Anyone else get fooled by this?

Did you provide a copy of the email you had received in your ticket about the bonus? This may help point out the phrasing you saw compared to what is shown on the Memberships page on the web site.

Give that a try if you haven't... then let us know how it goes?

wow i got my 1k right away..but i think it's cause i upgraded to premium right away..that or i just decided to go premium since it was only like 9.95..

i just remember having money right away thinking ..wow i have a whole 1000 bucks!!
and it actually went pretty far back then lol..now you couldn't get a crappy cup of coffee at the nearest sex dinner for that..

That's the way if was for me when I upgraded, but for some reason I remember it being 2500 lindens.........It might be that soon after I upgraded I did purchase linden (hate when memory messes with me like that). But that was the old incentive program with different conditions in place. I used $L512 right away to get my chunk land under the First Land program (my one and only land purchase which I still own to this day). I figured for $22.50 per quarter plus $L500 per week stipend it was one heck a deal.........and I still think it is.

This present program is a little different. You get that same 512 meter plot of land but it comes with some pretty stiff restrictions too. You can't sell it.........I can sell mine anytime I want. You can't take down the house and put up one you might like better.....I can do anything my 117 prim allowance allows. There's no sense of privacy (yeah, I'm aware that there is no such thing as privacy in SL..........I said "sense of privacy" or illusion). I can obtain that with my platform placed at 4000 meters in the sky. And, of course, I got my sign up bonus immediately. On the other side of that coin the present program the new premium member gets a plot of land for free. I had to pay for mine. The new premium member gets 117 prim allowance which is addition to the house. I have to use some of my allowance just to have a house. The new premium member has the knowledge that a big lag inducing mall will not pop up over night next door to them. I've had that happen a couple times in the 4 years I've been on my land. It's a trade off. One has to do their own accessment of "is it a good deal" or "am I getting my money's worth".

It appears that the incentive program is somewhat vague in the $L1000 sign up bonus department. But like everything else, it does take a little common sense. It's not likely you'll get anything for nothing.......there are restrictions or conditions placed somewhere. LL does not want to spend money for premiums..........they want to make money from premiums. I did see the condition for that promised $L1000 bonus. It requires a 45 commitment from the premium member taking the deal........that means in order to get the bonus you must remain premium for 45 days. Which means you are going to have to pay 2 months membership first......before you get the less than $4 rebate (there is no partial monthly payment plan). It's not hard to understand. It's perfectly logical from a business/promo standpoint. To expect anything else is unrealistic. Everyone is responsible to think before they leap.........if you don't then you often get disappointed.

There's something wrong here, one of my alts received the email message, it does indeed state that the bonus will be paid and I fail to see how it could be aimed at new accounts if they're emailing existing accounts.

I'd wager that the OP either misunderstood the support issue or the support person was confused. All new premiums should be getting this bonus. I could understand LL saying no if you were an old premium who signed back up but even then, it should be stipulated.

I'm pretty sure I got the email the other day. I remembering deleting something from Second Life which I only glanced at but did not read. I have a basic alt and it was addressed to her........so, I agree it's most likely for all basics and not just new basic members.

I don't see anything wrong at all. I still have the 2 emails I received for 2 of my alts, and they say nothing that hasn't happened to those who have complained about it. They got the 1000L and they are in line for a Linden Home. Everything is above board.

LL did it wrong though, imo, because it would be easy to think that the Linden Home is available upon upgrading, even though it doesn't say that. They have been premature with this email.

The OP seems to be claiming that the L$1000 bonus is for new signups only, and they won't get it. Nowehere does the email make any such disclaimer.

The way the OP worded the intial post he seemed more upset that he did not recieve the $L1000 sign up bonus.......AND that he was told by a support person that that benefit was only available to new members. It depends on how either the OP or the support person (or both) actually worded their question and answer.........as stated by the OP in the thread starter I can take the answer to mean two ways: The sign up bonus is for members who join SL and immediately go to premium (which is how I believe the OP took the answer). Or that the sign up bonus is for a basic account (without regard to when they became basic) who upgrades to premium. That answer is vague. But, from the OP's post I can see where the supporter might have been a little confused about what the problem was that the OP was addressing........even after reading the post I'm still not exactly sure what the issue is. I believe it's the $L1000 bunus........but I'm not sure.

If it is about the $L1000 then the OP is wrong. It does stipulate the 45 days before it will be paid out. And if that is the issue with the OP then posting accusations of fraud on LL's part is also wrong. In 45 days and he does not get his bonus then scream like hell.........it would be a bait and switch thing (as long as the OP remained premium, which is clearly stated as a condition).

I think Phil's obsevation is correct. I now wish I had not deleted that email myself.

Well, it says "become a premium member" to get the sign up bonus.... which implies that if you're already a premium member, you're not eligible. You're really gonna whine over 4 bucks that you're not entitled to to begin with? There was no sign up bonus when I went premium 3 years ago, so are you saying I have the right to complain because they ran a special? Cable companies pull the same thing all the time... sign up today, get this deal (for 6 months or whatever), which means, if I'm already a customer, I can't get that deal.

Unfortunately, neither of the two people who said they were scammed have been back to post again, and neither made it clear which part of the email LL didn't fulfill. I'd assumed it was the Linden Home. If they got the 1000L but not the home, I see nothing wrong.

The emails that I received don't say anything about a 45 day delay in receiving the 1000L, and I've just clicked all the way through to the page where I get the upgrade option, and still no mention of it.

If they got the 1000L but not yet the Home, then I see nothing inaccurate in the email except that LL has been way too premature with that particular pormotion, and also they designed the email to give the feeling that the Home is now rather than later, even though the words say "in line for". I find fault with LL for it but, technically, the email isn't inaccurate.

On the other hand, if they didn't yet get the 1000L, and support says they are not entitled to it, then the email is a scam (or support doesn't know the details yet). There is no question about it being only for new accounts. It was sent to two of my long-time alts, telling them to "Become a premium member today and receive a special L$1000 Bonus". If I do it with one of those alts, and it doesn't get the 1000L, then it's a scam. So, to discuss it, we really need one of the two in this thread to tell us what they didn't receive.

Here is plenty of proof for you. I would love to post my coversation with the different linden employees saying the bonsu is only for new accounts but under the TOS I can't so here is this link saying the exact same thing

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:How_long_does_it_take_to_get_the_L$1000_bonus_after_I_sign_up_for_a_Premium_account%3F

The link says "Assuming your credit card is not declined, you receive your signup bonus 45 days after your signup date."

"Warning: The L$1000 signup bonus only applies to new Premium accounts; accounts that have upgraded from Basic to Premium are not eligible."

What LL is doing here is clearly fraud and false advertising.

They have opened them selves up to be sued by this there is plenty of evdance against LL this time.
No where on the emails or sign up page "http://secondlife.com/landing/premium"

No where on any of them does it say this is for new accounts only. Where it says it is hidden off in the SL wiki.

That makes this even more of a case of fruad on LL's part. Intentionaly misleading people to upgrade full well knowing people cwill think they are getting the money bonuses. and Hising where it says they wont deep in the wiki.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:How_long_does_it_take_to_get_the_L$1000_bonus_after_I_sign_up_for_a_Premium_account%3F

The page you provided the URL for has no text in it. It says it's from the KB. Do you have a link to the KB page?

Even so, if the 1000L is not given to upgraded accounts, then the email is fraudulent, since it was sent to existing basic accounts and unequivocally states that by becoming a premium member today, you will receive 1000L. The word "today" could be an unscrupulous way out. It could be that the KB is out of date though.

You were one of the two people who didn't get what was stated in the email. I take it that it's the 1000L that you have a problem with? If you don't get it, then I completely agree with your assessment of the email, but I'm not yet convinced that you won't get. I do think it's likely that the support you spoke with doesn't know the new deal, because I don't think that LL would send those emails to existing basic accounts knowing that the 1000L bit isn't true.

I'm starting to change my opinion.

I've had a discussion with support (live chat), and they really don't know anything about the 1000L offer. They say it only applies to new accounts. All they could do is make a note in my account so that I could ask for the 1000L if I chose to the upgrade an alt that received the email.

Either it's the left hand/right hand syndrome, or it's a mistake by whoever designed the email, or it's an intentional scam. I'm not yet willing to believe that it's an intentional scam but I'm also not willing to discount it.

It's just LL stupidity in action again. They do NOT know how to speak plainly and accurately, they can only talk corporatese.

Here's the deal, and it's been this way for a long time: If you START your SL account as Premium, you get the $L1000 bonus. If you UPGRADE your account to Premium from Basic, you get zip. This used to be in the fine print on the Premium signup page, but even then it wasn't clear...I missed seeing it, for example.

The recent email from LL is worded so as to contradict this policy. According to it, you should get the bonus whether you are signing up as a new Premium account, or upgrading.

Obviously, either they wrote something they didn't mean to say, or Support has not yet gotten the word.

What I would do is contact Support and send them a copy of the email you received. Point out that in the email, there is no mention that the bonus is for new accounts only.

I'm not sure if it has changed in the meantime but when I upgraded from basic to premium in 2007 I did get the 1000 L$ bonus so at least then it was not just for new accounts but also for upgrades, offcourse there could be a grace period, I'll have to check if I upgraded within 30 days or if it took longer.

What's an acocunt? I don't have one of those. Is it worth having and should I get one?

Oh boy. A Friday floccinaucinihilipilificator.

Yes, I provided them with a copy of the email - several times actually... and they still said it's only for brand new signups... I pointed out that this was not specified anywhere in the email, and the problem of getting brand new signups when all they were doing was sending an email to new characters... I kept the whole chat transcript... and I signed up for a full year (more cost effective) - but no $L1000 bonus, and I was told several times that I would not get it - I was not eligible.

Sigh...

The Customer Support people specifically told me I was not eligible for the signup bonus. I wasn't particularly concerned about the house, and I know it's only a few dollars worth, but it was and remains a scam. Support is very clear that, even though my character was a basic character of less than one month old, and followed the signup link in the email, I was not eligible. They stated this several times. And no, I haven't received any bonus.

LL has opend them selves up for a law suit with this scam.

For 4 bucks? I suppose if about 10,000 band together there might be enough to get it into a court. Beyond that about the only to punish LL is by something like the BBB.

I suspect in 1 and half month we get a new flood of posts from people that all of a suddon got a stiped payment of 1000 L$ and wondering where it came from, the 1000 L$ is NOT direct and it never has been, it takes 45 days. after that period you can claim it was a scam or not.

ps I created an account on 25 03 2007 and became premium on 03 04 2007 and did get the 1000 L$ bonus after 45 days

you can't call it a scam until the 45 days has elapsed and you haven't been paid and they advise you that you won't be paid. Then you will be in a position to take whatever further action you wish.

At the moment it looks like typical LL ineptitude masquerading as rank amateurism.