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.

Well I see Skype are still not taking any notice of the comments people are making about the bloated load of rubbish version 4.0 is. They have just bought out an update called 4.0.105 and they have not listened to a thing their customers have said. It is still big bloated total load of rubbish.There have been many comments here about the new 4.0 bloated rubbish that it is plainly obvious  they are not in the slightest bit interested in what we say or suggest should be changed contrary to what they say.

There is a very good post here in the Skype Forum that sums it up very well but unfortunately the person making the post is wasting their time because nothing will be changed on the way version 4 looks. I cannot see Skype going back to the 3.8 look they are to stubborn in their ways to admit that:-1)Yes we did not listen to what people said or suggested.2) This is the way it will be you either like it or go some place else.

Take this statement made my Scott Durshalang in part of his interview. "For some of our customers who would like more help from Skype, we hear you and watch us respond. There are clearly some things we need to do to be more responsive to the customers who are having problems, in ways that they find helpful." (the full sham of an article can be found here). Can you see any changes yet because I can't if there have been the please let the Skype World know what they are don't keep us in the dark like Skype.

The new CEO Josh Silverman joined Skype almost 5 months ago now and what has changed to help Skype users and customers nothing, nada, zilch that was why I asked the question here and here because again to me and I am sure many others there have been NO visible changes and the way thing are going I think it will be a very very long wait.

Well I see that Skype has a new face again on it's team again a gentleman named Scott Durshalang as ex Motorola man. For these of you who have not read the interview he gave he gave to Howard Wolinsky can do so here.

It is very nice to see a new face at Skype but very very boring to hear the same old story of how and what we are going to improve on when nothing happens on the CS (Customer Service) or Payment & Billing side apart from the fact that they can take anything from 4 days to 4 weeks to answer a CS request or take your money then BLOCK your account so you cannot use it, something to do with customer security they keep saying, what a total load of rubbish, if the facts were known it's the system that operates this service is completely no good, and what is done about it NOTHING as usual

Take this statement made my Scott Durshalang in part of his interview.

"For some of our customers who would like more help from Skype, we hear you and watch us respond. There are clearly some things we need to do to be more responsive to the customers who are having problems, in ways that they find helpful."

Well Scott let me advise you that all the Skype users be they are using the paid for service or the free service and have been having trouble with Skype have been saying this from day one, and what has happened, very little, in fact Skype CS  is getting almost non existent and if it were not for the very excellent help give to peoples problems by the Skype Forum helpers, Superusers and Moderators Skype would have gone under a long time ago and you would not be sitting in the seat you are now. Every upper management person who joins Skype says the same thing and it is now becoming a big joke within the Skype community to see how far into an interview this statement comes up, you can almost lay money on it that it is made within the first 3 paragraphs.

There have been many many posts on the Skype Forum about the totally disgusting Skype CS and nothing has been done about it. It is not only CS that needs a very large boot in the rear but the payments and billing section need this also, in fact IMHO more so that CS in some cases as they are PAYING CUSTOMERS and to treat your paying customers the way you do then all I can say is you are very luck to have so any.

So in conclusion Mr Durshalang lets have some action on where it is needed which is NOT on trying to get Skype working with this gismo or that phone but solving the customers problems first then we can think about development.