Well, I won’t make that mistake again. Last year I used Skype’s $30-per-year unlimited outbound calling feature (to call regular phones), and didn’t have any problems with it. This year I added a “SkypeIn” number so people could call me. Since I actually tried to start using it, I began to notice some weird problems, including local callers being told they had to dial +1-[areacode]-[my number] instead of just [my number], and other callers automatically getting voicemail even though the client and account are configured to permit all calls.

I sent a support request to Skype on August 10, 2008. Today, September 1, 2008, I finally got a response (and it didn’t help, either — it amounted to “we don’t control any of that” for the long distance thing and “change your settings to something else then change them back” for the voicemail thing — it didn’t help ).

I’ll stick with my new VoIP system, methinks, and let that Skype service lapse instead of renewing. 22 days to respond to a five-minute inquiry is a pretty bad sign. I guess they’re just eager to make sure nobody thinks they’re trying to be a phone company. Even pre-breakup AT&T’s support infrastructure never sucked so bad

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