Second Life Forums Archive - A simple mistake gone out of hand

Quidel Cela

Registered User

Join date: 20 Oct 2005

Posts: 14

05-14-2007 22:39

Hello,
I know this can be pretty much be entirely my fault, but it was very hard to avoid at the time I was doing it.

For a while, I have had the majority of my land tier contributed to my group. Recently I have decided it was time for me to pack up and sell some of my land because I haven't been on SL too much, and the monthly fees were a bit too troublesome for my wallet.

Everything was going well, until it came to a 192 sq m piece of land. This land was a distance away from the actual main group land, maybe about 12 meters away at the time. I was zoomed in on the 192 sq m piece of land, and when I selected it, it looked like I only selected that piece of land. So I set it to sell to myself, and bought it. Immediately i noticed my mistake. That 192 sq m piece of land was actually joined up with the entire group land, so I bought all 37k sq m land instead. In a panic, I immediately sold it back to the group, and subdivided the 192 sq m land correctly and continued on. I never even got a warning that my tier was going to be raised.

Now the problem is my SL account has the full tier cost for the month ($195). There is absolutely no way I can pay that!
Does anyone know if there is any chance at all I can get Linden to lower my tier back to what it was ($75)? I have e-mailed billing allready but have high doubts about what they would say from previous experiences with billing problems, which wasn't my fault.

Any advice, help, anything would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Quidel Cela

cHex Losangeles

Registered User

Join date: 24 Nov 2006

Posts: 370

05-15-2007 01:35

From: Quidel Cela

I never even got a warning that my tier was going to be raised.

This is a major concern and you should report it in your negotiations with billing. Normally, the first thing that happens when you click "buy land" is a window pops up displaying the cost (and pointing out whether you can already afford it or if you will be purchasing additional $L as part of the transaction) and whether you already have enough tier to handle the purchase or if your tier level will increase; the window asks you to confirm you still want to go through with the purchase.

From: someone

Does anyone know if there is any chance at all I can get Linden to lower my tier back to what it was ($75)? I have e-mailed billing allready but have high doubts about what they would say from previous experiences with billing problems, which wasn't my fault.

I don't know that they will or not, but it is certainly worth a try. You'll have better luck with a phone call (don't believe the low queue time the recording will tell you) than e-mail.

Aleister Montgomery

Minding the gap

Join date: 30 Apr 2006

Posts: 846

05-15-2007 01:40

I made a similar mistake once. I owned a complete 65k sqm sim on the mainland, donated the land to my group and saw that the group was now allowed a total of 72k sqm. So I went and bought another 6k sqm parcel in an adjoining sim. "Land available" meant for me: available without a tier raise. I was quite shocked to see that my tier had jumped from $195 to $292, without any warning message inworld. Couldn't be helped... I had to pay that amount, although I immediately resold the land.

Perhaps you have more luck than I had. Try contacting [email]support@secondlife.com[/email], wait a day for their standard email, then reply to that email and describe the problem. Or make a phone call (phone numbers are listed here). I wish you luck.

Osgeld Barmy

Registered User

Join date: 22 Mar 2005

Posts: 3,336

05-15-2007 01:46

call the lindens office during their biz hours, they are helpfull when you can get them

the few times i had to call them i never got tru during the "peak times"

peak times being first thing in the morning
lunch
and after 3pm (school out/ primetime starts)

i called em at 1:47 their time and went right tru

your milage may very

GL

Alicia Sautereau

if (!social) hide;

Join date: 20 Feb 2007

Posts: 3,125

05-15-2007 05:23

it`s a pain in the ass problem

using a group to manage my own land, but each time i buy another parcel i almost make that mistake grrr

when u go to buy land for the group, don`t use the normal buy option!

about land -> general -> buy for group (button below traffic)

they should add it to the radial right click when land is for sale to buy for self and buy for group as this option is pritty much over looked heh

Skye Whitcroft

Disappointed

Join date: 14 Dec 2006

Posts: 207

05-15-2007 05:46

From: Quidel Cela

I never even got a warning that my tier was going to be raised.

Now the problem is my SL account has the full tier cost for the month ($195). There is absolutely no way I can pay that!
Does anyone know if there is any chance at all I can get Linden to lower my tier back to what it was ($75)?QUOTE]

Hi Quidel,

I spend a LOT of my time in SL putting land into and out of various groups.

While I hope very much that LL will take pity on your plight, let me anticipate their defense. The system DOES actually give you a warning that you are heading up a tier level when you try to buy the land out of group (when you don't have enough tier personally for the land purchase). It's a big red mark (instead of the usual green ones) next to sufficient tier - the middle one on the page. The buy tab is set, though, so that you can override this and move yourself up, if needed, because you want to buy that land.

If your pleas do not land on sympathetic ears, I would point out that these are the incredibly complex and cumbersome steps you would have needed to go through to take large amount of land out of group:

TRANSFER OUT OF GROUP TO INDIVIDUAL:

**Use specific user**

1) Make sure you have enough tier, personally, to buy land out of group.
2) If you have donated tier to group for land and have no tier left as individual, change your tier donation in group to 0. This puts the group into negative tier and gives warning message. It will be OK for a few minutes to have negative group tier to complete this transaction. [N.B. You can simply sell land to yourself and tick the "remove contribution from group" box EXCEPT that if you do not have sufficient tier to cover buying the land back out of the group, you are bumped up to the next tier level. These steps help ensure you do not incur a higher tier charge]
3) Right-click on land and choose "about land"
4) Click "sell land"
5) MOST IMPORTANT STEP!! In new pop up box, skip to step 2 where you determine to whom you are selling the land. Choose "SPECIFIC USER" from drop down box. In new popup box, type your own name and click on "find", then click "select"

****If you choose ANYONE from the dropdown list, and you are selling below the market price for land, you're almost guaranteed a bot will buy your land. In effect, you are telling Second Life that you are selling the land to anyone in the game for the price you have just typed and that means anyone can buy it.*****

6) Go back up and set price for land. Type in agreed price for land (can be 0).

7) Choose whether you transfer the objects with the land.

Click "set land for sale"
9) Buy land

Land now belongs to individual.

Best of luck,

Skye

Sweet Primrose

Selectively Vacuous

Join date: 30 Nov 2006

Posts: 375

05-15-2007 05:50

I think the system is intentionally cumbersome precisely to generate such mistaken income. It is how it is because they LIKE it how it is.

Musicteacher Rampal

Registered User

Join date: 20 Feb 2004

Posts: 824

05-15-2007 05:51

It's been a long time since I bought land, but I remember when I needed to tier up to buy it I got a pop-up that took me to the website to raise my tier before the sale was final. Has this been changed? or was this a bug?

bilbo99 Emu

Garrett's No.1 fan

Join date: 27 Oct 2006

Posts: 3,468

05-15-2007 06:14

Things seem to change fast around here. Two posters have explicitly said they received no warning of increased tier.
When I upgraded from my First Land to 1024 sm I got a clear warning of increased tier.
It sounds like the system needs a good revamp if it isn't merely a bug.
Furthermore, I didn't have to go to the website to increase my tier; the action of buying the second plot raised it automatically.

Raudf Fox

(ra-ow-th)

Join date: 25 Feb 2005

Posts: 5,119

05-15-2007 06:23

From: Musicteacher Rampal

It's been a long time since I bought land, but I remember when I needed to tier up to buy it I got a pop-up that took me to the website to raise my tier before the sale was final. Has this been changed? or was this a bug?

Nope. It does it all in world now. Fortunately, I WANTED to tier up anyways, so it wasn't a biggie for me, but with all the things they have moved off world, why didn't they leave this off world too? It would force people to agree to it before they did it, and prevent mistakes like this.

Quidel, if you get a person, request that this be the way of it, pretty please?!

_____________________

DiamonX Studios, the place of the Victorian Times series of gowns and dresses - Located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Fushida/224/176

Want more attachment points for your avatar's wearing pleasure? Then please vote for

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-1065?

Musicteacher Rampal

Registered User

Join date: 20 Feb 2004

Posts: 824

05-15-2007 06:59

If they left that on the site it might slow the land bots too.

Amity Slade

Registered User

Join date: 14 Feb 2007

Posts: 2,183

05-15-2007 07:07

From: Sweet Primrose

I think the system is intentionally cumbersome precisely to generate such mistaken income. It is how it is because they LIKE it how it is.

Bingo.

A simple mistake gone out of hand
Quidel Cela Registered User Join date: 20 Oct 2005 Posts: 14	05-14-2007 22:39 Hello, I know this can be pretty much be entirely my fault, but it was very hard to avoid at the time I was doing it. For a while, I have had the majority of my land tier contributed to my group. Recently I have decided it was time for me to pack up and sell some of my land because I haven't been on SL too much, and the monthly fees were a bit too troublesome for my wallet. Everything was going well, until it came to a 192 sq m piece of land. This land was a distance away from the actual main group land, maybe about 12 meters away at the time. I was zoomed in on the 192 sq m piece of land, and when I selected it, it looked like I only selected that piece of land. So I set it to sell to myself, and bought it. Immediately i noticed my mistake. That 192 sq m piece of land was actually joined up with the entire group land, so I bought all 37k sq m land instead. In a panic, I immediately sold it back to the group, and subdivided the 192 sq m land correctly and continued on. I never even got a warning that my tier was going to be raised. Now the problem is my SL account has the full tier cost for the month ($195). There is absolutely no way I can pay that! Does anyone know if there is any chance at all I can get Linden to lower my tier back to what it was ($75)? I have e-mailed billing allready but have high doubts about what they would say from previous experiences with billing problems, which wasn't my fault. Any advice, help, anything would be greatly appreciated, thank you. Quidel Cela
cHex Losangeles Registered User Join date: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 370	05-15-2007 01:35 From: Quidel Cela I never even got a warning that my tier was going to be raised. This is a major concern and you should report it in your negotiations with billing. Normally, the first thing that happens when you click "buy land" is a window pops up displaying the cost (and pointing out whether you can already afford it or if you will be purchasing additional $L as part of the transaction) and whether you already have enough tier to handle the purchase or if your tier level will increase; the window asks you to confirm you still want to go through with the purchase. From: someone Does anyone know if there is any chance at all I can get Linden to lower my tier back to what it was ($75)? I have e-mailed billing allready but have high doubts about what they would say from previous experiences with billing problems, which wasn't my fault. I don't know that they will or not, but it is certainly worth a try. You'll have better luck with a phone call (don't believe the low queue time the recording will tell you) than e-mail.
Aleister Montgomery Minding the gap Join date: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 846	05-15-2007 01:40 I made a similar mistake once. I owned a complete 65k sqm sim on the mainland, donated the land to my group and saw that the group was now allowed a total of 72k sqm. So I went and bought another 6k sqm parcel in an adjoining sim. "Land available" meant for me: available without a tier raise. I was quite shocked to see that my tier had jumped from $195 to $292, without any warning message inworld. Couldn't be helped... I had to pay that amount, although I immediately resold the land. Perhaps you have more luck than I had. Try contacting [email]support@secondlife.com[/email], wait a day for their standard email, then reply to that email and describe the problem. Or make a phone call (phone numbers are listed here). I wish you luck.
Osgeld Barmy Registered User Join date: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 3,336	05-15-2007 01:46 call the lindens office during their biz hours, they are helpfull when you can get them the few times i had to call them i never got tru during the "peak times" peak times being first thing in the morning lunch and after 3pm (school out/ primetime starts) i called em at 1:47 their time and went right tru your milage may very GL
Alicia Sautereau if (!social) hide; Join date: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 3,125	05-15-2007 05:23 it`s a pain in the ass problem using a group to manage my own land, but each time i buy another parcel i almost make that mistake grrr when u go to buy land for the group, don`t use the normal buy option! about land -> general -> buy for group (button below traffic) they should add it to the radial right click when land is for sale to buy for self and buy for group as this option is pritty much over looked heh
Skye Whitcroft Disappointed Join date: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 207	05-15-2007 05:46 From: Quidel Cela I never even got a warning that my tier was going to be raised. Now the problem is my SL account has the full tier cost for the month ($195). There is absolutely no way I can pay that! Does anyone know if there is any chance at all I can get Linden to lower my tier back to what it was ($75)?QUOTE] Hi Quidel, I spend a LOT of my time in SL putting land into and out of various groups. While I hope very much that LL will take pity on your plight, let me anticipate their defense. The system DOES actually give you a warning that you are heading up a tier level when you try to buy the land out of group (when you don't have enough tier personally for the land purchase). It's a big red mark (instead of the usual green ones) next to sufficient tier - the middle one on the page. The buy tab is set, though, so that you can override this and move yourself up, if needed, because you want to buy that land. If your pleas do not land on sympathetic ears, I would point out that these are the incredibly complex and cumbersome steps you would have needed to go through to take large amount of land out of group: TRANSFER OUT OF GROUP TO INDIVIDUAL: Use specific user 1) Make sure you have enough tier, personally, to buy land out of group. 2) If you have donated tier to group for land and have no tier left as individual, change your tier donation in group to 0. This puts the group into negative tier and gives warning message. It will be OK for a few minutes to have negative group tier to complete this transaction. [N.B. You can simply sell land to yourself and tick the "remove contribution from group" box EXCEPT that if you do not have sufficient tier to cover buying the land back out of the group, you are bumped up to the next tier level. These steps help ensure you do not incur a higher tier charge] 3) Right-click on land and choose "about land" 4) Click "sell land" 5) MOST IMPORTANT STEP!! In new pop up box, skip to step 2 where you determine to whom you are selling the land. Choose "SPECIFIC USER" from drop down box. In new popup box, type your own name and click on "find", then click "select" **If you choose ANYONE from the dropdown list, and you are selling below the market price for land, you're almost guaranteed a bot will buy your land. In effect, you are telling Second Life that you are selling the land to anyone in the game for the price you have just typed and that means anyone can buy it.*** 6) Go back up and set price for land. Type in agreed price for land (can be 0). 7) Choose whether you transfer the objects with the land. Click "set land for sale" 9) Buy land Land now belongs to individual. Best of luck, Skye
Sweet Primrose Selectively Vacuous Join date: 30 Nov 2006 Posts: 375	05-15-2007 05:50 I think the system is intentionally cumbersome precisely to generate such mistaken income. It is how it is because they LIKE it how it is.
Musicteacher Rampal Registered User Join date: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: 824	05-15-2007 05:51 It's been a long time since I bought land, but I remember when I needed to tier up to buy it I got a pop-up that took me to the website to raise my tier before the sale was final. Has this been changed? or was this a bug?
bilbo99 Emu Garrett's No.1 fan Join date: 27 Oct 2006 Posts: 3,468	05-15-2007 06:14 Things seem to change fast around here. Two posters have explicitly said they received no warning of increased tier. When I upgraded from my First Land to 1024 sm I got a clear warning of increased tier. It sounds like the system needs a good revamp if it isn't merely a bug. Furthermore, I didn't have to go to the website to increase my tier; the action of buying the second plot raised it automatically.
Raudf Fox (ra-ow-th) Join date: 25 Feb 2005 Posts: 5,119	05-15-2007 06:23 From: Musicteacher Rampal It's been a long time since I bought land, but I remember when I needed to tier up to buy it I got a pop-up that took me to the website to raise my tier before the sale was final. Has this been changed? or was this a bug? Nope. It does it all in world now. Fortunately, I WANTED to tier up anyways, so it wasn't a biggie for me, but with all the things they have moved off world, why didn't they leave this off world too? It would force people to agree to it before they did it, and prevent mistakes like this. Quidel, if you get a person, request that this be the way of it, pretty please?! _____________________ DiamonX Studios, the place of the Victorian Times series of gowns and dresses - Located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Fushida/224/176 Want more attachment points for your avatar's wearing pleasure? Then please vote for https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-1065?
Musicteacher Rampal Registered User Join date: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: 824	05-15-2007 06:59 If they left that on the site it might slow the land bots too.
Amity Slade Registered User Join date: 14 Feb 2007 Posts: 2,183	05-15-2007 07:07 From: Sweet Primrose I think the system is intentionally cumbersome precisely to generate such mistaken income. It is how it is because they LIKE it how it is. Bingo.

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A simple mistake gone out of hand