Is it her connection Graham? Skype needs a good connection to work properly. Another downside of Skype is that it wont send messages if either of you are offline (unlike YM, GM or MSN). To receive Skype messages you both have to be on line at the same time. Personally I wouldn't bother with Skype unless you want to have a video or voice call, YM and GM are much better for type chatting
