Collect call - wow!

[Deke]

My poor mother in law was in the hospital and called us collect a few times. We don't have ATT, but they handled the collect call for her. Can you believe they sent us a bill for $65.00 for three 8 minute calls 100 miles away?!?

I'm guessing few people make collect calls any more, but watch out if you do!

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Way back in the day when I was a teen, I was dating a girl who lived about 5 miles away as the crow flies. Just so happens that it was on the other side of the line dividing area codes in Virginia. If my dad didn't work for the phone company and got highly discounted rates, it would have been thousands of dollars per month to call her. Nowadays, free long distance is commonplace, not to mention the area code lines were moved and now that call would be considered local between those two addresses.

Collect calls are just a way for the phone company to put it to you. There's nothing that states the rates when you accept the call, so they kind of have you by the...

 

[sw1211]

When all else fails, use a prepaid calling card.

 

[peter halle]

That is like making calls from a hotel.  Sorry to hear about your Mother in law.

Peter

 

[Sparktrician]

Way back in the day when I was a teen, I was dating a girl who lived about 5 miles away as the crow flies. Just so happens that it was on the other side of the line dividing area codes in Virginia. If my dad didn't work for the phone company and got highly discounted rates, it would have been thousands of dollars per month to call her. Nowadays, free long distance is commonplace, not to mention the area code lines were moved and now that call would be considered local between those two addresses.

Collect calls are just a way for the phone company to put it to you. There's nothing that states the rates when you accept the call, so they kind of have you by the...

It's not the phone company, Shane.  It's the hospital (and motels) using telephone service as a profit center.  They pay far less to the phone company for the service that they charge you through the roof to use. 

[smile]

 

[RC]

Yeah, and don't use 3G data roaming in the states EVER!

I was on a work trip to NY last year and checked my work emails a few times during the week and used some casual google searches for restaurants, etc. and ended up with a 2000€ roaming data bill... Turns out that the data cap alert is only mandatory for EU states and operators in other countries can bill you through the nose as in AT&T's case a nice $15 per every beginning 1Mb of data...

Got hell from our finance manager for that.

 

[Deke]

Wow, $2000 for roaming is absurd. I bet that must have been a fun day at the office! Gees.

My mother in law will never know about this - she would insist on paying us $500 or something for the trouble. She has a cell, but didn't have it with her when they took her to the hospital. Hearing from her was worth the money, but I think she thought it would be cheaper than the hospital phone service! It might have been the same. It's just a little sad that in an age where you can talk clear across the country for almost free they find a way to stick it to people, especially being sick and in the hospital.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

2000 euros, Deke! [scared]