Hi there after trying Gaim
and Skype
(our gran wanted a cheap and easy to use PC phone so she could phone her kids and grandkids that live overseas once a week and not get 'skinned' by Bell/Telus) we downlaoded the program and explained how it worked (even we found the contract small print was continually being ammended thus making it rather and hard to follow/understand) ...
She allowed her contract with AOL to run out - which is roughly 1 month - before she started trying to use Gaim ... but first she was told that 'service unavailable' then she was informed that she had been 'locked out of the system' because she had the audacity to sign on for an account, download the program and then (shock horror
) she didn't use it ....
Well Skype was definelty cheaper than her old terrestrial telephone provider, but the problems with the dodgey sound quality (which never did get fixed), and the thing about unused credit being time sensitive ("Now it is" - "No, now it isn't" decission hardly inspired confidence) and what seemed like the whole raft of 'additional' service fees --- simply confused her
so much so that she wouldn't use (it 'just-in-case' it was $2.5 a minute and not 2.5cents plus outgoing fee etc) ... In the end SHE opted for Vbuzzer mainly because it is simple to use/understand and she likes the LOGO
When I am visiting her next, I will try the call-out service - but in the mean time she's happy and it seems to be working fine ... This now being six months after we presuaded her to 'kick AOL to the kerb'
and I will not even mention her very brief dalliance with a company called 'TalkTalk'
I still use Skype at work, and I find it quite reliable, but rates are gradually creeping up, and apparently customer service is on the slide
which means I have just downloaded Vbuzzer myself ... Watch this space
