Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Sat, 13 Apr 91 09:24 EDT From: Nigel Allen Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Pacific Bell "Airport" Credit Phones Message-ID: Organization: 52 Manchester Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 293, Message 2 of 11 Lines: 27 In Volume 11, Issue 285, Message 1 of 10, John R. Levine writes: > My experience with those phones while waiting for a plane at San Jose > one day is that half of them don't really work. That is, they can't > read the stripe on any of my credit cards. If your employer uses a magnetic card system (rather than conventional metal keys), you may find the magnetic stripes on your credit cards and telephone calling cards damaged quite often. (If this is happening, not only will you find it hard or impossible to use card reader phones; merchants who call for authorization on your credit card purchases will have to punch in your card number manually, and you won't be able to use a banking machine.) Credit card issuers and telephone companies realize that the magnetic stripe on their cards wears out for a number of reasons. If you have a card that won't work, just call the issuer and say that the magnetic stripe is damaged, and that you would like a replacement. As well, it's a good idea to carry your building access card (CardKey (R) or whatever) separately from your credit cards. Nigel Allen ndallen@contact.uucp