Payphone Surcharges (was: Unanswered Cellphones)

Anth>> And using a calling card from a payphone can be significant these
>> days since the payphone owner can now "legally" extort huge charges >> from the long distance carrier or card provider, who will then extort >> those surcharges from us. > No extortion involved. If someone held a gun to your head or > otherwise forced you to use the payphone, it would be extortion. > Since you choose to use a payphone, you choose to absorb that cost. > A cost, which is regulated, and which helps telcos continue to run pay > phones at all, since they're not generally considered profitable > anymore, at least around here.

It IS extortion at the rates they charge. While I have a cellphone, not everyone has one, and payphones with calling cards are still the way they need to place calls while not at home.

The surcharge rates are *NOT* regulated! The FCC/etc. have "allowed" the payphone owners to charge these surcharges, LONG AFTER the private payphone owners first became involved in the payphone game. But the rates themselves, while "recommended" by the FCC/etc., are NOT regulated! The amounts that the payphone owners charge back to the Long Distance carriers who then pass back to the card-holder is *PURE GRAVY* for both, since the Long Distance and Card companies are most likely adding even more profit for themselves.

And it is NOT the telcos who own most of the payphones these days but rather private sleaze companies which entered the payphone game with

1984 (and some illegally before 1984).

The Long Distance carriers, card issuers, etc. usually have some kind of card surcharge that would apply when you are calling from either a payphone, hotel phone, or regular business (PBX or otherwise) or residential line, but if you are using your card from a payphone (and in some cases even from a hotel or hospital room PBX extension), you can be hit with quite expensive ADDITIONAL surcharges which again, is PURE GRAVY for both the (non telco) payphone owner or PBX owner, passed back to the long distance carrer/card issuer who passes it to us with a mark-up.

These non-telco private payphone owners (and even many hospital/hotel PBX owners) wanted to "change the rules" in the middle of the game, and many of them weren't even playing by the original rules in the first place!

Payphone service used to be a good convenient public service when telco really did own the phones. But when the non-telco owners came in, like a cancer, payphone service went to hell, with the telcos finally pulling out of the game completely in many places. I'll just use my cellphone whenever I'm not able to use my home phone, but I do feel for those who don't have cellphones and have to use remaining sleazy (non-telco) payphones.