SBC's outrageous international rates

Sorry. She didn't have to use SBC long distance. SBC can charge whatever they want for long distance. It's *her* fault for not trying to find other ways of making calls to China and Japan. Even a cursory look at sites that compare long distance you can get calls to Japan for 7 or 8 cents per minute and similar rates to China. Consumers not knowing is their problem just as knowing that renting your phone from AT&T leased products is not a good idea but there are still people who do it because they don't bother to check things out.

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So, how much does 101-6868 charge for calls to cell phones in Japan?

I bought some prepaid international calling cards for calling a Japanese cell phone, but the mobile termination surcharge eats them alive; plus the card company charges 50 cents semi-monthly once you start using the card.

-- Mark --

Having been in the biz, I guess I should have paid more attention, but I made a call to Canada... International rates, default AT&T.

I used to have "dialers" that detected the phone number and would insert a dialaround as needed, but the popularity of that disappeared when it became possible to select a local toll carrier. Now I wish I had one.

Yeah, you've got to read the fine print carefully (assuming you can even find the fine print) on those cards. They're best for a few very long calls. Otherwise, the per-call, per-week, and per-month surcharges can eat up all the value.

Good CHRIST! That's unbeleiveable even for traditional landline rates

If you ever end up in that situation again, I'd see about switching her service to VoIP, seriously, or getting her a second line over VoIP since evidently, even that added cost would be cheaper than these rates. I'm on Packet8, and I can tell you right now, calls to China are 3 cents per minute. Japan is 3 cents/minute for landline, 21 cents/minute for mobile (ah, the wonders of calling-party-pays billing).

Unfortunately, they may be correct on this one. I remember there once being a story done on this by one of the investigative news outlets and it turned out it's quite legal to charge these rates so long as you haven't been slammed and the rates are published.

I can't agree. I used to work for a long distance phone company and was aware of the going rates for international long distance. Shortly after changing jobs I called Australia for the one and only time in my life. Sprint ripped me off big time. When I complained they offered me an Australian calling package at a few dollars a month that carried a reasonable rate. Instead I threw them in the bit bucket for evermore.

That being said, phone companies are pretty much all as crooked as a dog's hind leg. They will cut prices where they are visible and competitive while making it up with hidden gotchas.

I don't think you'll get anywhere with the complaint. These are their rates, and there was no error or mistreatment on SBC part. I remember it being in upwards of $8/min just a few years ago, so they even came down a little. Don't waste you time on the complaint. Instead, give her a VoIP line (if technically possible in the area where she lives) or program a button on her phone to dial the access code for the LD carrier you like.

comp.dcom.voice-over-ip would be a great resource to read about VoIP lines and services. We keep it archived here:

But according to the CPUC web site, utility rates must be based on actual costs and I can argue that there is absolutely no relation between these rates and their actual costs.

Oh I know all about VoIP. Part of my job is maintaining all our VoIP servers. But my mom has SBC's 500 minutes for ten dollars plan and that suits her fine. Any VoIP service would cost her a lot more and wouldn't be worth it.

The CPUC can regulate intrastate rates. They have no authority over interstate and international rates.

Yeah, I work with SBC all the time. You're right: they rip you off. But in this case, you let them. In your case, I feel no sympathy for you or her because you allow her to have a default carrier with those high rates. DUH!

Cancel the plan, or change the default! DUH!

Well, since the overseas call is thru SBC and they're multi-state, they might claim they're not subject to CPUC tariffs, but only to the federal FCC tariffs.

Then really, what's your point in continuing to complain? The solution seems simple enough. Either get her signed up with an LD carrier, switch to a VOIP provider, or put up with the high SBC tariffs. If choosing a carrier or switching to VoIP is "not worth it," than we can only assume that the rates you were complaining about must be nothing to sneeze at by comparison.

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