View Full Version : 120 minute phone card not enough for 3 1-min. calls
I leave next Friday to begin my hike. I went to Walmart today to buy a phone card. I only need enough minutes to call my wife once or twice to report that I'm not dead yet, a call to the psychic hotline should I need reliable weather info, and maybe to call the Hike Inn for my first night off the trail.
So I bought a 120-minute phone card for $9.54 (with tax). Fine. Reasonable enough to me. Then I read the fine print on the back of the card, which I quote: "A surcharge of at least 33 minutes (subject to increase) applies to pay phone calls. Call times are billed in one-minute increments; partial minutes used are charged as full minutes."
If I'm reading this correctly, that means that my $9.54, 120-minute phone call is good for three one-minute calls from a pay phone. Four calls would be impossible since the surcharge would exceed the minutes remaining.
My three one-minute calls would cost me a bit over $3 per minute, which I've heard would be a bit higher than a decent Las Vegas hooker.
The Customer Service recording states that the surchage is "federally mandated."
Outstanding.
Bluegrass
05-05-2005, 13:59
While it does look like the FCC mandates a charge, of course it is up to the calling card company as to who pays it.
I did a little research, since I plan on using calling cards during my SOBO trip this summer.
From ConsumerAction.org (http://www.consumer-action.org/English/library/telephone/2001_PrepaidPhoneCards/index.php):
Payphone surcharges. When you use a toll-free phone card at a pay phone, most card providers deduct a "pay phone compensation fee" for each call. It is used to pay the owner of the phone for carrying toll-free calls. This charge ranges from 24 cents to 75 cents. (The federal government requires that pay phone owners be paid 24 cents for each toll-free call.)
It might be worthwhile to shop around for different cards. AT&T's policy: (http://www.consumer.att.com/prepaidcard/fy/faq_gen.html)
Are there any surcharges to use my AT&T PrePaid Phone Card?
The only surcharge that applies is one on calls made from pay phones. The surcharge differs based on where you purchased your Card. The pay phone surcharge for Cards purchased from this Web site is up to 4 minutes for each call placed from a pay phone. To determine the pay phone surcharge that would apply for your Card, use our Rate Finder and enter your Dial Number, PIN and the call numbers if placing a call to or from Canada, the Caribbean or an international country.
Footslogger
05-05-2005, 14:08
Do a web search on calling cards. There are several somewhat "hidden charges/fees" and the extent to which they affect your individual calling card varies greatly. I searched long and hard before committing to calling cards before my thru in 2003. I can't remember the name of the card I ended up going with but it had the lowest overall surcharge/fee base. I bought 2 of the $20 dollar cards and they lasted me the entire trail.
'Slogger
AT 2003
It also may depend on which phone you use. Seems to me that you can first call the card company & ask: "is there an extra charge for using THIS phone?". I carry a bought off the shelf type card, could carry an AT & T as backup, but I seem to have trouble remembering the code to use it & they won't let me change codes. :datz But I have never had any "real" problems, I think once I was charged for 15 minutes when we only talked 9 - 10, So what I started doing is calling the wife: "I'm at 555-555-5555 call me back" takes about 30 seconds or less, & almost all the LD charges are on the home phone, no "Pay phone charges" etc. With caller ID, I don't even really have to complete the call 90% of the time. I simply call home, ID shows state & phone #, she calls back. No time from my calling card :D
Even better, if I call her cell, she has free LD & unlimited Night & weekends, so :dance
Doctari.
The Solemates
05-05-2005, 15:44
I leave next Friday to begin my hike. I went to Walmart today to buy a phone card. I only need enough minutes to call my wife once or twice to report that I'm not dead yet, a call to the psychic hotline should I need reliable weather info, and maybe to call the Hike Inn for my first night off the trail.
So I bought a 120-minute phone card for $9.54 (with tax). Fine. Reasonable enough to me. Then I read the fine print on the back of the card, which I quote: "A surcharge of at least 33 minutes (subject to increase) applies to pay phone calls. Call times are billed in one-minute increments; partial minutes used are charged as full minutes."
If I'm reading this correctly, that means that my $9.54, 120-minute phone call is good for three one-minute calls from a pay phone. Four calls would be impossible since the surcharge would exceed the minutes remaining.
My three one-minute calls would cost me a bit over $3 per minute, which I've heard would be a bit higher than a decent Las Vegas hooker.
The Customer Service recording states that the surchage is "federally mandated."
Outstanding.
33 minute charge seems a bit ridiculous. our cards charged 10 min or so from a pay phone. either case, the solution is easy....dont call from a pay phone. there are plenty of places on the trail where you can use a local phone...and it wont cost them anything.
Tim Rich
05-05-2005, 15:56
I leave next Friday to begin my hike. I went to Walmart today to buy a phone card. I only need enough minutes to call my wife once or twice to report that I'm not dead yet, a call to the psychic hotline should I need reliable weather info, and maybe to call the Hike Inn for my first night off the trail.
So I bought a 120-minute phone card for $9.54 (with tax). Fine. Reasonable enough to me. Then I read the fine print on the back of the card, which I quote: "A surcharge of at least 33 minutes (subject to increase) applies to pay phone calls. Call times are billed in one-minute increments; partial minutes used are charged as full minutes."
If I'm reading this correctly, that means that my $9.54, 120-minute phone call is good for three one-minute calls from a pay phone. Four calls would be impossible since the surcharge would exceed the minutes remaining.
My three one-minute calls would cost me a bit over $3 per minute, which I've heard would be a bit higher than a decent Las Vegas hooker.
The Customer Service recording states that the surchage is "federally mandated."
Outstanding.
As Bluegrass said, the fee runs from about a quarter to 75 cents. My Costco prepaid card costs me $18 for 600 minutes, or about three cents a minute. If I hit a 50 cent charge, I lose the equivalent of 17 minutes. I use a prepaid card for all calls away from home, and I try to avoid pay phones when I can. If I'm planning to make a couple of calls in a row, my calling card allows me to press # twice to end a call and then enter in a new phone number. That way if I have several calls to make, I only pay the surcharge once.
Take Care,
Tim
If you have a credit card charges can be billed to, I recommend a company called Acculinq. They have plans ranging from 4.9 cents to 10 cents per minute. You dial an 800 number, punch in your code, and charges are billed monthly to your credit card. Pay phone and motel extra charges are kept to the federal minimum -- at least so far in my experience. I've used Acculinq since 1998.
Their sales number is 1-800-909-7995.
Pencil Pusher
05-05-2005, 17:53
There was a company about seven years ago that offered to let you listen to marketing ads in exchange for calling minutes, payphones included. Sweet deal, doubt they're around anymore and I've forgotten their name.
papa john
05-05-2005, 19:28
I ran into a payphone at the NOC in NC and it would not allow calls to toll-free numbers at all. This same company owns a lot of the payphones in that area. This was in 2002, things may have changed.
OP, I would return that card to Walmart. That is a major ripoff.
TakeABreak
05-05-2005, 20:05
I do not know what kind of phone card you bought, but I have Sams Club (AT&T) Phone cards, while they do not charge 33 minutes per call, I think BlueGrass has it about right, up to 4 minutes per call. You can buy one 1250 minute phone card and if you plan to call a lot or talk a lot, you can put additional minutes on it before you leave the store.
I though one 1250 minute card would do it for me, but when I would someone they wanted to ask me a lot of questions and before I knew it a 5 minute call lasted and hour.
I would suggest buying a 1250 minute and adding additional time before you walk out of the store, or get additional couple of cards and put them in your mail drops.
We use Sam's Club AT&T cards. There is, or use to be, a fee for using a pay-phone. We always try to use non-payphones such as library phones, store phones etc. No charges for calls made from these. My husband also will email me a payphone number and tells me what time to call him back at that number. This gives him time to get from the library,etc to the payphone. No fees for him, I use my nationwide cell ph to call him, free after 9pm. hikerwife
It is an AT&T Prepaid Phone Card from Walmart.
Moon Monster
05-08-2005, 22:58
I ran into a payphone at the NOC in NC and it would not allow calls to toll-free numbers at all. This same company owns a lot of the payphones in that area. This was in 2002, things may have changed.
The bank of phones next to the Palmerton hostel was like this in 2003. Or at least the ones in order would not accept calls to 1-888 numbers like the # for my calling card. Other phones were out of order. But the phone in the main level of the building housing the hostel worked fine.
Anyway, you may run accross phones like this from time to time.
Some payphones don't allow incoming calls. This was brought about as an attempt by the law enforcement agencies to stop drug dealers setting up their "stores" on the payphone corner of the street.
Now, at least in civilization, if not in the trail environs, cellphones have made the stationary pay variety of phone expensive to maintain, and almost obsolete. Well, obsolete until you need one.