Study Finds International Calling Cards Users Are Getting Scammed
Imagine that you’re an Argentinian student attending a U.S. university. Or you’re an American couple vacationing in Paris on your first international trip.
You want to be able to call home to check on your family. You walk into a local convenience store to buy an international calling call. You believe the $5.00 card will allow you to share 10 minutes of quality time speaking with family members. Two minutes into the call, the call ends. You hear a voice message saying you need to buy more time to continue the call.
According to the FCC, “Many prepaid calling cards have ‘fine print’ and undisclosed fees” — and there’s a good chance that they are not nearly as inexpensive as advertised.
QuickCall.com conducted qualitative research to determine whether current providers of prepaid calling cards are providing clear information about charges to consumers, and whether consumers really get what they are promised.
What they found was surprising. Not only did many of the cards simply not deliver the amount of call minutes expected by a consumer, but others stacked the deck by deducting fees on a per-call or time-based period. A sample of fees that “eat up” much of the cost of the card, assessed by different providers, include: service fees of $0.25 per minute; a “disconnection fee” of $0.90 on calls less than 5 minutes; and online order processing fees (up to $2 added to a $5 card purchase). Most had a weekly or bi-weekly fee deducted as well.
There are international calling cards that deliver on their promises: best performers Dezco and Nobelcom delivered closely on their promises, 98% and 99% respectively. The worst performer, Dollar Phone, delivered only 22% of its face value on cards tested.
To request a synopsis of the study or arrange a phone conversation, email Dana Todd, CMO for QuickCall.com, at dana.todd@srvrco.com.
QuickCall.com, a global provider of consumer telecommunication services, is a start-up incubated by SRVR, LLC. . The QuickCall.com mobile app is the best way to make fast, prepaid international calls. Designed to be superior to calling cards and other services, it offers full transparency and flexibility. There are no hidden fees or contracts, and credits will not expire on active accounts. QuickCall.com offers highest voice quality and low rates to more than 200 countries worldwide on either Android or iPhone. To find information and links to download the app at http://bit.ly/2ayrlYh.
