Ralph.Hyre@IUS3.IUS.CS.CMU.EDU (09/09/88)
[this experience gleaned from my recent vacation in CA.] This may be well-known, but calling from a hotel room phone and verifying that the AT&T operator is there the call may still not guarantee an AT&T rate. Hotels apparently can charge whatever the market will bear, by calling it a 'service charge'. I hope the AOS backlash/crackdown will deal with this outrage as well. One call (<10 minutes, placed after 11pm) from the Days Inn at Oakland (CA) Airport, cost $5.45. Even though dialing '00' (the convention for getting an LD operator) yielded the happy response "AT&T operator, may I help you?" Motel 6, on the other hand, still offers free local calling (no hassling over 950 number access), since they have no capability to add phone charges to the room bill. - Ralph