long distance
mrtdddejspioewhfq
I make very few long distance calls. My current long distance has been
creeping up the minimum monthly charge (it started as no minimum and is now
3.50 plus tax). I'd like to cancel my long distance service that I currently
have and instead use some type of prepaid card where I call a local number
and then enter the long distance number I would like to call.
My questions are:
Will a local phone company allow someone to have local service without any
long distance provider?
Will I be able to recieve long distance calls?
Can I call 800 numbers with just local service ( I assume 800 calls won't be
free if I use the prepaid card)?
I know there are long distance services that don't charge a monthly minimum
but they require credit card info and an ssn to do a credit check so I'd
rather avoid them if I can.
Are there any recommendations for prepaid long distance? It would have to be
something where the time doesn't expire since I don't want to have to be
buying more time every so often.
Thanks
Zilbandy
<mrtdddej...@mrtdddejspioewhfq.com> wrote:
>My questions are:
>
>Will a local phone company allow someone to have local service without any
>long distance provider?
Yes
>Will I be able to recieve long distance calls?
Yes
>Can I call 800 numbers with just local service...?
Yes
--
Zilbandy
Tracey
"mrtdddejspioewhfq" <mrtdddej...@mrtdddejspioewhfq.com> wrote in
message news:V46dnfL1IOrq7D3b...@pghconnect.com...
> Does anyone know if this is possible:
>
> Will a local phone company allow someone to have local service without any
> long distance provider?
YES. Be sure to ask them to freeze your account or whatever they call it to
avoid getting slammed.
> Will I be able to recieve long distance calls?
Yes.
> Can I call 800 numbers with just local service ( I assume 800 calls won't
> be
> free if I use the prepaid card)?
You can call 800, 888, 866 numbers for free with just local service. The
only problem is directory assistance (which is a ripoff anyway).
>
> I know there are long distance services that don't charge a monthly
> minimum
> but they require credit card info and an ssn to do a credit check so I'd
> rather avoid them if I can.
You can also ask your local telco for whatever longdistance plan is
available in your area without a month minimum or a monthly charge and sign
up for that 'plan', then just never use it. Just make sure everyone in your
home knows to use the calling card. (I have the calling card number posted
on an index card next to the phone as a reminder, or you could program it
into your phones memory).
>
> Are there any recommendations for prepaid long distance? It would have to
> be
> something where the time doesn't expire since I don't want to have to be
> buying more time every so often.
We use the card we bought at Sam's Club several years ago. I think it comes
out to somewhere around 3 cents per minute, depending on how many minutes
you buy at a time, and the time never expires. I usually buy 2000 or 2500
minutes at a time and it lasts for about a year before I need to renew it.
kevin_...@yahoo.com
distance and just use my cell for long distance.)
But I just wanted to add that you might want to try "Skype"
You talk through your computer with a microphone. It's totally free
when you are talking with someone "computer-to-computer." But it does
cost if you want to use it to talk "computer to someone's phone."
The sound quality is very very very good. I talk to people in other
countries with it.
Logan Shaw
> Does anyone know if this is possible:
>
> I make very few long distance calls. My current long distance has been
> creeping up the minimum monthly charge (it started as no minimum and is now
> 3.50 plus tax).
I think your plan to dump them is smart. There's no reason to pay a monthly
fee, especially when you have low usage.
> Will a local phone company allow someone to have local service without any
> long distance provider?
Yes, I believe the law requires them to let you choose your long distance
provider, and I believe they must allow you to have no long distance
provider at all. I have done it myself, although it has been years.
By the way, not everyone realizes this, but you actually have two long
distance provider choices to make: inter-LATA and intra-LATA. The US is
broken up into areas called LATAs (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LATA ),
and you can choose on provider for calls within your own LATA and one for
other calls. The reason I mention this is that you may need to be clear
with your local phone company about which one(s) of these two services you
want to have turned off. If you don't have them both shut off, I think
they could continue to bill you a monthly fee for just intra-LATA. My
phone company tried a stupid trick with me like that once: there was
something like a $2 fee for being on a plan called "1+ Saver". The $2
fee entitled me to lower rates on calls to an area I never called in
my life. Grrr.
> Will I be able to recieve long distance calls?
Sure. When I had no long distance provider, I was able to.
> Can I call 800 numbers with just local service ( I assume 800 calls won't be
> free if I use the prepaid card)?
You should be able to call 800/866/877/888 numbers for free, yeah. And
you shouldn't need to use the prepaid card to call them.
> I know there are long distance services that don't charge a monthly minimum
> but they require credit card info and an ssn to do a credit check so I'd
> rather avoid them if I can.
I had PowerNet Global for many years and was happy with them. Rates are
low, no monthly fees, they will send you a paper bill in the mail if you
want (on-line billing isn't required), and you can pay by check if you
don't want to do credit card. http://www.powernetlongdistance.com/ if
you're interested. They do want an SSN though.
> Are there any recommendations for prepaid long distance? It would have to be
> something where the time doesn't expire since I don't want to have to be
> buying more time every so often.
That's why I'd go with a regular plan. You don't have to worry about
minutes expiring, remembering to fill up your card/account/whatever,
or dialing the access number.
- Logan
Logan Shaw
> The "trouble" with post-paid services, such as Powernet, is that they must
> collect Federal taxes and surcharges, at the least. In addition, most sneak in
> sundry fees and mystery (free money) charges. Using the Powernet example, ignore
> the puffery page and pay particular attention to the FAQ:
> http://www.powernetlongdistance.com/powernetglobal_faq.htm
>
> and to the sample bill:
> http://www.powernetlongdistance.com/PNGbill.pdf
Hmm, that's a bummer. A few years ago when I had them, they didn't have
the $0.99 "Telecom Infrastructure Fee", which is essentially a $0.99
monthly fee. I truly owed nothing if I made no calls, and only a little
if I made only a few. So that aspect has gotten worse. (On the other
hand, they do now have lower per-minute rates than they did then.)
- Logan
www.Queensbridge.us
I had my local telco remove all long distance from my lines
As another user here, I am also a OneSuite customer. Incredibly low
long distance phone rates. As low as USA-Canada 1.9CPM! Works as
prepaid phone card. PIN not needed for calls from home or cell phone.
Compare the rates at https://www.OneSuite.com No monthly fee or
minimum. Use Promotion/SuiteTreat Code: "FREEoffer23" for FREE time.
Works FROM many other countries.
jason.ma...@verizon.net
> > The "trouble" with post-paid services, such as Powernet, is that they must
> > collect Federal taxes and surcharges, at the least. In addition, most sneak in
> > the puffery page and pay particular attention to the FAQ:
> >http://www.powernetlongdistance.com/powernetglobal_faq.htm
>
> > and to the sample bill:
> >http://www.powernetlongdistance.com/PNGbill.pdf
>
> Hmm, that's a bummer. A few years ago when I had them, they didn't have
> the $0.99 "Telecom Infrastructure Fee", which is essentially a $0.99
> monthly fee. I truly owed nothing if I made no calls, and only a little
> if I made only a few. So that aspect has gotten worse. (On the other
> hand, they do now have lower per-minute rates than they did then.)
>
> - Logan
I was a PNG customer for years, then that $0.99 monthly fee came
along. The fee really killed me since I was a low usage customer,
after fees would come to 25 percent of the bill. Now even a $0 usage
month becomes a bill for $1.16 because they charge that fee no matter
what and then add the other fees and taxes to it. I guess PNG got too
big to care. I switched to a company called AireSpring, which after
taxes and fees comes to about 12.5 percent of my usage, which is about
right considering the laws. But the important thing is they don't
charge fixed fees, only percentages so that a $0 bill stays that way.
They do the email only bill thing, but you can trick them by saying
that you aren't receiving their notification emails, so by law they
have to send you snail mail bills for free.
I know the laws pretty well. Customer service will almost always tell
you that the fees are "FCC mandated" and can't do anything about it.
That is a lie bacause the FCC charges the phone company a percentage,
not directly to the customer. The phone company has the choice
whether or not to pass the fees to the customer. In fact, most phone
comanies are overcharging these fees to the point where they are
profiting from them, since they can charge whatever they want and it
isn't illegal. Basically just add up the fees and taxes - if it comes
to more than about 12.5 percent of your usage, then they are profiting
and consider dumping that company. This is just the phone companies'
old games they've been pulling for years with hidden fees to nickle
and dime us. The "FCC Mandated" trick is just another way to hide the
fees.
The one that gets me the most is the payphone surcharge. The phone
company has to send $0.24 to the payphone owner per call. Yet it is
getting rarer these days to get even a $0.35 fee. Most are $0.65 or
greater.