Skype callers: 'Customer service, please?'

He lives in the United States. His fiancee is in Great Britain. He uses an Internet phone service called Skype to keep romance alive and phone bills low.

But there's trouble in paradise. The suitor says his cut-rate phone provider suddenly left him in the lurch, thanks to a billing glitch that's prevented him from using his account to place calls to his betrothed.

"I am sure they will straighten things out in a day or two, but if not, I will simply notify my credit card company to reverse the charge," he wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com, requesting anonymity.

Among a crowded field of Internet phone providers, Skype has turned heads with its unique blend of technology, grassroots marketing and rapid adoption. Sixty-five million people have downloaded the free software in the 18 months since Skype launched its product. The company is currently signing up about 60,000 new registered users every day--numbers that draw comparisons to free software downloads that swept the Internet during the late 1990s, such as the ICQ instant messaging service. Skype adds an estimated 140,000 new users a day.

News.context

What's new:
Net phone provider Skype has added a commercial product but finds its ad hoc customer service overwhelmed.

Bottom line:
Keeping consumers happy could mean dipping into cash reserves to fund customer service.

More stories on VoIP

But the honeymoon may be coming to an end for the upstart phone provider as it branches out of its core free service into new paid offerings.

In recent weeks, there's been a spike in complaints about the company's first commercial service--SkypeOut--that lets customers cheaply make calls off the Internet to ordinary phone lines. Aside from having to wait days for accounts to be credited--as the anonymous suitor and dozens of other customers have complained--many SkypeOut users say their conversations are disrupted by a two-second delay between someone speaking and being able to hear what was said.

"It makes communication impossible," one unsatisfied customer said. Others complain that some calls aren't going through at all, and if they do, you can't hear the other person on the line, though they can hear you. For a few days last week, some people couldn't call U.S. phone numbers.

Skype spokeswoman Kat James acknowledges problems but says the customer numbers tell the bigger story.

"Skype constantly monitors call performance across the global network of users and seeks to enhance quality through continuous product development," James said. "As our growth indicates, we have a huge number of satisfied customers."

Getting what you pay for?
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, such as Skype's, allow an Internet connection to double as a telephone line. The software makes for dramatically cheaper dialing, mostly because the calls aren't taxed or regulated, but also due to the efficiencies of using the Internet Protocol to ferry the calls, rather than techniques the traditional telephone industry developed decades ago.

Other VoIP providers charge a flat rate of about $25 a month for unlimited domestic calling. Skype is free between callers who both use the company's software. Via SkypeOut, the company will complete calls to ordinary landline and cellular phones, charging about 2 cents a minute to 20 countries in North America, Western Europe and Australia.

Skype's struggles to control what may amount to only minor glitches illustrate the bigger problem of how a low-budget provider handles customer service. Skype has a few hundred employees, but so far, Skype customer service relies mostly on e-mail, proactive customers and patience. James said the company is not in a position to send technicians to inspect individual user setups or Internet connections. "We rely on reports from users to investigate any potential trouble areas," she said.

That's how, for instance, the company learned that Internet connections behind firewalls are not able to use SkypeOut and was able to make people aware of workarounds. Skype lets users vent in free online forums, which are monitored by Skype staff who pass feedback to development and telephone operator partners, James said.

"We read forums to look at generic problems and of course listen to our users' opinions," she said.

Customer service addresses individual issues via e-mail, at [e-mail], according to James. "The customer service department is rapidly growing and enhancing the service level for Skype's premium customers," she said.

But that's clearly not enough, say industry insiders, competitors and--judging by the firestorm of protest on the forums--Skype's own customers.

One SkypeOut customer said she'd pay for technical assistance. Another was more to the point about how she bought SkypeOut minutes and felt cheated.

"The money has been debited from my bank account, a reasonable period has passed, and Skype have not met their side of the contract--so as far as I can tell, they've stolen from me," fumed one contributor to Skype Forum, a Skype-run Internet message board. "Further, they advertise Skype as something that will 'just work'--and it categorically doesn't. What a horrendous user experience."

Price of popularity
In some way, Skype is victimized by its own success and, at 800,000 customers, it's among the most successful services of its kind ever. Despite its desire to keep spending down, Skype may be forced to eat into its hard-earned revenues to bolster customer service staffs, suggest two industry analysts who report on VoIP providers. But because SkypeOut is Skype's only major source of income, that may be hard on a constrained budget, said one insider at Packet 8, a commercial VoIP provider.

But with subscriber rates high, Skype is pushing forward with other premium services, creating the potential for more awkward customer service crises.

The company is testing a voice mail system, the price of which is not being disclosed, as well as SkypeIn, a complement to SkypeOut in which landline or cell phone callers can call Skype users on Internet-connected devices on which the company's software has been downloaded.

But as Skype gets set to roll out those new services, customers continue to stew over its existing premium service.

"I've been unable to make a call for a week now and have got no response whatsoever from Skype," fumed Skype forum user Moubliepas. "It seems they really don't care about our complaints. We should unite to make our voices heard."

Skype Rocks

I've been using Skype for months now, though only started using SkypeOut recently. It's the best thing since sliced bread!

As with all developing technologies, there's bound to be problems with emerging services, however I've always seen Skype as being one of the agile organisations out there, and am sure they will get addressed ... eventually.

Unfortunately, it tends to be the people experiencing problems who tend to be most vocal about their experience, so even if they are having problems with 0.01% of their clients, we are bound to hear about it. However, the massive growth rate you report is a testament to the value the service provides to its customer. I think the figures speak for themselves ...

No problems here

Skype promply credited my account upon payment for Skype-out and I have used the service flawlessly since. Don't know all of the problems but have montiored the message boards only to see that most complaints are "past-tense"

[ahickey]

Overall very impressed

I have been using Skype for a few months now.
Mainly for VOiP to people with broadband and it is fantastic.
I am in Ireland and have phoned my sisters mobile in Australia and there is a delay in these calls which I considered acceptable. My understanding is that the call is going from my system across the internet using Peer-Peer technology to Austalia and is then converted to a 'proper' telephone call which is then routed to a mobile provider to my sisters phone. That's a lot of encoding and decoding.

When I called my friends mobile in the UK it was perfect. The same as a real telephone call and the same as their Broadband to Briadband service.

I'm sticking with it.

[Terry Murphy]

My experience isn't so good

Tried to purchase credit with my Visa card - no go. I've been
using the same card for purchases anywhere on the net without
problems for the last 2 years.

Skype offers an alternative payment via Moneybrokers which
Skype touts is similar to Paypal. More registration nonsense with
them, only to learn that they only accept bank transfers
(meaning you have to contact your bank and initiate a transfer -
don't forget to gather all of the pertinent info you'll need to do
that) to credit an account. No cards accepted, no checks, etc. If
you mange to successfully do all of that, then there is a lag time
for money to be posted to the account and transfered to Skype.
Now in theory, I guess I could do all of that, but in reality I'm
not. Too much time, too much trouble, too much ongoing
maintenance on my part just to make a phone call.

If they make the service accessible to regular credit card users
(at least here in the US) wake me up and I'll give it another whirl.

[johnzoet]

Skype works fantastic for me !

I sense a bit a jealousy in this article about
the phenomenal success of Skype.
Skype has worked fantastic for me.
At present when people ring me from overseas
they ask me to call them back with Skype.
Not only is SkypeOut cheaper, but the phone
quality is better than from an ordinary phone
line !
I have also tried other VOIP services like
GnoneMeeting, but it requires a team of network
specialists to setup behind my IPCop firewall.
Skype works right out of the box, hazzle free,
perfect sound quality, very cheap, what do you
want more ?

[johnzoet]

Fully agree

There are always people complaining, no matter
how good the product is.
They complain even if they are at fault.
Personally I can tell nothing but good about
Skype.
It is cheaper for me to ring my brother in the
Netherlands from New Zealand, than it is for him
to ring his direct neighbour !
BTW: phone quality is better as well.

Good technology bad customer service

I tried the service to make phone calls in the US. They still lack
US billing and you need to pay in Euros so I do not think the
calling rates are that competitive. Nevertheless, I ran into issues
with overloaded circuits and contacted their customer service. It
was bad, very bad, online the operator could not provide any
assitance. It took 3 weeks to back on forth with their technical
support to get an answer. I was not pleased, their customer
service is less than acceptable and it seems they would rather
bill you than help you.

[ggvrsn]

Skype: no issues

Hello,
I have been using skype for some time now. When I got skypeout to make calls while I travel, I found an issue that I could not call a particular city in India. So I went to skype for help. I got their online chat support and they immediately opend a bug report and said they will have it solved for next release. At that time, they did have a line on their webpage which said that you might have issues with certain area/country codes.

Second most immpressive thing about skype : I was in India on vacation and I had to get on a conference call. I work in the US. I had logged in to the net via a dialup connection. I was surprised when I got a good connection to my bridge and without any issues.

I think Skype is a good company and left to their innovation, we will see more of this company in the future.

With WiMax, skype will have even more customers.

These are my views and expereinces.

-GGR

[bit-looter]

quit bitching!

I am not one to tell people to stop complaining, but if you pickup a headset to make VOIP calls and expect the call quality to be as if you're standing next to the person you're speaking to, then I think you have more than a phone problem. I work for VOIP provider, it amazes me what kinda expectations people have ("you mean i can't use all the phones in my house!?", of course NOT! *****!). I use SkypeOut, I love it, calls get droped sometimes, sometimes the call quality is pretty bad, but my reaction to all these problems is almost instinctive, I expect it, I have no illusions.

who paid for this article??

the only problem I have experienced with Skype is the not so rare of late problem with calling landline nubmers. it is my impression that this is an occassional problem seemingly due to the high numbers of recent subscribers. eveyone I know is moving to skype.

despite the problems, the value for money skype offers is extraordinary and incomparable to any other provider known to me.

and you have to take the typically superficial (and underanalysed) cnet reports with a grain of salt. skype's user base has telcos worried and rightly so. the last time they were picking up subscribers at this rate was - hang on - never...

i am sure when skype get big and starts paying for cnet articles, the tune will be different.

but if you are keen to keep paying the greedy telcos the rates they have never been able to justify, go ahead. (I remember moving to the US in 2000 and paying PacBell $125 for my very first 40 or so minute landline call to the UK, just because I had no idea I had to select my long distance provider and naturally, the default was the most expensive option...)

i have a feeling enough of us are willing to support skype through this expansion until they can build up a better infrastrucure. i just hope they don't forget the favour.

[volterwd]

Problem...

in my life my phone line has NEVER been out... but the power and internet is frequently down... (well not that frequent... but frequent relatively), add to the fact that 911 cant trace a VOIP call and other minor problems and you realize...

VOIP is not what its cracked up to be...

btw... VOIP will eventually get viruses and spam phone calls from 3rd world countries trying to rip you off... which the former CANT happen on Phone lines...

yeah phone is more expensive... get a friggin calling card... or dont call during peak hours and its not expensive...

[hankmii]

WORKS FANTASTIC...

Works just fine for me and my family across the States... It
doesn't cost us a cent as we use cpu to cpu... It's FREE why
gripe.

Skype

Skype & Skype out FANTASTIC, but, the ISP '@truehisp.co.th' in Thailand (Asianet) block voip services by putting delay or limiting gateway on their hisp servers, therefore Skype useless unless a way around is found.

help

I have been unable to download skype software to mylaptop can some help ?

Are you all brain washed by the skype movies???

You have been watching tooo much of the skype?s "Sharing is good" movies, which suppose to brain wash user, and they succeeded! p2p in my opinion has nothing to do with sharing my resources and broadband. p2p allows to peers on network to communicate directly, no sharing with others. Tell me, you pay for your house and then share it with others? Stop watching those Skype movies. WAVIGO rules! PEOPLE WAKE UP!!! Skype is using your computer to make $ Read the licensing agreement - all users have to agree before using the program. Part 4: Permission to Utilize, you are giving them permission to use your computer and bandwidth. This is such an example of mass pasychology?just follow the crowd. There is better program I have found , it is free and it is gentle on your computer. It is called WAVIGO!

[tabby777]

skype is worthless

I got up one morning to find Skype gone without a trace!! Customer Service has not responded in 10 days. On their forum they have trashed me, called me a liar and threatened me all for simply asking for help. Run don't wank from Skype!

[jimvanloan]

Be careful of Skypes Unlimited Calling !!!!

I recently signed up for Sypes new unlimited calling for $14.95 yr. It went through okay and I started using the service, then I noticed my Paypal account was charged twice. I tried to contact Skpye to get a refund however I never heard back. I protested it through my account as was immmediately suspended. I've tried numerous times to get a response from support as to how to resolve the issue and all I recieve are emails indicating they will respond in 72 hours which doesn't happen. I was a very happy customer until now. Any suggestions on how to get this situation resolved?

[BAR-BQ]

Stole My $$$

I do not have service from Skype nor do I want to have service from Skype however, they went ahead anyway and deducted funds from my bank account. Until this money was deducted I never heard of nor knew what Skype was or what service they provide. I have contacted them in everyway I can find through email and have called their parent company, Ebay, in San Jose, CA only to be put through to someone's voice mail. Still waiting to hear from them and get my money back. If they keep taking other peoples money they will not have to worry about their bottom line because they will build their company on other peoples backs. This certainly does not look good for Ebay!

[ron-service-master]

SKYPE-Bad Customer Service

I purchased 3 months of Skype Unlimited. They took the money
says that it was delivered and still my account says $0.00.
Purchased Skype Pro. with 4.50 USD minutes first. That never
registered. I have written them several times every way possible. I
will not be paying them anything else and will be asking my credit
card company to back charge them. They suck.

[HotOnYourTrail]

Three Days on the road of coverig Ike - I'm pissy and I just want a damned answer - so stay tuned b/c I will have someone's @$%$ home phone number in a bit if this keeps up. Their biz payment plan is so damn confusing and I have one VIP running the show there on her time off. ME!!!!

Website fron CNET

BS - Blah blah blah -- but it gets better keep readiing!


Skype is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Skype generates revenue...More»

Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Break out your people finders skills and call their butts at home. Be nice - but tell them - Hey you're killing me!

Skype created a little piece of software that makes communicating with people around the world easy and fun. With Skype you can say hello or share a laugh with anyone, anywhere. And if both of you are on Skype, it?s free.

Skype is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Skype generates revenue through its premium offerings such as making and receiving calls to and from landline and mobile phones, as well as voicemail and call forwarding. Skype, based in Luxembourg, has relationships with a growing network of hardware and software providers and is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY).«Less


Here's your physical addy at least.
Address:
22/24 Bd. Royal, 6e etage

L-2449

Luxembourg
Map it » Founded:
2003

Industry:
Communications and Networks

Sub-Industry:
VOIP Service/ Equip

Legal Structure:
Corporation

Ownership:
Subsidiary

Parent Company:
ebay
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