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From: roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Toll Calls on 800 Service
Message-ID: <11410@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 27 Aug 90 00:36:47 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 600, Message 9 of 9


John Higdon writes:

> people [with small children moan about] 900/976 (the evil, wallet-sucking
> devil prefixes) and never about the mundane, simple, little-talked-about
> toll calls. Other than possibly the amount, what's the difference?

	The difference is that there are very few TV commercials
telling kids in California to call some number in 212-land so they can
hear Jose Canseco talk about his whatever he was talking about, or
True Confessions, or phone sex, or whatever.  Also, if your five
year-old were to rack up a $20 phone bill chatting with Grandma for an
hour cross-country in prime time, would that be so bad?  Even if it
were $100 because Grandma was still in the Old Country, how mad could
you get?  It's still cheaper than a plane ticket :-)

	On a different subject, are long-distance DA calls from pay
phones supposed to be free?  I called 212-555-1212 from a 516-area pay
phone yesterday and had to put in $0.40 (not bad, considering the rate
card said it would coast $0.75).  Once I got my number, I never did
get my call placed because I couldn't figure out how to place a
calling card call through AT&T (and this from a phone which claimed to
be owned by NYTel!)  Does using an AT&T calling card guarantee that
your call goes through on AT&T, or do the various long distance
companies accept each other's calling cards and cross-bill?  


Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 
455 First Avenue, New York, NY  10016 
roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu -OR- att,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy 


[Moderator's Note: The only thing which 'guarentees' your call will be
placed on AT&T -- and then, only provided the owner of the phone
and/or phone switch does not act in a fraudulent manner -- is by
dialing 10288 on the front of every call. Other companies often times
accept the AT&T card, but bill via your local phone company at
outrageous prices. The card itself is no guarentee, but must be used
in connection with 10288+1+10D to be almost certain.   PAT]