So, the never-ending saga. I am still waiting for customer service to actually help me get service. I am not willing to attempt payment again since I do not wish to pay $29.95 for a service when I should only be paying $14.95 for it. Here's the email chain...



***sent this morning (2/15/2007)


Hello. I have been waiting since January 31 for a response to my request for assistance. It has now been 10 business days - and 5 business days since my last attempt. Today I received a marketing email which reminded me that I had started an order and had not processed payment and suggested that I log on to skype.com to finish the order. I would love to, if someone would actually help me.



I attempted numerous times to make the payment before January 31. Each time, the payment processing page would stay up without completing the payment. I have been requesting assistance on this matter since January 18. I want to sign up for service, and I think that I should only pay the $14.95 for unlimited service price since I clearly have been seeking to make this purchase since the time that the introductory price was offered. Please respond to this email promptly.



David and Lisa Lopez



Lisa Lopez
llopez81374@yahoo.com



----- Original Message ----
From: Lisa Lopez <llopez81374@yahoo.com>
To: billing@skype.net
Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2007 10:56:30 AM
Subject: Fw: GQW: Trying to sign up <<#565814-773344#>>


It is now six business days since I wrote this email. That is far beyond the 72 hours mentioned, and even beyond the 4 business days that has been practiced most recently. I would respectfully request that someone get back to me with some constructive help.

Thank you,

Lisa and David Lopez
856-316-6263

Lisa Lopez
llopez81374@yahoo.com



----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Lisa Lopez <llopez81374@yahoo.com>
To: Mihkel - Skype Support <billing@skype.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 10:23:55 AM
Subject: Re: GQW: Trying to sign up <<#565814-773344#>>


Ok. I'm not a moron. I know that I have started an order, and I know that the process has not completed. As I said in my previous email, I submit the payment, and a message stays on the screen saying that the order is processing. One day, I allowed it to stay that way for eight hours. Obviously, there is a problem that pay attention to the directions given is not going to solve.

Despite all these difficulties, I still want this service, and I want it for the $14.95 price. I expect that someone will actually give me some assistance in solving the problem./

856-xxx-xxxx

skype username mrs.lisalopez

Lisa Lopez
llopez81374@yahoo.com



----- Original Message ----
From: Mihkel - Skype Support <billing@skype.net>
To: llopez81374@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 6:11:39 AM
Subject: Re: GQW: Trying to sign up <<#565814-773344#>>


Hello Lisa,

Thank you for contacting Skype Support.



According to our records you have started an order but have not completed the process. The order was created, but no payment information was registered. Try again to complete the process and pay attention the directions given aside.

You can start the purchasing process from here:
http://www.skype.com/store/

If you placed the order with a credit card then during the purchase process, we made an authorization request to your credit card to check that the funds are available. This may be shown as a booking or reservation on your credit card statement. It is not an actual charge. No funds were taken from your account. We have reversed this authorization and these reservations will be removed.

We apologise for the inconvenience

Best regards,

Mihkel P.
Skype Support

Visit www.skype.com for latest news, updates and tips.

--- Original Message ---
From: Lisa Lopez <llopez81374@yahoo.com>
Received: 26.01.2007 18:10:00 GMT Standard Time (GMT - 0:00 )
To: Patrick - Skype Support <billing@skype.net>
Subject: Re: GQW: Trying to sign up

Hello,

I did what you suggested. Currently, I have been waiting since 8:51am, and the screen still says Please wait while your order is processing. It is currently 1:07pm. That is 3 hours and 16 minutes.

What is going on? It clearly has gotten to the point of processing. It is not rejecting my card - it is just not completing the process. Please help. I can be reached by phone at 856-xxx-xxxx. My skype user name is mrs.lisalopez.

Thanks,

Lisa and David Lopez

Lisa Lopez
llopez81374@yahoo.com



----- Original Message ----
From: Patrick - Skype Support <billing@skype.net>
To: llopez81374@yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 3:03:10 AM
Subject: Re: GQW: Trying to sign up <<#565814-773344#>>


Hello Lisa,

Thank you for contacting Skype Support.

Make sure you enable usage of secure connection protocols SSL3 and TLS 1.0. In Internet Explorer - Tool-> Internet Options-> Advanced. In Mozilla Firefox Tools-> Options-> Advanced. Also make sure your browser accepts cookies.

In some cases the problem is that the security settings of your browser are set too high. Try to make them lower and try again.

Sometimes it helps, when you try a different browser, although our site should work with all the browsers.

Let us know if the problem persists

Best regards,

Patrick P.
Skype Support

Visit www.skype.com for latest news, updates and tips.

--- Original Message ---
From: Lisa Lopez <llopez81374@yahoo.com>
Received: 24.01.2007 15:41:03 GMT Standard Time (GMT - 0:00 )
To: Caroline - Skype Support <billing@skype.net>
Subject: Re: GQW: Trying to sign up

So, six days ago I write to you because I want to sign up for Skype Unlimited and each time I enter my card number, your system gets to the point where it says that my order is processing, and it gets stuck there. So far, right now, it's been processing for eight minutes. How do I go about signing up for service.

I'm also bothered by the fact that I sent pretty much an identical email six days ago, and when you finally reply, the response is to try the online resources and if I still have a problem, write again. If you wait another 6 days to reply, it might just be too late for me to use your service at the special rate. Is that your plan? I understand that it is a busy time for Skype, but it would have been nice if someone had at least read the email to realize that it is a case specific problem.

It's now been eleven minutes that my order is processing, and your website states that it should take 15 seconds. Please advise as to how I might sign up for service.

856-xxx-xxxx

David

Lisa Lopez
llopez81374@yahoo.com



----- Original Message ----
From: Caroline - Skype Support <billing@skype.net>
To: llopez81374@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 3:12:41 AM
Subject: Re: GQW: Trying to sign up <<#565814-773344#>>


Hello David,

Thank you for contacting Skype Support.

Unfortunately, we have been experiencing extremely high volumes and as a result we are very sorry that we have not been able to get to your request for Billing Support in as timely a manner as we would like. As many issues have been resolved already, we are hopeful that your request is among them.

If your specific request has not been resolved, we genuinely apologize and will be happy to help you. Would you please try:

Knowledgebase - http://support.skype.com/?_a=knowledgebase
User Guides - http://www.skype.com/help/guides/

Also, our forums are an excellent resource to help people get answers to specific billing issues.
http://www.skype.com/community/forums.html

If your issue has not been resolved, and neither of these methods has helped, please contact us again, and we will do our best to respond as quickly as possible!

Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.



N'hésitez pas à nous recontacter si vous avez d'autres questions.

Cordialement,

Caroline C.M.
Skype Customer Support, Luxembourg.

Visit www.skype.com for latest news, updates and tips.

--- Original Message ---
From: David Lopez <llopez81374@yahoo.com>
Received: 18.01.2007 16:48:46 GMT Standard Time (GMT - 0:00 )
To: support@skype.net
Subject: GQW: Trying to sign up


Name: David Lopez
Skype Name: mrs.lisalopez
E-mail: llopez81374@yahoo.com
Subject: Trying to sign up
Message:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello. For the last half hour, I\'ve been trying to buy unlimited service. Each time, it takes my card number and gets to the point that is supposed to take 15 seconds to complete transaction, and it goes on for fifteen minutes with no end in sight. I would like to sign up for your service today.

Thanks,

David and Lisa Lopez
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Skype Version:
Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; AT&T CSM6.0; SV1)
IP address: 68.44.36.104
Department: Billing


------ Please do not remove your unique tracking number! ------
<<#565814-773344#>>

I am still waiting for customer service to actually help me get service.

Please read below if this might solve the payment problem:

There are two ways to buy Credits:

1) via the Skype client. Skype -> Help -> Buy Credits
2) via www.skype.com by logging in to your account page.
Please try the other option if one does not work.

Also try another web browser. Other then IE6 or 7, can cause this problem/message.

Ike

Please read below if this might solve the payment problem:

There are two ways to buy Credits:

1) via the Skype client. Skype -> Help -> Buy Credits
2) via www.skype.com by logging in to your account page.
Please try the other option if one does not work.

Also try another web browser. Other then IE6 or 7, can cause this problem/message.

Ike

if i may Ike,

I am not willing to attempt payment again since I do not wish to pay $29.95 for a service when I should only be paying $14.95 for it.

as i understand it, the OP is worried that should they pay again they will be charged the full $29.95. they feel this to be unfair as they initiated the transaction before the promotion deadline when the price was still $14.95 and through no fault of their own (and what appears to be a skype fault) they were not able to complete the transaction.

so if this poster does now purchase the plan for the full price do you know if skype is offering to refund the difference as skype has clear evidence that the poster had tried purchasing during the promotional period?

(i ask because on a related note, someone fell victim to the skype billing bug that charged people the full price on the 25th, they saked for partial refund, but skype gave full refund and cancelled the plan)

thanks in advance.

So, the never-ending saga. I am still waiting for customer service to actually help me get service. I am not willing to attempt payment again since I do not wish to pay $29.95 for a service when I should only be paying $14.95 for it.

I forwarded to Staff.

Ike

PS Thanks Lukman

I forwarded to Staff.

Ike

PS Thanks Lukman

np. thank you for forwarding

np. thank you for forwarding

Thank you so much, everyone who posted to help...

I received an email this morning, offering me a voucher so that I can sign up for Skype... I have redeemed the voucher, and it allowed me to use the skype credit to purchase the unlimited plan... I did these things successfully. In a few minutes, I believe that I will be making my first official Skype call using the Unlimited plan.

Thanks again for your help... Ike, for forwarding, and Luke for understanding my payment dilemna...

Lisa

congratulations Lisa. hope your call was successful. good luck with skype and hopefully you will not experience any more problems, but in the unfortunate event that you do, you're always welcome to discuss them on the forums.

Thanks again for your help...

That is great news Lisa! It was a pleaure to help.

Ike

intersting to see others having similar issues.. i tried several times to purchase the unlimited skypeout plan and kept getting errors, after waiting ages for support to get back to me all they said was something along the lines of "you are probly behind a proxy"

well.. im NOT behind a proxy. anyway.. today I decided to try again, and it worked! I have all of the confirmation emails and invoices, however I have now been charged $29.95 and I cannot call out. I get a message saying I have no credits and I need to purchase some credits to be able to call out.

this is B.S.

I cant help feeling that this wont be resolved, and I will have to shell out another 30 bucks and HOPE that it works, or it will be resolved but take weeks of support request emails


*sigh*

I have now been charged $29.95 and I cannot call out.

Please try to log off (please remember your user name and password!!!!) and log on again. This should update your account in Skype.

Also note that only calls to landlines and mobiles within the US and Canada are free.
If you are outside the US and Canada or calling to other countries, you need SkypeOut.
Also call forwarding is not included in the Unlimited Calling Plan.

Ike

Please try to log off (please remember your user name and password!!!!) and log on again. This should update your account in Skype.

Also note that only calls to landlines and mobiles within the US and Canada are free.
If you are outside the US and Canada or calling to other countries, you need SkypeOut.
Also call forwarding is not included in the Unlimited Calling Plan.

Ike

thank you for responding, however I have logged in and out several times hoping it would fix the issue, but still have the problem For some good details including screen shots and confirmation invoices see:

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=78513

For some good details including screen shots and confirmation invoices see

Did you try to make calls outside the US and Canada or from another country to the US and Canada?
Or did you forward incoming Skype Calls?

Ike

Did you try to make calls outside the US and Canada or from another country to the US and Canada?
Or did you forward incoming Skype Calls?

Ike

no forwarding, this is my only phone. Just normal local calls to friends, I cant even call an 800 number

they said was something along the lines of "you are probly behind a proxy"

well.. im NOT behind a proxy. anyway.. today I decided to try again, and it worked! I have all of the confirmation emails and invoices, however I have now been charged $29.95 and I cannot call out. I get a message saying I have no credits and I need to purchase some credits to be able to call out.

Please give me the date of your first support ticket and I will forward to Staff.

Ike

Please give me the date of your first support ticket and I will forward to Staff.

Ike

Hey Ike,

my original support request was sent on January 8th 2007, I sent two new requests yesterday (2-20-2007) outlining the inability to make skypeout calls with the unlimited plan.

I am aware of the lengthy response times from support, and I do not mind waiting a few days for them to get around to the request, however I am really afraid of getting a generic response that does not help and having to spend weeks going back and forth only to end up requesting a refund and waiting weeks for that to go through

thanks!

p.s. I even tried re-purchasing the unlimited plan but it knows I already have it and wont allow me to buy another one

let me know if there is anymore information I can provide

my original support request was sent on January 8th 2007

Thank you for your patience

I forwarded to Staff.

Ike

Thank you for your patience

I forwarded to Staff.

Ike

I have waited about 6 weeks to get my C$14 refund from shitpye. My history says that they issued a refund but visa refused it. Ya like visa refuses money! Paravet "said check with your bank". Done . Nothing. So SHITKYPE has a problem receiving money and the refunding money. They blame everyone but themselves. Gee there are only about 106 pages of complains with 5 responces on it , so that's about 525 complaints. SHITYPE has not figured out THEY have a PROBLEM. You MODS are NOT the problem. SHITYPE has the problem.

This post has been edited by surfnfx: Sun Feb 25 2007, 13:39

Skype has an enormous problem, but in the end there is only one sound they will respond to; the sound of us leaving, $ in hand..... There are other options out there, for both Mac and PC. Other services may have fewer bells and whistles, and/or be more expensive, but you won't go through this nonsense. In my life I have never witnessed a poorer customer service program on the part of any company, large or small, except in cases where the business was fraudulent by design. I don't quite think that of Skype, but I'm close.... I feel badly for the moderators here, because they are being hung out to dry by the clearly arrogant management of Skype. Anyway, see you over on Gizmo Project....

This post has been edited by Snitz: Mon Feb 26 2007, 14:37

I have been trying to get on the unlimited plan since December. Each time I sent payment through - from Paypal their preferred vendor - it was returned to me as a refund. Numerous email messages to support have gone unanswered or have gone no further than the autoresponder message they send. At this point I have submitted one final request for assistance then I give up. I am like many of you in that I like the service but offering a product without sufficient customer service to support it is an issue with me. I have decided to wait until Friday for resolution than dump them completely.

It's sad that this Skype is an industry trailblazer but doesn't seem to care about the clients they serve.
I say that given this business model, they will soon be circling the bowl on their way down.

I have been trying to get on the unlimited plan since December. Each time I sent payment through - from Paypal their preferred vendor - it was returned to me as a refund. Numerous email messages to support have gone unanswered or have gone no further than the autoresponder message they send. At this point I have submitted one final request for assistance then I give up. I am like many of you in that I like the service but offering a product without sufficient customer service to support it is an issue with me. I have decided to wait until Friday for resolution than dump them completely.

It's sad that this Skype is an industry trailblazer but doesn't seem to care about the clients they serve.
I say that given this business model, they will soon be circling the bowl on their way down.

Can you advise the date of your FIRST filed ticket and your username so that a Moderator can remind Skype that your problem is not yet resolved.
Thank you.