Newest Phone Cards

What is 'prepaid phone card' - 'prepaid calling card'?

Pre-paid phone cards represent telephone time you buy in advance. Prepaid phone cards prices/face values range from $5 to $50 or more up-front for local/international/domestic or long-distance phone time; the amount of time you buy depends on the rate-per-minute you're charged. For many people, pre-paid phone calls offer the ultimate in convenience. The phone time is paid for in advance; the card can be used from any phone, even from payphones (usually with 50 cents FCC mandeted fee); and there's no need to think about carrying coins or notes around.

Prepaid phone cards are now sold at all over the places; including convenience stores, newsstands, travel agencies, motels, post offices, ethnic supermarkets, major supermarkets, retail and grocery stores. Prepaid calling card/phone cards are used mostly by students, travelers, people who regularly call overseas - international calling destinations, and those who may not have long-distance telephone service either international or domestic. Some prepaid phone cards can be recharged, usually by additional cost and providing with additional credit card charge to your account. And some prepaid phone cards have advanced features like speed dialing for frequently called numbers and an call detail records of called numbers, which may be handy for business purposes and claiming tax exempts.

How Prepaid Calling Cards Work

Almost all prepaid phone cards comes with a toll-free access telephone number and a personal identification number (PIN). Prepaid phone card companies have computers that use your calling card PIN to keep track of your usage - how much phone time you have on your phone card in minutes or units. To make a phone call, you dial the access number, enter your PIN, and computer on the phone card company will usually tell you how much prepaid money amount that you have on your card. After that, you enter the phone number of the party you're trying to reach. A computer tells you how much time - or how many units - you have left on your card for the international or domestic calling number that you just called. Typically, each unit equals one domestic/international minute. If your prepaid phone card is not rechargeable - that is, if you can't buy additional minutes for the phone card - you'll need to buy another phone card when you have completedly used up the time or minutes.

Several key players are involved in making sure your phone card works:

Carriers are responsible for the telephone lines that carry your calls.
Resellers buy telephone minutes from carriers.
Issuers set the rates and provide toll-free customer service and access numbers.
Distributors get the cards to retailers.
Retailers sell the cards.
Carriers and resellers can issue their own pre-paid phone cards; but if they don't issue the cards, they're not likely to be responsible for any problems you may have.

When you buy a prepaid phone card from a store, it's important to remember that you've bought a telephone service, not a product. The store doesn't control the quality of the service. To make sure you're getting what you've paid for, you may want to buy a small denomination first to test out the service, and check with friends or relatives to find out their experience with the card.

Concerns on phone cards

As the pre-paid phone card industry mushrooms, and as more people buy and use the cards, some problems are coming to light. The most common consumer complaints are about:

access numbers or PINs that don't work;
issuers who go out of business, leaving card-holders with a useless card;
customer service numbers that are busy or simply don't work;
toll-free access numbers that are constantly busy, preventing use of the card;
rates that are higher than advertised;
hidden connection charges, taxes and surcharges;
cards that debit minutes or units even when you don't connect with the party you're calling; and
poor quality connections.

Buying Phone Time and Value

Consumers can avoid many of these problems - and buy considerable peace of mind - by planning ahead. Although many pre-paid phone cards are impulse purchases, you can preempt disappointment by checking out a few things in advance (These are true even if you buy online or in a retail store):

Ask if the retailer will stand behind the card if the telephone service is unsatisfactory.
Look for the rate for domestic and international calls on the card's package or on the vending machine. These rates may vary depending on where you call. If you can't find the rate, call the card's customer service number.
The prepaid phone card industry is highly competitive. Beware of very low rates, particularly for international calls. They may indicate poor customer service.
Look for disclosures about surcharges, monthly fees, per-call access, and the like, in addition to the rate-per-minute or unit. Some cards add a surcharge to the first minute of use. Others charge an activation fee for recharging cards.
Check on expiration dates. Most cards expire one year after first use. If there is no expiration date, a card usually is considered "live" until all phone time is used.
Look for a toll-free customer service number. If the customer service number isn't toll-free or displayed, it may be difficult to contact the company if you have a problem with the card. A busy signal on the customer service line may be a tip off to a rip-off.
Be sure the card comes with instructions that you understand.
Make sure the card comes in a sealed envelope or has a sticker covering the PIN. Otherwise, anyone who copies the PIN can use the phone time you've already paid for.
Ask friends and relatives for references on the card you're thinking of buying.
Consider these questions:

Were they charged for a call when there was no answer or when the line was busy?
Was there a minimum charge for each call? For example, were charges based on a minimum of three minutes even though the call lasted 30 seconds?
Was the access number inaccessible because of a constant busy signal?