Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!hayes.fai.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: robertsn@iosg.enet.dec.com (Nigel Roberts 0860 578600)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: 144 Access Barred on Mercury Phones
Message-ID: <9936@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 20 Jul 90 00:59:40 GMT
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
Organization: TELECOM Digest
Lines: 24
Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 500, Message 3 of 12


I had my first chance to play with a Mercury payphone recently, as
there are a couple installed in the Travelodge in Basingstoke where
I'm staying at the moment.

Couple of observations -- the phones themselves only accept
Mercurycards (pre-payment cards), or major credit cards (all
MC/VISA/AMEX/DC).  They do not take cash at all.

Credit card calls cost a minimum of 50p. One gotcha is that the
follow-on call button has no effect save that of eliminating the need
to swipe the card again -- you will still be charged a (second) 50p
minimum fee.

100 (operator), 192 (directory) etc. etc. all work quite happily.
(You get Mercury operators, of course, not BT ones).

But if you dial 144 (the access code for non-operator calls using
Chargecard) you get "BARRED CALL" on the phone's display.

Equal access? Forget it.


Nigel Roberts