Another $0.02 to this week’s theme of international calls:
To make a very long story very short, today I disconnected my 4th VoIP
provider in 5 years and returned to the overpriced world of “dial tone”.
The main reasons to switch back were safety, security and reliability.
Of course, my new provider (Embarq) wanted me to purchase bundle after
bundle after bundle. Since I already have free nationwide calling from a 2nd
VoIP line (which I’m keeping), as well as three cell phones, as well as a 1
cent per minute (for domestic calls only) emergency card I keep tucked in my
wallet, Mr. Frugal Dice, saw no need to purchase the $15.00 per month free
nationwide calling plan which would have also entitled me to discounted
rates of 38 Cents per minute to Ukraine. I asked what the normal rate was to
Ukraine (for both residential and cellular) if there was no nationwide or
international calling plan in place: I was astonished to learn that it’s an
astronomical $4.83 per minute!!!
I promptly placed an international call block on the line as well as a 900
number block. My wife speaks with her parents daily with web cam for free
through Skype and or Yahoo IM. The blocks are in place in the event we have
a babysitter or Au Pair in the future and they decide to get cute with the
phone. My sons have never dialed a 900 number, but the block is in place
because they have friends who come over and well, let’s just say, I’d prefer
to keep honest people honest.
The only hole in the plan is that an unscrupulous person can make collect
calls from our number and we’d be stuck. It happened to me once before, a
babysitter ran up $300 in collect calls from Mexico City (that was in
1995!).
Good luck on your telephone choices, it’s a war zone out there.
