All you have to do is contact your credit card company online or over the phone and dispute the $77 charge. My credit card company, at least, will remove the charge immediately while they investigate, and I've never once had the charge I disputed put back on my card. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau while you do this, to make your case even greater.

You can say your shirt did not fit, you never received your shirt, they never update the site, you can't access it on your home computer, or you're unhappy with the service.
[Edited 7/16/09 11:51am]

Lotusflow3r is not a member, so you can't complain to the BBB. If people would have checked out Prince's past web retail efforts before joining, they would have had insight into his modus operandi. Oh, and "F" isn't for Funk.

Prince track record:

New Power Generation - Rating F

Additional DBA Names:

N P G
New Funk
NPG Records Inc
Paisley Park Retail Company

http://www.bbb.org/minnes...n-21003796

squirrelgrease said:

They can still dispute the charge with their credit card company. Mine wiped away the $77 charge immediately.

Can you really dispute this almost 4 months later?

Seriously, I do not understand what any complaints would be about. Nothing was promised.

Vendetta1 said:

True, but it is easy to show that similar websites give you so much more and they only charge between $20-$40!

Vendetta1 said:

Yeah, especially since they HAVE provided content and they have a lot of time left. The content may not be what we've wanted, but since the CDs were there and shirts are still shipping, it's kind of hard to say NOTHING has been provided.

look-its not really the money

its the-enthusiasm pre us joining compared to now-no replys to concerns-no updates

i dont want everthing in the vault NOW-its not about even how much we got-its more the complete lack of professionalism, customer service, and respect shown to folk who believed in it

and if im honest-im annoyed that Prince is OBVIOUSLY now being a dick-we've annoyed him like anyone that says no to him would-and to me-he is being really childish in his behaviour to the club and us. He's supposed to be a PROFESSIONAL musician.

this is all sooooo amateurish-and i didn't join up for that-there are loads of decent local bands i could follow if i wanted amateur night

and they don't charge for it-and they don't piss on their fans-cuz they can
[Edited 7/17/09 3:37am]

polkadotbliss said:

I'm going to hope that Prince does not "punish" all the people who joined lotusflow3r because of what he's read on the Org. Surely, he must realize he has fans that do not participate here at the Org. Even so, this is a business relationship. He don't have to like us.

Who knows? Maybe he got pissed at Lotus' sales. Maybe he got bored like he apparently did with the last 2 sites. I thought it was weird that he spoke about how evil the internet was and then turned around and started a website.

It is a slap to the face for those of us that had a little faith and put down the 77 bucks, thinking this might be something awesome. But I, for one, know Prince's history with changing his mind. I'm disappointed but not surprised. I think the site is dead. I have no hope that anything interesting will be happening anymore, period. If something does, cool.

Vendetta1 said:

i agree....its not looking 2 good right now n prince land....

WOLFY

irishwolfhound said:

Wolfy when did you start being pessimistic? (especially about future predictions)

I'm really getting the feeling that we were mislead into joining the website.
I know they promised nothing, but what was hinted at in the press releases was misleading.
And charging such a hefty price, we as consumers expect SOMETHING for our money.
Sure we got stuff, but not much.
If the speculations are correct that the site is dead, then the whole thing is tantamount to theft.




BUT, I still hope every day that something will happen.

They haven't updated the site in 2 months. That's all I told my cc company. And that was all I needed to say. Got my $77 back. To not have one update since May 22 is beyond pathetic.

KeithyT said:

heh heh

WOLFY

Do the credit card companies then back-charge (debit) from Lotusflow3r's merchant account? If so, maybe once Prince starts losing some of the money he's made from the site, he'll get the message.

I'm going to wait until after the Montreaux shows before I consider doing this. If we don't get any updates after the festival, then there will be little hope in my mind that the site will ever be updated. Depending on what kind of agreement he has Prince may not be able to air footage of the shows on his site, but we should at least get some rehearsal footage or something.

ShinNihonKikou said:

And if you need any proof to back up your claim, find the email that someone posted from the support team about us getting 2 new videos by the end of June and mention that we didn't get squat.

It was really easy, I just opened a claim online and then my CC called me. I explained the situation and they reversed the charge quickly. I don't think most people will have any problems doing it.

Just a warning, you might be sorry if you cancel this soon and then find that something cool is posted or sent for existing members only.

Serena said:

True, but you could always rejoin if they start adding content. I think it would have been better if they had given you a choice between a yearly subscription and a month-to-month one. This would have forced Prince to at least make monthly updates to the site like with the original NPGMC.

PicassoFace said:

Well, my point was that it might be content for original members only, not those who've cancelled their CC charges & then rejoin. They may be 'blacklisted' from any special goodies (aside from general content).

I guess I'm more patient and am not sweating the lack of recent updates. (that doesn't mean I don't want any, that's for sure!)

Prince would make more money and fans would be happier if he made the site free and offered "packages" of content for $10-$15 a piece. Say for $15 you get:

A Large Room With No Light (new)
A Large Room With No Light (original)
2 videos from a concert, new or old
A group of pics

ShinNihonKikou said:

Would we be able to download this material?

Vendetta1 said:

Yeah. Anyway, you can download anything from the site now (videos), you just need the firefox download helper.

I don't see the point in disputing something that was my choice to pay for in the first place
I love the site...but I have to say that if someone dosent get a move on and update the site fairly soon with something reasonably impressive I may not be spending another $114 AUS to renew my membership for the same old same old

chillichocaholic said:

The point is that the site hasn't been updated in over two months and some people don't think it's worth $77. Money is important nowadays, and if you paid with a credit card, you have the right to dispute it.

ShinNihonKikou said:

Two months isnt really that long It would be worse if it was 6 or more. Im just not that bothered and probably not as impatient as some
Look, when u pay with a credit card this is the risk u run....not gett ing what u "thought" u were paying for and really we know how Prince can be sometimes, what did u expect?

chillichocaholic said:

And that's why I don't think people have a leg to stand on. Prince has been pulling the ol' switcharoo since the Crystal Ball fiasco. There are people that never got their money back from that.

ShinNihonKikou said:

I agree! Prince would have also made alot more money had he just kept his customers happy. It is not that hard to do! One or two new videos a month would have kept most of us happy. Then his subscription base would increase from the thousands of people that come to prince.org to read our posts everyday!

Vendetta1 said:

But let's not forget that other people had contacted Lotusflow3r support and received a response promising 2 updates by the end of June. So it's more than a matter of not getting what we thought we were getting. We're being lied to even after we've signed up.

And yes, when you pay for anything with a credit card, you do run a risk of not getting what you thought you were getting. That's why credit card companies have a dispute process for when you feel you've been ripped off.

-
[Edited 7/19/09 20:56pm]

ShinNihonKikou said:

he'd make more money still if he just released stuff like above at iTunes. It's his record company, he'd get a 66% cut of every sale and have no overhead at all. Just master the music and submit it to Apple. It's baffled me for years why he insists on taking on the expense, headache, and limited visibility of doing it all himself.