Nikademus said:

Exactly, because tell me WHO has the responsibility if the people running the site got fired WITHOUT their boss making sure the system doesn't automatically charge members, eh?

FunkyDissCo said:

I agree with you, P does have some responsibility in this because the site represents "him". It's "his" baby.

FunkyDissCo said:

I agree with you, P does have some responsibility in this because the site represents "him". It's "his" baby.

I PHONED MY BANK AND WAS TOLD THEY CAN NOT STOP THE PAYMENT GOING THROUGH IF YOUR ACCOUNT IS CHARGED (DEBITED) HOWEVER IF YOU EMAILED THEM (LOTUSFLOWER) BEFORE THE DUE DATE VISA CAN LEGALLY CHASE PRINCE AND CO FOR THE MONEY. . MEANTIME YOU GET THE FULL REFUND BACK ON YOUR ACCOUNT.I CAN'T IMAGINE THE BANK LETTING PRINCE GET AWAY WITH WHAT'S IN EFFECT NOW THE BANKS MONEY.
YOU MUST KEEP A COPY OF THE EMAIL YOU SENT TO LOTUSFLOWER FOR PROOF OF NOTICE SENT. DO NOT DELETE THAT. ALL THE BEST.

P.S. SORRY FOR THE CAPS

In the song " No More Candy 4 U" Prince sings something like " i`ve got your numbers now fool". If this is a reference to what is going on now then he doesn`t deserve a fanbase. I would find that very nasty and insulting.

PurpleLove7 said:

Ultimately, it all falls in his lap. There's not a Lotusflow3r.org site, or a (insert web designer name).org site. It's prince.org where people are flocking to complain. The site wouldn't exist save for the fact that Prince wanted it. I think he holds all the ultimately responsibility. That's not to say there aren't people that shouldn't be answering to him when (and if) he asks "WHY are they charging again?" It's all about the chain of command.

AsylumUtopia said:

what you've posted is a load of crap. it might have been what you were told, but it's a load of crap

direct debits and credit card transactions are entirely different things

with a direct debit your bank account (which is not linked to or has anything to do with a credit card) has a note as authorisation so when a transaction from the authorised company requests payment from your account, it gives the money over. for the company to obtain payment they have to send a request for payment with both the bank account number and sort code along with the amount of payment. when the bank receive the request they pass over the payment as long as the account has a note of the direct debit. the transaction takes 3 days and is similar to a BAC's payment, but in reverse so it's a debit

with a credit or debit card, the card details and amount are presented with a request for the funds. the account has no details of the companies making debits, and credit the money to the company as long as sufficient funds or credit is available

it sounds to me that they automated the process of debiting the credit cards, but how they did this with card numbers no longer held on the members accounts means that there was a major flaw in the system, as obviously this should not have happened. it sounds like they kept a database of card numbers that was not updated correctly, which is essentially negligence

PurpleLove7 said:

Ultimately, it all falls in his lap. There's not a Lotusflow3r.org site, or a (insert web designer name).org site. It's prince.org where people are flocking to complain. The site wouldn't exist save for the fact that Prince wanted it. I think he holds all the ultimately responsibility. That's not to say there aren't people that shouldn't be answering to him when (and if) he asks "WHY are they charging again?" It's all about the chain of command.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I apologize if this has already been brought up (I haven't read all the pages of this thread yet), but maybe it is possible to get things "cut off" at the merchant processor level. Do the original emails reveal who that processor is?

It could also be possible to partially go through the Lotusflow3r signup process and look in the HTML code source and figure out who the processor is.

Or, Scott Addison Clay might know who the processor is.

This situation seems like it could be a violation of the terms of service as required by the merchant processor, in which case they may be willing to suspend the lotusflow3r account.

colin2007 said:

You really think Prince is saying "I have your credit card numbers, and in another few months, I'm going to charge you and give you no more candy" ?

We know what the line means.

FunkyDissCo said:

I agree with you, P does have some responsibility in this because the site represents "him". It's "his" baby.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I apologize if this has already been brought up (I haven't read all the pages of this thread yet), but maybe it is possible to get things "cut off" at the merchant processor level. Do the original emails reveal who that processor is?

It could also be possible to partially go through the Lotusflow3r signup process and look in the HTML code source and figure out who the processor is.

Or, Scott Addison Clay might know who the processor is.

This situation seems like it could be a violation of the terms of service as required by the merchant processor, in which case they may be willing to suspend the lotusflow3r account.

ernestsewell said:

I wouldn`t put anything past Prince. Remember he is at war with the media, record company's and fans.

PurpleLove7 said:

Exactly! Prince is a "brand" as much as he's a person these days. He has a responsibility to look out for his brand to make sure people keep wanting it. One of the ways is to make sure shit like this does not happen. No none wants to spend their money on your brand if all it's gonna get them is ripped off.

I wouldn`t put anything past Prince. Remember he is at war with the media, record companys and fans.

As somebody said earlier, this information from Prince shouldn't be coming through a fan, whoever that may be. It should be posted on his official website for all to see. An official statement, This isn't some album release date been delayed, this is the best part of 100$ being taken out of his fans bank accounts illegally (for the most part it seems). Of course he suddenly wants to talk to us under the medias radar. He will be crucified for this bad press if it gets into the general press.

I for one hope it does.

All $77 and we will watch them fall (cha-Ching)
they stand in the the way of my money
and I will screw them all
With my intellect and my Savoir Faire
No one in the whole universe will ever ever dare
Eye screwed you now and you are mine and together you're going to pay for all time.
So don't cry-aye-aye
-just kiss your $77 good-bye.
[Edited 3/25/10 13:42pm]

unique said:

Sadly, it's not entirely crap. I wish it were, but it isn't. You're wrong about direct debit transactions - they can and do apply to credit cards. Like you I had always believed that direct debits were strictly related to current accounts (i.e. bank accounts and not credit card accounts). Up until a little less than a year ago, that is, when I investigated and discovered otherwise. Their inability to cancel a one-off transaction sounds like crap (even if you have previously trusted transactions from them) so I'd be interested to hear what other people's credit card companies have to say about it, but as far as direct debits are concerned, an auto-renewal credit card transaction is treated in the exact same way and with the exact same trust as (and is referred to as) a direct debit.

colin2007 said:

You really think Prince is saying "I have your credit card numbers, and in another few months, I'm going to charge you and give you no more candy" ?

We know what the line means.

ernestsewell said:

When the song came out, I heard it was meant for "the haters on the internet" but since no one has called me up yet, I'm curious, what does it mean?

postiepaul3 said:

I too was told that last year so just waiting for them to try and take the money and then Prince will b in for a nasty shock. I was also told at the same time that if u have done the above then the banks will fight for u on your behalf and they usually win.

In the song " No More Candy 4 U" Prince sings something like " i`ve got your numbers now fool". If this is a reference to what is going on now then he doesn`t deserve a fanbase. I would find that very nasty and insulting.

colin2007 said:

Is English your first language? If not, "to have someone's number" simply means you understand what they're about.

PurpleHigh said:

Thats a good idea to check into. And to Haterina, it is a violation of Section 6801 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act for all the charges made after cancellations were requested and/or changes in personal information were made into their system. Its not about anyones "job" now, its about the law.

PurpleLove7 said:

Exactly! Prince is a "brand" as much as he's a person these days. He has a responsibility to look out for his brand to make sure people keep wanting it. One of the ways is to make sure shit like this does not happen. No none wants to spend their money on your brand if all it's gonna get them is ripped off.

AsylumUtopia said:

i'm not wrong about direct debit transactions. what i typed is how it works. it might work differently in whatever country you come from, but that's how they operate in the uk at least. i should know as i have the software, hardware and chip and pin card to allow myself to process direct debits or make bacs payments for the organisation i work for. i'm responsible for over a million pounds each month

what do you do that gives you more hands on experience in a situation like this? have you ever had to resolve an almighty major fuckup with 100s of wrong direct debits like i did when some idiot fucked up a software upgrade? i've personally sorted a similar problem relating to direct debits, have you?