Counting your pennies with Skype -- turns out you have to

Skype is a wonderful online software program that lets you connect for free computer-to-computer to others who have Skype accounts. And, it also allows you to use your computer through Skype to call telephones around the world for a small fee.
The fee Skype advertises is 2.3 cents per call in the United States, land lines and cell phones. The rates vary for countries around the world.
Sounds pretty simple.
The problem is that Skype isn't always honest. It's kind of like one of those movies where a low level bank employees figures out a way to take a few pennies from each transaction and steal them to another account. Eventually, those few pennies build up and make a fortune. In the movie "Office Space," that exactly what three of the company's employees did.
But that's not what Skype should be doing, and it does.
Recently, Skype sent me a note saying that if I did not use my "Skype Credit" (which is like a bank you can put into your account to cover any calls you make, they were going to remove it. All I had to do was call any number even if it is just for "one second" and the credit would remain good for at least six months (180 days).
Sounds simple. Okay. I'll waste my time to accommodate their needs.
I have $11.59 centers in credit on my account. So, I figured I'd call my cell phone on my table in front of me.
It worked, as it always does.
But I noticed that my credit dropped from $11.59 to $11.52. That was a 7 cent call. A lot different from the 2.3 cents they advertise to get people to use their system.

Call landlines and mobiles worldwide from:

2.3¢/min

That's their Ad on their web page!

The actual cost of the call was $.072 or 7.2 cents.

By my math -- and I went to the Chicago Public Schools folks -- that's a difference of 3.9 cents above what they advertised.

How many people have an accounting department to go over every call they make to insure that Skype is being honest. We're not banks. But Skype apparently thinks we are. And they must also think that we don't care about a few pennies.

But, it's not about the pennies as much as it is about the principle of honesty.

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com