Jamie's Random Musings on Video IM
Having spent a good part of the last year struggling with a variety of video chat and IM programs, I have decided to write a few things down and see what other people have to say about them.
Wednesday 23 January 2008, 7:20 PM
Skype "Support" and User Forums - How Low Can You Sink?
I used to spend a lot of time answering user questions and problems on the Skype User Forums. I made over 1,000 postings in just a few months, until I finally started to realize that what we (the experienced users) were doing there was covering up for Skypes ridiculous lack of Customer Support. I seldom go back to read the Skype User Forums any more, because frankly I just find it too depressing. I got a lot of pleasure out of helping people get Skype working, and I certainly don't get any pleasure out of seeing them stuck now. But this evening, out of boredom, I was looking at them a bit, and shaking my head over the fact that there are still literally hundreds of problems being reported for the same old bugs that we were struggling with a year ago. Then I saw something that absolutely shocked me.
One of the "experienced users" who regularly attempts to help with problems in the Skype User Forums is now soliciting "donations" for his assistance, with a line at the end of every posting he makes, something like this:
Get Help ...... Donations Accepted Through PayPal
Now, this has got to be the absolute lowest of the low. Skype is producing a poor product, which crashes itself, other applications or the entire computer at the drop of a hat. They refuse to provide any kind of Customer Support, so desperate users are driven to the Skype User Forums looking for help... and then get hit for "donations", to get their supposedly free program working? I can't imagine how anyone with any sort of conscience could do such a thing.
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