Clueless: Actual chat transcript from Verizon Wireless customer service

From: http://www.slate.com/id/2171623?GT1=10346

Over the past few weeks, my girlfriend has been looking into international
cell phone plans. At the Verizon Wireless Web site, she had an online chat
with a sales representative. I feel compelled to share this verbatim
transcript:

A Verizon Wireless online pre-sales specialist has joined the chat. You are
now chatting with chelsea.
chelsea: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you
with your order today?
You: I am interested in the international BlackBerry and am looking for
detailed information for rates on data and voice when making calls from
different countries in Asia.
chelsea: Please hold on while I check that information.
chelsea: Unfortunately you will not be able to use the phone in Asia.
chelsea: I do apologize.
You: Hmm. OK. Actually [i] am nearly certain the international BlackBerry
can be used everywhere but Japan.
chelsea: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.
chelsea: I will be right with you.
chelsea: I just tried to look for Asia in the countries list, and it was
unavailable.
You: Yeah. Asia is more of a continent than a country (like Europe—not a
country, France—a country). I'll stop by a store I guess and try to figure
it out.
chelsea: Ok.
chelsea: Thank you for visiting Verizon Wireless, I look forward to
speaking with you again. Have a great day!
Your chat session has been ended by your Verizon Wireless online agent.

Chelsea seemed pretty eager to get out of there at the end. Unfailingly
polite, though.

hotfox7@gmail.com (Collette) wrote in
news:20070808102419.E94584E566@outpost.zedz.net:

> Over the past few weeks, my girlfriend has been looking into
> international cell phone plans. At the Verizon Wireless Web site, she
> had an online chat with a sales representative. I feel compelled to
> share this verbatim transcript:
>

Do you call the international countries from your cellphone at home for
exhorbitant rates like Verizon charges? How about 1.9c/min to most
civilized countries plus normal airtime if you do it during the weekday?
Sound better than $1.50/min?

http://www.skype.com/ Set up a free Skype account and don't buy any
landline time unless you want to start saving money on Skype via wifi.

Next, go to http://www.mobivox.com/ and sign up your Skype account with
Mobivox, who provide free server-based reverse access to Skype from any
telephone. If you MUST call an overseas phone number, precharge your
Mobivox account with $10 from your credit card right on the webpage.
Lookup your nearest Mobivox access number you'll be calling from your phone
or cell on the webpage. Mine is 200 miles away in Charlotte, NC, but LD is
free on my cellphone plan so it makes no difference when I call, it only
costs airtime during weekdays...free N/W. Don't forget to tell Mobivox
your cellphone number as it uses caller ID so you don't have to
login...automating its answering completely.

Now, if your overseas party has broadband and joins Skype, you can call
them for the same price as calling your neighbor, just airtime during
weekdays, free N/W on the other side of the planet. Mobivox answers your
access call, you talk to it or press 3 to see who in your Skype Contact
List (which is server based, not stored on your computer) is online when
you call and she reads them back to you. You say, "Call Fritz", your
friend in Basel, Switzerland, and Mobivox connects your cellphone to
Fritz's Skype terminal for free, talk as long as you like. If Fritz has
his Skype Out setup to forward to his cellphone in Basel, Skype will
forward back to the local cellphone in Basel at no cost to you, either.

......bypassing all this $1.50/minute nonsense, completely.

Now, if you have a lot of landline callers "over there", Skype also has a
solution so THEY can call YOU for little of nothing! To call from phones
INTO Skype, it's called Skype In. Currently you can have up to 9 Skype In
phone numbers from hundreds of places in the USA/Canada and have a remote
phone number in:
Australia
Brazil
Chile
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Hong Kong SAR, China
Japan
New Zealand
Poland
Romania
Sweden
Switzerland
and the UK
So, if you buy (for a pittance of $60/YEAR) a Skype In number in
Switzerland, all your Swiss friends can call your Skype by calling your
personal Swiss phone number, paying only what they pay to call in country.
The call costs you nothing! Talk as long as you like. No minutes charges.
I have a London phone number on Skype for my British friends, as well as
one here in town. My Skype is setup to forward any calls I don't answer on
Skype or when I'm not connected to Skype, to my cellphone number. If
someone in London calls my London number, I pay only airtime if it's a
weekday, nothing on N/W, just like any local calling me on his phone.

Skype and Mobivox may be of use to you overseas, too, if you have broadband
access over there. Skype-to-Skype calls are free from anyplace on the
planet to anyplace on the planet, 24/7. You can make Skype Out calls from
anyplace on the planet from a laptop on broadband at Skype Out rates from a
precharged Skype Out account ($10 to your credit card). Skype charges
2.1c/min to most civilized countries, including the USA/Canada from over
there, making calls home really cheap. AND you can setup a DIFFERENT Skype
account to forward to anyone who hasn't a computer really cheap!

Skype In includes free Skype Voicemail you can access from your cell or any
computer on the planet running Skype....an added bonus.

Larry
--
Just wanted to show you a really cheap alternative that works just
great....(c;

"Collette" <hotfox7@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:20070808102419.E94584E566@outpost.zedz.net...
> From: http://www.slate.com/id/2171623?GT1=10346
>
> Over the past few weeks, my girlfriend has been looking into international
> cell phone plans. At the Verizon Wireless Web site, she had an online chat
> with a sales representative. I feel compelled to share this verbatim
> transcript:
>
> A Verizon Wireless online pre-sales specialist has joined the chat. You
> are
> now chatting with chelsea.
> chelsea: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you
> with your order today?
> You: I am interested in the international BlackBerry and am looking for
> detailed information for rates on data and voice when making calls from
> different countries in Asia.
> chelsea: Please hold on while I check that information.
> chelsea: Unfortunately you will not be able to use the phone in Asia.
> chelsea: I do apologize.
> You: Hmm. OK. Actually [i] am nearly certain the international BlackBerry
> can be used everywhere but Japan.
> chelsea: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.
> chelsea: I will be right with you.
> chelsea: I just tried to look for Asia in the countries list, and it was
> unavailable.
> You: Yeah. Asia is more of a continent than a country (like Europe-not a
> country, France-a country). I'll stop by a store I guess and try to figure
> it out.
> chelsea: Ok.
> chelsea: Thank you for visiting Verizon Wireless, I look forward to
> speaking with you again. Have a great day!
> Your chat session has been ended by your Verizon Wireless online agent.
>
> Chelsea seemed pretty eager to get out of there at the end. Unfailingly
> polite, though.
>

Reminds me of the local CSR taking ticket orders for the '96 Olympics here
in Atlanta who told a customer in New Mexico to call the International
Orders phone number since she could only take orders from callers in the
U.S. (True story!!)

Pulling Wild Monkeys From My Ass:

It seems to me, that if a network has a protocol that is not compatible with
any other country, that they would fail to negotiate contracts for
billing/use of their customer's phones in those countries. Thus, even if
one has bought a phone with extra compatibility capabilities for
international use, I would *guess* that the foreign networks would not
accept the calls from the phone. I'm assuming the phone would look like an
unregistered local phone and not be allowed service.





"Collette" <hotfox7@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:20070808102419.E94584E566@outpost.zedz.net...
> From: http://www.slate.com/id/2171623?GT1=10346
>
> Over the past few weeks, my girlfriend has been looking into international
> cell phone plans. At the Verizon Wireless Web site, she had an online chat
> with a sales representative. I feel compelled to share this verbatim
> transcript:
>
> A Verizon Wireless online pre-sales specialist has joined the chat. You
> are
> now chatting with chelsea.
> chelsea: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you
> with your order today?
> You: I am interested in the international BlackBerry and am looking for
> detailed information for rates on data and voice when making calls from
> different countries in Asia.
> chelsea: Please hold on while I check that information.
> chelsea: Unfortunately you will not be able to use the phone in Asia.
> chelsea: I do apologize.
> You: Hmm. OK. Actually [i] am nearly certain the international BlackBerry
> can be used everywhere but Japan.
> chelsea: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.
> chelsea: I will be right with you.
> chelsea: I just tried to look for Asia in the countries list, and it was
> unavailable.
> You: Yeah. Asia is more of a continent than a country (like Europe-not a
> country, France-a country). I'll stop by a store I guess and try to figure
> it out.
> chelsea: Ok.
> chelsea: Thank you for visiting Verizon Wireless, I look forward to
> speaking with you again. Have a great day!
> Your chat session has been ended by your Verizon Wireless online agent.
>
> Chelsea seemed pretty eager to get out of there at the end. Unfailingly
> polite, though.
>
>
>

On 8 Aug 2007 10:24:27 -0000, hotfox7@gmail.com (Collette) wrote:

>chelsea: I just tried to look for Asia in the countries list, and it was
>unavailable.

LOL! Only in America...

<head down in shame>

A_C

At 08 Aug 2007 14:47:32 +0000 Cubit wrote:
> Pulling Wild Monkeys From My Ass:
>
> It seems to me, that if a network has a protocol that is not compatible
with
> any other country, that they would fail to negotiate contracts for
> billing/use of their customer's phones in those countries. Thus, even
if
> one has bought a phone with extra compatibility capabilities for
> international use, I would *guess* that the foreign networks would not
> accept the calls from the phone.

They why would Verizon bother to sell such a phone? To trik it's
userbase into thinking they'd have service only to leave them stranded in
foreign countries without communication?

> I'm assuming the phone would look like an
> unregistered local phone and not be allowed service.

Verizon (and Sprint, IIRC) have sold and/or rented GSM phones for their
customers to use abroad, and have already negotiated access. (Since
Verizon Wireless is half-owned by Vodafone, I suspect they've simply
"piggybacked" on Voda's agreements.)

AFAIK, the Verizon's "World" Blackberry is SIM-locked, forcing you to use
Verizon's roaming agreements rather than substitute a local prepaid SIM.

Sounds to me like Chelsea is a program. I suppose outsourcing Chat jobs to
third world countries, even at $1.00 per hour, has become too expensive
(i.e. diverts money that could go to the CEO's bonus), so now they're using
AI. I would guess that if you start asking more complicated questions
instead of saying something that looks like you have no further questions,
they might transfer the chat to a person. There's also the possibility that
there's a person at the other end of the chat who is indeed smart enough to
handle the question, but that person has strict orders not to deviate from
the script under any circumstances. After getting severely reprimanded a
couple times for using their brain and giving real help. that person has
likely decided to just do as they are told - nothing more, nothing less.

Then again, maybe the whole thing was a troll.

In article <Stqui.59$KY4.41@newsfe12.lga>, yourname@yourdomain.com
says...
> Sounds to me like Chelsea is a program. I suppose outsourcing Chat jobs to
> third world countries, even at $1.00 per hour, has become too expensive

I was amused recently to see that the Indian conglomerate Tata, which
does a lot of call center outsourcing, now has outsourced its own first
overseas call center -- in Ohio.

--
josh@phred.org is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Updated Infrared Photography Gallery:
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/ir.html>

Nick Danger wrote:
> Sounds to me like Chelsea is a program. I suppose outsourcing Chat jobs to
> third world countries, even at $1.00 per hour, has become too expensive
> (i.e. diverts money that could go to the CEO's bonus), so now they're using
> AI. I would guess that i


if it was AI, you would think the programmer would make it so it would
associate "Asia" with "contenent".


> handle the question, but that person has strict orders not to
deviate from
> the script under any circumstances. After getting severely reprimanded a
> couple times for using their brain and giving real help. that person has
> likely decided to just do as they are told - nothing more, nothing less.


Very likely. I've seen store clerks turn to jello when confronted with
anything outside what they were taught to expect.

On Aug 9, 6:42 am, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:
> Nick Danger wrote:
> > Sounds to me like Chelsea is a program. I suppose outsourcing Chat jobs to
> > third world countries, even at $1.00 per hour, has become too expensive
> > (i.e. diverts money that could go to the CEO's bonus), so now they're using
> > AI. I would guess that i
>
> if it was AI, you would think the programmer would make it so it would
> associate "Asia" with "contenent".

Let's hope he doesn't program that! ;-)

(Continent)

> Very likely. I've seen store clerks turn to jello when confronted with
> anything outside what they were taught to expect.

Which is why they're store clerks. Are you expecting degreed
engineers at K-Mart?

["Followup-To:" header set to alt.cellular.verizon.]
On 2007-08-09, <josh@phred.org> <josh@phred.org> wrote:
> In article <Stqui.59$KY4.41@newsfe12.lga>, yourname@yourdomain.com
> says...
>> Sounds to me like Chelsea is a program. I suppose outsourcing Chat jobs to
>> third world countries, even at $1.00 per hour, has become too expensive
>
> I was amused recently to see that the Indian conglomerate Tata, which
> does a lot of call center outsourcing, now has outsourced its own first
> overseas call center -- in Ohio.

About time some of those jobs came back here.

A couple years ago I read about "ruralsourcing," where you put the
call center in a rural area of the US - cheaper than locating in the big
cities, while the employees stay in this country. I wish more companies
would do that.

Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in
news:slrnfbmnji.qo3.sjsobol@amethyst.justthe.net:

> A couple years ago I read about "ruralsourcing," where you put the
> call center in a rural area of the US - cheaper than locating in the
big
> cities, while the employees stay in this country. I wish more companies
> would do that.
>

Google is going one further...Rural outsourcing the SERVER farm to Goose
Creek, SC, about 4 miles from me. It's not that rural any more but is
very rural from Silicon Valley.




These bastards keep calling me so I'm feeding them to the spambots.
--
Sunrise Communications
1374 E. Republic Rd.
Springfield, MO 65804
866-483-1228
417-886-7091
http://www.sunrisecommunicationsinc.com/
877-842-3210
866-842-3278
United Healthcare
http://www.unitedhealthcareonline.com/

On 2007-08-09, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:

> Google is going one further...Rural outsourcing the SERVER farm to Goose
> Creek, SC, about 4 miles from me. It's not that rural any more but is
> very rural from Silicon Valley.

And not as cheap as India but still much cheaper than major metropolitan
areas. This is the way everyone should do it.

Of course, servers are one thing. It's generally cheaper to colocate servers
in a major metro area with tons of bandwidth. Google has a specific reason for
what they're doing. I forget what it is. The real win is putting call centers
in those more rural areas.

Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in
news:slrnfbn73p.hac.sjsobol@amethyst.justthe.net:

> Google has a specific reason for
> what they're doing.

"Redundancy". If Californicate falls off into the ocean, Google will
still be on-the-air, making money. It's a great idea, actually. The
whole net is made this way, of course....redundant.






These bastards keep calling me so I'm feeding them to the spambots.
--
Sunrise Communications
1374 E. Republic Rd.
Springfield, MO 65804
866-483-1228
417-886-7091
http://www.sunrisecommunicationsinc.com/
877-842-3210
866-842-3278
United Healthcare
http://www.unitedhealthcareonline.com/

On Thu, 9 Aug 2007 18:15:11 +0000 (UTC), Steve Sobol
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:

>A couple years ago I read about "ruralsourcing," where you put the
>call center in a rural area of the US - cheaper than locating in the big
>cities, while the employees stay in this country. I wish more companies
>would do that.

Yeah, but then you get these dumb Rednecks. What's worse;
unintelligible dot-heads or stupid hillbillies?

PZ

"Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9987C3D93F4B9noonehomecom@208.49.80.253...
> Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in
> news:slrnfbn73p.hac.sjsobol@amethyst.justthe.net:
>
>> Google has a specific reason for
>> what they're doing.
>
> "Redundancy". If Californicate falls off into the ocean, Google will
> still be on-the-air, making money. It's a great idea, actually. The
> whole net is made this way, of course....redundant.

Could be something to do with cheap power. Servers use a huge amount of
electricity, and these days it's cheaper to move data over a long distance
than it is to move power over a long distance, so it pays to be closer to
the source of the electricity. People are even thinking of putting data
centers next to oil wells, so they can take all that natural gas that now
gets burned off and use it to generate electricity for the data enter.

On Thu, 9 Aug 2007 18:15:11 +0000 (UTC), Steve Sobol
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:

>A couple years ago I read about "ruralsourcing," where you put the
>call center in a rural area of the US - cheaper than locating in the big
>cities, while the employees stay in this country. I wish more companies
>would do that.

Sadly, I'd sometimes rather speak to a person from India than a dumb
redneck hick who doesn't know what they're talking about.

I've spoken to some CSR people (not VZW, but other nationwide
companies) who hire some of the dumbest people with such thick accents
that I'd rather hang up and try again, hoping I get someone who speaks
English, not redneck hick or street jive.

Dave

On 2007-08-09, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in
> news:slrnfbn73p.hac.sjsobol@amethyst.justthe.net:
>
>> Google has a specific reason for
>> what they're doing.
>
> "Redundancy". If Californicate falls off into the ocean, Google will
> still be on-the-air, making money. It's a great idea, actually. The
> whole net is made this way, of course....redundant.

I think they moved the big stuff out of California already:

http://tinyurl.com/2rnyju

Data centers like cheap land and plentiful power, both of which
are in short supply in California.

Dennis Ferguson

"Larry Bud" <larrybud2002@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1186679624.543530.312280@x35g2000prf.googlegr oups.com...
> On Aug 9, 6:42 am, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:
>> Nick Danger wrote:
>> > Sounds to me like Chelsea is a program. I suppose outsourcing Chat jobs
>> > to
>> > third world countries, even at $1.00 per hour, has become too expensive
>> > (i.e. diverts money that could go to the CEO's bonus), so now they're
>> > using
>> > AI. I would guess that i
>>
>> if it was AI, you would think the programmer would make it so it would
>> associate "Asia" with "contenent".
>
> Let's hope he doesn't program that! ;-)
>
> (Continent)
>
>> Very likely. I've seen store clerks turn to jello when confronted with
>> anything outside what they were taught to expect.
>
> Which is why they're store clerks. Are you expecting degreed
> engineers at K-Mart?

Actually, there is a guy working the register at a local 76 Food Mart where
I live that has a masters degree in chemical engineering and a bachelors
degree in business administration. Go figure!

On Aug 9, 10:13 am, Larry Bud <larrybud2...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Aug 9, 6:42 am, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> > Nick Danger wrote:
> > > Sounds to me like Chelsea is a program. I suppose outsourcing Chat jobs to
> > > third world countries, even at $1.00 per hour, has become too expensive
> > > (i.e. diverts money that could go to the CEO's bonus), so now they're using
> > > AI. I would guess that i
>
> > if it was AI, you would think the programmer would make it so it would
> > associate "Asia" with "contenent".
>
> Let's hope he doesn't program that! ;-)
>
> (Continent)
>
> > Very likely. I've seen store clerks turn to jello when confronted with
> > anything outside what they were taught to expect.
>
> Which is why they're store clerks. Are you expecting degreed
> engineers at K-Mart?

Actually, it wasn't anything technical at all. One incident happened
several when I needed to use a phone for a (non 911)
emergency and I didn't have any change. I asked a cashier in a
supermarket if I could use the phone, but instead of
saying yes or no, she actually stood there and *Quivered*. That's
right, just turned to jelly right before my eyes.

Another incident happened a few days ago when I asked a clerk for the
time, and this clerk ended up quivering too
(and no, I wasn't dressed as a ghoul, talking like a gangster, or
anything like that in either case). I can sort of understand the first
case since that clerk was low in the food chain, and didn't want to do
anything that might get her fired from her menial job (remember, money
comes first, even for petty things like a local phone call), but the
second one made no
sense whatsoever. Probably being pushed too hard by management.

ultimauw@hotmail.com wrote:
> On Aug 9, 10:13 am, Larry Bud <larrybud2...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> On Aug 9, 6:42 am, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:
>>
>>> Nick Danger wrote:
>>>> Sounds to me like Chelsea is a program. I suppose outsourcing Chat
>>>> jobs to third world countries, even at $1.00 per hour, has become
>>>> too expensive (i.e. diverts money that could go to the CEO's
>>>> bonus), so now they're using AI. I would guess that i
>>
>>> if it was AI, you would think the programmer would make it so it
>>> would associate "Asia" with "contenent".
>>
>> Let's hope he doesn't program that! ;-)
>>
>> (Continent)
>>
>>> Very likely. I've seen store clerks turn to jello when confronted
>>> with anything outside what they were taught to expect.
>>
>> Which is why they're store clerks. Are you expecting degreed
>> engineers at K-Mart?
>
> Actually, it wasn't anything technical at all. One incident happened
> several when I needed to use a phone for a (non 911)
> emergency and I didn't have any change. I asked a cashier in a
> supermarket if I could use the phone, but instead of
> saying yes or no, she actually stood there and *Quivered*.
> That's right, just turned to jelly right before my eyes.

Just another of your pathetic little drug crazed fantasys
and the problem was your rabid blood shot eyes and
flecks of foam about the lips, not what you asked anyway.

> Another incident happened a few days ago when I asked
> a clerk for the time, and this clerk ended up quivering too

See above.

> (and no, I wasn't dressed as a ghoul, talking like a gangster, or
> anything like that in either case). I can sort of understand the first
> case since that clerk was low in the food chain, and didn't want to do
> anything that might get her fired from her menial job (remember, money
> comes first, even for petty things like a local phone call), but the second
> one made no sense whatsoever.

Corse it did, she had decided you are about to bite her and that she'd get rabies.

> Probably being pushed too hard by management.

Just another of your pathetic little drug crazed fantasys, comrade.

"Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:46bbd546$0$497$815e3792@news.qwest.net:

> Actually, there is a guy working the register at a local 76 Food Mart
> where I live that has a masters degree in chemical engineering and a
> bachelors degree in business administration. Go figure!
>
>

Watch the stock markets today. If what the alerts I got this morning say
prove true, there's gonna be a lot more engineers selling french
fries.....






These bastards keep calling me so I'm feeding them to the spambots.
--
Sunrise Communications
1374 E. Republic Rd.
Springfield, MO 65804
866-483-1228
417-886-7091
http://www.sunrisecommunicationsinc.com/
877-842-3210
866-842-3278
United Healthcare
http://www.unitedhealthcareonline.com/

Larry <noone@home.com> wrote
> Kevin <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote

>> Actually, there is a guy working the register at a local 76 Food Mart
>> where I live that has a masters degree in chemical engineering and
>> a bachelors degree in business administration. Go figure!

> Watch the stock markets today. If what the alerts I got this morning say
> prove true, there's gonna be a lot more engineers selling french fries.....

Nope, the vast bulk of them wont be affected.

"Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns998662D36FA4Dnoonehomecom@208.49.80.253...
> hotfox7@gmail.com (Collette) wrote in
> news:20070808102419.E94584E566@outpost.zedz.net:
>
(snip)
Skype....an added bonus.
>
> Larry
> --
> Just wanted to show you a really cheap alternative that works just
> great....(c;
>
Way Too Damn Complicated, unless you are a geek and enjoy that stuff. There
are plenty of dial-around companies where you can make a half-hour call
overseas for five or six bucks. Connections may be a little iffy at times,
since the long-haul is probably riding space-available on what would
otherwise be vacant bandwidth of one of the real phone companies, but for
the price, tolerable. Sort of like getting a last-second deep-discount
airline seat. Once that window on that pipe comes around, selling it at any
price beats letting it go empty. But since the pipe is sized for corporate
communications, after hours/weekends there is PLENTY of excess capacity. It
has never taken me more than 3 tries to get a connection, and it usually
goes through on the first try.

aem sends...

"aemeijers" <aemeijers@att.net> wrote in news:v3uvi.30723$ax1.24605
@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

> Way Too Damn Complicated

I have a Swiss friend who call me when his computer doesn't boot. He's
no geek. But, alas, he is an avid Skyper, but without the Mobivox as he
doesn't own a cellphone at the age of 83.

Half the old farts in Thun, Switzerland, are also Skypers because of him.
They go on for hours across the planet....(c;








These bastards keep calling me so I'm feeding them to the spambots.
--
Sunrise Communications
1374 E. Republic Rd.
Springfield, MO 65804
866-483-1228
417-886-7091
http://www.sunrisecommunicationsinc.com/
877-842-3210
866-842-3278
United Healthcare
http://www.unitedhealthcareonline.com/

L buddy.....

Skype sure is useful when it DOESN'T WORK....
Last day or so, they have been useless.

Sure has inspired confidence - NOT...!



"Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message news:Xns998662D36FA4Dnoonehomecom@208.49.80.253...
>
> Do you call the international countries from your cellphone at home for
> exhorbitant rates like Verizon charges? How about 1.9c/min to most
> civilized countries plus normal airtime if you do it during the weekday?
> Sound better than $1.50/min?
>
> http://www.skype.com/ Set up a free Skype account and don't buy any
> landline time unless you want to start saving money on Skype via wifi.
>
> Next, go to http://www.mobivox.com/ and sign up your Skype account with
> Mobivox, who provide free server-based reverse access to Skype from any
> telephone. If you MUST call an overseas phone number, precharge your
> Mobivox account with $10 from your credit card right on the webpage.
> Lookup your nearest Mobivox access number you'll be calling from your phone
> or cell on the webpage. Mine is 200 miles away in Charlotte, NC, but LD is
> free on my cellphone plan so it makes no difference when I call, it only
> costs airtime during weekdays...free N/W. Don't forget to tell Mobivox
> your cellphone number as it uses caller ID so you don't have to
> login...automating its answering completely.
>
> Now, if your overseas party has broadband and joins Skype, you can call
> them for the same price as calling your neighbor, just airtime during
> weekdays, free N/W on the other side of the planet. Mobivox answers your
> access call, you talk to it or press 3 to see who in your Skype Contact
> List (which is server based, not stored on your computer) is online when
> you call and she reads them back to you. You say, "Call Fritz", your
> friend in Basel, Switzerland, and Mobivox connects your cellphone to
> Fritz's Skype terminal for free, talk as long as you like. If Fritz has
> his Skype Out setup to forward to his cellphone in Basel, Skype will
> forward back to the local cellphone in Basel at no cost to you, either.
>
> .....bypassing all this $1.50/minute nonsense, completely.
>
> Now, if you have a lot of landline callers "over there", Skype also has a
> solution so THEY can call YOU for little of nothing! To call from phones
> INTO Skype, it's called Skype In. Currently you can have up to 9 Skype In
> phone numbers from hundreds of places in the USA/Canada and have a remote
> phone number in:
> Australia
> Brazil
> Chile
> Denmark
> Dominican Republic
> Estonia
> Finland
> France
> Germany
> Hong Kong SAR, China
> Japan
> New Zealand
> Poland
> Romania
> Sweden
> Switzerland
> and the UK
> So, if you buy (for a pittance of $60/YEAR) a Skype In number in
> Switzerland, all your Swiss friends can call your Skype by calling your
> personal Swiss phone number, paying only what they pay to call in country.
> The call costs you nothing! Talk as long as you like. No minutes charges.
> I have a London phone number on Skype for my British friends, as well as
> one here in town. My Skype is setup to forward any calls I don't answer on
> Skype or when I'm not connected to Skype, to my cellphone number. If
> someone in London calls my London number, I pay only airtime if it's a
> weekday, nothing on N/W, just like any local calling me on his phone.
>
> Skype and Mobivox may be of use to you overseas, too, if you have broadband
> access over there. Skype-to-Skype calls are free from anyplace on the
> planet to anyplace on the planet, 24/7. You can make Skype Out calls from
> anyplace on the planet from a laptop on broadband at Skype Out rates from a
> precharged Skype Out account ($10 to your credit card). Skype charges
> 2.1c/min to most civilized countries, including the USA/Canada from over
> there, making calls home really cheap. AND you can setup a DIFFERENT Skype
> account to forward to anyone who hasn't a computer really cheap!
>
> Skype In includes free Skype Voicemail you can access from your cell or any
> computer on the planet running Skype....an added bonus.
>
> Larry
> --
> Just wanted to show you a really cheap alternative that works just
> great....(c;
>
>

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:13:24 -0700, "Ness_net"
<richard@nomore.damn.spam.nessnet.com> wrote:

>L buddy.....
>
>Skype sure is useful when it DOESN'T WORK....
>Last day or so, they have been useless.
>
>Sure has inspired confidence - NOT...!
>
>

Seems fair value for the price.

>
>"Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message news:Xns998662D36FA4Dnoonehomecom@208.49.80.253...
>>
>> Do you call the international countries from your cellphone at home for
>> exhorbitant rates like Verizon charges? How about 1.9c/min to most
>> civilized countries plus normal airtime if you do it during the weekday?
>> Sound better than $1.50/min?
>>
>> http://www.skype.com/ Set up a free Skype account and don't buy any
>> landline time unless you want to start saving money on Skype via wifi.
>>
>> Next, go to http://www.mobivox.com/ and sign up your Skype account with
>> Mobivox, who provide free server-based reverse access to Skype from any
>> telephone. If you MUST call an overseas phone number, precharge your
>> Mobivox account with $10 from your credit card right on the webpage.
>> Lookup your nearest Mobivox access number you'll be calling from your phone
>> or cell on the webpage. Mine is 200 miles away in Charlotte, NC, but LD is
>> free on my cellphone plan so it makes no difference when I call, it only
>> costs airtime during weekdays...free N/W. Don't forget to tell Mobivox
>> your cellphone number as it uses caller ID so you don't have to
>> login...automating its answering completely.
>>
>> Now, if your overseas party has broadband and joins Skype, you can call
>> them for the same price as calling your neighbor, just airtime during
>> weekdays, free N/W on the other side of the planet. Mobivox answers your
>> access call, you talk to it or press 3 to see who in your Skype Contact
>> List (which is server based, not stored on your computer) is online when
>> you call and she reads them back to you. You say, "Call Fritz", your
>> friend in Basel, Switzerland, and Mobivox connects your cellphone to
>> Fritz's Skype terminal for free, talk as long as you like. If Fritz has
>> his Skype Out setup to forward to his cellphone in Basel, Skype will
>> forward back to the local cellphone in Basel at no cost to you, either.
>>
>> .....bypassing all this $1.50/minute nonsense, completely.
>>
>> Now, if you have a lot of landline callers "over there", Skype also has a
>> solution so THEY can call YOU for little of nothing! To call from phones
>> INTO Skype, it's called Skype In. Currently you can have up to 9 Skype In
>> phone numbers from hundreds of places in the USA/Canada and have a remote
>> phone number in:
>> Australia
>> Brazil
>> Chile
>> Denmark
>> Dominican Republic
>> Estonia
>> Finland
>> France
>> Germany
>> Hong Kong SAR, China
>> Japan
>> New Zealand
>> Poland
>> Romania
>> Sweden
>> Switzerland
>> and the UK
>> So, if you buy (for a pittance of $60/YEAR) a Skype In number in
>> Switzerland, all your Swiss friends can call your Skype by calling your
>> personal Swiss phone number, paying only what they pay to call in country.
>> The call costs you nothing! Talk as long as you like. No minutes charges.
>> I have a London phone number on Skype for my British friends, as well as
>> one here in town. My Skype is setup to forward any calls I don't answer on
>> Skype or when I'm not connected to Skype, to my cellphone number. If
>> someone in London calls my London number, I pay only airtime if it's a
>> weekday, nothing on N/W, just like any local calling me on his phone.
>>
>> Skype and Mobivox may be of use to you overseas, too, if you have broadband
>> access over there. Skype-to-Skype calls are free from anyplace on the
>> planet to anyplace on the planet, 24/7. You can make Skype Out calls from
>> anyplace on the planet from a laptop on broadband at Skype Out rates from a
>> precharged Skype Out account ($10 to your credit card). Skype charges
>> 2.1c/min to most civilized countries, including the USA/Canada from over
>> there, making calls home really cheap. AND you can setup a DIFFERENT Skype
>> account to forward to anyone who hasn't a computer really cheap!
>>
>> Skype In includes free Skype Voicemail you can access from your cell or any
>> computer on the planet running Skype....an added bonus.
>>
>> Larry
>> --
>> Just wanted to show you a really cheap alternative that works just
>> great....(c;
>>
>>
>

sb <other-news@usa.net> wrote in news:eaicc3l2nndakq9c0pv4v8oof4ea5ii05t@
4ax.com:

> Seems fair value for the price.
>
>

Very fair. Read back through the Verizon newsgroup and compare how many
times it bombs, compared to this ONE Skype outage for server upgrades....

Very fair, indeed...(c;