Error 9407/Blocked account, will Skype ever join the 21st Century?

I see since the new Skype CEO and COO have been installed in Skype still nothing has been done about the blocked account or error 9407 which is one and the same despite all their assurances that we are paying more attention to our customer needs, what a joke. One only has to look here to see that there is not a day goes by without there is somebody new posting with the same problem.

Let me give you an insight into what this message means.

Error 9407:- Call Failed - Internal Error.

Meaning:- Calling from a blocked country to another high fraud destination. A different IP address to your normal one.

Solution:- Users account and billing details must be reviewed by Skype. Please submit a support request from here giving full details of your problem.

You are advised that it will take a minimum of 4 working days before you get a reply.

Now lets a paint a picture as to what this means to people who are having or could have this problem and how you can help yourself cut down the risk by at least 99% of getting the problem.

You are a Skype user living in the UK and you use Skypeout in one form or another which means in some cases you have to ADD credit to your account to make calls to normal phones or mobiles. You decide to go to say the USA on holiday or on business and take your laptop with you to stay in touch with work or friends and family but before you go you forget to top up your Skypeout credit, now this is where the problem starts though as yet you are not aware of it.

Ok we pack our bags and off we go none the wiser that you are about to step into big trouble when your credit runs out. Well part way through you trip you credit runs out therefore you cannot make any more Skypeout call, no problem you say I will just log into my account and purchase more credit which you do, it is added to your account and you think all is now fine and dandy. Later on during the evening you decide to phone your wife or boss, now this is where the trouble starts. You dial the number and cannot get through all you receive on you screen within Skype is CALL FAILED - INTERNAL ERROR 9407. So you try again and you still get the same response, you then sit and think of all the possible reasons why this should happen because you have never had this before but you come to a dead end because you cannot thing of any.

So what do we do now you say, I know lets see if there is any information on the Skype web site about this problem and low a behold there is you answer just as I have stated above, so you do no more than submit a support request and site back and wait and wait and wait and wait. While we are waiting for Skype CS (Customer Support) to reply, which by the way could be this year next year some time never, it is costing you an arm and a leg in calls on your mobile or the hotel phone in the bed room, let me explain why you received this error.

Skype in there infinite wisdom decided to link your credit card to your internet IP address instead of linking it to the address where you have your statements sent to like any normal company would do. Ok you say so what is wrong with linking it with my IP address, nothing in fact provided you do not leave home ever or run out of credit and expect to purchase more credit from a different IP address which you will be able to but, you WILL NOT be able to use Skypeout to make phone calls, because you have used your CC from a different IP and the totally stupid and archaic payment system at Skype flag it up as a fraudulent card use even though it was you who made the purchase.

This problem has been happening ever since Skype offered Skypeout, a paid for service making you purchase credit to make phone calls. Nothing wrong in offering a paid for service in fact it is a good idea but to do this you need a 21st century payment system not one that was used when the Arc was around. In all the time I have used my CC to purchase goods or service via the web not once have I had any problems, because the companies I have dealt with operate their CC fraud monitoring service correctly linking it to your bank statement address. I have purchased many thing over the web and had them sent to different addresses but every time the company has always asked for my statement address if it is different from my goods destination address.

So to end this tale the moral of the story is ALWAYS make sure you have plenty of credit on your Skype account other wise it is almost 99% certain you will fall into the ERROR 9407 trap and it could take month to get your account unblocked.