I've downloaded Skype. Liked the phone service via the 10 free minutes and decided to purchase Skype Unlimited. So yesterday I completed the order via the Skype website and received an email confirmation a little while later. As of yet my account shows no credit for outbound calls and I'm unable to make any calls.

Am I doing something wrong? As I understood from the website Skype Unlimited was supposed to give me unlimited calls within the United States. Is there any way I can talk to a person at Skype?

Thanks in advance for your help!

The Unlimited Calling Plan allows you to make free calls from and to any landline/cellphone within the USA/Canada.
You will know that you resuccessfully registered when you receive a confirmatory message at your Account Page and also receive $2.10 added to your credit balance as a welcome gift from Skype.
The subscription you paid is not SkypeOut credit and will not appear in your credit balance.
If you are still unable to make calls please advise.

Woah! I didn't buy unlimited SkypeOut minutes?! Now I'm totally confused.

Should I have downloaded a separate program (other than Skype) to use Skype Unlimited? On my currrent Skype program I see nothing different since purchasing Unlimited. When going to the Skype Unlimited Calling page, all that's mentioned is SkypeOut.

In an attempt to get this thing going today, I also purchased $10 worth of SkypeOut minutes. That credit didn't show up.

Please walk me through this process.

Thank you again for your help!

let's deal with the credit and the unlimited plan seperately.

first the unlimited plan.

when you purchase the plan that is exactly what you are pruchasing.. a plan, not credit. so in return you should expect a reciept to say you have the plan and then you should be able to make calls that originate and terminate in the usa and canada. you will not see a difference in the skype client itself as the plan is not something that is visible. so even if your skype credit is zero the plan will still be in effect... the only thing you will have to tell you you have the plan is a reciept.

however, the plan comes with some free international calling minutes, these are given to you in the form of skype credit , calculated to $2.10, 100 minutes calling at the global calling rate. usually this addition of credit acts as an indicator to the successful purchase of the plan.

please login at www.skype.com and view your purchase history. it may say the plan is still pending as some payment methods take longer than others to process.


next, the $10 you purchased today

the reason for the failure of that to show up may be the same reason as the unlimited plan. again you would need to check your purchase history.

also, if you tell us what payment method you used, someone may be able to tell you of any typical waiting times.


furthermore, there's no number to call skype on and speak to a person, but there is a support request feature. this can be found via http://support.skype.com/?_a=tickets&_m=submit

Can't express how much I appreciate your help!

I checked my purchase history a few times today. Only purchase showing:

Balance change $0.01
Order added €0,01 to your Skype account. On time of delivery your base currency was USD. Skype exchange rate on March 27, 2007 for EUR was 1.292

This purchase appeared after I first ordered Skype Unlimited. I made payment through my Visa card. Any ideas?

Again, thank you.

it appears neither of the transactions have been registered.... the one you have seen seems to be a currency conversion.

please write to skype using the link i provided above and include as much detail as possible.

- moved to Billing & Payment Forum -

It's been two days since posting my payment and still no Skype Unlimited. No transaction showing in my purchase history.

To be frank, it took a great leap of faith to post my credit card information online to a company with no available real-time customer service. I had hoped/assumed that the large numbers of Skype users worldwide would be evidence enough that this service is legitimate. I have to admit some serious doubts at this point.

I've written the company via the Help page. I am supposed to patiently wait a minimum of four days for a response. No phone number provided to talk to a human being. I've heard of nameless/faceless corporations before but this may be a new low. All I really know is that a completely unapproachable company based in..where, I don't know...has my credit card information. This has become somewhat frightening.

I feel like Dorothy banging on the wizard's front door.

To the forum moderators: your ongoing assistance has been greatly appreciated and I sincerely hope (with your continued help) that I will soon become a satisfied customer. Thank you.

Ozark - firstly let me assure you that your credit card information is, in my opinion, totally safe with Skype.
Skype is a high profile company. I've been doing business with them for a few years now.
I can understand your reluctance/frustration.
My experience has been that virtually all problems are eventually resolved albeit somewhat more slowly than we would all like.
The company has several European bases and is registered in Luxembourg.
It is a wholly owned subsiduary of e-Bay.
If you advise us the date of your filed ticket Skype will be reminded that your issue is still outstanding if you don't receive a reply after the 4 business days period.
I hope this puts your mind at rest a little and hope you will indeed join the many millions of satisfied customers.

Out desperation, I tried once again (now the third time) to sign up and pay for Unlimited. As before, once I enter all the credit card info and proceed to process the order, the following message appears:

Unable to continue [No TermUrl. No reason to continue.].

What does this mean?

Ozark - I suggest you don't try to purchase the UCP again as you are likely to finish up with two or more plans!
You've already bought the Plan and have a confirming e-mail to that effect.
That is almost certainly the reason why the system won't let you purchase again.
The Plan is not functioning and you've filed a ticket to that effect.
What was the date of the ticket so we can follow it up with Skype and try to establish why it's not working properly?
Thanks.

The ticket date is March 17th. What other information can I provide which might help get this processed?

Thanks again!

That's all we need at present.
Sorry it's not working correctly yet - but it will!
My guess is a software glitch at Skype.
Any way it will get corrected.
A Moderator will now alert Skype that this matter is still not resolved.

MODERATOR SUMMARY
Username: orarkdaredevil
Ticket Filed: March 17th 2007
Problem: UCP successfully purchased but not operating

I'm sorry, I have read this thread and I don't see any resolution. I have the same problem. I bought Skype Unlimited a week ago, and the money is gone from my bank account, and it's posted on the website. Yet I can't make any calls, and it says I have a -0.3 balance.

Sammy - I have replied to you in detail on your other thread.

Norman,

Thanks for the help. If it makes any difference, I noticed that there's a typo in the alert you sent to Skype. My username is ozarkdaredevil (with a "z").

Hi, I have the same problem. I had bought Skpy unlimited, and yet, I still get charged for calls within the US. I got skype out to make international calls. And now, all the credit has been used up because skype unlimited is not covering what they promised. So, is there anything new that you have found out. Maybe it is time to revolt. I have contacted them more than 7 times, and I have gotten absolutely no reponse for 3 month now.

This is ridiculous!

thanks.
Frustrated.

Reveived a reply today from Skype customer service:

Thank you for contacting Skype Support.

We have lately encountered a problem between Safari and our payment provider. Unfortunately it appears that our payment provider is not capable of processing orders through Safari and an error occurs. Therefore we suggest that you try to make your order via Mozilla Firefox or Opera, this should solve your problem.

To be honest, this new information comes as a big relief to me. I've been HIGHLY concerned that my money and/or credit card information was in the hands of Skype. Looks like I'll be able to walk away financially unscathed. Others appear to be less lucky.

I have never before encountered a company which insists on being so disconnected from its customers. I've spent my entire working life in sales and customer service. How Skype has managed to remain in business is a mystery. In any other scenario, this is a business model bent on failure. Imagine for a moment if your electric company, water utility or any other service provider was unable and unwilling to speak to you during a problem in service. Now imagine being told "send us an email and we should contact you in four days...or maybe even longer". How would you feel? But that is exactly how Skype operates.

The real irony is that if Skype had a good handle on their technology, the near-nonexistent levels of customer service wouldn't be that large of an issue. I have yet to use Skype Unlimited (and doubt I will now) and already I'm having problems with their technology. Can't make a payment if I'm using the standard Apple browser? No mention of this on their website. Obviously the forum moderators haven't been advised of this glitch. But wait, it's not Skype's fault. It's someone else's fault. Thumbing through posts on this forum, I see a pattern of finger-pointing and denials by Skype. People are being double-billed, billed with no service, accounts are being blocked, etc. In almost every case, the response is "it's not our fault" followed by instructions to complete another 4+ day email ticket. The term "aloof" applies.

In my particular case, the payment wasn't processed because the vendor Skype uses apparently doesn't understand the Safari browser - or that's what I've been told. So change payment vendors! I make many online purchases using Safari and have never run into this problem. Shifting the blame to their payment provider is like a canned fruit company knowingly selling product in inferior cans which allow the fruit to spoil and then blaming the can manufacturer for the problem. Skype, if there is a problem just stand tall, accept responsibility for a shortcoming and then fix the stinking problem. It's easy. I do it in my line of work every day.

At first glance, Skype seemed too good to be true. Well, I remember what my father told me about those types of deals. When it's all said and done, I will probably chalk this whole mess up to another of life's learning experiences and stick to my old-fashioned land line.

To the Skype moderators: Thank you for assisting me. It appears your hands are tied. I understand it's your job (and I hope you are paid to represent this headache of a company) to say "but there are millions of satisfied Skype customers". The question is: how many millions have been lost?

Caveat emptor.

Note that call forwarding is not included in the Unlimited Calling Plan. Please check your account and if you were still charged for normal calls instead of forwarded calls, please report back and I will forward to staff.

Ike

do you have to purchase skypeout unlimited to call international or is the skypeout unlimited JUST for calling phones in the US and Canada?

I bought global credit but am not sure if I have to get the skypeout plan as well for me here in the US to call the UK via skype to a phone line there.

I have a similar kind of problem, I think. I paid for Skype Unlimited, but when I click on the "balance" button Skype looks as follows:



Why is the little red circle with a line there? So far, it appears that I can call just fine, and I did get the email receipt for Skype Unlimited. But the little circle, in combination with the fact that during my first call the balance changed from 0.10 to 0.14, concerns me. Any advice?

The Unlimited Calling Plan provides free calls to landlines/cellphones within the USA/Canada.
The calls must originate and terminate within USA/Canada.
For calls to outside USA/Canada you need to purchase SkypeOut credit as these calls will be charged at the prevaziling SkypeOut call rate plus a connection fee.
So to call a telephone in UK you do NOT need to purchase the UCP.
Tip - some UK calls are very expensive e.g. cellphones and many other types of call.
Please check the UK calling rates at your Account Page carefully before you call.
Hope that is helpful.

The little red circle indicates that you are low on SkypeOut credit.
This doesn't matter if you are calling from and to the USA/Canada as you have the UCP but to make overseas calls you will need to add to your credit balance.
The credit balance will have increased a little when you made your first call as Skype adds a small sum as a 'welcome' gift.
The subscription you paid for the UCP is not SkypeOut credit and will not appear as an addition to your credit balance.

Thanks for the help!

My pleasure.
If you have any further questions or concerns please advise.

The Unlimited is only for calls within the US and Canada. As soon as you place calls outside the US and Canada, you need SkypeOut credits.

Ike