Skype what a total waste of time and money.
This is a total and utter disgrace for a company who is earning millions of pounds a year and does not seem to care one cent about it's customers.
Thursday 28 February 2008, 6:57 PM
Skype Customer claims to of had money stolen from his Skype account
A Skype user has claimed to of had money stolen from his account by other Skype useres and Skype seem to be doing very little about it.
I will leave you to read his complaint in full which can be found
here and let you form your own opinion of the Skype Payment System and how they treat their PAYING customers.
This is not just a one off case, there is never a day goes by without a Skype customer complaining about the Skype Payment System you only have to look at the this section of the forum to see what I am talking about. It is not only the Payment side of Skype but the whole Customer Service side in general.
Skype users are totally frustrated at first not being able to speak to a real person about their problem. They are advised my the helpers/volunteers on the forum to send in a support request which if you are lucky might get replied to within 4 working days.
I implore anybody who is thinking of using Skype to look and read some of the many thousands of complaints about all aspects of Skype by starting at the forum front page.
Technorati ProfileWednesday 27 February 2008, 7:04 PM
Skype HQ Video and 4 months on what has changed ?.
Well it will soon be a month since I wrote my last Blog about Skype’s HQ Video and almost 3 monthe since Skype shouted to the world about how we can now have HQ Video and what at the time seemed to be a great innovation is still a total disaster. You only have to look at the Skype Forum and in particular the video section to see the same problems keep coming up time after time even with people who are running the spec machine that Skype say you need for HQ video.
Take a look at these two links https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-583 http://forum.skype.com/index.php?s=406a1b4147808d953f28a905dfd14f21&showforum=36 to see how many people are still having very similar if not the same problems and what are Skype doing about it, well looking at the bug report or the forum it would seem very little, or if they are they are not telling us. Their favourite saying of the day at the moment seem to be try Splitcam and see if you can get your video working in the mean time even though it will not be HQ.
Well my favourite saying would be, Skype forget about seeing how many other third party products you can get your program to work with and get the current product working as you claim it does, because at the moment it does not for a very large majority of people, who by the way have paid YOU money for sections of your product.
Again it would seem that Skype have shot themselves in the foot with HQ video by introducing it to the public far to soon. IMHO there has not been anything like enough development and testing to try and get as many bug as possible removed. I know no software can or will ever be bug free but their HQ Video seems to be a total bug in itself. Reading the various articles on the web and Blog sites it seem to me that all Skype are interested in seeing how many electronic gadgets they can get Skype to work with. Skype listen carefully, we DON’T want Skype to work with our washing machine or our vacuum cleaner WE want the basic Skype to work trouble free on our laptops/PC’s or Skype phones, then you can think about continuing with the development.
It would be interesting to know either via this Blog or the Skype Forum video section which can be found here, http://forum.skype.com/index.php?s=406a1b4147808d953f28a905dfd14f21&showforum=36 just how many people are using Skype and sending/receiving genuine HQ Video without any problems and what setup they use. Unfortunately like many forums and Skype is no exception very few people post saying for example I have been using Skype almost from day one done all the updates and I am also happily running HQ Video without any trouble, because when everything is running right nobody has anything to complain about.
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Take a look at these two links https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-583 http://forum.skype.com/index.php?s=406a1b4147808d953f28a905dfd14f21&showforum=36 to see how many people are still having very similar if not the same problems and what are Skype doing about it, well looking at the bug report or the forum it would seem very little, or if they are they are not telling us. Their favourite saying of the day at the moment seem to be try Splitcam and see if you can get your video working in the mean time even though it will not be HQ.
Well my favourite saying would be, Skype forget about seeing how many other third party products you can get your program to work with and get the current product working as you claim it does, because at the moment it does not for a very large majority of people, who by the way have paid YOU money for sections of your product.
Again it would seem that Skype have shot themselves in the foot with HQ video by introducing it to the public far to soon. IMHO there has not been anything like enough development and testing to try and get as many bug as possible removed. I know no software can or will ever be bug free but their HQ Video seems to be a total bug in itself. Reading the various articles on the web and Blog sites it seem to me that all Skype are interested in seeing how many electronic gadgets they can get Skype to work with. Skype listen carefully, we DON’T want Skype to work with our washing machine or our vacuum cleaner WE want the basic Skype to work trouble free on our laptops/PC’s or Skype phones, then you can think about continuing with the development.
It would be interesting to know either via this Blog or the Skype Forum video section which can be found here, http://forum.skype.com/index.php?s=406a1b4147808d953f28a905dfd14f21&showforum=36 just how many people are using Skype and sending/receiving genuine HQ Video without any problems and what setup they use. Unfortunately like many forums and Skype is no exception very few people post saying for example I have been using Skype almost from day one done all the updates and I am also happily running HQ Video without any trouble, because when everything is running right nobody has anything to complain about.
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Monday 4 February 2008, 11:01 PM
Skype HQ (High Quality Video)....... so what happened
Some time in November of 2007 Skype shouted out to the world that we now have HQ (High Quality) Video and did nothing but rave about it, so what went wrong.
Now almost 4 month on it still is not working right for many people who have the requires spec equipment. You only have to look at the Skype Forum video section http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showforum=36 to see that there are multitude of problems and very little being done about it by the Skype development team except blame Logitech for the problem.
Why blame Logitech alone, Skype jumped into bed with them to develop this so called HQ Video so both parties must be held responsible for sorting it out but neither seems to be bothering, all people are being told in the forum is use Splitcam and see if that solves your problem. Splitcam must be laughing all the way to the bank.
Yet again Skype have put something onto the market without making sure it works for a very large majority of people but instead only works for a small amount of people but the majority have nothing but problems after problems. It would seem that the heads at Skype have not learnt there lesion from previous bad releases and still insist on pumping out fully working software.
What more can I add that to say it you just want IM chat and Skype to Skype talking the use it for that and that only because it is very good at performing those requirements, but if you want to use any other of it’s services forget about it because you will more than likely have nothing but trouble.
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Now almost 4 month on it still is not working right for many people who have the requires spec equipment. You only have to look at the Skype Forum video section http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showforum=36 to see that there are multitude of problems and very little being done about it by the Skype development team except blame Logitech for the problem.
Why blame Logitech alone, Skype jumped into bed with them to develop this so called HQ Video so both parties must be held responsible for sorting it out but neither seems to be bothering, all people are being told in the forum is use Splitcam and see if that solves your problem. Splitcam must be laughing all the way to the bank.
Yet again Skype have put something onto the market without making sure it works for a very large majority of people but instead only works for a small amount of people but the majority have nothing but problems after problems. It would seem that the heads at Skype have not learnt there lesion from previous bad releases and still insist on pumping out fully working software.
What more can I add that to say it you just want IM chat and Skype to Skype talking the use it for that and that only because it is very good at performing those requirements, but if you want to use any other of it’s services forget about it because you will more than likely have nothing but trouble.
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Wednesday 30 January 2008, 1:48 PM
Skype give me back the service I have paid you for.
Where oh! where has my money gone.
There is not a day that goes buy when I look at the Skype Forum and there are people complaing that there Skypeout account has been blocked, or they have paid Skype for Skypeout credit which they have not received, why!!!!!!
Just look here to see what I mean http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=103759
Looking at the complaints to me it all seems to boil down to the fact that Skype’s account department are still living and working in the dark ages and as soon a something strange pops up a big RED light flashes and they automatically think that a FRAUD is taking place against them.
Let me give you an example of when this could/might/always does happen. Mr Everyman goes on a business trip to say China puts credit on his account before he goes thinking that all will be well while he is away and of course it will, until he has to put more credit onto his account while he is in China.
Mr Everyman now comes to put money onto his account so he logins in the normal way telling Skype how much credit he wants and his card number and Skype take his money, therefore Mr Everyman think all is now Ok, but what a shock he has when the next time he wants to make a Skypeout call to anywhere, because he finds his account has been blocked.
Now what you have to remember here is that Skype have entered into a contract with Mr Everybody to supply him with a Skypeout service by taking his money and this extra money put on by Mr. Everyman is shown on his account page, but then Skype decide to stop his Skypeout service after having taken his money, now to me that smells very much like fraud the very thing that Skype are accusing the customer of in the first place.
Why do they block his account and call it a possible fraud, because Mr. Everyman has made his credit purchase from a different IP address, remember he is in China, not his normal one. What right have Skype to call Mr Everyman a fraud, when they are doing exactly the same thing by taking his money for Skypeout credit, showing it on his account page then stopping HIS SERVICE.
Yes we all know that the internet is one of the biggest if not the biggest place where fraud takes place but why should Skype worry they have got their money and are laughing all the way to the bank. It is poor Mr Everyman that now has the biggest problem ever, either trying to get his account unblocked via customer services, which as we all no is a total joke or getting onto his credit/debit card company and asking for a charge back from Skype.
When will Skype learn that this is not the way to treat paying customers and this payment problem is not a new thing that has just happened, it has been going on for as long as you have had to pay to make calls to normal phones or mobiles, which must be more that 3 year now and instead of getting better it is getting worse. Many many people are so angered by the way that Skype is treating them that they are going to other paid services even if they might be a little more expensive, and good luck to then I say. Skype deserves to loose all the paying customers they have when they treat them the way they do.
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There is not a day that goes buy when I look at the Skype Forum and there are people complaing that there Skypeout account has been blocked, or they have paid Skype for Skypeout credit which they have not received, why!!!!!!
Just look here to see what I mean http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=103759
Looking at the complaints to me it all seems to boil down to the fact that Skype’s account department are still living and working in the dark ages and as soon a something strange pops up a big RED light flashes and they automatically think that a FRAUD is taking place against them.
Let me give you an example of when this could/might/always does happen. Mr Everyman goes on a business trip to say China puts credit on his account before he goes thinking that all will be well while he is away and of course it will, until he has to put more credit onto his account while he is in China.
Mr Everyman now comes to put money onto his account so he logins in the normal way telling Skype how much credit he wants and his card number and Skype take his money, therefore Mr Everyman think all is now Ok, but what a shock he has when the next time he wants to make a Skypeout call to anywhere, because he finds his account has been blocked.
Now what you have to remember here is that Skype have entered into a contract with Mr Everybody to supply him with a Skypeout service by taking his money and this extra money put on by Mr. Everyman is shown on his account page, but then Skype decide to stop his Skypeout service after having taken his money, now to me that smells very much like fraud the very thing that Skype are accusing the customer of in the first place.
Why do they block his account and call it a possible fraud, because Mr. Everyman has made his credit purchase from a different IP address, remember he is in China, not his normal one. What right have Skype to call Mr Everyman a fraud, when they are doing exactly the same thing by taking his money for Skypeout credit, showing it on his account page then stopping HIS SERVICE.
Yes we all know that the internet is one of the biggest if not the biggest place where fraud takes place but why should Skype worry they have got their money and are laughing all the way to the bank. It is poor Mr Everyman that now has the biggest problem ever, either trying to get his account unblocked via customer services, which as we all no is a total joke or getting onto his credit/debit card company and asking for a charge back from Skype.
When will Skype learn that this is not the way to treat paying customers and this payment problem is not a new thing that has just happened, it has been going on for as long as you have had to pay to make calls to normal phones or mobiles, which must be more that 3 year now and instead of getting better it is getting worse. Many many people are so angered by the way that Skype is treating them that they are going to other paid services even if they might be a little more expensive, and good luck to then I say. Skype deserves to loose all the paying customers they have when they treat them the way they do.
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Thursday 10 January 2008, 5:52 PM
Skype's Robotic Customer Service
Is you sit down and read this article http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10007001o-2000498653b,00.htm very carefully I wonder if you will agree with me that Skype DOES NOT have any human Customer Service (CS).
I am more and more convinced that when Skype users send in a CS request they are actually sending it to a computer (and yes in fact they are) but that is as far as it get, it does not get touched by human hands. I am of the opinion that when you send in you CS request it is scanned by a computer which is looking for certain KEYWORDS, once it find those keyword it the delves into it’s data base of standard answers and send that back to you.
If the keyword you use are not in it’s data base then you will get sent back some random answer that has nothing in the world to do with your problem.
Now why do I have a very funny feeling my assumption is correct, because if you have read the article I suggested above (you might have to read it 2 or 3 times) you will see that it hits you right between the eyes that no human beings on this earth can be that stupid to answer the customers problem in the was it has been done. It is a know fact that what he wants to CANNOT be done and it is fully documented here https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-449 which is Skype’s own development and bug reporting site and has been reported there since 25-06-2007.
I am sure you will agree that any human CS person with an ounce of intelligence having already been told buy the custom that there is already a “Jira” report on it would at least have the sense to go and look at this report, then report back to the customer that “sorry we know of your problem and are working on it at this time” but no, the poor old customer get the standard reply back of how to reinstall Skype.
If I have not convinced you that CS is totally run by PC with no human interaction then I have failed to make my point but, on the other hand if there is a human interface between the PC and customer and they all act in the same fashion as they did in the above post then nobody stands any chance of getting the problem fixed other then in the Skype Forum.
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I am more and more convinced that when Skype users send in a CS request they are actually sending it to a computer (and yes in fact they are) but that is as far as it get, it does not get touched by human hands. I am of the opinion that when you send in you CS request it is scanned by a computer which is looking for certain KEYWORDS, once it find those keyword it the delves into it’s data base of standard answers and send that back to you.
If the keyword you use are not in it’s data base then you will get sent back some random answer that has nothing in the world to do with your problem.
Now why do I have a very funny feeling my assumption is correct, because if you have read the article I suggested above (you might have to read it 2 or 3 times) you will see that it hits you right between the eyes that no human beings on this earth can be that stupid to answer the customers problem in the was it has been done. It is a know fact that what he wants to CANNOT be done and it is fully documented here https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-449 which is Skype’s own development and bug reporting site and has been reported there since 25-06-2007.
I am sure you will agree that any human CS person with an ounce of intelligence having already been told buy the custom that there is already a “Jira” report on it would at least have the sense to go and look at this report, then report back to the customer that “sorry we know of your problem and are working on it at this time” but no, the poor old customer get the standard reply back of how to reinstall Skype.
If I have not convinced you that CS is totally run by PC with no human interaction then I have failed to make my point but, on the other hand if there is a human interface between the PC and customer and they all act in the same fashion as they did in the above post then nobody stands any chance of getting the problem fixed other then in the Skype Forum.
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