Maybe I Just Don't 'Get It' Regarding Skype
ok, so try to follow me here because I feel I may lose you.
This isn't really a rant but rather simply a expression of confusion and maybe you can help me with it.
I've had Skype for sometime now and I think it's great! I love that you can download it for free, call Skype to Skype for free and even do video Skype to Skype for free. You can also purchase different plans that will allow you to make unlimited calls for literally a fraction of a regular landline. As well as also purchase an actual telephone number that people can call you on.
Ok, so I'm not really here to sell or promote Skype, just follow me here.
So, Skype is basically an online phone company right?
So I've got a few things with them, I've got two telephone numbers with them that I pay like $30 a year for. Here's where I get confused.
I was noticing that my bill was still getting charged $2.95 a month even after purchasing a number. There have also been a few weird charges of .09 cents completely separate. It's odd to see a charge on your account for .09 cents so after seeing a few times I decided to find out why I 'thought' I was getting overcharged.
Remember, I already purchased two phone numbers for $30 a year so I 'assumed' that I didn't have to pay the additional $2.95 a month and I have NO idea where the .09 cents is coming from.
I diligently search the Skype website for a customer service phone number to call and find out whats going on. At this point I'm not upset, I just wanted to make sure things are clear.
I can't find ANY phone number or ANY means of contact besides EMAIL??
This is where I get completely confused and I seriously doubt my own intelligence or lack of I guess.
Here I am trying to get in contact with a PHONE COMPANY whether it's online or not to ask about my account and they have NO PHONE NUMBER???
Ok, so I email them with this: (copied/pasted actual email)
I bought the $30.00 phone numbers but I'm still getting charged $2.95 a
month, in addition to that, I'm also being charged an additional $.09
cents on a separate transaction.
I expect to speak to a live person about this matter immediately.
Now, even though my last sentence is a little strong, I'm not actually upset, I'm just upset I can't find a phone number to call for customer service
To my surprise I do get a quicker than expected response from them, here is their response: (copied/pasted)
Hello Nick,
Thank you for contacting Skype Support.
We are sorry to hear that you are having difficulties using your Skype
subscription.
We have checked your calls and we have found tha all of your calls were
covered by your subscription.
Please check the link below to see a detailed list of the calls you have
Now, let me ask you, do you think they even addressed my question? I sure don't!
So my reply back to them was: (copied/pasted)
thats NOT the problem I'm concerned with! If you read my comment I made
to you guys you would clearly see I'm not concerned about the calls I've
made. I'm concerned that I'm being charged for two services when I only
need one!
I also request to speak to a live english speaking person please. I do
not appreciate having to resolve matters via email. I would like an
actual phone number I can call into to get this matter resolved.
Ok, so at this point I'm a little annoyed so I press a little harder. I'm clearly upset that a PHONE COMPANY is NOT providing me with a customer service number. This could have all been addressed in a matter of minutes rather than days via email.
Here is where I really lose my mind!
Their response to my last response above(copied/pasted)
Unfortunately, we do not have live phone support, most of our support is
conducted by e-mail. We do not plan to have live phone support in the
near future but we are gradually introducing live chat support, starting
with our larger users.
At present email support requests gives us time to deal with each
customer and each problem more thoroughly, because we have time to
search and develop the answers to different problems and to find out the
best solution. The best solutions are not always the fastest ones.
We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Ok, so follow me here. I know I've drawn it out a little long and remember, I'm not really ranting, bashing or trying to give them a bad name.
But, let me ask you this.
With as far technologically advanced as we are on this planet how on earth does a PHONE COMPANY NOT have customer PHONE support?
This is crazy to me!! They're SKYPE. How does SKYPE not have PHONE support? Why don't they have a SkYPE to SKYPE customer support?
Am I the only one completely confused about that? I read that last email this morning before I took my kids to school and all morning I've been completely besides myself! I just don't get it!
So, I decided to see if they have a twitter and a facebook and guess what, they do!
I mean C'mon! if that doesn't boggle your mind then I don't know what will
That's it for now, it's been a weird Tuesday morning so far.
Comments (9)
All I can do is sit here and laugh! This is so funny. Not being able to speak to an English speaking support staff is a deal breaker for me. So to laugh at you, but this really funny!
James Ward, over 14 years ago
I'll start doing that then Peter, hit you up on twitter. At least I can get in touch with someone quick(er) if I ever have a problem which I've never had because Skype does ROCK!! I'm not unhappy with the product by any means but it will be nice knowing I can get a hold of someone now when I have a question which was all I had.
Nick J., over 14 years ago
Skype isn't a phone company - we just make cool software :) We've already rolled out chat support to our top users, and expect to see more developments in this area in the future. If you have any problems with Skype or with our support team in future, you can find me on the Skype blogs or on Twitter, where I'll be more than happy to help out. Nick - glad that things are sorted out now though! http://share.skype.com/sites/en/ http://twitter.com/peteratskype
Peter Parkes (Skype Blogger), over 14 years ago
I'm just amazed that a PHONE company doesn't have a PHONE number for customer support. Can you imagine if Qwest or Comcast or whoever else didn't have a PHONE number for customer support LOL!!!! Since its FREE to download Skype and FREE to use Skype to Skype, how much overhead would it really cost? C'mon :)
Nick J., over 14 years ago
You have to hand it to Peter from Skype, Nick . . . he was Johnny on the spot in responding to your blog post! I can see this from both sides: As a customer, I want to TALK to someone in customer support. It is much easier in many cases for the customer to do this, and is far more personal. I have this beef with several companies that we work with (several that most of you use every day); as vendor doing business with them, I expect to be able to speak with a rep, but in many cases, until you are a VERY LARGE partner, they don't care. This is not ideal, but if you want to work with these companies, you have to do it on their terms in many cases. Until you can really throw your weight around, sometimes you need to just accept that. As a company in tech, I see the costs incurred by adding phone support. Imagine the number of reps they (Skype) would need to answer all the potential calls they would get? It would destroy their margins. So . . . I feel your pain, but at the same time, completely understand why Skype has a policy to keep it to email. I hope you get it all resolved. OH, and by the way, I'm a HUGE fan of Skype, and I have no idea how people lived without it!
Joshua Dorkin, over 14 years ago
Hey Peter, thanks for showing up. I now know whats up now, that's not really my concern. I'm not upset at the charges or I don't think I'm being over charged or nothing like that. I'm just confused as to why Skype doesn't have a customer service number. What took me a few days to get handled would have been easily taken care of in less than 5 minutes. I actually like using Skype and will continue to use them, I'm just concerned that when I come across a problem or concern, I won't have a phone number to call the company I'm paying for a service. At the very least, I believe having a skype to skype customer service option available.
Nick J., over 14 years ago
I understand your comments. I'm an already established customer though. I just simply had a billing question. Different from your scenario. I did though as mention diligently search their site, that also included reading through the FAQ page as well. There wasn't anything close to what I was concerned with.
Nick J., over 14 years ago
Hi there - sorry to hear you've had a bad experience with our support team. Sounds like you have both online numbers and a calling subscription (which is where the $2.95 is going), which will include calls to certain numbers in certain countries. You can find out exactly what's included in your subscription here: http://www.skype.com/go/subscription.settings Any calls not included in your subscription will be charged at our standard rates: http://www.skype.com/go/rates You can check in your call history to identify any calls not covered by your subscription: http://www.skype.com/go/history I hope that helps. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to clarify things.
Peter Parkes (Skype Blogger), over 14 years ago
I used to have a couple of online business's. If you sold a product or service that was strictly online you would understand why a lot of companies don't list phone numbers. Just as an example, I had another friend with an online business that was helping a customer make a buying decision for a product that they called him for after seeing it on his website. After spending 20 minutes with the lady he asked her if she was ready to purchase? She replied that she had planned to buy the same product from a different company she found on the web that was cheaper, but they didn't list a phone number so she could ask questions.She said my friend was the only vendor that answered the phone so she got her questions answered! He hung up on her! You will also get a lot of people that are too lazy to read the FAQ page to get the answer they need, thus wasting a lot of your day and not allowing you to get the important things done.
Account Closed, over 14 years ago