Robbery via pay-phone
-
I had to call home about a month ago but did not have any coin with me. The place was about 10 miles from my home. I went to a shopping mall, get $2.50 worth of quarters (25 cent coins) after spending about $4.50 on something I didn't need (the store wouldn't change money for me unless I baught something). When I went to the pay-phone outside, I found out that the call cost at least $2.75 (it is a local call, I am sure). Over the years I have used all kinds of calling plans at home, domestic call will never cost more then 25 cents per minute. My question is, are phone companies so screwed up by their accounting that they have to make up the profit through pay-phones?
-
I had to call home about a month ago but did not have any coin with me. The place was about 10 miles from my home. I went to a shopping mall, get $2.50 worth of quarters (25 cent coins) after spending about $4.50 on something I didn't need (the store wouldn't change money for me unless I baught something). When I went to the pay-phone outside, I found out that the call cost at least $2.75 (it is a local call, I am sure). Over the years I have used all kinds of calling plans at home, domestic call will never cost more then 25 cents per minute. My question is, are phone companies so screwed up by their accounting that they have to make up the profit through pay-phones?
You may have been on the border of a toll boundary. We get that problem here a lot. I'm on the eastern shore of the Colorado River, and frequently have to call the other side. It's annoying that a call, even from my home phone, costs $3.00 when I could as easily tie a note to a rock and chuck it across the river! "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Recursion." "Recursion who?" "Knock, knock..."
-
You may have been on the border of a toll boundary. We get that problem here a lot. I'm on the eastern shore of the Colorado River, and frequently have to call the other side. It's annoying that a call, even from my home phone, costs $3.00 when I could as easily tie a note to a rock and chuck it across the river! "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Recursion." "Recursion who?" "Knock, knock..."
It's probably not a problem of local vs long-distance calls. Currently I pay less than 25 cents per minute for even international calls at home. I think either the phone companies are just too greedy or that pay phones are exremely high-tech with some remarkable benefits (such as lowering blood presure and cholesteral level, enhancing sexual ability, etc.).
-
It's probably not a problem of local vs long-distance calls. Currently I pay less than 25 cents per minute for even international calls at home. I think either the phone companies are just too greedy or that pay phones are exremely high-tech with some remarkable benefits (such as lowering blood presure and cholesteral level, enhancing sexual ability, etc.).
I think the payphones are prety expensive to the companies (in the last years they were often upgraded here - from coins to chip cards, then against hacked cards several times) and the use of them decreases dramatically with the boom of mobile phones. Sonork 100.15206;PavelK
-
I had to call home about a month ago but did not have any coin with me. The place was about 10 miles from my home. I went to a shopping mall, get $2.50 worth of quarters (25 cent coins) after spending about $4.50 on something I didn't need (the store wouldn't change money for me unless I baught something). When I went to the pay-phone outside, I found out that the call cost at least $2.75 (it is a local call, I am sure). Over the years I have used all kinds of calling plans at home, domestic call will never cost more then 25 cents per minute. My question is, are phone companies so screwed up by their accounting that they have to make up the profit through pay-phones?
The best thing to do is get a cell phone. I don't even have a home phone, I just use the cell for everything. :)