic is starting to become a argument of words, but my payment went through over night so either I was very lucky or they have started to actually sort out the problem. -shrugs- Take that for what its worth...

Ok, is anyone still having this issue?
My friend was logged in this morning around 3am pst and went to buy lindens. Unaware of the whole paypal issue since he uses his paypal to do it and had already upgraded using it earlier this week. (I actually have used paypal within this month too and wonder about this)
Anyhoo, he went to buy lindens and after the transaction was completed he got booted from the game.
Thinking he crashed he went to re-login and the error message that his account was disabled came up.
he tried to login to his account on the website and the message that he could not access the account at this time came up. Same with the forums etc.
So he's completely blocked and has no idea why.
he didn't greif or do anything wrong.
Nothing to have him banned.
Anyone know what's going on?
He put in a ticket to support as that's the only thing he can log into.
Any help or input would be much appreciated.

It's definitely still b0rked--though I've never heard a case as dreadful as the one your friend experienced. See (and vote, if you support) https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-162.