Monday, October 16, 2006

Prepaid Calling Cards Basic Buying Tips

The first prepaid calling card buying tip that I could suggest is to be critical about those that offer cheap rates. There are numerous prepaid calling cards available out there that offer low rates, as well as no monthly fees and really cheap plans for calls. A caveat in these types of deals is that there is a lot of complicated subtle information that are not shown on their corresponding Websites. Perhaps, it really does charge low calling rate if the call is made within the state, however the rates could actually jump extremely high when the card is utilized for out-of-state calls. To examine such hidden charges, you can start by looking at per call charge, 3-minute rounding, connection fees, and long talk time charges. Chances are these apparently cheap prepaid calling cards transfer the burden of their fees in any one or combination of these features.

The second prepaid calling card buying tip has something to do with the company’s concern for its client’s satisfaction. Thus, prepaid calling card companies should offer excellent customer service. Reaching the customer service line should never be a problem in the cases wherein you need to address about a certain concern or dissatisfaction of their service. A good customer service indicates a lot about the prepaid calling card company’s commitment to customer satisfaction.

Most frequently the temptation to switch the current local phone service provider to the pre-paid calling card’s sister phone company. There are prepaid calling card companies that administer promos to ask the users to switch their phone providers to their mother company with a bond of twelve or twenty four months. If this is considered, check out the termination fees that will be applied if ever you decide cut their service on grounds of dissatisfaction and low quality.

Prepaid calling cards have cannot be stored for as long as you want without using it. Prepaid calling card companies usually limit the validity of the card within a certain time period since you purchase it. But check out those that will expire only within thirty days if the card is not used. These calling cards do not care whether the user is on a vacation or is just saving the calls for more important occasions, without notification nor these prepaid calling cards prematurely terminate even though you haven’t totally consumed the credits.

Some prepaid calling cards tease you with a lot of gimmicks, which can only confuse the mind of the client as he has to take down several aspects. Be wise and use the calculator. Add the taxes and the fees that come with the card.

Another prepaid calling card buying tip is watching out for the excessively expensive international calls. In this type of deals, international calls with your parents or loved ones overseas will always be hurried up. From the moment you dialed the phone, within a minute or two your prepaid calling card runs out on you.

As soon as a prepaid calling card is chosen, the next dilemma will be, which plan to select among a set of mind boggling plans. It is so hard to understand the perks for each plan. There are double or triple plans, weekend plans, day plans, night plans, and even unlimited plans. Pick the best plan that will go well with the chosen lifestyle. Hence as another tip, you should understand quite well what you really need. It helps to contemplate about it with a few.

Personal Identification Numbers of PIN, especially those that ensure the security and privacy of the user must be treated with high regard. When making long distance and international calls, the PIN restricts other people from using your credits arbitrarily. Just a word of advice: some prepaid calling cards ask for eight or ten digit PIN. So you better keep them in a safe place, or better yet memorize them—surely an added inconvenience if you have to make a lot of calls that need it.

Last prepaid calling card buying tip is to avoid one-time use cards. It is not only frustrating to know in the end that the credits of this type of calling card become insufficient to make another call after the first use, but also a waste of time since you have to buy another calling card in order to make another call.