Long Distance Rates

Long Distance Rates? Aren’t they all pretty similar really, after all, these companies have to remain competitive to keep our business don’t they? My answer to that would be “don’t kid yourself”. Yes, companies do need to be competitive, but they are also very good at offering good deals which are, let’s face it, good deals for themselves and not necessarily for the customer. Smoke and mirrors – get my drift?

Let’s take a familiar scenario. You’re just settling down to watch TV for the evening, you’ve had a lovely family dinner and a glass of wine or two, you’re just about to put your feet up when the telephone rings – a telemarketer asks the all important question – “do you want to save money and get cheap long distance rates”? Your response is probably either:

1. simply put the phone down, you’ve had a long day and you’re missing your favorite TV program
2. you politely but firmly say “not today thank you” and then put the phone down
3. you decide to listen to the deal and see how you can get some cheaper long distance rates. How much money will it save you? What will it cost to switch? How much is the monthly fee? Cost per minute?  But do you really listen and take in ALL of the details, or just get half the story and presume the rest?

Long Distance Rates – The Whole Story

One thing which you must remember when looking at long distance rates, is that there will be more to your invoice than the charge per minute – it’s the fees which are added on top which can make what might appear to be the deal of the month to be not quite such a good idea after all, and very often you’re not getting what you think you’re getting at all!

• Out of state -vs- In state calls: Very often you will be swayed by really tempting long distance rates for state to state calls, but what about long distance calls which are within the same state? You may presume that the price would be the same, or even cheaper, but watch out and read the small print, you might be in for a nasty shock if the majority of your long distance calls are made within your own state. Ask the question!
• Monthly Service Fees: You might be pretty pleased with yourself if you’ve successfully negotiated a really great long distance rate of say $0.07 per minute, but hang on, what if you have to pay a monthly service fee for the privilege? Adding a flat $5 or $6 service charge on top can make it not such a good deal after all. It depends on how many calls you make and how much chattering you do - you do the math.
• Minimum Call Lengths: this is another way that some crafty providers can catch you out. You sign up for 10 cents per minute and so you imagine that a couple of minutes call will cost you 20 cents right? Wrong, some carriers have a minimum call length, so if there’s a minimum charge of say 50 cents, it’s gonna cost you that even if you hang up on an answering machine – sneaky rascals aren’t they?
• Minute Lengths: How long is a minute anyway? Well, when I was at school, and as far as I know it hasn’t changed (although time does fly as you get older) a minute was 60 seconds. Now then, some carriers charge in 60 second intervals, so if you talk for 61 seconds you will be charged for 2 minutes, but if your carrier charges in 30 second intervals, you won’t get charged even for a full minute until you’ve been chattering for 31 seconds, and if you can find a carrier who charges in a smaller interval, say 6 seconds (it does exist) then you won’t get charged for a minute until you’ve been chattering away for a full 55 seconds. It’s not nice to have a stopwatch on when you’re trying to wish your Grandson happy birthday is it, but time is money. 

The only way to make sure that you’re getting a really good deal on your long distance rates, is by checking out all of the small print so that you know exactly what you’re getting, and what you’ll have to pay extra for.