Pre-Paid Phone Cards: Part 1
Pre-paid phone cards represent telephone time you buy in advance. You pay from $5 to $15 or more up-front for local or long-distance phone time; the amount of time you buy depends on the rate-per-minute you’re charged. For many people, pre-paid phone calls offer the ultimate in convenience along with their cell phone family plans. The phone time’s been paid for in advance; the card can be used from any phone; and there’s no need to think about carrying coins or paying a bill later on.
First marketed as clever novelties, pre-paid phone cards now are sold at newsstands, post offices, travel agencies, retail stores, and grocery and convenience stores. They are used mostly by travelers, students, people who regularly call overseas, and those who may not have long-distance telephone service. Some pre-paid phone cards can be recharged, usually by billing the additional cost to your credit card. And some cards have advanced features like speed dialing for frequently called numbers and an activity report of called numbers, which may be handy for business purposes.
Occasionally, pre-paid phone cards have a hidden cost: because you’ve paid up-front, you may be out of pocket – and out of luck – if you discover a problem trying to use the card. That’s a big difference between pre-paid phone cards and traditional long distance calling cards, where charges don’t appear on your bill until after you’ve made the call. Some issuers provide a replacement number on a separate document when you buy the card. If your card is lost or stolen, give the issuer the number to recover your unused calling time.
How Pre-Paid Calling Cards Work
Most pre-paid phone cards display a toll-free access telephone number and a personal identification number (PIN). Pre-paid phone card companies have computers that use your PIN to keep track of your card usage – how much phone time you have on your card in minutes or units. To make a phone call, you dial the access number, enter your PIN, and at the voice prompt, enter the phone number of the party you’re trying to reach. A computer tells you how much time – or how many units – you have left on your card, and how to use other features your card may offer. Typically, each unit equals one domestic minute. If your pre-paid phone card can’t be recharged – that is, if you can’t buy additional minutes by phone for the card – you’ll need to buy another card once you’ve used up the time or minutes.
Several key players are involved in making sure your phone card works:
Carriers are responsible for the telephone lines that carry your calls.
Resellers buy telephone minutes from carriers.
Issuers set the rates and provide toll-free customer service and access numbers.
Distributors get the cards to retailers.
Retailers sell the cards.
Carriers and resellers can issue their own pre-paid phone cards; but if they don’t issue the cards, they’re not likely to be responsible for any problems you may have.
When you buy a pre-paid phone card from a store, it’s important to remember that you’ve bought a telephone service, not a product. The store doesn’t control the quality of the service. To make sure you’re getting what you’ve paid for, you may want to buy a small denomination first to test out the service, and check with friends or relatives to find out their experience with the card.
Tags: cell phone, Cell Phone Family Plans, free access, long distance calling cards, long distance telephone service, pre paid calling cards, pre paid phone, pre paid phone card, pre paid phone cardsRelated posts
Pre-Paid Phone Cards: Part 2
Consumer Concerns
As the pre-paid phone card industry mushrooms, and as more people buy and use the cards along with their cell phone family plans, some problems are coming to light. The most common consumer complaints are about:
* access numbers or PINs that don’t work;
* issuers who go out of business, leaving card-holders with a useless card;
* customer service numbers that are busy or simply don’t work;
* toll-free access numbers that are constantly busy, preventing use of the card;
* rates that are higher than advertised;
* hidden connection charges, taxes and surcharges;
* cards that debit minutes or units even when you don’t connect with the party you’re calling; and
* poor quality connections.
Buying Time and Value
Consumers can avoid many of these problems – and buy considerable peace of mind – by planning ahead. Although many pre-paid phone cards are impulse purchases, you can preempt disappointment by checking out a few things in advance:
* Ask if the retailer will stand behind the card if the telephone service is unsatisfactory.
* Look for the rate for domestic and international calls on the card’s package or on the vending machine. These rates may vary depending on where you call. If you can’t find the rate, call the card’s customer service number.
* The pre-paid phone card industry is highly competitive. Beware of very low rates, particularly for international calls. They may indicate poor customer service.
* Look for disclosures about surcharges, monthly fees, per-call access, and the like, in addition to the rate-per-minute or unit. Some cards add a surcharge to the first minute of use. Others charge an activation fee for recharging cards.
* Check on expiration dates. Most cards expire one year after first use. If there is no expiration date, a card usually is considered “live” until all phone time is used.
* Look for a toll-free customer service number. If the customer service number isn’t toll-free or displayed, it may be difficult to contact the company if you have a problem with the card. A busy signal on the customer service line may be a tip off to a rip-off.
* Be sure the card comes with instructions that you understand.
* Make sure the card comes in a sealed envelope or has a sticker covering the PIN. Otherwise, anyone who copies the PIN can use the phone time you’ve already paid for.
* Ask friends and relatives for references on the card you’re thinking of buying.
Consider these questions:
* Were they charged for a call when there was no answer or when the line was busy?
* Was there a minimum charge for each call? For example, were charges based on a minimum of three minutes even though the call lasted 30 seconds?
* Was the access number inaccessible because of a constant busy signal?
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Cell Phone Family Plans
Cell phone family plans have evolved to be an area that a lot of families experience. This is why acquiring this important gadget require intelligence to avoid inappropriate expense. Finding the most reasonable cell phone plan is one requirement in choosing cell phones intelligently. Because of the very large number of network services in this country, it may help you to research and assess their offers before deciding on a cell phone plan.
Before you decide to buy a cell phone, you may want to decide first whether you want a prepaid cell phone service or a traditional cell phone plan. If you decide on a prepaid cell phone service, then no problem, no credit check, you just need to pay outright and immediately you have your phone. Some cell phone companies even offer free cellular phone unit when you acquire a prepaid cell phone service from them. However, when you want a cell phone plan, you may need to choose from a by minute charging or by the second charging. Both charging process have positive and negative points. You need to assess your usage frequency and requirements before you decide on a cell phone plan. You may research on the performance like if they have enough towers to reach you wherever you are. There are different cell phone plans for family and national use. There are also cell phone plans for regional use. All of these have their own benefits although there are also their disadvantages. For prepaid cell phone plans, there are cell phone units that may not have the capability for this connection.
Other cell phone plans like family plans, this is advantageous for family use and small businesses. There is free access for emergencies. In addition, for family plans, it is cheaper to call the other cell phones included in one billing. There are also discounts for the airtime usage of family members using this cell phone plan. For national plans, this cell phone plan includes free long-distance charges. There are no roaming charges for this cell phone plan and it is another advantage. For regional use, this cell phone plan may require you to pay long-distance charges but the airtime rates may be cheaper. Shop around if you’re looking for the cheapest cell phone plans.
Cell phone plans may be beneficial is you can acquire the once that have the benefits you need. The manner of usage is an essential requirement, if you do not need it as much and just for emergencies, prepaid cell phone plan could suit you well than traditional plans where you need to sign a contract with the service provider.
Prepaid cell phone plans are often preferred; however, for travelers the traditional plan with no roaming charges and no long-distance charges might be best.
All of this notwithstanding, in order to make full and effective use of your cell phone, you may want to set some guidelines in your usage. If you want your cell phone for your business, you may need to make sure you turn it off when you need privacy. Being available every time may not do well for you. Reserve sometime for yourself and never allow people to disturb you during this time. If your business partners know they could reach you even late at night and on weekends, they will be annoyed if you suddenly change this behavior. Having a cell phone and being available all the time may not be healthy, thus, you have to be wary not to allow people disturb you when you need to be alone with or without your cell phone.
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