coolVariable
Diamond Member
Wow! I have been a real Skype fan the last couple of years and have suggested the service to many friends and colleagues. But over the last 1-2 years Skype has gone from being a great alternative to the greedy phone companies to being worse then AT&T, Time Warner Cable and Comcast combined.
Skype's shady business practices are unlike anything I have experienced with ANY phone company. And I am saying this as someone who spends $150/year on Skype subscriptions and at least another $50-$75/year on additional Skype out credits.
The first annoyance started early last year when they (silently) implemented a new rule that the unlimited skype out calling feature (e.g. unlimited US & Canada or unlimited UK) would only work if the IP address from which the Skype out call originated was in that country. I noticed this while travelling in Asia when my Skype out credit balance was all of a sudden gone because all those "free calls" to the US and the UK were not free after all. Very shady if you ask me. Since it's IP based and Skype doesn't pay for the bandwidth the IP origin of a call should be irrelevant, but skype used this to squeeze out more money out of its paying customers.
The shadiest move came recently: as I said above, I am a very good Skype customer. I have had a Skype Unlimited World subscription for a long time now. When I signed up for the subscription, it not only gave you unlimited calling to landlines in the selected "world" countries but also offered 3 free Skype-in numbers (normal telephone numbers for your skype account) and a Skype To-Go number (a dial in number to use skype from any phone).
I signed up for the subscription with my credit card and had it auto-renew every 3 months. BoA changed my card number earlier this year, due to them being hacked and potentially 10,000+ credit card numbers being compromised. After this I used my new credit card in March to buy Skype out credits and also set up auto-recharge for those skype out-credits (it automatically buys $10 more credits if my balance falls below $2).
Last Saturday morning (June 6) I get an email that Skype failed to charge my credit card for the subscription and that it would be cancelled on June 9.
That would not be a big deal if there actually was a way to log into your account to update the payment information and then attempt to charge the card again. BUT THERE IS NOT!
THERE IS NO WAY TO UPDATE YOUR BILLING INFORMATION! Any links that one might assume could be used to update the billing information lead to a page where you can buy more Skype out credits. 1. If that is the way to update the billing information, then I already did that in March when I bought skype out credits. 2. Why are you being forced to buy something (which you potentially do not want) only to update your billing information for something else? (Sounds very shady if not illegal to me).
Still, being an upright customer of Skype, I turned to their customer "service". There is no way to contact customer service except through their online web form. No telephone number you can call - no skype contact to call. A little strange for a "telephony" company.
So I email them that I would like to continue my existing subscription and would like to update my credit card information, since they obviously used the wrong credit card for the subscription (I checked with BoA and there was no attempt to charge my new credit card).
The response 1 day later was that there is no way to do that and that I should cancel the old subscription and buy a new subscription. The only problem being that the new subscriptions no longer offer all the benefits of the old subscriptions, so that the same package costs approximately twice what the old subscription cost.
They are honestly telling me that there is no way to update the billing information for an existing subscription! Are you kidding me? Every third-rate mom and pop show can do that. This seems rather convenient and intentional, so that they can force customers out of older (cheaper) subscriptions.
I do NOT find it acceptable to have my existing subscription be cancelled because SKYPE is not able/willing to update the billing information. I AM WILLING TO PAY FOR THE SERVICE BUT I AM NOT WILLING TO PAY 2X WHAT I WAS PAYING BEFORE BECAUSE THEY ARE UNABLE TO BUILD A NORMAL BILLING SYSTEM!
These business practices are so shady, it is unbelievable. I would stop using skype immediately if I didn't have multiple skype wifi phones. Those gangsters probably have their asses covered by some sleazy lawyer but I definitely think that business practices like this should be illegal!!!
Guess, I will sell my skype phones on craigslist and get some other VOIP service (SIP?).
(PM if you are interested in the phones and are in LA - I only do face to face deals)
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND DO NOT USE SKYPE!!!!
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Cliffs:
1. Good customer of skype, spending hundreds each year on the service
2. You can only update payment details by buying more Skype credits (illegal?)
3. But updated payment details do not apply for subscriptions and Skype allows no updating of billing information for subscriptions! (shady? illegal?)
4. Skype uses outdated billing information to cancel old subscriptions and force you to subscribe to their newer, much more expensive subscriptions! (very shady!)
=> 5. Skype is EVIL and worse than old telco's and cable co's!!!
UPDATE:
http://consumerist.com/5284935...my-billing-information
Skype's shady business practices are unlike anything I have experienced with ANY phone company. And I am saying this as someone who spends $150/year on Skype subscriptions and at least another $50-$75/year on additional Skype out credits.
The first annoyance started early last year when they (silently) implemented a new rule that the unlimited skype out calling feature (e.g. unlimited US & Canada or unlimited UK) would only work if the IP address from which the Skype out call originated was in that country. I noticed this while travelling in Asia when my Skype out credit balance was all of a sudden gone because all those "free calls" to the US and the UK were not free after all. Very shady if you ask me. Since it's IP based and Skype doesn't pay for the bandwidth the IP origin of a call should be irrelevant, but skype used this to squeeze out more money out of its paying customers.
The shadiest move came recently: as I said above, I am a very good Skype customer. I have had a Skype Unlimited World subscription for a long time now. When I signed up for the subscription, it not only gave you unlimited calling to landlines in the selected "world" countries but also offered 3 free Skype-in numbers (normal telephone numbers for your skype account) and a Skype To-Go number (a dial in number to use skype from any phone).
I signed up for the subscription with my credit card and had it auto-renew every 3 months. BoA changed my card number earlier this year, due to them being hacked and potentially 10,000+ credit card numbers being compromised. After this I used my new credit card in March to buy Skype out credits and also set up auto-recharge for those skype out-credits (it automatically buys $10 more credits if my balance falls below $2).
Last Saturday morning (June 6) I get an email that Skype failed to charge my credit card for the subscription and that it would be cancelled on June 9.
That would not be a big deal if there actually was a way to log into your account to update the payment information and then attempt to charge the card again. BUT THERE IS NOT!
THERE IS NO WAY TO UPDATE YOUR BILLING INFORMATION! Any links that one might assume could be used to update the billing information lead to a page where you can buy more Skype out credits. 1. If that is the way to update the billing information, then I already did that in March when I bought skype out credits. 2. Why are you being forced to buy something (which you potentially do not want) only to update your billing information for something else? (Sounds very shady if not illegal to me).
Still, being an upright customer of Skype, I turned to their customer "service". There is no way to contact customer service except through their online web form. No telephone number you can call - no skype contact to call. A little strange for a "telephony" company.
So I email them that I would like to continue my existing subscription and would like to update my credit card information, since they obviously used the wrong credit card for the subscription (I checked with BoA and there was no attempt to charge my new credit card).
The response 1 day later was that there is no way to do that and that I should cancel the old subscription and buy a new subscription. The only problem being that the new subscriptions no longer offer all the benefits of the old subscriptions, so that the same package costs approximately twice what the old subscription cost.
They are honestly telling me that there is no way to update the billing information for an existing subscription! Are you kidding me? Every third-rate mom and pop show can do that. This seems rather convenient and intentional, so that they can force customers out of older (cheaper) subscriptions.
I do NOT find it acceptable to have my existing subscription be cancelled because SKYPE is not able/willing to update the billing information. I AM WILLING TO PAY FOR THE SERVICE BUT I AM NOT WILLING TO PAY 2X WHAT I WAS PAYING BEFORE BECAUSE THEY ARE UNABLE TO BUILD A NORMAL BILLING SYSTEM!
These business practices are so shady, it is unbelievable. I would stop using skype immediately if I didn't have multiple skype wifi phones. Those gangsters probably have their asses covered by some sleazy lawyer but I definitely think that business practices like this should be illegal!!!
Guess, I will sell my skype phones on craigslist and get some other VOIP service (SIP?).
(PM if you are interested in the phones and are in LA - I only do face to face deals)
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND DO NOT USE SKYPE!!!!
-----------
Cliffs:
1. Good customer of skype, spending hundreds each year on the service
2. You can only update payment details by buying more Skype credits (illegal?)
3. But updated payment details do not apply for subscriptions and Skype allows no updating of billing information for subscriptions! (shady? illegal?)
4. Skype uses outdated billing information to cancel old subscriptions and force you to subscribe to their newer, much more expensive subscriptions! (very shady!)
=> 5. Skype is EVIL and worse than old telco's and cable co's!!!
UPDATE:
http://consumerist.com/5284935...my-billing-information
