Long Distance Rates
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Long Distance Rates
You could be forgiven for thinking that long distance rates are all pretty similar really, well, I suppose at first glance they are, but it’s not always the information which is offered you need to think about, it’s the bits they neglect to tell you, well, they have to tell you somewhere but some things are more transparent than others. Long distance rates need to be very competitive between companies, after all there’s a lot of competition which is great for the consumer, but don’t forget to look at all of the information so that you don’t get any nasty surprises when the monthly bill arrives.
Ok, picture the scene, you’ve just come home after a hard day at work, you’ve eaten a lovely dinner and now it’s time to put your feet up in front of the TV when the telephone rings – “how would you like to save money on your long distance rates?” they ask – well, who wouldn’t? You’ll probably react in one of the following ways:
- hang up immediately – you simply can’t be bothered thinking about anything right now
- decide to listen, after all, since your wife’s sister moved out of state she really has been racking those bills up and every little helps! So you pay attention (for a minute or two anyway) – how much can you save? What’s the cost per minute? Are there any monthly fees? The problem is, you’re actually only half listening whilst trying to follow the baseball on TV. As for the rest of the information – you just assume that it’ll be okay.
Long Distance Rates
So how much are you actually going to save? You see, it’s not only the “good bits” which they dangle like the proverbial carrot which will be appearing on your monthly bill, it’s the extras too which they either forgot to mention or were drowned out by the noise of a home run. Let’s dissect the situation a little further:
- In state long distance rates / Out of state long distance rates – in the US you can be quite a long distance from someone you enjoy a good natter with, even if you live in the same state. You would probably imagine that long distance rates within state are equal to, or maybe even a little better than inter-state calls but this is one of the first things you need to look out for – don’t presume anything when it comes to long distance rates – read the small print.
- Monthly service fees can make a real difference to your monthly bill. Just because you’ve rather cleverly negotiated (if you do say so yourself) for a long distance rate of around $0.07 per minute, it might not be so cost effective if you have to pay a large monthly fee for the privilege will it. If you have to pay say $5 per month to get that rate then it’s only a good deal if you’re a real chatterbox and like to talk to lots of minutes. It’s one of those mathematical equations which you can, quite frankly, work out for yourself.
- Minimum call lengths are also something which need to be scrutinized very carefully. Say you have that clever deal for $0.07 per minute, and just give your friend a quickie 2 minute call to wish them a happy birthday, then you’d imagine it would cost you $0.14 right? That’s not a lot to spend on your best friends birthday wishes is it, but hang on, some providers have a minimum charge of $0.50, so you could have spoken for 7 minutes for the same price – read the small print, it will be there somewhere.
- Minute lengths are another area which are not always as clear as you might imagine. After all, how long is a minute? Well, some long distance rates are charged in 60 second blocks (that’s a minute, in case you thought it was a trick question), so even if you talk for 61 seconds you’ll have to pay for 2 minutes, but some charge their long distance rates in 30 second blocks, so you’re not charged for the full minute until you’ve been chattering for 31 seconds, and other long distance rates are charged in much smaller time blocks, say 6 seconds, in which case you can talk for a whole 55 seconds before being charged for a minute. You see, minutes are not always minutes when you’re talking about long distance rates.
The best advice is to stop watching the baseball and listen properly to the telesales marketer, ask ALL of the right questions and READ THE SMALL PRINT when you get hold of the contract, it’s the only way to prevent any nasty little surprises.
