wmartin@st-louis-emh2.army.mil (Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI) (02/13/89)
Anyone else happen to notice the interesting gaffe or just plain error made on
the Feb 11 airing of "Beyond Tomorrow" on Fox TV? There was a short segment
in which one of the reporters plugged their, as she put it, "toll-free
information line". ^^^^^^^^^
As she spoke, the screen displayed their 900 number: 1-900-nnn-4FOX
("nnn" means I don't recall what those three digits are! :-).
As I watched that, I wondered: "A toll-free 900 number? How
interesting..." ^^^
However, in the end credits, they gave the number again, this time with
the standard disclaimer in tiny print about it costing 50 cents for the
first minute, etc. So much for toll-free 900's...
I wonder if their airing that statement about it being toll-free would
be adequate legal grounds for viewers to refuse to pay for charges incurred
by making calls to that number?
Another interesting sidelight was that the reporter was depicted, and stated,
that she was making this information call from Tokyo. I didn't think that
900 calls were internationally accessible, the same way that 800 calls
were blocked off. Am I wrong on that? Is there international billing for
these 900 call charges?
Regards,
Will Martinedell%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Richard Edell) (02/16/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0061m04@vector.UUCP> wmartin@st-louis-emh2.army.mil (Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI) writes: >Anyone else happen to notice the interesting gaffe or just plain error made on >the Feb 11 airing of "Beyond Tomorrow" on Fox TV? There was a short segment >in which one of the reporters plugged their, as she put it, "toll-free >information line". ^^^^^^^^^ >As I watched that, I wondered: "A toll-free 900 number? How >interesting..." ^^^ It is possible for a 900 information provider to set the retail price of the telephone call to $0.00. The information provider still has to pay the long distance (transport) charges. One reason this might be preferable to 800 service is in the case of AT&T's Dial-It 900 service where no customer equipment is required. -Richard Edell (edell@garnet.berkeley.edu)
e118-ak@euler.berkeley.edu (Linc Madison) (02/16/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0061m04@vector.UUCP> you write: >Another interesting sidelight was that the reporter was depicted, and stated, >that she was making this information call from Tokyo. I didn't think that >900 calls were internationally accessible, the same way that 800 calls >were blocked off. Am I wrong on that? Is there international billing for >these 900 call charges? I don't know about 900 numbers, but I have successfully called 800 numbers from overseas (specifically Australia) several times. Of course, I'm charged the normal rate for an international toll call. Another thing, though, was that a friend in college told me (and actually demonstrated) that if you dial an out-of-area-code 976 number from a Pacific Bell pay phone, you are charged only the toll charges, not the $2 or whatever per call. -- Linc Madison = e118-ak@euler.berkeley.edu
johnl@ima.isc.com (John R. Levine) (02/18/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0065m04@vector.UUCP> edell%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Richard Edell) writes: >... One reason this might be preferable >to 800 service is in the case of AT&T's Dial-It 900 service where no >customer equipment is required. AT&T's new Readyline 800 service is sort of a cross between call forwarding and 800 service. It delivers your 800 calls to your regular phone, for $20 per month plus toll charges. I suspect that whoever said "toll-free 900" just wasn't thinking too clearly. Regards, John Levine, johnl@ima.isc.com