Jamie's Random Musings
Various thoughts and adventures, including but not limited to Linux, Windows XP and Widows Vista, and assorted bits of hardware new and old.
Thursday 31 July 2008, 8:38 AM
Skype Pursuing "Unarticulated Needs"
However, what I found more interesting was the comments made on the blog post - "Please Help, Skype has taken money from my bank account", "Why is it so difficult to contact Skype Support", "I agree it is difficult to contact Skype Support", and so on.
As I have said many times before, Skype 'Support" is non-existent. This is becoming more obvious all the time, as desperate Skype users are posting pleas for help to the Skype Journal (aka the Skype Cheerleading Squad), to other user forums, to various blogs, and just about anywhere else you (or they) can imagine.
If you want to risk your business on a product which has no customer support, go with Skype. If you want to risk your money with a company that openly says they will take a MINIMUM of four days to respond to any inquiry and has a company policy of "take the money first, and ignore the questions later", go with Skype. If you are going to take a trip, and want to risk setting everything up so you can communicate with friends and family back home, only to arrive at your destination and find that it doesn't work, and there is no technical support, go with Skype. If you want to chat using a product which promotes itself as "secure", but then won't give a simple answer when asked if there is a back door for monitoring, and they are passing out the keys to that door, go with Skype.
If any or all of these possibilities disturb you, look carefully at the alternatives to Skype.
jw 31/7/2008
PreviousComments on this post
I have just read the article by Josh Silverman you refer to and what a total load of rubbish he talks it is so obvious from the rubbish that spills from his mouth that he does NOT and NEVER has listened to what his customers say other wise that would of scraped 4.0 sorted out the customer support and billing/payment problems then started to build version 4 on the same lines as 3.8.0.139 and product that is usable and not thrown in you face when you open it.
Sill I suppose what more can we expect when everything is being controlled by the still communist Russia though they don't like to think that now.
Hi Jamie,
I'm Scott Durchslag, Skype's new Chief Operating Officer. I know you’ve been highly critical of Skype’s Customer Support, and after looking into it carefully, I think you are right. I humbly apologize to our customers who have had a bad experience. We really appreciate our community of users and need to do a better job responding when there are problems.
Skype is one of the fastest growing technology companies in history, so even with our best efforts, it is a real challenge to scale our organization and infrastructure. To put this in perspective, over the last 12 months we’ve added 142 million Skype users, which is roughly the population of Russia. Josh, myself, and the whole team at Skype are passionate about serving our community of users, and are taking concrete actions to make improvements. While I accept your criticism of the service level for paying users, please do not impugn the dedication of Skype’s employees who care deeply about our community and work incredibly hard to deliver a high quality communications experience. We may not always get it right, but it isn’t because we aren’t trying or don’t care.
The first action Josh took was to bring on a COO (myself) to help scale the business and address these challenges. I've been with Skype for a few weeks now, and we are already implementing the infrastructure to help improve our service levels. We are also dramatically increasing our customer care staff. In addition, we are working to fix the very real problem you have pointed out about blocked accounts when Skype credits are purchased while traveling away from a user's home location. I will be holding our team accountable for improving our response time, and reducing the number of complaints we receive in the first place by removing the root causes in our our product.
I appreciate your passion for Skype, and your concern to help make it the best it can be. I’d like to invite you to meet with myself and our Head of Customer Support to discuss these issues and our roadmap to address them.
Best regards,
Scott Durchslag
Mr Durchslag,
For the first time in several years of first using, then informally supporting, and finally abandoning Skype in disgust, your reply is the first time I have ever seen any indication that Skype listened to what any user said, or acknowledged that the problems their users were complaining about were in fact real. I suppose that is promising.
Unfortunately, I have heard the empty statements about how much Skype "appreciates" their users, or "loves their users", or whatever phrase the Skype marketing department is promoting at the time, many times before. As always, actions speak louder than words, and what have the actions been? Nothing. No improvement in technical support, no improvement in customer service or handling billing and account problems. About a year ago, there were some rumors circulating that Skype was going to "outsource" their technical support. That would have at least been an improvement over the current non-existent support, but of course nothing ever came of it. Then Skype made a deal with another company to handle their payment processing, and I thought that perhaps, at the very least, the long-suffering users whose accounts were getting blocked for no rational reason, and were having to wait days, weeks or months to even get an explanation of why, not to mention getting them cleared again, might benefit. But once again, nothing came of it, and the same things are still happening today.
The new president that you mention, Josh Silverman, came on board some six months ago with the same old statements about how great Skype is, and how much greater it will become, and how much they love their users.... and what has happened since then? I wish that I could say "nothing at all", but in fact under his watch the Skype User Forums, which were the only slender hope Skype users had of getting help when they had problems, have been "reorganized", with the result of making them tremendously more difficult to use and follow, thus driving users away (documented decreases in new posts and replies). Since those responsible for the Forums were then crowing about how "successful" the reorganization was, one must assume that was the goal. Oh, and by the way, when the uproar started after the "reorganization", the response from Skype was exactly the same - "we love our users, we are listening and will take appropriate action, keep the feedback coming" - and the actual reaction from Skype was likewise exactly the same - nothing.
The other major development at Skype under Mr. Silverman's leadership has been the release of the nearly universally reviled Skype "4.0 Beta". Read your own "Skype Community", or the reactions in the press and blogs, or the Skype Journal, and you will see how strong the feelings against this monstrosity are. What has the reaction from Skype been? Nothing. "We love our users, we appreciate the feedback, we are listening"... and nothing. An updated beta was released a month later, with not the slightest change in the despised new interface. Another updated beta was released last week, again with no changes to the interface.
Most recently we were treated to a blog post from Mr. Silverman talking about Skype addressing "unarticulated needs" of users. It was absolutely typical of the Skype attitude - "we know best, we know what you want and need, even if you don't". My advice to him would be very clear and very simple. PLEASE pay attention to the "articulated" needs of your users first. They are BEGGING for help. They are BEGGING for you to stop taking their money and refusing to provide any service to them. They are BEGGING for you to back off of the outrageous changes made in the 4.0 beta release. But their pleas thus far have fallen on deaf ears.
The tactics at Skype are obvious by now. Batten down the hatches, tell everyone that you are listening, repeat loud and often that you love your users - and do nothing. So far it has worked, but we all know what P.R. Barnum said - and it is finally starting to catch up with Skype, you can't fool all of the people all of the time. Skype is long past the stage where empty statements and meaningless promises will satisfy many people. Until obvious and concrete action is taken, and clear results have been produced, it is all hot air. If your "dramatic increase" in customer care means that you are adding a second employee to that group, or perhaps even the first one to replace the mindless auto-responder which has been sending out nonsense in reply to user support requests, that isn't going to be sufficient.
Unfortunately you have misunderstood, or made an incorrect assumption, about my "passion for Skype". That was extinguished quite some time ago. The only "passion" I have left regarding Skype is to see them stop deceiving people, leaving them stranded and out of contact with their loved ones because something doesn't work, and their is no support, or even worse because Skype has unilaterally decided to block their account, keep their money, and not bother to respond to their desperate pleas for help, or even an explanation.
So no, Mr. Durchslag, I am not interested in meeting with you, or your "Head of Customer Support", if there even is such a person, to discuss any issues or look at any roadmap. I will not participate in the distraction, deception, or stonewalling that is Skype's typical mode of operation. I will wait, and watch, and hope for positive results but expect the same thing we have gotten until now - nothing.
jw 2/8/2008
I do agree that actions speak more loudly than words, and the actions of the large, growing community of people who use Skype every day to connect with their friends, family, and business relationships speak for themselves. Moreover, words can be an indication of future actions. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and no executive has a magic wand that can make everything better in a few days, a few weeks, or a few months. Not to quibble, but Josh only started at Skype on March 24, 2008 (four months ago, not six as you assert) and I can tell you from firsthand experience that each month matters. Though you probably won’t believe me, I assure you that I have met few people who say what they mean, and mean what they say, more than Josh.
That said, let me share some facts on the issues you raise. It may surprise you to learn that we actually survey the 4.0 Beta 1 users and, though you assert it is “universally reviled”, over 70% tell us that they prefer it over previous releases. They tell us they actually like the simpler UI, having video front & center, organizing chat threads around people instead of by time, and the autodiagnostic tools that make installation simple irrespective of the hardware setup. We are not satisfied with that result, so we have asked them for their desired improvements and those will be included in the forthcoming 4.0 Beta 2 version. You condemn us for ignoring feedback in updates, but you are jumping to conclusions before we’ve even launched 4.0 Beta 2, whose sole purpose is to react to people’s feedback 4.0 Beta 1 (the two updates to Beta 1 we’ve released have been to address bugs and issues we’ve discovered and fixed since the initial release). We also follow blogs and forums to get other ideas for improvements. For example, there is a clear desire for an compact mode which will be included, along with other improvements, in the 4.0 Beta 2 release. You are entitled to your opinion, and neither us nor any company with a large, diverse community of users will make everyone happy. Please understand that 4.0 is a big change from previous versions, and change can be uncomfortable at first, but we are trying to catch up on a number of badly needed improvements while simultaneously providing some leadership on delivering a rich communications experience.
We are not perfect, and we will make some mistakes, but to dismiss this enormous effort as “a monstrosity” is an insult to the silent majority who already see the benefits we endeavor to deliver, and to the many users who take the time to suggest improvements that are being tested and included in the Beta 2 release. So, I think you overstate when you say an "absolutely typical Skype attitude-’we know best, we know what you want and need, even if you don’t’”. If you were right about this, why would we even bother releasing beta versions if we are determined to ignore feedback? We are releasing three beta versions precisely because we want the final release to be great, and we are fully aware this requires constructive contributions from our user community. The 4.0 gold release will address the articulated needs you rightfully mention beg to be solved, as well as the unarticulated rich communication needs of our rapidly growing community.
On customer care, we are going after the root causes of the problems in our product so our customers don’t have a service problem in the first place. This will take some time, but we have now begun to systematically fix the most common problems first. Moreover, you are wrong to dismiss my dramatic increase as just “adding a second employee to that group, or perhaps even the first one to replace the mindless auto-responder which has been sending out nonsense in reply to user support requests.” We're doubling capacity. Our improvements involve dozens and dozens of concerned customer care employees around the world, plus support infrastructure, training, and outsourcing to provide an improved service level across time zones and nine different languages.
I know you believe I misunderstood your passion for Skype. You have put an enormous amount of time and effort into criticizing Skype, and the only assumption I made was that you cared about people who use Skype, and want to make a difference for them. I hope you will reconsider my offer to meet, and if you won’t, then there isn’t much point in continuing this dialogue because you are admitting nothing Skype could ever say or do could be right. I really would like to talk to you face to face about the real issues you rightfully raise, and hopefully come up with some practical solutions as a result. Of course, the choice is yours if you prefer just blogging about Skype rather than actually making a difference for Skype’s users. As you rightfully observed, "actions speak louder than words".
Sincerely,
Scott Durchslag
Chief Operating Officer
Skype
Mr. Durchslag,
Isn't it ironic that your surveys indicate that 70% of users prefer the 4.0 beta to 3.8! My survey indicates that 98% of users think the 4.0 beta release is the ugliest, worst piece of software they have ever seen, and they will not use it under any circumstances, even if that means having to stay with Skype 3.8 "forever", or having to switch to another IM program, with the associated pain of having contacts switch as well. Of course, neither your "survey" or mine holds any water when presented without any support or documentation.
So, let's look at the only PUBLIC source of opinions on Skype 4.0 beta, your own Skype Community, where you have asked explicitly and repeatedly for feedback on the 4.0 release. I just made a very quick survey, and found there are currently about 130 threads in that forum (threads, not posts, most of those threads have multiple posts). Based solely on the "Subject" of each thread, I came up with the following totals:
Positive: 5
Negative: 26
Unknown (suggestions, or not obvious): 42
Bug Reports: 60
That indicates a "positive" feedback rate of 3.8% of the total, or to be a bit more charitable, 16% of those who expressed an obvious opinion. The "negative" feedback, however, is 20% of the total, or 84% of those who expressed an opinion! That certainly aligns much better with the experiences and feedback I have seen and heard.
Equally as enlightening are some of the Subject lines used in the Community. Here is a "Hit Parade", presented in chronological order since the initial 4.0 Beta release:
- Thing I don't like in Beta 4.0
- Did Skype forget about the Ultra Notebook users?
- Terrible Interface Design
- 4.0 Beta - Absolutely Terrible
- well done, you just ruined skype
- Beware of Skype 4.0
- horrible screen layout in skype 4.0
- Is it a new toy for kids? Or just a bad copy of MS Live Messenger?
- [Critical in Business] Skype 4.0 beta lost many critical functions
- Disappointed in UI, here are some ideas
- Terrible Interface Design
- Cease all Skype 4.0 development IMMEDIATELY
- Please give us the ability to go back to the "Old" UI
- New layout is GREAT (This was the ONLY absolutely positive thread)
- No good overview about activities anymore
- Skype 4 beta Crashes Vista Home Premium
- Keeps dropping my calls
- Buttons and Menus Scattered Everywhere
- Where is the View / Compact View setting?
- No skin support.. definitely time to upgrade Skype's "Windows 3.0 1990's look"
- Ugliest client interface on the planet
- Skype's President misses the point completely
- Three changes I really really hope you roll back
- Full Window = screenful of ugliness
Now, I don't think that's 70% approval, do you? I think your "silent majority" has been extraordinarily silent, despite the fact that you have basically begged them for feedback.
On other topics, I think you have your work cut out for you in trying to improve Skype Customer Support. At least, though, it will be easy to see the results. When the minimum customer support response time is reduced to something measured in hours, rather than days, that will be a big step forward. When people stop getting replies which are so nonsensical as to be outright comical, that will be a big step forward. When Skype stops taking user's money and then blocking refusing to provide service, without notification or explanation, that will be a huge step forward.
I, for one, think it will be a long time before we see ANY of these steps, but I would be pleased if I were wrong.
I just realized that there has been feedback posted as comments to the Skype Blog announcing the 4.0 beta. Perhaps that is more positive, I will go and have a look.
jw 6/8/2008
Mr. Durchslag,
Unfortunately the comments on the Skype Garage Blog are not useful in judging user acceptance, because the majority of them are simple bug reports and missing feature requests.
I was, however, surprised to find that the negative sentiment is not slacking off in the "Skype Community", even after this long. It would appear that I am not the only one who doesn't believe much of anything Skype says, either. Here are two recent posts from the Community, both from this week:
----
[Skype Admin announces new Beta 4 hotfix, and says "but we have not changed any features or implemented anything new"]
Posted 5 Aug: "We weren't expecting you to. The day a developer of Skype listens to its users is the day I fall out of my chair."
Posted today, 7 Aug: "First, thanks for replying--but we don't trust you anymore. Do(es) you (or Skype management) honestly think I'll trust you (it) again after that last boned-headed move? No way. From this point forward, I'll not upgrade until absolutely forced to do so--and then will also consider another VOIP service"
-----
That corresponds pretty well with some of the responses to my personal survey of user satisfaction with the 4.0 Beta, mentioned previously.
By the way, I didn't have to go digging to find these comments, they were the most recent two posts on the most recent thread in your Skype Community 4.0 Beta board.
It appears to me that you have not only an acceptance problem, you also have a credibility problem.
jw 7/8/2008
Mr Durchslag,
One other thing. Your reply above implies that you have already started trying to improve your worthless Customer Support. Based on this post, which was made today to the Skype Community, I would doubt that is the case, as the level of support response is obviously unchanged:
Posted today, 7 Aug 2008
-----
"I've submitted two tickets, the first one I waited TWO WHOLE WEEKS before getting a automated response saying that they are overwhelmed with requests and I need to resubmit. The second response has been 5 days now and still waiting for a response"
-----
Is this "improved customer support"? Is this acceptable? I would say not, but I would also say that it is exactly what anyone who has attempted to deal with "Skype Support" has come to expect, and can expect in the future, until we start to see some actual results rather than empty promises and statements of concern.
One thing you said in your response may turn out to be true, at least. Speaking about CEO Josh Silverman, you said:
"I assure you that I have met few people who say what they mean, and mean what they say, more than Josh"
Well, to the best of my knowledge Mr. Silverman has never made a public statement about improving Skype Customer Support, so perhaps that is a good indication of what (not) to expect.
jw 7/8/2008
No further comment from Skype? No documentation or links to support the (obviously very silly) claim of "70% prefer 4.0 over previous releases"? Somehow I'm not surprised...
The "accolades" keep pouring in on the Skype Community" (not). This is from the thread titled "Full Window = screenful of ugliness". All of these comments were posted in the past 24 hours.
- hard to imagine that anyone who designed this actually uses a computer
- my money is on everyone not using it any more if the new full screen look is kept as is
- Skype should get rid of that big ugly interface and get rid of the people who decided having a gigantic screen is a good idea. They have no idea what customers want
Skype needs to abandon the ghastly, amateurish user interface in the 4.0 beta, and forget about what THEY think are users "unarticulated needs", and concentrate on what their users have "articulated", over and over again, loud and clear.
jw 10/8/2008
