Do you really need a long distance phone company?

Got a letter from AT&T saying even if I don’t do long distance, they are going to charge me three bucks anyway.

I can barely wade thru all the charges etc on the statement but it would seem that Pacific Bll even charges something to have access to a long distance company. Takes forever for them to get back to me on their TTY.

So, do we really need a long distance comp? Couldn’t we do without it and use a phone card from the store? The teenager keeps making long distance calls to a nbr even after we got it blocked, so there MUST be some solution. thx

My family doesn’t.
We heard about Big Zoo

Works like a charm.


Well, shut my mouth. It’s also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling.

You don’t need a long distance provider; just use one of the those 10-10 numbers. Pick a different each time, to keep it interesting. I’ve been using 10-10-220 and it makes a big diff in my phone bill.

Guy Propski- yeah, I tried that. There was a big difference in my phone bill. It was freaking huge!

Beware the 10-10-etc. numbers- they charge a buck a for the first twenty minutes. Or any fraction thereof. Including calling someone and having the number be busy. Or not get picked up.


JMCJ

“John C., it looks like you have blended in very nicely.”
-UncleBeer

The 10-10 number works for me when I’m calling out of state and plan to talk for awhile.

Have recent bill in hand – the 45-minute 10-10 call to Seattle was 7 cents a minute – the 79-minute call not using 10-10 was 15 cents a minute.

I’d like to try the Big Zoo thing but could never convince hubby to dial all those numbers first. Although I guess we could put it on speed dial. Hmmmmmm.

John–never had that problem, cos I always talk for a while. I will watch for it, though.

I’ve always wanted to create a LD carrier and name it "I don’t know” or “I don’t care”, and charge $500/minute anywhere in the US. That way, when you get new phone service turned on, all the poor shmucks who say, “I don’t know/care” when asked which carrier they want will be forever sending me all their $$$.

Yup, I’m just full of brilliant ideas. Or is it just gas?

I don’t have a long-distance provider. I always buy phone cards from Exxon. But then, I live in a college towne where you can get phone cards dirt cheap (3 cents a minute and no connection fees of any kind).


Cessandra

It’s frightening how many crazies think that world is going to end in a few days. All of us smart people know that it’s not ending until next year.

Mouthbreather, somebody already beat you to it. A long distance company in Texas, I believe, already goes by the names “I don’t care” and “It doesn’t matter.” Both of these names were APPROVED by the FCC, even though it is perfectly obvious that they are doing it to rip off consumers.

I worked at a long distance phone company for a while, and kept up on these things. Yes, both your local and your long distance carriers may now charge you fees just for “allowing you access” to long distance service, whether you ever pick up the phone or not. I’m sure you’ve seen the wonderful National Access Fee on your bills. This results from Congress passing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which, amongst other things designed to promote competition in the industry, allowed local companies to charge long distance companies for their (local carrier’s) being middle man to the customer. Of course, any such charges are passed along to you, in the form of “carrier line charges” or any other important-sounding phrase they devise. You can read all about this interesting crap at www.fcc.gov/cib (sorry, I don’t do hyperlinks). Bottom line – you cannot win, no matter what you do…

It’s been done 20/20 did a story on it. The guy was charging 5-6 bucks a minute. The operators will now confirm from you that you really want the “It doesn’t matter” long distance company.

Mac slowly slinks off to lurkdom.
slink slink slink
I lurk therefore, I am. Or at least I might be?

I should remind people that you can do completely free calls to the 50 states completely free with your computer from www.dialpad.com

You see ads on the computer when you do them. You call from the site too. I tried the interface once, it was very nice. Can’t use it myself because its not a deaf thing.

Having a phone card might be okay. Is there someone to keep the kids from doing a 10-10 number on your phone? Can you imagine how much it would be if they read these messages and did that? whoa.