> They should work fine if you're calling from the NYC area. The
>> 212-976 and 914-976 prefixes are pay per call, so long distance
>> carriers won't connect to them. The last time I called (a long time
>> ago) the charge was a quarter.
> I'm pretty sure I called in from outside the NYC area via long
> distance and got through, despite being 976. Perhaps my LD carrier
> won't do it. However, I note that the AAA book no longer lists the
> number though it did before.
It seems to be something of a lottery depending upon the long-distance carrier concerned.
When I called (212) 976-2828 over the weekend from here in England it worked fine via my usual carrier (Call-1899). I know they route different ways on weekdays and at different times of day to get the cheap rates, but trying again this morning (Monday) has given curious results.
There is a much longer initial delay before connection, then an intercept from the U.S. end: "The number you are trying to reach cannot be dialed from the phone you are using. If you feel you have reached this recording in error.... " etc.. The recording ID is "Eureka (sp?) Info Highway, zero zero eight."
However ... At the end of the recording instead of a reorder or disconnect there's a few more seconds delay, then it rings and connects to the number anyway!
Dialing directly via BT (which will hand the call off randomly to AT&T, Sprint, MCI, etc.) seems to connect immediately every time.
-Paul.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here in the USA -- at least in Kansas -- routing calls to any area-976-xxxx via MCI (unless it happens to be one they, themselves own/operate) brings back an intercept saying, "at the present time, MCI does not connect to 976 numbers". PAT]