Yelläks /ˈyæl•eks/

My cell phone broke down (not the openmoko, another one from Nokia). It is still in the warranty period and got repaired free of cost. The whole inner life got exchanged, so that I found some new interesting options when I received it. Now fully integrated in the phone is Vyke and Gizmo5. Gizmo5 has just been acquired by Google and does not allow new members. However Vyke sounded also interesting. For around EUR0.03 per hour I can talk to a landline in Germany from India through my WLAN connection. A record breaking price.
However after registration I received something like 10 SMS from Vyke that I shall download their software and telling me my user name and password for the Vyke account. At the same time they sent an email to the registered email ID to validate it. Unfortunately the spam filter of my provider filtered it out and mentioned that in its daily report. Next day I clicked on the provided link to validate my email ID. And then the problem started. They simply suspended the account for “security reasons” (Ehm, who just send user name AND password via SMS around the world? And then they come up with security reasons just because an email did not get validated ). I guess, I did not validate the email in time, but in the evening of the previous day I already charge my Vyke account with EUR10 to use it for outgoing calls.

However the web page itself says that I have to get in touch with the support team. So I went to the form, filled everything out and wanted to send it. But the form validation process told me that my email ID is not valid. So I gave the email ID of my working place which allowed the form to be sent to the support.

The support contacted me and told me that I need to validate my email ID.

Dear customer,
Thank you for contacting Vyke Support.

Date: 26/Jan/10 07:57 AM
Please be informed that we are not received any email from your registered email : XXX@gmx.de

For verification purpose, please copy and paste all reply from Vyke Support to XXX@gmx.de, and send to support@vyke.com with title VSUP-87182

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need further assistance.
Kind Regards,
Vyke Support Team

That is exactly the way I received the mail (including the struck through part). So I asked them, how shall I validate it, if their web site does not accept it. In addition I send their mail along with my reply to the support through the email ID that needs to be validated. Just now another email has arrived, telling exactly the same once again, but this time the sender name has changed from Mr. I. C. to Mrs. or Mr. N. D. (I think, I must not mention their name due to legal reasons.)

I do not know, if the people working for the support of Vyke are simply unable to read or too reluctant even to try to understand the problem. I will see what happens till tomorrow. Anyway I already made clear that I will cancel my account, if there is any further delay. And the already paid money? Fortunately I am able to cancel any transaction within 14 days of payment and that too very comfortable online. And that method ALWAYS works

[Update 28/01/2010]
The support finally understood the problem. They are sorry for the inconvenience caused. However they proved to be unable to read. In the last mail, I wrote:

I am currently considering to cancel my whole Vyke account again (after having it for record breaking one day). Unfortunately I charged my account with EUR10 already and I would expect you to transfer this money back to my account.

Their reply:

As the last payment you made on 26/01/2010 01:00 credit card number XYZ 10.00EUR have been canceled. Your credit is reverted back to your credit card account. Please refer to your corespondent bank for more information. Please purchase again to continue Vyke services.

We will see, if I purchase anything from them again. Maybe the manager of Vyke should spend some amount to provide dictionaries and to explain the word “consider” to their support team. Let us see, if the money comes back at least.