I know we are asked to wait a specific amount of time on requests, but we spoke to a representative from Skype via the telephone (a few months back), who assured us that Skype would be a good solution for our business.

Now, we have 30 systems all using Skype as their primary mode of communication, and we come in today to find that EVERY account minus the BCP administrator has been blocked.

We use our business credit card to put money on the account and everything has been working fine until today. There should be no reason why any payments would be flagged, and we have not broken the terms of use or EULA in any way. Also, the fact that we received absolutely no warning or even an e-mail suggesting why we have been blocked is outrageous for a service that we have prepaid for.

The administrator account is MSI.CANADA with the business account ranging from:

msi1.canada to msi28.canada

We are a business that does 95% of our business by phone. This is literally costing us thousands of dollars to be down right now. From what I have read on the forums people have claimed that it can take days, weeks or months to have this issue corrected. We simply can not wait that long for this issue to be resolved. It would cost of tens of thousands of dollars to be down for even a week.

If there is anything that can be done to speed up the process, it would be appreciated.

Also, Skype really needs a method to call in and speak to a customer service representative directly. I would wait on hold for hours if it meant that my issue could be resolved, but unfortunately that option is not available.

Thank you.

Have you reported this to Customer Support at http://support.skype.com/en_US ?
If not, please do so urgently and let me know here as, under Skype rules, I cannot become involved until this is done.

This has been done. Reply topic from the automated response was :

RE: MA004: MY ENTIRE BUSINESS CONTROL PANEL IS BLOCKED.

I am assuming that MA004 is the ticket number?

This was submitted at http://support.skype.com/en_US/support_request

If you are stuck until Skype responds why not take out a contract with a VOIP supplier and have a hosted or virtual PBX.

As an interim you could use a "softphone" or even purchase IP phones.

If you look around it is usually possible to find rates competitive with Skype.

I don't knock Skype here. It is very good within its limitations. One of those limitations is a lack of effective support.

I've sent the case straight through to the section which does the actual unblocking.
Skype internal locator BR99999
Please quote on future posts.

Thank you.

Is there a timeframe in which I can expect this to be corrected?

Generally, if there are no security/fraud issues the accounts I send are unblocked in 24 hours or less.
With the weekend coming up it may take a little longer.

Thank you again.

If there are any issues will I be contacted directly regarding this? I find it odd that I was not sent any communication prior to the block.

I would assume that if Skype was to block service for an entire business that we would be given some notification prior to doing so, or at least some sort of communication after the fact to let us know why this issue has occurred and what we can do to correct it.

I can only assume that the lack of communication on Skype's part was an error or because this block was caused by an error.

We do have a Nortal BCM 400 and the IP Softphone system that goes with it. However, due to our specific needs Skype is a preferable option. As well, all our software has been specifically designed for integration with Skype.

Up to this point we have had no issues with Skype, and if this is corrected within the 24 hour timeframe given above, we will continue to use Skype. However, this event does negatively effect our overall view of the Skype service.

1. If there are any issues Skype will either contact you directly via your Skype-registered e-mail address or will advise me as the Moderator who raised your case.
If I am contacted I will pass the message to you by PM - Personal Message - not here on the public Forum.
2. Before the fact - no.
After the fact - yes - but only if either you or I request the information.
3. Either of these may well be the case.
Again - I will be able to establish this and communicate the findings to you.

I'm not trying to push buttons here, but isn't it a good customer service practice, especially when you are dealing with businesses whom may rely on your services to properly function, to give some sort of notice prior to such a widespread disconnection of service?

I have noticed that in general and these forums in particular, that a poor level of customer service seems to be the one major complaints people have about Skype.

Granted, your responses have all been quick and concise, and I appreciate that. However, it does not negate the fact that we lost quite a bit of money today due to an outage in a service that we pay for.

I would think that if there were some sort of issue whether it be with the payments made to the account, or other, that a notice of impending interruption of service, the reasoning and actions that may be taken to prevent the interruption would probably earn Skype a bit more acknowledge in their level of customer service, keep some customers on board that would have otherwise been lost, and give the current customers some piece of mind.

For individual use I could understand this, but for businesses it seems unacceptable.

All, I have raised to SKUPE. @MSI, please\stick to one avenue, you PM me, I said In would help, please do not then requesat from othere

I am not attempting to subvert your help. I posted both here and sent a PM to you in hopes of a response. Like I have stated, this disconnection of service has been very detrimental to our business today and I am merely attempting all available avenues in order to have this issue looked in to.

I appreciate your response and the fact that you and the representative prior to you have escalated the situation. However, based on the time stamps you can see that I did post this message prior to your response that you would assist me, and thus I was not aware if you would in fact receive and/or return my request.

I thank you for your assistance, I look forward to when this issue is resolved and we can continue to use the Skype service we have come to rely on.

Guys, Skype needs to stop blocking business account without previous warning. The minimal that Skype can do is to send an email or call the contact person asking for more information and a deadline to submit the information. Without this I don't think that Skype will be a good business fit.

MSI Canada,
When I took up your case I didn't realize that you had double posted and already asked another Moderator to assist you.
As you asked Gladiator first and he is dealing with your case I have withdrawn from it and nullified the messages/info I sent on your behalf to Skype.
We don't interfere in each other's cases.
Please direct your future queries to Gladiator.
The BR reference I opened for you and quoted in a previous post is no longer valid.

Adam - Sorry for interfering in your case.
I didn't know that the client had already PMd you.
I've closed the BR I opened to avoid any CS duplication.

Maybe a bit of duplication would be preferred as it is now nearly 2PM EST on Monday and this issue was first brought up at Friday morning.

This is completely outrageous. I have been told that this issue is being looked in to, and that the accounts will be unblocked, and yet it has still not been done.

Does nobody at Skype realize the level of chaos that these actions have caused our business. The money is it causing our business? The amount headaches?

This needs to be fixed. As far as I can see and have been told, this is an error on Skype's part. If that is the case, it should be corrected already. This is terrible customer service.

I emailed you and let you know it was assigned this morning (Skype does not work weekends)
Thats the best any mod can do on these forums, I appreciate your frustracion, but I have done everything possible.
It now awaits SKYPES investigation.

I realize that you have done what you can, but it is incredibly frustrating and does not make sense to me that this process would take so long to complete.

With the amount of times I see this same issue come up on the forums one would think that there would be better processes in place to resolve this issue.

True, but SKYPE blocks accounts for users (and their) best/safest interest.

I guess

I'm not entirely sure how this was in anybodies interest. We still have $100 sitting on the account unused and all of the subscriptions were paid for using a valid corporate credit card (which is the same card we have always used and have never had an issue with).

It's certainly not in our interest. It has cost us an incredible amount money and frustration....

It would be in Skypes best interest to alert people of a potential mass blocking off their account prior to doing so, imo.

Another day and this issue is still not resolved. I received one e-mail apologizing for the inconvenience and that this was being look in to, and yet here it is still not completed.

Does it usually take upwards of 5 days or longer to complete this?

I don't really understand how this can be taking so long.

It is now Wednesday.

This issue was originally brought up 4 business days ago (if you excluded the weekend) and my entire business control panel is still blocked.

Gladiator, or whomever feels that they can do something, can you give me some assurances that this is being resolved?

This is borderline theft. We have paid for a service, which we can not use, and we still have money on our account, which we can not use. I need a resolution to this situation. How can Skype just leave a business without a method of communication for this long?

How can Skype advertise for businesses to switch to their service when this is the way they react?

I need to hear some sort of response that this is being resolved. A company can not just block a customer without any sort of reasoning, take their money for a period of time they have already paid for, and not make any attempts to resolve it within a reasonable time period. That is not good business, and I am not even entirely sure that it is legal to do so.

SKYPE blocks accounts for safety of user and them selves if they think an account has been compromised.
For security reasons SKYPE does not divulge what criteria 'raises that.
So really I can not advise.