Despite COO Comments, Skype "Customer Service" REEKS

I recently had an exchange in this blog with Mr. Scott Durchslag, the rather new COO of Skype. Mr. Durchslag assured me that he is aware of the support problems, he apologized for them, and he said that they have a "roadmap" to address these problems. He also invited me to meet with himself and their Head of Customer Support.

I would suggest that the "roadmap", if there ever was one, has taken a seriously wrong turn. Take a look at this thread from the Skype Community:

Why Skype does not have an efficient support?

I have referenced this thread before, but it seems to be like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps going, and going, and going... There are new posts there pretty much every day, up to and including yesterday, relating horror stories with Skype's so-called "Support" that you could not imagine if you hadn't experienced it yourself. Some of the highlights:

- Skype "Support" has no phone number, no email address, not even a Skype address (that last one still amazes me)

- Repeated requests to "Customer Service" go unanswered for days, weeks or (literally) months

- Customer accounts are mysteriously blocked, and "Customer Service" fails to respond to queries as to why

- Follow-up queries to open support tickets actually generate a new support ticket - which, of course, is itself then ignored

- This treatment is applied to paying customers as well as free service customers (at least they don't discriminate!)

I would most strongly suggest to Mr. Durchslag that he and his Head of Customer Support (if there is such a person) don't need to meet with me, all they need to do is read their own Community. There are all the examples one would ever need there, and every one of them was posted by a registered Skype user. They can all be contacted by email, or by Skype (if you haven't blocked their account), and from reading their Forum posts, it is clear that every single one of them would be thrilled to hear from someone - anyone - at Skype.

jw 15/8/2008

P.S. It just keeps getting better - or worse... here is a new post, just 20 minutes ago. I love this part...

"but i have relised one thing though, if i go outside and hit two sticks together and yell at my dog i'm still getting better customer support than you will ever offer"

Amen. I just hope Skype doesn't run over your dog as they blunder along with their "roadmap".