Phone Cards

Steve Costa Azul

I love Rocky's Ribs!
Jul 15, 2006
405
0
36
What's the deal with these phone cards? I have bought several here in the Toronto area and they all worked, but the amount of time they claim, is not even close to the time you REALLY get.

If you received the time that they claim, it would be a great deal. My first phone call I make, the automated female voice tells me "You have 2 hours and 20 minutes remaining". After 2 ten minute calls, about a week apart, the card has no time left on it! :surprised The last joke of a card was named Jam Jam and the one I just bought, is called Big Time (oxymoron).

Is it just me, or are all these card companies a scam? When you call to complain, you get nowhere! I can just see the staff laughing and giving high five's all around the office after another call comes in complaining.
GRRRRRRR!! Please share any legit long distance card company names.
Steve
 

DOMINCAN BOY

On Vacation!
Jun 6, 2006
780
0
0
What's the deal with these phone cards? I have bought several here in the Toronto area and they all worked, but the amount of time they claim, is not even close to the time you REALLY get.

If you received the time that they claim, it would be a great deal. My first phone call I make, the automated female voice tells me "You have 2 hours and 20 minutes remaining". After 2 ten minute calls, about a week apart, the card has no time left on it! :surprised The last joke of a card was named Jam Jam and the one I just bought, is called Big Time (oxymoron).

Is it just me, or are all these card companies a scam? When you call to complain, you get nowhere! I can just see the staff laughing and giving high five's all around the office after another call comes in complaining.
GRRRRRRR!! Please share any legit long distance card company names.
Steve
:bunny:Some card,s have a connection charge and a service charge so much per day:pirate: we use talk home no problem vince 1956
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
113
What's the deal with these phone cards? I have bought several here in the Toronto area and they all worked, but the amount of time they claim, is not even close to the time you REALLY get.

Oh, you GET the time they claim. Just make one single phone call.

Have you heard of connection fee, disconnection fee, maintenance fee, minimum balance fee, daily-no-calls fee, administrative fee, payphone surcharge fee, call duration fee, toll-free access fee, etc?

Also, when stated minutes to DR it is to landline, never to a cell. Calling cell you get about 50% of the minutes.

Minutes tsated are usually using local access number. If you us etoll-free access, your minutes available go down significantly.

Read the small print. Small print is your friend.

I was in LD and phonecard business. But we did mostly clean cards. So I know you can get the minutes the (dirty) card claims. But it is under a very specific circumstances (to which extent the small fee legally protects the card operator) maybe just 1% of callers make calls under those "circumstances". But because those circumstances exist, and they CAN be replicated in case of audit, all that is legal.
 
Last edited:
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
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Imagine $5 card, with 50 cents connection fee, and 50 cents disconnect fee, and 50 cent weekly maintenance fee, and $1 administrative fee (both always applied after the first call). If you make one single call, you are hit only with 50 cents connection fee.

But with two weeks calls apart, you have:

1st call:

50 cents connection fee
50 cents diconnection fee
1 dollar card administrative fee
50 cents weekly maintenance fee
plus any real call charges

10 min phone call on toll free access - about $1 in real call charges

2nd call:
what you have left is abot 1.5 dollars on your card,
50 cents connection fee
10 min phone call on toll free access - about $1 in real call charges

There goes your $5 card
 

Steve Costa Azul

I love Rocky's Ribs!
Jul 15, 2006
405
0
36
BAST*RDS!!
No more for me then, I am just going to dial from my land line or my blackberry and not worry about the fee. I went and bought skype credit but skype won't let you call the (829) area code so it will dry up and go to waste.
I guess I could install dial up internet at my dominican house and pay for it and provide a lap or desktop computer to my dominican home keeper and have skype installed........ I don't think so, I already provided satellite tv for him that I have never seen.
What a lucky camper!
Steve
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
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Why don't you look into VOIP providers, such as Lingo, Vonage, etc?

They have good international rates, and you can carry the adapter with you when you go to the DR.
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
does skype, and other variations work with dial-up?

i've tried msn and yahoo messenger using voice from highspeed here to dial-up in the DR and the quality was terrible.

i'm reasonably sure that proper VOIP like Vonage require a "high speed" connection to initiate. not sure if there are much savings using vonage to call a dominican cell, for example.
 

Steve Costa Azul

I love Rocky's Ribs!
Jul 15, 2006
405
0
36
Skype

Have you e-mailed Skype and advised them of the "829" problem?

I emailed 3 times and got no response. It's odd, you can choose 809 but not 829.

Funny thing, skype isn't working today. I thought it was from my end, so I went and downloaded the latest version and discovered that it is a Skype issue. When skype is working, which is almost always the case, it is great!
Steve
 

Tallman1680

On Vacation
Oct 7, 2006
272
0
0
The same happens here in the States, I usually call a cell phone number in DR and use a very popular phone card in the New England area, but for $5 USD phone card I will get like one hour talk time, while the automated voice recoding says I will get 1 hour and 27 minutes.