have you ever made a collect call on a pay-phone?

[Syrinx]

First of all, so this post makes sense: I have never owned a cell phone, I've never wanted one, and I fully intend to never get one. Probably, at some point, if I'm still alive, the government will make me get one. I will never volunteer.

That being said, sometimes it would be convenient to have one. ;)

My car died on me in the Winn Dixie parking lot. At first, I thought my battery was dead. But I was helped by a couple of friendly people who tried to give me a jump. It started to seem like it was my starter instead, something that wasn't going to get resolved in that parking lot last night.

I walked up to the lone pay-phone on the large property... ten years ago there would have been ten.

There was something physically wrong with the phone. I couldn't put quarters in.

So I noticed an ad, right there on the pay-phone. A "star" number for "collect" calls. So I decicded to call my friend. Surely, if he was willing to drive fifteen miles to pick me up, he's not going to mind a fifty-cent phone-call.

So I punched that star code, and the voice said "Enter the number you wish to call." So I did.

Then the same voice came on, unexpectedly, with a menu. "To immediately place this call, press "1."

Luckily, I hesitated, and the menu continues: "To hear an estimate of the cost of this call, press "2."

Of course I pressed two.

"This call will cost approximately thirteen dollars."

This was a local call.

And I was physically barred from putting the fifty cents in the phone.

There was no real slot to put the money in! Sounds like a scam to me!

So I walked into Winn Dixie and nicely asked them to use their phone, and they let me. Yay! I'm home. :)

[suninvited]

1. Collect calls from a pay phone have always been expensive

but not to that extent.

My guess is that to provide a service like that in an almost all but dead industry required them to make some changes. They cant take change anymore because that would require someone going around and emptying the machines periodically.

They are probably required by law to include that second option, and they are hoping that most people dont take a pause.

[seemunkee]

2. Not in a long time

As a kid in high school who had unreliable cars and went up to the mountains a lot, I made many long distance collect calls.

[bigwillq]

3. No (nt)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Not during this century.

[datasuspect]

5. i had to when i went to jail

[surrealAmerican]

6. Not in the last ten years ...

... mostly because pay phones have almost completely disappeared from the landscape around here, but even before that collect calls were expensive enough to avoid.

It's not "the government" that will make you get a cell phone eventually; it's the phone company. A few more emergencies like this, and you'll decide you can't do without.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Not a scam, just a rotten business...

when pay phones were deregulated and everyone got into the business strange things happened, like the time one of them tried to get me to pay 50 cents to call an 800 number.

Now, I imagine companies like the one who owned that phone can't even be bothered to empty the coin box, so they force you to pay huge charges on collect calls or big bucks on a phone card.

(Cell phones aren't that bad at all, really, and a prepaid one is cheap and can be ingnored until needed)

[dembotoz]

8. the bells have pretty much gotten out of the pay phone business

leaving the door open to "market conditions"
and "free enterprise"

Which means good for them and sucks for you.

[KamaAina]

9. That was SOP back at boarding school

Impoverished student: "Collect from KamaAina."

Operator: "Ma'am, will you accept the charges?"

Savvy mom: "No." (click)

(pay phone in dorm rings)

Savvy mom: "May I speak to KamaAina, please?"

:P