|
|
Philippines prepaid calling cards and Philippine phone cards are
not always a good investment. A lot depends on the Internet
company you choose to buy the card. First, do not focus
"completely" on the amount charged per minute for landline cards
or cell phone cards. The cheapest per minute prepaid cards
usually have the most hidden fees. Your 8 cents per minute to the
Philippines can quickly turn into 30 cents per minute if you are
hit with a bunch of hidden fees.
The instant pin card with the best overall value may not be the
cheapest "per minute" card. It is more important to look for the
fewest hidden fees. This is especially true if you cannot use all
the phone card minutes at one time, or if you happen to get
disconnected during your call to the Philippines. Disconnected
calls are very common when dialing overseas, and this especially
true in the Philippines.
|
|
|
Once you get disconnected (whether planned or unplanned) your
phone card has just become less of a value. With a dropped call
you are left trying to contact the company customer service line (if
they have one) to try and get a credit. You may spend 30 minutes
on the phone trying to get credit for 10 minutes you lost on your
phone card. Most customers just give up while trying to contact
customer service. The bad calling card companies know this and
exploit it with bad customer service. Some companies have even
been accused of deliberately disconnecting calls so that
customers will lose minutes and get charged higher fees.
Fees to look out for with Philippines or other international
prepaid calling cards.
1) Connection fees - Charged fee for connecting to your number
2) Billing Increments - 1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute rounding
3) Maintenance Fee - time sensitive charge (daily, weekly)
|
4) Carrier Service Fee - charged by the network service provider
5) Payphone Fee - Extra fee for using a pay phone
6) Card Expiration - Each instant pin card expires after so many days
Customer service information you should know.
1) Do they have a customer service number?
2) What is the 1-800 access number you call to enter your PIN?
3) Is there a local access number you can call which might offer better rates than 1-800 access?
4) Do the prepaid card have a Rechargeable PIN so you can just pay again and use the same PIN number?
5) Does the card work from Alaska, Hawaii and Canada?
6) Can you call an international cell phone with the card?
|
|