Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Talk is not cheap

Years ago, I changed my long distance provider from AT&T to SBC a choice that made me very happy overall. And then AT&T bought SBC so I'm back where I started. My cell phone service is through Cingular which also merged with AT&T.

I called CE in Hong Kong on my land line. 39 minutes for $199.65. Without tax and fees, the call was $4.40/min. This is why people buy calling cards. This is why people use Skype. This is why I am planning to throw out my phone and buy a dozen carrier pigeons. This is why I need to buy a pair of tin cans and a really really long string that reaches from here to Hong Kong.

Total moron move. Everytime I think I learn the "watch the time and mind your phone bill lesson" I do something like this and eat peanut butter sandwiches for another month.

2 comments:

MomVee said...

We don't have long distance on the land line anymore, since LD is free on our cell plan and we have (not hyperbole) over 8,000 rollover minutes (plans upped for phone replacement purposes...)

It's a little embarrassing when someone like a parent tries to use the land line and gets turned down, then we have to have the "No, it's not that we can't pay our LD bill, we don't _have_ LD" conversation.

ergo said...

Momvee:
You are not alone in that. I keep asking myself why I have a landline.

In Beijing when you owe money on your phone bill (or cell phone bill) at first you can receive calls but not send them. Then you can't receive them. And the outgoing message is "So and so didn't pay their bill!" Then you can't send text messages. Then you can't receive them.

Fishlamp: Oh, I know.