call charge rate is different than advertised

[jsamcr]

I live in Costa Rica and over the years have made many calls to the US and to Argentina.  In the past the rates charged were exactly the same as advertised. 

I recently made a Skype call to a phone in the continental USA.  Skype advertises a rate of 2.3 cents per minute.  However, the rate that was displayed was 11.2 cents per minute.  Did Skype recently change their rates but not change the web page that shows the rates?

[jsamcr]

Well, since I obviously cannot get an answer here, I am going to change the service I use for making calls to the US.  Yahoo Messenger Phone Out service is only 1.9 cents per minute.  Sorry Skype,  you just lost me as a client !  Never liked the idea of Skype being part of Microsoft in the first place.  Microsoft:  the most ubiquitous computer virus in the world!  

[Andre Staff Moderator]

I'm sorry to hear that you don't wish to use Skype for your calls

Regarding your question about the charges, did you count in connection fee:
www.skype.com/go/connectionfee

More info about it: https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA1050

Tip: You don't pay connection fee if you use a subscription such as Unlimited US: http://www.skype.com/go/subscriptions?intcmp=SN-Upsell-Mod
Then you pay monthly fee and call based on fair usage policy:
https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA10364

10 000 minutes per month for $6.99/month should give a pretty good rate per minute

In this forum most people who answer(including myself) are volunteers and this is why sometimes answers may take a while.
Official Skype Customer Service can be reached 24/7 as shown here:
https://support.skype.com/faq/FA1170

I hope this helps and you'll give Skype another chance.

Andre

[jsamcr]

Why would the connection fee show as part of the per minute charge on the Skype GUI ? 

When I select a number contact to call, there is a "per minute" charge shown on the GUI.

In the past, that "per minute" charge was always 2.3 cents per minute (the advertised

rate).  Now it shows 11.2 cents per minute.  I think that has NOTHING to do with the

connection fee.  I think Skype is just messed up ! 

Where I come from we have an old saying.  "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice,

shame on me". 

[Andre Staff Moderator]

I checked your entire call history for the last 30 days and none of the calls shows rate per minute 11.2 cents
You can check it here: https://secure.skype.com/account/call-history

Every single call to US was charged 2.3 cents plus connection fee, neither was I able to reproduce this issue myself right now.

If you see a different price in Skype client then:
1) Upgrade to latest Skype www.skype.com/go/downloading
2) Make sure you are calling US not some other country

If problem persists attach a screenshot to customer support form so that it can be investigated. Right now there hasn't been any reports about this: https://support.skype.com/faq/FA1170

Andre

[Daniel1964]

Hello ANDRE
I see you can help people with problems. I recently paid skype $18.00 for a USA forwarding number to my wife who lives in ukraine..The rate advertised for making a US forwarding number  was 10 cents per minute. The normal  skype cost is 20 cents per minute so i purchased it my reciept number #592734806 charged me. Now the rate when i use the US forwarding number is 19.5 cents per minute!!!not 10 cents as advertised..! Also using regular skype text message is 6 cents per message.. Using my new forwarding number is 11 cents per messageagain more money then regular  !!. Can you please help me resolve this  so i can know how or who to call as skype does not have telephone or live support for any issues for clients like me...I would very much appreciate anything you can do or advise as i am lost and spending un necessary money now for what i paid for... Regards Daniel   my skype name is daniel.chestnut  you can send me request and i will add you in contacts..  Thank you Dan

[jsamcr]

Andre,

I have Skype version 5.8.0.158.  I don't know what your records show, but I can assure you that when I call my daughter in the US that the balance on my Skype account goes down by 11 cents a minute. The screen shot showing the per minute charge of 11.2 cents per minute is attached .

Also, I have a friend here in Costa Rica that is experiencing the same problem

[Andre Staff Moderator]

Dear Jamie,
In the first post you were talking about calls, but screenshot shows you are talking about SMS
These are very different things; one is calling the other is texting

Yes, SMS rate is 11.2cents
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/prices/sms-rates/#cc=US

So this is per each SMS it's 11.2cents.

In the last post you said that call to your daughter was 11.2 cents per minute, could you send me a private message of your call history screenshot so that I can further look into this, because right now I've been searching for quite some time how come call is charged so much and so far each US call is charged for everyone else 2.3cents.

Andre

[jsamcr · Accepted solution]

Yes, the screen shot is showing what the SMS rate is, but when I call her phone (not text) I am charged 11.2 per minute.  I have no idea how to show you a creen shot of past calls.  And frankly I am not interested in continuing this line of patter.  I know what I am being charged and if it does not agree with your records then there is a problem with your system.  I won't be purchasing more Skype time. We can consider this matter closed.