- Related Stories
-
What's in a name? Plenty, says Vonage
February 9, 2005 -
Skype goes server-less for Net phone calls
July 26, 2004 -
New Net phone service off to bumpy start
September 2, 2003
But there's trouble in paradise. The suitor says his cut-rate phone provider suddenly left him in the lurch, thanks to a billing glitch that's prevented him from using his account to place calls to his betrothed.
"I am sure they will straighten things out in a day or two, but if not, I will simply notify my credit card company to reverse the charge," he wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com, requesting anonymity.
Among a crowded field of Internet phone providers, Skype has turned heads with its unique blend of technology, grassroots marketing and rapid adoption. Sixty-five million people have downloaded the free software in the 18 months since Skype launched its product. The company is currently signing up about 60,000 new registered users every day--numbers that draw comparisons to free software downloads that swept the Internet during the late 1990s, such as the ICQ instant messaging service. Skype adds an estimated 140,000 new users a day.
What's new:
Net phone provider Skype has added a commercial product but finds its ad hoc customer service overwhelmed.
Bottom line:
Keeping consumers happy could mean dipping into cash reserves to fund customer service.
But the honeymoon may be coming to an end for the upstart phone provider as it branches out of its core free service into new paid offerings.
In recent weeks, there's been a spike in complaints about the company's first commercial service--SkypeOut--that lets customers cheaply make calls off the Internet to ordinary phone lines. Aside from having to wait days for accounts to be credited--as the anonymous suitor and dozens of other customers have complained--many SkypeOut users say their conversations are disrupted by a two-second delay between someone speaking and being able to hear what was said.
"It makes communication impossible," one unsatisfied customer said. Others complain that some calls aren't going through at all, and if they do, you can't hear the other person on the line, though they can hear you. For a few days last week, some people couldn't call U.S. phone numbers.
Skype spokeswoman Kat James acknowledges problems but says the customer numbers tell the bigger story.
"Skype constantly monitors call performance across the global network of users and seeks to enhance quality through continuous product development," James said. "As our growth indicates, we have a huge number of satisfied customers."
Getting what you pay for?
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, such as Skype's, allow an Internet connection to double as a telephone line. The software makes for dramatically cheaper dialing, mostly because the calls aren't taxed or regulated, but also due to the efficiencies of using the Internet Protocol to ferry the calls, rather than techniques the traditional telephone industry developed decades ago.
Other VoIP providers charge a flat rate of about $25 a month for unlimited domestic calling. Skype is free between callers who both use the company's software. Via SkypeOut, the company will complete calls to ordinary landline and cellular phones, charging about 2 cents a minute to 20 countries in North America, Western Europe and Australia.
Skype's struggles to control what may amount to only minor glitches illustrate the bigger problem of how a low-budget provider handles customer service. Skype has a few hundred employees, but so far, Skype customer service relies mostly on e-mail, proactive customers and patience. James said the company is not in a position to send technicians to inspect individual user setups or Internet connections. "We rely on reports from users to investigate any potential trouble areas," she said.
That's how, for instance, the company learned that Internet connections behind firewalls are not able to use SkypeOut and was able to make people aware of workarounds. Skype lets users vent in free online forums, which are monitored by Skype staff who pass feedback to development and telephone operator partners, James said.
"We read forums to look at generic problems and of course listen to our users' opinions," she said.
Customer service addresses individual issues via e-mail, at billing@skype.com, according to James. "The customer service department is rapidly growing and enhancing the service level for Skype's premium customers," she said.
But that's clearly not enough, say industry insiders, competitors and--judging by the firestorm of protest on the forums--Skype's own customers.
One SkypeOut customer said she'd pay for technical assistance. Another was more to the point about how she bought SkypeOut minutes and felt cheated.
"The money has been debited from my bank account, a reasonable period has passed, and Skype have not met their side of the contract--so as far as I can tell, they've stolen from me," fumed one contributor to Skype Forum, a Skype-run Internet message board. "Further, they advertise Skype as something that will 'just work'--and it categorically doesn't. What a horrendous user experience."
Price of popularity
In some way, Skype is victimized by its own success and, at 800,000 customers, it's among the most successful services of its kind ever. Despite its desire to keep spending down, Skype may be forced to eat into its hard-earned revenues to bolster customer service staffs, suggest two industry analysts who report on VoIP providers. But because SkypeOut is Skype's only major source of income, that may be hard on a constrained budget, said one insider at Packet 8, a commercial VoIP provider.
But with subscriber rates high, Skype is pushing forward with other premium services, creating the potential for more awkward customer service crises.
The company is testing a voice mail system, the price of which is not being disclosed, as well as SkypeIn, a complement to SkypeOut in which landline or cell phone callers can call Skype users on Internet-connected devices on which the company's software has been downloaded.
But as Skype gets set to roll out those new services, customers continue to stew over its existing premium service.
"I've been unable to make a call for a week now and have got no response whatsoever from Skype," fumed Skype forum user Moubliepas. "It seems they really don't care about our complaints. We should unite to make our voices heard."
See more CNET content tagged:
Skype,
customer service,
SkypeOut,
phone provider,
BellSouth Corp.
As with all developing technologies, there's bound to be problems with emerging services, however I've always seen Skype as being one of the agile organisations out there, and am sure they will get addressed ... eventually.
Unfortunately, it tends to be the people experiencing problems who tend to be most vocal about their experience, so even if they are having problems with 0.01% of their clients, we are bound to hear about it. However, the massive growth rate you report is a testament to the value the service provides to its customer. I think the figures speak for themselves ...
Mainly for VOiP to people with broadband and it is fantastic.
I am in Ireland and have phoned my sisters mobile in Australia and there is a delay in these calls which I considered acceptable. My understanding is that the call is going from my system across the internet using Peer-Peer technology to Austalia and is then converted to a 'proper' telephone call which is then routed to a mobile provider to my sisters phone. That's a lot of encoding and decoding.
When I called my friends mobile in the UK it was perfect. The same as a real telephone call and the same as their Broadband to Briadband service.
I'm sticking with it.
using the same card for purchases anywhere on the net without
problems for the last 2 years.
Skype offers an alternative payment via Moneybrokers which
Skype touts is similar to Paypal. More registration nonsense with
them, only to learn that they only accept bank transfers
(meaning you have to contact your bank and initiate a transfer -
don't forget to gather all of the pertinent info you'll need to do
that) to credit an account. No cards accepted, no checks, etc. If
you mange to successfully do all of that, then there is a lag time
for money to be posted to the account and transfered to Skype.
Now in theory, I guess I could do all of that, but in reality I'm
not. Too much time, too much trouble, too much ongoing
maintenance on my part just to make a phone call.
If they make the service accessible to regular credit card users
(at least here in the US) wake me up and I'll give it another whirl.
from New Zealand.
Maybe you are experiencing the kind of problems
that people outside the USA are experiencing.
For example the number of times I try to sign up
to a program in the USA and the small print
tells me : "only for USA or Cannada citizens".
The USA economy is not as open as they like to
portray to the outside world.
In both cases guess which company showed up in the fradulant charges for buying minutes..
Serious credit card fraud being commited with SKYPE by Skype users. Ask any credit card company. I am 2 for 2.
Skype sould use some decent form of validation in taking credit cards.
I believe the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine should be applied to Skypes legally, like swimming pool fences for small children.
If something on your property is both inviting and dangerous, you have a legal responsibility to try to prevent injuries to children who may wander onto the property. If not you get sued.
Here we are talking about teenagers and some changes to how many attempts some one gets to validate a credit card number.
I am willing to bet there are several thousand folks at this moment who, if they examine their credit card bills closely enough, will notice they have been billed for some Skype minutes by some kid playing the lets commit credit card fraud game thinking there is no way he will get caught. After all it was soooo easy to get his minutes and the card owner will think his wife charged it and let it go.
The process in action as I have heard.. Could be wrong.
1. Kid gets credit card # and name to match, not hard, lists are on the net from clerks and hackers. Kid inputs a name ont the list, trys verification for payment authorization
2. Kid tries verification, wrong one.
3. Kid trys different verification.
4. Kid trys another different verification.
5. Kid trys another different verification.
6. Kid trys another different verification.
7. Kid trys another different verification.
8. Kid wins the prison lottery and verifies.
9. Kid gets minutes using another persons card.
10. Victim contacts card fraud department.
11. Charges dropped, gets card with different #.
12. Card company tracks down kid.
13. Kid gets jail, Skypes gets money.
Look in Skype forums for more.
the phenomenal success of Skype.
Skype has worked fantastic for me.
At present when people ring me from overseas
they ask me to call them back with Skype.
Not only is SkypeOut cheaper, but the phone
quality is better than from an ordinary phone
line !
I have also tried other VOIP services like
GnoneMeeting, but it requires a team of network
specialists to setup behind my IPCop firewall.
Skype works right out of the box, hazzle free,
perfect sound quality, very cheap, what do you
want more ?
how good the product is.
They complain even if they are at fault.
Personally I can tell nothing but good about
Skype.
It is cheaper for me to ring my brother in the
Netherlands from New Zealand, than it is for him
to ring his direct neighbour !
BTW: phone quality is better as well.
US billing and you need to pay in Euros so I do not think the
calling rates are that competitive. Nevertheless, I ran into issues
with overloaded circuits and contacted their customer service. It
was bad, very bad, online the operator could not provide any
assitance. It took 3 weeks to back on forth with their technical
support to get an answer. I was not pleased, their customer
service is less than acceptable and it seems they would rather
bill you than help you.
I have been using skype for some time now. When I got skypeout to make calls while I travel, I found an issue that I could not call a particular city in India. So I went to skype for help. I got their online chat support and they immediately opend a bug report and said they will have it solved for next release. At that time, they did have a line on their webpage which said that you might have issues with certain area/country codes.
Second most immpressive thing about skype : I was in India on vacation and I had to get on a conference call. I work in the US. I had logged in to the net via a dialup connection. I was surprised when I got a good connection to my bridge and without any issues.
I think Skype is a good company and left to their innovation, we will see more of this company in the future.
With WiMax, skype will have even more customers.
These are my views and expereinces.
-GGR
If someone want to find USB Phone from china,you can contact me directly.skype id:nicolehan
what a joke
despite the problems, the value for money skype offers is extraordinary and incomparable to any other provider known to me.
and you have to take the typically superficial (and underanalysed) cnet reports with a grain of salt. skype's user base has telcos worried and rightly so. the last time they were picking up subscribers at this rate was - hang on - never...
i am sure when skype get big and starts paying for cnet articles, the tune will be different.
but if you are keen to keep paying the greedy telcos the rates they have never been able to justify, go ahead. (I remember moving to the US in 2000 and paying PacBell $125 for my very first 40 or so minute landline call to the UK, just because I had no idea I had to select my long distance provider and naturally, the default was the most expensive option...)
i have a feeling enough of us are willing to support skype through this expansion until they can build up a better infrastrucure. i just hope they don't forget the favour.
VOIP is not what its cracked up to be...
btw... VOIP will eventually get viruses and spam phone calls from 3rd world countries trying to rip you off... which the former CANT happen on Phone lines...
yeah phone is more expensive... get a friggin calling card... or dont call during peak hours and its not expensive...
doesn't cost us a cent as we use cpu to cpu... It's FREE why
gripe.
Does anyone know an actual phone number for them?
says that it was delivered and still my account says $0.00.
Purchased Skype Pro. with 4.50 USD minutes first. That never
registered. I have written them several times every way possible. I
will not be paying them anything else and will be asking my credit
card company to back charge them. They suck.
-
by HotOnYourTrail
September 14, 2008 8:19 PM PDT
- Three Days on the road of coverig Ike - I'm pissy and I just want a damned answer - so stay tuned b/c I will have someone's @$%$ home phone number in a bit if this keeps up. Their biz payment plan is so damn confusing and I have one VIP running the show there on her time off. ME!!!!
-
Reply to this comment
-
See all 31 Comments >>Website fron CNET
BS - Blah blah blah -- but it gets better keep readiing!
Skype is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Skype generates revenue...More»
Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Break out your people finders skills and call their butts at home. Be nice - but tell them - Hey you're killing me!
Skype created a little piece of software that makes communicating with people around the world easy and fun. With Skype you can say hello or share a laugh with anyone, anywhere. And if both of you are on Skype, it?s free.
Skype is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Skype generates revenue through its premium offerings such as making and receiving calls to and from landline and mobile phones, as well as voicemail and call forwarding. Skype, based in Luxembourg, has relationships with a growing network of hardware and software providers and is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY).«Less
Here's your physical addy at least.
Address:
22/24 Bd. Royal, 6e etage
L-2449
Luxembourg
Map it » Founded:
2003
Industry:
Communications and Networks
Sub-Industry:
VOIP Service/ Equip
Legal Structure:
Corporation
Ownership:
Subsidiary
Parent Company:
ebay
Tags:
Luxembourg [x]
VoIP [x]
Ebay [x]
IM [x]
contact [x]
call [x]
chat [x]
Add a tag