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From: jgp@moscom.UUCP (Jim Prescott)
Newsgroups: news.config
Subject: Re: Alternative Operator Services?
Summary: Watch your wallet when using a hotel phone.
Message-ID: <1363@moscom.UUCP>
Date: 20 Jan 89 23:05:37 GMT
References: <472@gandalf.littlei.UUCP> <190@escargot.UUCP>
Reply-To: jgp@moscom.UUCP (Jim Prescott)
Followup-To: comp.dcom.telecom
Organization: Moscom Corp., E. Rochester, NY
Lines: 26

[ I'm redirecting this to comp.dcom.telecom -jp]

In article <190@escargot.UUCP> jbond@escargot.UUCP (Jeremy Shepherd) writes:
>In article <472@gandalf.littlei.UUCP> marko@apple.i.intel.com (Mark O'Shea) writes:
>>... alternative operator services
>One of the best ways to make sure that you aren't billed by some oddball long
>distance service that the hotel subscribes to (and might charge MANY times...
>is to first dial the equal access code for the carrier that you subscribe to

The problem at hotels isn't that you might get routed though some bozo LD
company but that the hotel is a reseller of telephone communications and
can thus charge whatever they want to.  One of the more obnoxious setups
that I know of is charging customers 175% of the AT&T day rates for all
guest calls while placing the call with the hotel's low-cost WATS lines.
Even calls that don't cost the hotel anything (locals, credit card, reverse
charged etc.) can get a surcharge tacked on.

>try using the pay phone in the hotel lobby, or another pay phone.
This is the best advice.  Find a payphone and make sure you are talking with
an AT&T (or MCI or whoever) operator.  Or find out what kind of charges apply
to phone calls before you check in and go elsewhere if they don't sound good.

Moscom sells call accounting software but the above comments are my own.
-- 
Jim Prescott	moscom!jgp@cs.rochester.edu
		{rutgers,ames,harvard}!rochester!moscom!jgp