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Hub You - How To Test A Phone Card For Hidden Fees - Why All Phone Cards Have Surcharges?
Most small business owners don't realize that bringing a new client in the doors can cost up to twenty times what it does to keep an existing client coming back. Small businesses spend freely on yellow pages, radio, television, mailers, and other advertising. While these ways of promoting ones business can be successful in bringing new clients in, they in no way help a business keep clients. Once that new customer comes through the door and makes a purchase the business needs to find a way to keep that person coming back. If they don't they will have to repeat their advertising cycle and continue spending thousands to get another client in the door.So, how do you keep that client coming back? Simply put: you need to give them an incentive. Reward them for being a loyal client. If you are in a business with a lot of competition or you are competing against big box stores or national chains you need to be able to compete on more than price. It is a fact, rewarding your clients for shopping at your store will keep them coming back instead of going to your competition.How does a rewards or loyalty program work? When the client makes a purchase offer them a rewards card. (The most widely used are plastic credit card quality loyalty cards with a magnetic stripe on the back) These cards are run through a credit card terminal and accrue points every time the client shops with you. When the client spends a certain amount of money they automatically get a specified cash value added to their card. They can then use the value on the card towards their next purchase.The rew
c. Next enter the destination number, and write down the exact time you finish entering the destination number. Make a note of the announced minutes.
d. Then write down the time when the dialed party answers the phone
e. Finally write down the time when you hang up after about 30 seconds.
f. Calculate the actual minutes and seconds of elapsed time from when the dialed party answers until you hang up. This is the call duration.
Now the fun starts.
TEST CALL #4
11. Make another call marked as TEST CALL #4 to the same phone number.
a. note announced minutes.
b. record start time (as soon as party answers) and end time (as soon as you hang up)
Note the difference between the advertised minutes and the announced minute after you only one completed 30 second phone call. Is there a significant difference?
TEST CALL #5
12. Now make another call TEST CALL#5 using approximately 25% of the remaining minutes.
a. once again write down the date, start time of call, end time of call, announced minutes
B. Write down the actual minutes talked (minutes and seconds)
By now you have a good idea if the phone card company is assessing hidden surcharges. But watch what happens next.
13. Once again put the card away until tomorrow.
TEST CALL #6
14. Make one more additional calls to the same number and mark the call as TEST CALL #6.
a Remember to record the announced minutes for each additional call, the date, the time, and the actual used minutes.
The variance between advertised minutes and delivered minutes will be more dramatic if you wait one week before making subsequent calls after #6.
TEST CALL #7
15. If there is additional time remaining on your phone card, go ahead and use it up over one or more calls, recording the date, time, duration, and announced minutes before each call.
One final test
We are living in a world of paper: we receive important information on paper, and share confidential information on paper: creating documents, letters and many sensitive issues. Therefore it's important to be sure that our confidentiality and privacy are protected, and that waste paper is disposed of. In the past people used ways of destroying paper like burning and tearing, etc. Nowadays with huge volumes of paper all these methods are useless and we need something really powerful and reliable.The first idea of a bulk paper shredding machine was patented in 1908 by A.A. Low, and the first shredder was created in Germany in 1935 by Adolf Ehinger. Since then with the fast growth of business and industry, shredders have become an important item of office equipment, for both company and home needs.Nowadays each company creates, edits, and destroys tons of paper documents that may contain highly confidential information that is not intended for third-party viewing and usage. And the best way for the company to protect itself is to shred all documents and other important papers before throwing them away.This guide will help you choose the right shredder for your company needs.Before you go to the nearest office equipment store or logon to an online office supplies shop, you need to know answers to these 2 questions:1. How often will the shredder be used?The environment in which the shredder will be placed is usually the best guide to how much shredding a machine will have to undertake and if it is the right type of machine to best meet your needs.
First, let's understand the trend.
When phone cards first hit the market in the USA, calling cards were advertising and giving about 25 domestic minutes on a $10 phone card. This was a good deal, since long distance credit cards issued by the phone companies such as AT&T, MCI, Sprint, and others were assessing a surcharge of about $1.50 to make a call using a long distance calling card. Most of the early phone cards disclosed and assessed a connection fee on international calls of $1.00/minute.
As technology made it easier to get into the calling card business, competition for minutes began to heat up. While the actual cost of long distance minutes was coming down, phone card companies were struggling with the hidden costs of issuing phone cards. For example, the cost of making a phone call to Nigeria includes an inbound 800 number (or local access number) leg and an outbound international leg. The phone card issuer has to pay for the inbound 800 number leg, even if the call does not complete to Nigeria. Typically this might result in 20 "incomplete" calls billable to the phone card issuer, for every one billable phone call to Nigeria, especially if there is a poor quality service in the local Nigeria community. Phone card companies who did not adjust for these costs, ran up big debts and often went out of business. Soon the hidden surcharge was invented to deal with these costs.
Early calling card surcharges were disclosed. At the beginning (around 1985), phone cards were such a good deal, most phone card companies were run by honest techno - entrepreneurs, who disclosed their surcharges. For example, a typical surcharge was $1.00 for each international call; and the phone card delivered the advertised minutes after deducting $1.00 for the call. The poster adjusted for the connection fee, so that a $10 phone card with a connection fee of $1.00 and $.10 per minute, would announce and deliver 90 minutes on one call, 80 minutes over two calls, etc. The surcharge was only deducted for completed calls. This covered the cost incurred by the phone card company for all the uncompleted calls. But as competition heated up, phone card companies began to find that the consumer would prefer to buy a phone card with smaller connection fees. So advertised connection fees began to come down, but phone card issuers applied other surcharges and named them "communication taxes".
This resulted in the birth of the hidden fee. Phone card industry soon came up with all sorts of ways to increase the advertised minutes on a calling card, while delivering fewer minutes than advertised. This practice has continued to this day, to the point where virtually no phone cards delivery advertised minutes on multiple calls over a period of weeks. Most if not all all phone card companies charge some combination of call connection fees, long call surcharges, activation fee after the first completed call, daily or weekly maintenance fees. More often than not, these fees are not accurately disclosed. Moreover, it is common for card issues to juice up the fees to certain countries on a temporary basis if they find that consumers are actually using the card to call the countries with the most advertised minutes. The president of a well know Florida based phone card company claims these temporary fees are justified when consumers "bastardize" his phone cards, by making calls only to the advertised countries.
What is the best way to compare phone cards?
First, know that all phone card companies cheat on their minutes. All of them, including AT&T, MCI, Sprint, as well as the thousands of smaller phone card companies advertise more minutes to a certain country than they deliver over multiple calls.
Bait and switch
Keep in mind that almost all phone card companies reduce or eliminate their fees altogether during the first 30 to 90 days of a new card release. Once the card is popular with consumers, stores and distributors; the fees begin piling up. It is reasonable to assume that phone card companies who issue one or more phone cards every month for calling to the same region of the world, are doing so specifically with the intention of jacking up the fees after a few months on the older phone cards. The big phone card companies have actually turned this into a science. They know exactly how much money they are willing to loose at the beginning on a new phone card, so they can make it up later on with hacking fees. Consumers will generally do good to jump on the new phone cards issued by companies who have issued good phone cards in the past.
How to test a phone card:
Try this if you wish to test any phone card to any specific country (if you find one to be good, we certainly want to know about it)
1. First buy a phone card based upon the minutes listed on the point of sale phone card poster displayed in the convenience store, gas station, restaurant, or ethnic store.
2. Write down the number of minutes advertised on the back of the phone card, while you are in the store.
3. When you get home get some paper and write down the name of the phone card, the date, the country you plan to call, the city you plan to call, and the destination phone number you plan to call, and the minutes advertised on the phone card poster to that country.
4. Get a good timepiece. Preferably one with a second hand, or a stop watch.
TEST CALL #1
5. Now make a test call. On your paper write test call #1. Write down the date and time of the test call. (Remember to write down the country, city and dialed number)
6. Usually, you will get an announcement telling you how many minutes you have remaining for this phone call. Write down the announced minutes and hang up immediately. Were the announced minutes the same as the minutes advertised on the poster?
(now in theory, you have not completed a phone call, so your phone card should not be debited.)
TEST CALL #2
7. Now write down on your paper Test call #2, then repeat the exact same process once again. Remember to write down the date and time of the test. Write down the the announced minutes.
8. THEN HANG UP immediately after the announcement..
Note: Did the announced minutes change from the first call to the second call?
TEST CALL #3
9. Now if you are patient, put the phone card away, and wait until tomorrow. This will tell you if the phone card company charges an activation fee even if you do not complete a phone call. Some cards charge an activation fee immediately after the first call while some charge the activation fee at midnight after the first call. Most will not charge anything if the call is not connected. But some large big name companies charge an activation fee as soon as you enter the pin number!
10. Now we are ready to see what happens with a completed call. Write down the date, and time, and make a call to the same destination. Write down Test Call #3 on the paper. This time let the party at the other end answer, but tell them quickly that you are making a test call, and that you will call them back in a few minutes. Make sure you are on the phone call for less than one minute.
a. This time, write down the exact time you finish dialing the 800 number or the local access number.
b. Then enter the pin, and write down the exact time you finish entering the pin.
c. Next enter the destination number, and write down the exact time you finish entering the destination number. Make a note of the announced minutes.
d. Then write down the time when the dialed party answers the phone
e. Finally write down the time when you hang up after about 30 seconds.
f. Calculate the actual minutes and seconds of elapsed time from when the dialed party answers until you hang up. This is the call duration.
Now the fun starts.
TEST CALL #4
11. Make another call marked as TEST CALL #4 to the same phone number.
a. note announced minutes.
b. record start time (as soon as party answers) and end time (as soon as you hang up)
Note the difference between the advertised minutes and the announced minute after you only one completed 30 second phone call. Is there a significant difference?
TEST CALL #5
12. Now make another call TEST CALL#5 using approximately 25% of the remaining minutes.
a. once again write down the date, start time of call, end time of call, announced minutes
B. Write down the actual minutes talked (minutes and seconds)
By now you have a good idea if the phone card company is assessing hidden surcharges. But watch what happens next.
13. Once again put the card away until tomorrow.
TEST CALL #6
14. Make one more additional calls to the same number and mark the call as TEST CALL #6.
a Remember to record the announced minutes for each additional call, the date, the time, and the actual used minutes.
The variance between advertised minutes and delivered minutes will be more dramatic if you wait one week before making subsequent calls after #6.
TEST CALL #7
15. If there is additional time remaining on your phone card, go ahead and use it up over one or more calls, recording the date, time, duration, and announced minutes before each call.
One final test i
No matter where you are in your life, there can come a day when you need to find a job. It may be your first job, a career change, or perhaps a better job than the one you have. Anything can happen to anyone at any time, and it is important to know where to look for an employment opportunity when you find that you need one. If you are a freelancer, this is something that you have to worry about all the time.When you are freshly out of high school or college, you may look for an employment opportunity in the paper or through a referral program though your school. This can work out very well for some people, but it does not guarantee you will not have to look elsewhere for a different employment opportunity. Today you have the Internet to help you out. You may find that just posting your resume online will give you a leg up. At times, people have been contacted from someone who had found their resume online and offered them a job.If you are looking for a better employment opportunity when you are already working. This is when you have to be a little more organized. You may also be able to contact people who can look for good employment opportunities for you. You must keep your options open, but at the same time, you may not want to let your current employer know that you are looking for something else, or you may find yourself without a job before your next employment opportunity can come along.If you are out of work, and are having trouble finding something, you might want to consider signing on with a temp agency for the time being. Though you may say that this is not something
Early calling card surcharges were disclosed. At the beginning (around 1985), phone cards were such a good deal, most phone card companies were run by honest techno - entrepreneurs, who disclosed their surcharges. For example, a typical surcharge was $1.00 for each international call; and the phone card delivered the advertised minutes after deducting $1.00 for the call. The poster adjusted for the connection fee, so that a $10 phone card with a connection fee of $1.00 and $.10 per minute, would announce and deliver 90 minutes on one call, 80 minutes over two calls, etc. The surcharge was only deducted for completed calls. This covered the cost incurred by the phone card company for all the uncompleted calls. But as competition heated up, phone card companies began to find that the consumer would prefer to buy a phone card with smaller connection fees. So advertised connection fees began to come down, but phone card issuers applied other surcharges and named them "communication taxes".
This resulted in the birth of the hidden fee. Phone card industry soon came up with all sorts of ways to increase the advertised minutes on a calling card, while delivering fewer minutes than advertised. This practice has continued to this day, to the point where virtually no phone cards delivery advertised minutes on multiple calls over a period of weeks. Most if not all all phone card companies charge some combination of call connection fees, long call surcharges, activation fee after the first completed call, daily or weekly maintenance fees. More often than not, these fees are not accurately disclosed. Moreover, it is common for card issues to juice up the fees to certain countries on a temporary basis if they find that consumers are actually using the card to call the countries with the most advertised minutes. The president of a well know Florida based phone card company claims these temporary fees are justified when consumers "bastardize" his phone cards, by making calls only to the advertised countries.
What is the best way to compare phone cards?
First, know that all phone card companies cheat on their minutes. All of them, including AT&T, MCI, Sprint, as well as the thousands of smaller phone card companies advertise more minutes to a certain country than they deliver over multiple calls.
Bait and switch
Keep in mind that almost all phone card companies reduce or eliminate their fees altogether during the first 30 to 90 days of a new card release. Once the card is popular with consumers, stores and distributors; the fees begin piling up. It is reasonable to assume that phone card companies who issue one or more phone cards every month for calling to the same region of the world, are doing so specifically with the intention of jacking up the fees after a few months on the older phone cards. The big phone card companies have actually turned this into a science. They know exactly how much money they are willing to loose at the beginning on a new phone card, so they can make it up later on with hacking fees. Consumers will generally do good to jump on the new phone cards issued by companies who have issued good phone cards in the past.
How to test a phone card:
Try this if you wish to test any phone card to any specific country (if you find one to be good, we certainly want to know about it)
1. First buy a phone card based upon the minutes listed on the point of sale phone card poster displayed in the convenience store, gas station, restaurant, or ethnic store.
2. Write down the number of minutes advertised on the back of the phone card, while you are in the store.
3. When you get home get some paper and write down the name of the phone card, the date, the country you plan to call, the city you plan to call, and the destination phone number you plan to call, and the minutes advertised on the phone card poster to that country.
4. Get a good timepiece. Preferably one with a second hand, or a stop watch.
TEST CALL #1
5. Now make a test call. On your paper write test call #1. Write down the date and time of the test call. (Remember to write down the country, city and dialed number)
6. Usually, you will get an announcement telling you how many minutes you have remaining for this phone call. Write down the announced minutes and hang up immediately. Were the announced minutes the same as the minutes advertised on the poster?
(now in theory, you have not completed a phone call, so your phone card should not be debited.)
TEST CALL #2
7. Now write down on your paper Test call #2, then repeat the exact same process once again. Remember to write down the date and time of the test. Write down the the announced minutes.
8. THEN HANG UP immediately after the announcement..
Note: Did the announced minutes change from the first call to the second call?
TEST CALL #3
9. Now if you are patient, put the phone card away, and wait until tomorrow. This will tell you if the phone card company charges an activation fee even if you do not complete a phone call. Some cards charge an activation fee immediately after the first call while some charge the activation fee at midnight after the first call. Most will not charge anything if the call is not connected. But some large big name companies charge an activation fee as soon as you enter the pin number!
10. Now we are ready to see what happens with a completed call. Write down the date, and time, and make a call to the same destination. Write down Test Call #3 on the paper. This time let the party at the other end answer, but tell them quickly that you are making a test call, and that you will call them back in a few minutes. Make sure you are on the phone call for less than one minute.
a. This time, write down the exact time you finish dialing the 800 number or the local access number.
b. Then enter the pin, and write down the exact time you finish entering the pin.
c. Next enter the destination number, and write down the exact time you finish entering the destination number. Make a note of the announced minutes.
d. Then write down the time when the dialed party answers the phone
e. Finally write down the time when you hang up after about 30 seconds.
f. Calculate the actual minutes and seconds of elapsed time from when the dialed party answers until you hang up. This is the call duration.
Now the fun starts.
TEST CALL #4
11. Make another call marked as TEST CALL #4 to the same phone number.
a. note announced minutes.
b. record start time (as soon as party answers) and end time (as soon as you hang up)
Note the difference between the advertised minutes and the announced minute after you only one completed 30 second phone call. Is there a significant difference?
TEST CALL #5
12. Now make another call TEST CALL#5 using approximately 25% of the remaining minutes.
a. once again write down the date, start time of call, end time of call, announced minutes
B. Write down the actual minutes talked (minutes and seconds)
By now you have a good idea if the phone card company is assessing hidden surcharges. But watch what happens next.
13. Once again put the card away until tomorrow.
TEST CALL #6
14. Make one more additional calls to the same number and mark the call as TEST CALL #6.
a Remember to record the announced minutes for each additional call, the date, the time, and the actual used minutes.
The variance between advertised minutes and delivered minutes will be more dramatic if you wait one week before making subsequent calls after #6.
TEST CALL #7
15. If there is additional time remaining on your phone card, go ahead and use it up over one or more calls, recording the date, time, duration, and announced minutes before each call.
One final test
Also known as monitoring centers, call centers are communication hubs where telephone calls and e-mails are effectively used for marketing products and services. These are primarily used by telemarketing companies, IT companies, mail-order catalog organizations and other large organizations. Call centers for sale listings help buyers to acquire a rare business in any part of the country. As in the case of other business properties, selling a call center at a high price is a risky job for the owner.Most companies prefer to buy a call center rather than start a new one, because setting up a new one involves infrastructural costs and skilled hands. Considering the labor charge and other expenses, buying an existing one is a more profitable idea. It is also ideal for those who wish to have an independent business and want to get much profit within a short period. If you are a business owner and want to market products or services, buying a nearby call center helps to increase the sales rate. Before buying a call center, one has to thoroughly study existing conditions, available facilities and services provided. One must also determine whether it is a private, sole propriety, partnership, franchise, or corporation business.Call centers for sale face problems in setting the asking price. The three significant factors that affect pricing are location, desirable amenities and condition. A property located in a prime area is in great demand. Transportation facilities, telecommunication equipment and surrounding amenities are taken into consideration. A well-maintained call center that does not
What is the best way to compare phone cards?
First, know that all phone card companies cheat on their minutes. All of them, including AT&T, MCI, Sprint, as well as the thousands of smaller phone card companies advertise more minutes to a certain country than they deliver over multiple calls.
Bait and switch
Keep in mind that almost all phone card companies reduce or eliminate their fees altogether during the first 30 to 90 days of a new card release. Once the card is popular with consumers, stores and distributors; the fees begin piling up. It is reasonable to assume that phone card companies who issue one or more phone cards every month for calling to the same region of the world, are doing so specifically with the intention of jacking up the fees after a few months on the older phone cards. The big phone card companies have actually turned this into a science. They know exactly how much money they are willing to loose at the beginning on a new phone card, so they can make it up later on with hacking fees. Consumers will generally do good to jump on the new phone cards issued by companies who have issued good phone cards in the past.
How to test a phone card:
Try this if you wish to test any phone card to any specific country (if you find one to be good, we certainly want to know about it)
1. First buy a phone card based upon the minutes listed on the point of sale phone card poster displayed in the convenience store, gas station, restaurant, or ethnic store.
2. Write down the number of minutes advertised on the back of the phone card, while you are in the store.
3. When you get home get some paper and write down the name of the phone card, the date, the country you plan to call, the city you plan to call, and the destination phone number you plan to call, and the minutes advertised on the phone card poster to that country.
4. Get a good timepiece. Preferably one with a second hand, or a stop watch.
TEST CALL #1
5. Now make a test call. On your paper write test call #1. Write down the date and time of the test call. (Remember to write down the country, city and dialed number)
6. Usually, you will get an announcement telling you how many minutes you have remaining for this phone call. Write down the announced minutes and hang up immediately. Were the announced minutes the same as the minutes advertised on the poster?
(now in theory, you have not completed a phone call, so your phone card should not be debited.)
TEST CALL #2
7. Now write down on your paper Test call #2, then repeat the exact same process once again. Remember to write down the date and time of the test. Write down the the announced minutes.
8. THEN HANG UP immediately after the announcement..
Note: Did the announced minutes change from the first call to the second call?
TEST CALL #3
9. Now if you are patient, put the phone card away, and wait until tomorrow. This will tell you if the phone card company charges an activation fee even if you do not complete a phone call. Some cards charge an activation fee immediately after the first call while some charge the activation fee at midnight after the first call. Most will not charge anything if the call is not connected. But some large big name companies charge an activation fee as soon as you enter the pin number!
10. Now we are ready to see what happens with a completed call. Write down the date, and time, and make a call to the same destination. Write down Test Call #3 on the paper. This time let the party at the other end answer, but tell them quickly that you are making a test call, and that you will call them back in a few minutes. Make sure you are on the phone call for less than one minute.
a. This time, write down the exact time you finish dialing the 800 number or the local access number.
b. Then enter the pin, and write down the exact time you finish entering the pin.
c. Next enter the destination number, and write down the exact time you finish entering the destination number. Make a note of the announced minutes.
d. Then write down the time when the dialed party answers the phone
e. Finally write down the time when you hang up after about 30 seconds.
f. Calculate the actual minutes and seconds of elapsed time from when the dialed party answers until you hang up. This is the call duration.
Now the fun starts.
TEST CALL #4
11. Make another call marked as TEST CALL #4 to the same phone number.
a. note announced minutes.
b. record start time (as soon as party answers) and end time (as soon as you hang up)
Note the difference between the advertised minutes and the announced minute after you only one completed 30 second phone call. Is there a significant difference?
TEST CALL #5
12. Now make another call TEST CALL#5 using approximately 25% of the remaining minutes.
a. once again write down the date, start time of call, end time of call, announced minutes
B. Write down the actual minutes talked (minutes and seconds)
By now you have a good idea if the phone card company is assessing hidden surcharges. But watch what happens next.
13. Once again put the card away until tomorrow.
TEST CALL #6
14. Make one more additional calls to the same number and mark the call as TEST CALL #6.
a Remember to record the announced minutes for each additional call, the date, the time, and the actual used minutes.
The variance between advertised minutes and delivered minutes will be more dramatic if you wait one week before making subsequent calls after #6.
TEST CALL #7
15. If there is additional time remaining on your phone card, go ahead and use it up over one or more calls, recording the date, time, duration, and announced minutes before each call.
One final test
Who would be the best person to target if you are looking for a pharmaceutical sales job? A recruiter? Somebody from human resources? Actually, neither. The best target will always be the person who will make final hiring decisions for pharmaceutical sales positions which is the district sales manager. I know this for a fact since I was a sales manager and most of the pharmaceutical sales representatives I hired for my district were ones who sent their resumes directly to me rather than go through a recruiter or human resources.Lately, there have been numerous resume services to distribute resumes to all sorts of recruiters, human resources people and other targets that are distant from the sales managers. These distribution services try to convince their customers that having their resumes blasted all over the place is a step in the right direction.The real question is whether the candidates are really better off using such resume distribution services. Let’s put it this way, the resume distribution services are available to anyone who is willing to pay. Customers using these services will be just like all others who pay to get their resumes fired out there and there will be lots of people in the same boat. It’s an easy way to get resumes out and as a result, everyone will be doing the same thing.Rather than separating oneself from the rest of the crowd as one should be doing in an effective job hunt, one will just be caught in the masses of others who are also getting their resumes distributed in the same way. The recipients of these resumes, who are usually not the sal
TEST CALL #1
5. Now make a test call. On your paper write test call #1. Write down the date and time of the test call. (Remember to write down the country, city and dialed number)
6. Usually, you will get an announcement telling you how many minutes you have remaining for this phone call. Write down the announced minutes and hang up immediately. Were the announced minutes the same as the minutes advertised on the poster?
(now in theory, you have not completed a phone call, so your phone card should not be debited.)
TEST CALL #2
7. Now write down on your paper Test call #2, then repeat the exact same process once again. Remember to write down the date and time of the test. Write down the the announced minutes.
8. THEN HANG UP immediately after the announcement..
Note: Did the announced minutes change from the first call to the second call?
TEST CALL #3
9. Now if you are patient, put the phone card away, and wait until tomorrow. This will tell you if the phone card company charges an activation fee even if you do not complete a phone call. Some cards charge an activation fee immediately after the first call while some charge the activation fee at midnight after the first call. Most will not charge anything if the call is not connected. But some large big name companies charge an activation fee as soon as you enter the pin number!
10. Now we are ready to see what happens with a completed call. Write down the date, and time, and make a call to the same destination. Write down Test Call #3 on the paper. This time let the party at the other end answer, but tell them quickly that you are making a test call, and that you will call them back in a few minutes. Make sure you are on the phone call for less than one minute.
a. This time, write down the exact time you finish dialing the 800 number or the local access number.
b. Then enter the pin, and write down the exact time you finish entering the pin.
c. Next enter the destination number, and write down the exact time you finish entering the destination number. Make a note of the announced minutes.
d. Then write down the time when the dialed party answers the phone
e. Finally write down the time when you hang up after about 30 seconds.
f. Calculate the actual minutes and seconds of elapsed time from when the dialed party answers until you hang up. This is the call duration.
Now the fun starts.
TEST CALL #4
11. Make another call marked as TEST CALL #4 to the same phone number.
a. note announced minutes.
b. record start time (as soon as party answers) and end time (as soon as you hang up)
Note the difference between the advertised minutes and the announced minute after you only one completed 30 second phone call. Is there a significant difference?
TEST CALL #5
12. Now make another call TEST CALL#5 using approximately 25% of the remaining minutes.
a. once again write down the date, start time of call, end time of call, announced minutes
B. Write down the actual minutes talked (minutes and seconds)
By now you have a good idea if the phone card company is assessing hidden surcharges. But watch what happens next.
13. Once again put the card away until tomorrow.
TEST CALL #6
14. Make one more additional calls to the same number and mark the call as TEST CALL #6.
a Remember to record the announced minutes for each additional call, the date, the time, and the actual used minutes.
The variance between advertised minutes and delivered minutes will be more dramatic if you wait one week before making subsequent calls after #6.
TEST CALL #7
15. If there is additional time remaining on your phone card, go ahead and use it up over one or more calls, recording the date, time, duration, and announced minutes before each call.
One final test
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c. Next enter the destination number, and write down the exact time you finish entering the destination number. Make a note of the announced minutes.
d. Then write down the time when the dialed party answers the phone
e. Finally write down the time when you hang up after about 30 seconds.
f. Calculate the actual minutes and seconds of elapsed time from when the dialed party answers until you hang up. This is the call duration.
Now the fun starts.
TEST CALL #4
11. Make another call marked as TEST CALL #4 to the same phone number.
a. note announced minutes.
b. record start time (as soon as party answers) and end time (as soon as you hang up)
Note the difference between the advertised minutes and the announced minute after you only one completed 30 second phone call. Is there a significant difference?
TEST CALL #5
12. Now make another call TEST CALL#5 using approximately 25% of the remaining minutes.
a. once again write down the date, start time of call, end time of call, announced minutes
B. Write down the actual minutes talked (minutes and seconds)
By now you have a good idea if the phone card company is assessing hidden surcharges. But watch what happens next.
13. Once again put the card away until tomorrow.
TEST CALL #6
14. Make one more additional calls to the same number and mark the call as TEST CALL #6.
a Remember to record the announced minutes for each additional call, the date, the time, and the actual used minutes.
The variance between advertised minutes and delivered minutes will be more dramatic if you wait one week before making subsequent calls after #6.
TEST CALL #7
15. If there is additional time remaining on your phone card, go ahead and use it up over one or more calls, recording the date, time, duration, and announced minutes before each call.
One final test in order to see how your phone card performs "advertised" world is get a second phone card (same brand and denomination), and use it to make one long phone call. Record the date and time, the announced time, and the actual time from answer until the card is consumed, or until the phone card company disconnects or drops the call.
Now once all of this testing is done, if you feel you are not happy with the results, you can contact customer service at the customer service number on the back of the phone card and explain to them that you conducted a test, and let them know what you found. If you did not get the announced minutes, you might ask the customer service representative to reinstate the entire value of your card; so that you can try again and make just one long phone call.
I do not recommend that you get nasty with customer service, or they will just hang up. Likewise, if you are not happy, I would not recommend you take it out on the store owner where you purchased the phone card, because they do not make the phone cards. However it might be a good idea to give your store owner a copy of your notes. Convenience store owners, gas stations, and ethnic stores value your business. They would much rather sell quality phone cards. I suggest you give the store owner a copy of your test notes.
(There is little point in suggesting that you are going to go to the FBI, or FCC, or the Public Utility Commission. These agencies know what's going on, and if they wanted to prevent this sort of thing, they would have cleaned it up years ago... however if you are really upset, you might complain to the State's Attorney General. Unless the actual carrier and phone card issuer are located in your state, you will only be causing problems for some store owner or phone card distributor who has no control of the surcharges.) It might also be fun to take your notes to your local newspaper. The guy who prints the phone card is often also a victim of the guy hacking the minutes. The biggest companies are generally the biggest offenders. They have lots of fine print disclosures on their phone cards that nobody reads.
What to do with your test notes Finally, if you put your notes in a spreadsheet or email, and send them to bob@phonecardhotline.com, we will publish the results or a summary of the results. Or you can mail a copy of your results, together with the used phone card to: Phone Card Hotline, 7324 Valleyview Drive, Independence, OH 44131.
More testing fun If you contact our online retail business unit and tell them you wish to test a phone card to any of their popular calling destinations, they will generally give you one free calling card (if you purchase 3). For sure, if you find any phone card that stands up to this testing process and has no fees, we will most certainly want to know about it!
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