Patreon as a platform and concept is in decline
I went to the button to report a creator for not fulfilling their promises. Went through the menus, and all I got was the option to contact the creator themselves and/or close my account.
So, no way of getting a refund even if you can prove they haven't fulfilled their promise. That's a really shitty business model but of course what do they care, they just want their % and people can go to hell if they don't like it.
But, with policies like that it's no wonder they're declining. Like AirBNB and so many, they start with a good idea but then it gets bloated and shitty policies get revealed and the bubble soon deflates or outright bursts.
As for the free memberships, I'm sure it's something Patreon rolled out and even if it wasn't automatic, no doubt he'd jump on it just to get bigger numbers and a locked-in audience. People probably signed up thinking they'd get something for it but turns out they get fuck all of nothing... hell, even people who pay him aren't getting shit these days!