Be cautious of using airport pay phones
 

Even though I consider myself a seasoned traveler with flying more than 100,000 miles many years and travels to numerous countries I was shocked by the outrageous price of using a pay phone at the Seattle-Tacoma airport. After three long flights that originated in Bangkok, Thailand I arrived at the airport in Seattle. The person who was to meet us had not arrived and I was without a cell phone due to the foreign travel. The sign on the pay phone advertised 4 minutes anywhere in the U.S. for $1.00. Being without change, I used the credit card option. Imagine my surprise when I received my credit card statement for $8.69 from NCIC for a 2-3 minute local phone call. Contacting NCIC I was told in a rather rude manner that the advertised price was for cash only and this was the credit card price and I should have asked for charges even though there was a sign stating the fee. After speaking to a supervisor, I was told they would reduce the charge to approximately $5.00 – which still has not shown as a credit on my account. At over $4.00 per minute for a local call is outrageous and certainly takes advantage of tired and stressed travelers. Both NCIC and the Port of Seattle should be ashamed to allow these practices to exist. I'll always carry a phone card in the future in case I don't have a cell phone or the battery is dead.

Gawd.

I let my cell phone run down and was trying to figure out how to use a cell phone at DFW last month. I mean, my Amex has that feature, heck if I could figure it.

The guy next to me on the floor charging his laptop handed me his cell phone and said that he couldn't figure it out either last month.

I guess if you have a google of minutes, why not?

T-Mobile works in most counties for about $1 per minute.

I had to use one at MXP three or four years ago, for call of less than a one minute to the U.S.; (called Mrs. Gargoyle to get the cell phone pin code). I don't recall exactly what the posted price was, maybe 2 or 3 euro, but I got billed for $32.00. I managed to contest it with help of my credit card company and got the charge cancelled.

I checked the phone next time I was there, a month or two later, and there was no indication of trick pricing on the signage.

Very dirty pool.

I have to say
 

thank you! I hadn't thought about this at all.

This is why despite having a mobile phone with global roaming (except Japan), I keep an ATT calling card handy. It's not always cheap (particularly if you are using the 'USA Direct' access numbers to call from one non-US country to another), but it works and for calls to the USA it's quite reasonable.

-C

Same thing happened to me in AMS. had to call family in Germany to inform of continued flight delay, payed by card as i didnt have any euro coins. was charged a total of $70 for two calls, one 5 minutes and one 7 minutes in length. Sucessfully disputed charge with Chase. Rate on phone was ~.4 EUR/minute. When speaking with the phone provider, they said the same as the OP, the rates posted are for cash and credit calls are taken by satellite. This is a VERY unethical business model, IMO.

Wirelessly posted (My IV to the Net: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry7250/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

I also carry around a calling card although I had been thinking of removing it from my wallet since I have not used it in the 5 years I have had it in there.
After reading this I'll keep it in there, just in case.

I had some problems with pay phone at LAX a while ago. Kept eating my change and not connecting me. (although the loss was not on the level of the $70 ripoff discussed above). Customer "Service" was unresponsive until I mentioned I might be complaining to the California Public Utitlities Commission. A refund check quickly arrived.

So, a complaint to your credit card company is a good start, followed by a complaint to the appropriate regulator and the management at the airport housing the naughty phone.

When my phone battery went dead I tried to use a payphone at Dulles, in Concourse D, I needed about $4 in quarters to even connect :mad:

I keep a calling card (MCI) with me for this reason, but they aren't always a deal either. I am accustomed to paying the 35 cent pay phone fee or whatever, but I used it for a (fortunately) quick call to the US from the Admiral's Club in YYZ and that call must have been US$7 or 8 per minute given how many minutes it said I had available for the call -- compared once I got home and the balance was back to normal. This is obviously much better than $70 for a 5 minute call, but still not a deal -- though also not a horrible credit card shock after the fact. I was fully aware I was going to get screwed if I completed the call.

I carry with me a prepaid calling card you can pick up at Sam's Club or Costco. The rates are 3-4 cents per minute and there is a payphone surcharge of about 75 cents. You dial the toll-free access number and use the pin on the card. Much less than the credit card rates. Although I have not used them from outside the US and do not know the rates, there is also a list of access numbers for many countries.

Also very handy for making calls from hotel rooms.

Never use a credit card to pay for a phone call!
 

A couple of years ago I was staying at a Howard Johnson's in ABQ. I dialed 1-800-CALL-ATT (remembered it from some dumb commericial on TV) and used my Visa card to pay for a call to Tucson. It was a normal weekday night and a 56 minute call ended up costing me $78 and some odd cents!

Caveat Emptor! :mad:

Whats next a $500 phone call,if the owners of these telephone companys can justify a 4 Euro a min fee why not 10X that? Someone has to say Enough, thats gouging !

that's a deceptive business practice in my book. Don't wait for a company like that to do the right thing, even if they say they will; dispute the charge with your credit card and notify the state of Washington public service commission.