Check out this quote from the About SkypeOut website.
"As a result of overwhelming demand and unforeseen call traffic to the regular telephone network, we are unfortunately experiencing technical difficulties which impact call completions and quality in the SkypeOut network.

For your troubles and while we resolve these matters, even if you were or are able to successfully complete a SkypeOut call, we will not be charging for any minutes/calls made after today Friday 30 July 2004 10.00 am British summertime [GMT +1h] -- until our quality and reliability has improved and another announcement is posted here."

Hey, cool... free PC-to-PSTN caliling using VoIP? All because they are having network congestion? Could be a marketing ploy, but regardless, kudos to them to sticking by their loyal users and gives free calling for a few days.

As of Aug 3, the free SkypeOut calling has ended, per this quote:
"10.50 British Summertime [GMT +1h], 03 August 2004

We are pleased to announce that service and quality levels have improved significantly from Friday. We appreciate your SkypeOut calls during these past few days as they assisted us in identifying areas of optimization, which is why we will go back to credit you for any of those minutes."

I do like that Skype is attempting to provide good customer services and build a loyal fan base. Keep up the good work, Skype!

Skype - About SkypeOut