On 4th feb i got a notificaction that my skype number was going to expire on 10th feb. So i tried paying using my DEBIT card but it got refused!!!! So i opted for the bank wire option and they gave me the details. It turned out the bank im supposed to send the $$ to was in the city i was in at the time. So i went and paid cash into the account on the 5th of Feb. Today is the 9th and im still being told my number expires tommorrow!! even though i have paid cash. i have written to customer support a number of times but still NO update. This is so frustrating. A company with this profile should offer a better customer service than this load of $%#^%#%. So my number will probably expire tommorrow and then i will have to get a new number which is advertised in many places and on documents etc etc etc what a ^&$^*%$^%$ headache.!!!!! EVEN THOUGH I HAVE PAID A WEEK BEFORE IN CASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't hold your breath for a reponse, I am on 15 days so far... BTW I did notice that on the Skype contact page there is an address in Londan to snail mail them, if you put this into www.yell.co.uk you get a phone number, have been tempted to try it to see if I can get hold of somebody by calling it but as I am in US have not tried yet due to time zone differences.

Quite possible they have managed to track your payment without notifying you that it is sorted.

Is this account closed today?

There is some information in the help section about how many days it will take for Skype to register a bank payment. Way to slow but I think it used to be much worse

What a useless company this is. I just checked my account and my skypein number has expired, this will effect my business and will cause ,ajor headaches for me . I paid this account in cash 6 days ago. I cant believe they have let it expire!! I wrote to customer support over and over to let them know the account has been paid they never once gave me a reply that was not an autoreply and they have let it expire!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay now i will put this bullshit on every major website i can and i will contact cnbc and company news channels. ^%$#%^#$&^# %^%^$%^HOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This shouldnt be allowed to happen!!!

Well its Monday 12th of february and its exactly a week since i paid CASH into the skype payment collectors
bank account as instructed by skype. I paid to extend my skypein number which was expiring on the 10th. Yes it has expired, now i have to change my number on all our business cards, advertising, posters, brochures, letterheads, faxes, emails etc etc all because skypes customer service is non existant! Thank you very much guys for taking our money, not delvering the goods that we paid for and more importantly for not having the decency to reply to any of the emails sent to you via customer support. What happens now? I probably shouldnt hold my breath for a quick response.

Well its Monday 12th of february and its exactly a week since i paid CASH into the skype payment collectors
bank account as instructed by skype. I paid to extend my skypein number which was expiring on the 10th. Yes it has expired, now i have to change my number on all our business cards, advertising, posters, brochures, letterheads, faxes, emails etc etc all because skypes customer service is non existant! Thank you very much guys for taking our money, not delvering the goods that we paid for and more importantly for not having the decency to reply to any of the emails sent to you via customer support. What happens now? I probably shouldnt hold my breath for a quick response.

Tom, if you head over to the feature suggest forum and explain the implications of this and hint towards the possibility of a quarantine period where "expired" numbers cannot be used for some time but can be re-activated upon payment received, we may see this as a Skype service improvement in the future.

I can´t think of anyone better than you to put in this request!

Today is Tuesday february 13th and still no reply from skype customer support and still no skypein number and yes they still have my money. However i have looked at my account and they have decided to block me from making anymore purchases for some reason and have asked me to contact customer support. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha what a joke!!! ive been trying to contact customer since the 6th february!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If the number expired because they didn´t receive the payment in time for renewal, would blocking the account for new purchases not be a security placed to protect you from sending money to a number that has already expired?

Dear Bnaut, i appreciate your reply but you have to remember the payment was made not by credit card or debit card or moneybookers or bank transfer...it was made in CASH directly into the bank account skype wanted the funds paid into. Tell me if im wrong but cash clears immediately and the payment was made 4 days before expiry. There is no excuse for this high profile company which has massive potential (and revenues) to operate their payments dept in such a 3rd rate manner. It causes massive inconvenience to its customers.

Also just out of interest, what excuse do you think they have for not responding to any of the messages sent to them everyday for the past 7 days. It should be called "No Cutomer Support Department" lolllol.

In my eyes there is no excuse for not replying within a week, and you will find that many people, including myself, have made that point many times before as well. But that is how they do it for now, I can only assume it is because they want to cap the support expenses. And I can´t really say that they are alone, I find most online companies quite awful when it comes to e-mail support.

I don´t think it makes a difference if you deposit the money at the bank or via wire. With card payments, companies have automated alerts that confirm that payment is done. With bank transfers, the process is more tedious since someone actually have to wait for the bank statement and then tick off every line and then move the money to another account.

Skype is awfully slow at this and they should use enable direct transfers via Internet banks. But they do state how many days it will take, that information is available on the site. So if you paid later than what they said was possible, you can´t blame them for not telling you it will not work, only for having slow routines.

... Yes it has expired, now i have to change my number on all our business cards, advertising, posters, brochures, letterheads, faxes, emails etc etc . ...

Does my number expire?

Yes. When you sign up, you have the option to purchase either a 3 month or 12 month subscription. At the end of the period, if you do not renew your subscription, your number will expire.

If the number expires it is held for you for 90 days in case you wish to renew your subscription. Simply log into our webstore and select the SkypeIn number again.

http://support.skype.com/index.php?_a=know...ails&_i=254

Hey Sonny, thanks for that posting. Knowing that now makes me feel a little better. I can keep my existing number once the payment is processed. Amazing why customer support couldnt have emailed me that then we wouldnt be having this conversation. Thanks

Really good information via Sonny!

Also tradertom, I found this when I was searching the kb for something else:

If you paid more than 10 days ago and your order is still pending GlobalCollect may have not been able to match the payment to your order. This can be due to insufficient or incorrect information (e.g incorrect Payment Reference or amount).

In this case please let our Customer Services department know and we will make a formal request to GlobalCollect to locate the payment and to update the order.

I submitted a payment by bank transfer, why is it still pending?
http://support.skype.com/index.php?_a=know...ails&_i=615

This post has been edited by bnaut: Tue Feb 13 2007, 11:17

I submitted a payment by bank transfer, why is it still pending?

Bank Transfers can take 7-10 working days. You did not mention when you submitted the payment.

Ike

Guys, this was paid in cash and the order # and payment ref # that skype provided us was clearly noted with the payment and a receipt of the cash payment has been sent to skype. There is no excuse. When a company has you funds they should deliver the goods especially something as important as a phone number. Payment made tuesday 6th (IN CASH)(Expiry was 10th) . Why dont they do things the opposite way and allow the phone number to operate for 7 days until they get the cash and if they never recieve payment then cancel the number. Its a skypein tel #, surely that could not hurt them.

You say bank transfers take 7-10 days. (It takes 3-5 days for a bank transfer to get from you to the Payment Collector). Therefore once the collector has the funds are you saying it only takes 2 -5 days to actually recieve payment. And if that is the case this CASH payment (directly into their account) should have been recieved already and credited to my skypein extension order.

You say bank transfers take 7-10 days.

No, I said it can take. Usually it should be less days but occasionally it takes longer.

Ike

Are the advanced members on these forums somehow affiliated with Skype? Working part time as info provider maybe to people like me so as to take the pressure off of the non existant customer support dept? Cant help wonder why you make soooooo many posts and replies to peoples questions, helpful as your answers are. I wonder..........

It is about giving and taking tradertom, learning from each other.

Once you´ve replied, the messages pops in the e-mail box and it is very easy to answer and follow up. I like to see a happy end to the questions I have posted and replied to.

The way you are bitching and screaming about stuff that is mainly your fault and people who are trying to help you, I cannot help but wonder what your e-mails to the support staff look like. Personally, I try to remember that they are employees who go to work every morning and do their best even if they would rather be somewhere else. I fail sometimes and if I do, I am known to apologize.

(edit: typo)

This post has been edited by bnaut: Tue Feb 13 2007, 14:08

Are the advanced members on these forums somehow affiliated with Skype?

Why don't you become an affiliate yourself?

The answer is much simpler, we like to help other people.

Ike

Thanks for your answer IKE its good to see there are genuine people who like to help others. I was just asking a valid question and it is a valid question Bnaut. It could quite easliy be a reason why the customer service is so bad, because maybe they relied upon their part timers on boards like this to answer questions. You seem to defend Skype a lot which made me wonder if you were an employee.


As for bitchin and moaning Bnaut, when i pay for something i expect the product i paid for in return. No excuses or reasons, or apologies, just service! I rely on my phone number to conduct "customer support" queries for my business and i give a damn about my customers thats why im pissed off with whats happened here, it reduces my capacity to be able to service my clients! You are talking with the wrong person if you think i should sympathise with employees because they are just doing a job. These employees have done NOTHING. Not even a reply to any of my queries. As for everything being my fault how the hell dya figure that. Have you ever heard the saying "the customer is always right" obviosly not! I have tried everything with this company and their service is the worst i have ever come across and it seems from the hundreds of other posters on these forums that im not the only one to think so. The product is great but the service is laughable and you know it!! The bottom line is they have my money and i have no product.