You should work on a similar offer for Europe too. International calls within Europe are relatively high, broadband internet penetration is high, Skype is generally known. If you would offer a flat fee SkypOut subscription and sell it via the classic retail channels, you would have a bestseller!

Is there a way to purchase a Skype Unlimited gift certificate for someone? It seems that you can only purchase SkypeOut credit gift certificates right now. This would make a great holiday gift.

the question I have is will the lag and cutouts be better? I have had Skype awhile and alot of times it is impposible to use because of lousy connections. It isn't my broadband, I use a broaband provider that has one of the fastest speeds in country. I would hope that this would be fixed before I pay. I like Skype, and It's friendy GUI, but I hate in and out service.
will that be corrected?

I've got the same question as Jason - can we buy Unlimited for someone else's account?

To: jasonwtan - Currently there are no gift certificates for this product. What will be possible from the beginning of the new year is purchasing the Unlimited Calling plan for your existing Skype Credit. So you could do normal Skype Credit gift cert to a friend which they would use to buy the plan.

What is frustrating about this offer is that Skype has always embraced the philosophy that it doesn't matter where you are but where you are calling to. Now this plan subverts this idea by treating people differently based upon their physical location. Yes I know its all about marketing and ensuring a deeper penetration for Skype in the US market. But shouldn't we, loyal long time customers, be treated equal and offered the same advantages for US calling?

i recieved an email to sign up for skype unlimited and when i got into my account to pay it doesnt allow me that option. I am a north american client with address and billing in north american is there some sort of problem with this service

I agree with visaonet. Why is Skype concerning themselves with my location instead of where I am calling? This was my same argument with the free calling within the USA/Canada as long as you were in USA/Canada. I am military overseas. I can't get an IP that says I am in the US so I can't make use of the great deals Skype offers. Hey Skype, how about working a deal for the troops overseas! Thanks.

Same thing I searched for an hour trying to Sign up for this special. I have a US address but I am calling from Venezuela. They will not let me sign up for the unlimited Special!!!

I have the same problem as lawanda.dixon. I received the email, but I don't find any link to buy Skype Unlimited, and I also have not had free calls to North America at all. I have been charged during this whole year.

Is there an answering post to lawanda.dixon's question?

Hear me out: why don't you triple the price, offer skypein in bundle and bring the same offer to Europe?

I'd be willing to pay $50-100 a year for UNLIMITED SkypeIn and SkypeOut to the USA!

That is, from Italy and rest of Europe!

By the way, when will we have Skype In in Canada?
Merci!

Nothing is for "FREE"-- the deal
you refer to--@ $14.95- is a bargain but
the calls are NOT FREE !!

Nothing is for "FREE"-- the deal
you refer to--@ $14.95- is a bargain but
the calls are NOT FREE !!

Nothing is for "FREE"-- the deal
you refer to--@ $14.95- is a bargain but
the calls are NOT FREE !!

i writing like other skyper's, i cannot find a form or info where i can sign up for the unlimited call plan. the press release does not state only certain members can sign up. i contacted skype's vp mr. haas and his reply was go to skype.com. please help, i travel a lot and its important i call home regular due a very sick father. appreciate your help. h.r. ensinger

As a new member of Skype, I am amazed to find that Lil-ole Europe can not be included in your Big Deal offer? We joined up in two World Wars as one fighting force, but we are excluded when it comes to a Special Offer? Please explain why?
freddy.fullerton.

I can sign in to get this offer. It also says I'll get *1 hour of international calls. How do you keep track of that. Do you credit me with 60min*$.021/min= $1.26 to my account. Since I already have a balance of $2.98, will my account have a balance of $1.26+2.98=$4.24.

You should allow people anywhere in the world purchase this unlimited calls to the us and canada. that way all calls to north america are free, no matter where live or visit.

I just bought the unlimited plan. what I dont get is why I have to pay normal skypeout rates when i am in europe, even though the calls are to the US and Canada. Where is the Logic?

Davidviolin -- -- -- ___________ -- -- --

The internet bandwidth skype needs to transfer all that voice/data over the internet accross the Atlantic for a gagillion users has got to cost some $$$. 2 cents per minute is quite fair.

Well, I received the promotional e-mail about the deal, but somehow I am not promoted to buy this. I live in the US, and should be eligible. Strange, and there is no explanation why. Somebody, please help!

Disappointing but typical. Once Skype became American owned, it became American centric. Now it's a case of "America first, everyone else can wait." and, perhaps, "Let's see how we can squeeze a bit more revenue from our users. I know, let's charge them a connection fee as well as asking them to pay for the calls." It might be worth mentioning that the EU is a larger trading bloc than America.

Having had this bleat, it's still the best VOIP around and I shall continue to be a Skype user.

I want to complain too.
Upset for the "gift" to americans only.
VERY upset for the new call setup fees.

There are other, solid, alternatives. The big Y goes for 0.01$ per minute for US destination, from everywhere in the world, and no call setup fees!!!
5 minutes call to US is:
$0.144 + VAT with Skype
$0.05 with Y

Skype please do something, you are loosing me!

I agree with those out the US concerned over special pricing here. Skype started out as a great idea but they were greedy and sold out to eBay. (note that THEY sold out for a couple billion $) Now although the connections overseas work ok, they are not as clear as they used to be. Skype is more worried now about getting "Skype Certified" on everything and selling packages than providing good service. Seems like that's what happens when a US company buys anything...get as much $$ as you can and degrade the service till people complain too much.

It's not right that US users have access to this unlimited calling and the rest of the world doesn't. Skype needs to do something about this or they'll lose customers. And everyone, plz don't judge all of us over here together. I think a one price policy should apply to all. It's the company's fault for not extending this internationally, not the citizens. As with most places, we're at the whim of huge multinational companies and government. (just like a certain Iraq issue going on right now)

I have tried about a dozen times to sign up for the unlimited plan for $14.95. I've used three different cards with plenty of credit and debit capacity. Each and every attempt has been "refused." I've received only a general email about common issues from tech support. What is the problem and what is a customer service number I can call to make the payment? Thanks S.

Skype used to have something special about it, probably because it was a non-US company. I have to agree with charleshg. This is all gone now. Skype is still OK for chatting, but has lost ALL price competetivity with the many other voip providers out there. The Incoming numbers are still good value, but really limited in location. I would say something about call quality, because a lot of people mention it. Skype still, most of the time seems to be able to adapt best to connections, obviously it sounds "worse" than some systems that use use higher bandwidth codecs, but it's probably the only voip system that allows you to carry on a call over something like a satelite connection, or a dodgy wireless connection that drops a lot of packets.

and by the way, I have to clarify relating to this:
by Davidviolin:

>The internet bandwidth skype needs to transfer all >that voice/data over the internet accross the >Atlantic for a gagillion users has got to cost some >$$$. 2 cents per minute is quite fair.

David, check out how skype works. the costs are about exit points, (entry to the telecom networks) + call termination charges. Nothing to do with transatlantic bandwidth.

I am very disapointed with Skype for being so unresponsive to so many complaints about the new unlimited offer. I as many of other Skype users recieved an email to sign up for skype unlimited and when i got into my account to pay it doesnt allow me that option. I am a north american client with address and billing in north america. There is No adequate response from Customer Service. This is not a one user problem. Skype should respond to it in a general way. Are they understaffed or just don't care?!?!

"Skype Unlimited for North America — free SkypeOut calls for 2007 for $14.95"

...

so now 15$ is considered "free"??
It's ridiculous anyway that Skype would charge that much for the service they provide. I am in Canada and when it was still FREE in 2006 I called people in Canada and the US but the quality of the call was horrible. The people on the other end could never hear a word that I was saying, and the static was so loud it was hard to hear what they were saying. This whole Skype business is just another ploy to extract money from us for bad service. Right on, Skype...

Whats special about Skype is that it start with a great idea. I still remember that the company said that all calls in NA are free and later it may will be free to call other countries too. However, I have never heard that the company considers charging their customers in NA in the future.

And now, we have this "pay only $14.95 for free calls in NA"... Skype, you are going down the wrong path and you are disappointing your customers!

I was mislead into thinking you can call from anywhere, it's where you're calling TO that matters. When I bought the Unlimited plan I didn't think it was any different, and it wasn't obviously specified. It is very frustrating to be mislead like this, and to be overseas and not be able to use the plan I paid for.

I completely agree. I use Skype mainly to call US numbers but I live in Belgium. I would be willing to pay at least 50 $ to have Skype Unlimited.Something needs to be done!

Would it work here in Japan if I purchased the Unlimited to US and Canada ?