TCI’s 3¢ Residential Plan

Posted on April 15, 2009 by LD Agent

I have a few questions about your 3 cent residential plan.

I read in the FAQ’s that the switching fee is reimbursed, how does that work, do I call into customer service and indicate how much the fee is and then they credit my account?  Does this credit then have to be used up within a monthly period, or will it stay on my account until it is used?

I also would like to know if paper billing is available without an additional fee.  I saw in the terms and conditions it says there is no fee for a paper invoice, but on saveonphone.com it says there is a .99 fee for this.  Which is correct?  Also, can I pay by check or does the payments have to be made via electronic debit?

Thanks,

Matt

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Pioneer Telephone Rollover Question

Posted on April 7, 2009 by LD Agent

We are interested in obtaining a business phone line, toll free number and fax line from Pioneer Telephone.  We would like to have the capability of calls rolling over to a cell phone if the main line is busy. 

What you really need is a local phone service provider first. They would be the ones setting up your actual business lines with phone numbers and the rollover feature. Once you have your local numbers, then Pioneer can get you the toll free number, as well as be your long distance carrier.

Use the tool at the top of this page to find the local carriers, and any special deals they may have, in your city or town.
http://www.calling-plans.com/local-telephone-service.htm

Then, once you have a local provider, and telephone numbers, you will be able to just hop online and order Pioneer’s long distance service and a toll free number. Once you have done that, you will get a welcome email from Pioneer with the toll free customer service numbers.

Pioneer: http://pioneer.riveroffers.com/?crid=13524

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$15.00 For Unlimited Long Distance

Posted on April 2, 2009 by LD Agent

Qwest is offering it’s customers unlimited long distance service for $15.00 a month if they have local service through Qwest. This should pretty much make Qwest the cheapest long distance carrier for it’s customers. This discount should keep most of their customers in-house, instead of having them jump ship for discount carriers like Pioneer, Opex and Total Call International.

If you don’t have local service from Qwest, but you still want Qwest’s $15 Unlimited Long Distance Deal, you can get it for $25. LOL

States that Qwest currently services with local service are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

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TCI & Opex Become One

Posted on March 30, 2009 by LD Agent

Total Call International (TCI) bought Opex. Anyone have any information on this?

TCI’s rates are still 3 cents per minute with no monthly fees or minimums. While Opex’s long distance rate is still holding steady at 2.7 cents per minute. I’m not sure if TCI has plans to integrate Opex into their existing product line, or just keep Opex as it is, since it has great placement on the net, and has a name for good service at a great price.

Visit Opex or Total Call International for more information.

If you have any information on this Telecom Merger, please drop me a line.

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Pioneer Telephone’s Taxes and Fees

Posted on February 5, 2009 by LD Agent

I’ve had a bunch of requests for tax rates from people interested in signing up for Pioneer Telephone’s long distance service lately, so I thought I’d just post them here so everyone can see them.

Pioneer’s Universal Service Fund fee is currently 11.3% of the customer’s state to state and international calling. Their TIF, or access fee, is currently 6%.

Pioneer doesn’t have a monthly fee for accounts that use electronic billing, but customers who want a paper bill in the mail, and are using less than $15.00 worth of service in a month, will be charged 99 cents for it.

Pioneer’s PIC-C fee for businesses is $4.21 per line. They do this a little different from most of the other discount telecoms, in that Pioneer charges a business for all of their lines if they have more than one, but Pioneer doesn’t charge them the PIC-C fee if they have only one line. 

There is a 99 cent charge per month for each toll free number, and if someone calls your toll free number from a payphone, you will be charged an additional 69 cents for that call, which goes to the owner of the payphone.

Pioneer Telephone is a good company, with good service, if you are looking for a new long distance carrier, try Pioneer Telephone today!

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1-700-555-4141

Posted on January 24, 2009 by LD Agent

1-700-555-4141 is a number that tells you who your long distance provider is, and that’s all it does. Actually, it tells you which company carries your long distance service over their wires, but they could be doing it for a third party.

For example, discount long distance carriers usually don’t have their own network, so they pay another carrier to carry their long distance traffic. So when you dial 1-700-555-4141, it might say Willtel, Qwest, Verizon or MCI, even though you send your monthly payment to Powernet Global or Opex.

It’s actually a good idea to call 1-700-555-4141 every once in awhile, just to make sure you are still with the long distance carrier that you chose. Sometimes, companies will slam customers, which is moving them to another carrier without their OK, and that can cost a bunch of extra money. If you catch them at it, and turn them in to your old carrier, then they have to pay the old carrier 150% of what they billed you and collected, and then your old carrier will give you the extra 50% for your trouble.

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Brides Hate Primus…

Posted on January 24, 2009 by LD Agent

Primus Telecom obviously uses some shady tactics when signing new customers up for service. According to the story over at MyDreamWedding.ca Primus is crooked and will cheat you by recording your voice saying you agree to something, then using that recording as verification for switching your long distance service to them; at very high rates.

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Jane’s Opex Answers

Posted on January 23, 2009 by LD Agent

Hi Jane,

The USF fee is seperate and different from the federal 3% telecom tax. The USF fee is billed on out of state long distance calls, not instate long distance calls.

PICC fees are fees that are charged to business accounts only. The first phone line is free, but every phone line after the first is charged a monthly fee. Opex charges $3.25 per line for this fee. The FCC lets companies charge up to $5.50 per line for this fee.

I don’t know what a credit switching fee is, but Opex will credit the switching fee if your local company charges you to change your long distance carrier.

The tollfree numbers you quoted are right, but the state to state rate is 3.9 cents per minute instead of 2.7 cents per minute because of the part of Florida you live in.

The changover will be sealmless and you shouldn’t have any downtimes at all. Opex will send the switch request to your local carrier, they will switch your service and send a noticve to your old company.

When you sign up for service, you will need to fax in a RespOrg for your toll free number, and that will be printed on the page you need to fill out and send it. The website will give you that form during the signup process.

Opex does most of their presales suport via email to keep costs down. Once you sign up for service, you will get an email with all of their customer service info, including toll free numbers. If you sign up and decide you don’t want the service, then you can just cancel it, since here are no contracts.

Opex: http://opex.riveroffers.com/?crid=13524 or http://www.opex-ld.com/

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Opex USF, PICC and Toll Free Fees

Posted on January 23, 2009 by LD Agent

Your website mentioned a 11.4% USF Fee. Is that in addition to the 3% federal tax you mention below? It also showed a credit switching fee. What is that and the cost? The last fee it mentions is a Biz Line PIC Charge for a second line. First line is no charge. What is that one?

I am interested in switching our 2 office lines LD and taking 1 toll free number with us. We make well over $20 per month in LD charges.  I understand from your website that toll free charges are (per minute); 5cents Alaska and Hawaii, 3.9 cents Canada and 10 cents for Puerto Rico. Could you verify that?

I have seen 2 prices for state to state LD of 2.95 and 2.7 cents per minute. Please clear that up for me.

Should I expect down time on our phones lines or long distance abilities due to changing providers?

Thanks,

Jane

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Pioneer Telephone’s Rates

Posted on January 21, 2009 by LD Agent

Pioneer Telephone has two basic rate plans in place. The first plan is called the RateBuster Plan and is 2.7 cents per minute for state to state calls in the lower 48 states, and is billed in full minute increments.

Their second plan is called Talk Cents and is billed at 3.25 cents per minute for state to state long distance calls in the lower 48 states, with the calls being billed in 6 second increments with an 18 second minimum. Both plans offer state to state tier “A” calling between Pioneer customers for the low rate of 1.9 cents per minute.

Visit Pioneer Telephone for more information, or to sign up for service with one of their plans.

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