| Ever get less minutes than you thought you were going to get? |
| Indeed, it's hard to find a customer who has not had a negative calling card experience. The calling card industry has been plagued with companies trying to deceive consumers with all kinds of devious business practices which are either undisclosed, or disclosed in very fine print. |
| Basic Example: |
| We purchased a very popular 1.5 cents a minute card. |
| We made one 25 minute call which one would think would cost $0.375 at first glance (25 times $0.015). Right? Wrong! |
| When we added the connection fee, usage fee and maintenance fees, the total cost for that call was $2.08 or 8.3 cents per minute! On the average call (7 minutes), the effective per minute rate would be a whopping 15.5 cents a minute - TEN TIMES the published rate. |
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Stop Being Cheated! Read on... |
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| Connection Fees |
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Charging connection fees on every call is the most popular ploy used by calling card companies. Connection fees add tremendously to the per minute cost of the call. For example, a connection fee of just $0.25 will add over 3.5 cents per minute to the average call bringing your effective per minute cost up by 3.5 cents. There are companies that cut calls off randomly, to ensure you call again, so they can charge that connection fee again. Companies attempt to lure you to buy their product by
advertising an insanely low rate, but with a fine-print connection fee. Also, be wary of disconnection fees on supposed "no connection fee" cards that are charged when you hang up... |
| Others: Up to $2.00 |
| IsCard: NONE! |
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| Maintenance Fees |
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Maintenance fees are deducted from your card without you even making a call! These fees are assessed on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. These charges are an attempt by other calling card companies to take your money without incurring any variable
costs. Maintenance fees are pure profit for the phone card company without any benefit to the consumer! |
| Others: Up to $1.50 per day |
| IsCard: NONE! |
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| Multiple Minute Rounding |
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Multiple minute rounding means you pay for more minutes that you actually spoke. For example, if you spoke for 6 minutes, some cards will charge you based on "5 minute rounding" and charge you for a 10 minute call! This brings your effective rate per minute up, because you must calculate paying for those added minutes that you did not use! At IsCard, we bill in one minute increments so you pay only for the minutes you spoke. |
| Others: Up to 5 Minute Rounding |
| IsCard: 1 Minute Rounding |
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| Usage Fees / Additional Taxes & Surcharges |
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Many companies add usage fees, taxes and surcharges to the per minute rates they advertise that can add as much as 20% to the cost of the call. While the companies are required to collect these taxes/surcharges, many collect much more than they are required to by law. In addition, it is law that these charges must be included at the time of payment so these fees must be included in the published rates in order to be in compliance with the law. At IsCard, the rates we publish are the rates you pay inclusive of taxes so there are never any surprises. |
| Others: Up to 20% above published rates |
| IsCard: Included in published rates |
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| Tier 1 Quality |
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Many companies route their calls over Tier 2 and Tier 3 networks to earn extra profit. While the quality is sometimes acceptable, often calls will have intolerable delays, dropped words, and sudden disconnections. At IsCard, we buy wholesale capacity from tier-1 networks so calls go through the first time all the time with crystal clear clarity! |
| Others: Dropped Calls, Bad Connections |
| IsCard: Tier-1 Quality! |
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| "Bong" Charges |
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Some companies random deduct small amounts from their customer's balances which are too small for the customer to realize yet translate to extra profit for the company. At IsCard, we encourage you to check our math by viewing your call history online. |
| Others: Unlimited |
| IsCard: NONE! |
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| We hope you will find this information helpful when you make your decision. IsCard is built on principles of honesty and integrity. You can rest assured that you will not be subject to any of these deceptive practices when you purchase from IsCard. We look forward to servicing your phone card needs today and in the future. |
