I think the larger issue is that we being familiar with Prince and the way he does business KNEW this was coming. We've been sitting and waiting for it for months, all the while warning people that it would happen.

If we knew it and posted about it on here. Prince and his team knew it too. They just chose to do nothing about it until all hell broke loose.

Prince, seriously, call me. We can work out a deal and you could have an online presence that WORKS. You could work with people that understand you and your fans would have a satisfying experience. THINK about it.

Mars23 said:

Wait, I am confused. So they told everyone they would be auto-charged each year and now they are denying they had any role in it?

1.4 - LOTUSFLOW3ER.COM MEMBERSHIPS

Lotusflow3r memberships are valid for one calendar year from date of purchase, and are non-refundable. Membership includes access to restricted areas of Lotusflow3r, access to pre-sale concert tickets, and the ability to download music and videos from Lotusflow3r. Membership does not include the download rights to certain �Premium� material, which is available to purchase on a per-item basis.

Automatic renewal is available for Lotusflow3r memberships. If automatic renewal is selected at purchase your credit card will be billed on an annual basis, unless you cancel automatic renewal prior to the renewal date by emailing sales@Lotusflow3r.

Genesia said:

very funny Genesia. Not. Thing is everybody blames Prince cuz they don't know whose working for him or whose on the other end of the computer.

too many times there are folks that send email or open websites or accounts on websites under Prince's name - responding to emails and such and forget to put their own initials after signing Prince's name. And if they say something or are rude, they're not doing it on their name. They're doing on his name. And that's no good. So, if Prince is a bit miffed in this matter, he has a right to be.

As far LotusFlow3r.com goes - I didn't sign up cuz ... frankly I just don't have the money. I've got a little one to feed, no man to help and am stuck in an area with virtually no jobs. (they say it's the worst place in the States right now, and I believe it) That's something I am giving a lot of thought too and a different subject entirely .. but the point is;

I'll go for the fact that Prince did not know about the reccurring billing cycle. And the fact ...he obviously caught something and had his team issue this statement. I don't think he's trying to rip anybody off. The team states clearly they are sorry for the inconvienance and that they are refunding anyone who was incorrectly charged.

So there it is. Not the first time in the history of the world that clerical
personell made a mistake or an oversight.

At least they signed it half way. and identified who they were i.e. Lotusflow3r development team.

Lotus2unfld said:

True too many too quick to blame P.

2elijah said:

LOL.

I think there's more chance of those "10 unreleased albums" suddenly showing up on lotusflow3r for free.

Yep. I posted the passage from the terms and conditions in one of the other threads. It stated right on the site that auto renewal would occur.

Lotusflow3r membership year 1: $77.00

1 low quality tee plus a $12.99 cd set: $77.00

12 month of anticipation staring at the ORB watching over and over outdated low quality pics and videos: $77.00

Lotusflow3r "erroneous" membership renewal: $39 in overdraft fees + $77.00

The Lotusflow3r support team email stating they will issue a refund in year 2777

PRICELESS!!!

PicassoFace said:

I read the fine print, believe me, (I had npgmc "life time" membership) I know there was an automatic renewal.

Why is it perfectly legal (your words) for a company to put in fine print --"email such and such to cancel your account"-- and then they don't respond and then charge your credit card for a second year for a site that doesn't exist? The point is that they did not respond to my emails to cancel the freakin account. There was at least 6 requests to cancel if not more, I lost count actually. Tell me one good reason why this was handled this way.

Ha, just logged back in and figured today's quote was quite apropriate

NDRU said:

I agree and I will go further to say that he or his people and at the very least, the people who ran the site read what's on here. They could have come forward and told us that our memberships were not going to be renewed and made sure that they could not be renewed by accident.

I am not hurting for 77 bucks but in this economy, I am sure some people are. For Prince to remain silent is fucked up. The above statement means NOTHING to me as I would be getting my 77 bucks back come hook or come crook.

What exactly is wrong with just saying the site is over and has been for many months now? How about just telling us there was really no such thing as customer service?

If this shit had happened to Prince (shitty customer service) you can best bet someone would hear about it. But we are just supposed to sit back and continue to kiss his purple ass. Fuck that.

Prince is wrong. He needs to step the hell up and do the right thing.

Vendetta1 said:

GuRRRLLL, if he reads this we might have to sit through another endless, rambling, 'response song'.

muleFunk said:

The difference is that ESPN is still a functioning website. love2chargeu4nothing.com no longer works. That is called stealing my friend. Most sites that I have a subscription with actually respond to customer questions, especially months before membership is due if I want to cancel. 2ndly, I usually get an email telling me that my account is getting reading to be charged.

TheVoid said:

Prince doing a response song for lil ol me?

too many times there are folks that send email or open websites or accounts on websites under Prince's name - responding to emails and such and forget to put their own initials after signing Prince's name. And if they say something or are rude, they're not doing it on their name. They're doing on his name. And that's no good.

Efan said:

What a gigantic clusterfuck. I didn't even join, but I feel I deserve a refund just for being a fan.

You know just reading the first few posts in this thread it just struck me (not for the first time) that fans do play an important part in the Prince web experience. I'm not of the school that Prince owes us anything. We pay him for his art and I really don't think I am entitled to anything that he creates for free.

BUT without people like Gav and others like him, some of you who post on here i really don't think we would get this kind of feedback or solution to problems that we sometimes assume (wrongly) is down to Prince being some kind of asshole.

It jsut seems to be his nature to be a bit half-assed or lose interest in web projects quickly. Thank God that doesn't apply to how he plays live or creates some of his classic tracks in the studio.

Thanks to the fans who truly do the work on our behalf and save a lot of ranting and raving. Prince you don't need to acknowledge these fans but I hope you know that we are not all quick to critique and lock horns with you the moment something goes wrong. Some of us just want to know what is going on and save others some worry.

KeithyT said:

Why do you lot always think in these extremes? It ain't about FREE, it's about COMPETENCE. It's about VALUE FOR MONEY.

Oh, and you might wanna look around and realize things have changed A LOT. Social media is completely changing the world, giving customers direct contact to companies and artists etc -- and those that are NOT changing along are having a bloody hard time, or will have.



You've gotta be joking.

KeithyT said:

What's going wrong it was has been going wrong for ages: he hires INCOMPETENT YES MEN instead of talented people who dare to contradict him.