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Prepay phone card ripoff

Once in a while I used the prepay phone cards to phone friends and relatives overseas and lately I have seen the prepay phone cards charge me without even making a connection.

About a fortnight ago I tried to phone a mobile phone number in Zimbabwe and on the first attempt I hang up because the phone just kept on ringing with nobody picking it up.

After a while I tried to phone that number again and I realised that I had been charged more than $4 for the previous unconnected call and so I went ahead and tried to phone again.

This phone rang again but with no response but when I tried to use the card for the third time all the $10 credit was used up.

It was then I decided to phone the customer number on the back of the card and all my money was refunded.

I was told that I should always check the balance on the card to see if my card has been erroneously charged after an unsuccessful call.

This means I have to make a total of three calls each time - the initial call, the next call to check how much credit still remains on the card and then the third call to phone customer services.

But last week I had a similar experience and this time with the Happy Calling phone card.

After making an unsuccessful call which was charged I phoned the customer care to query the $4 plus that had been charged on the card.

The guy I talked to said the money had been restored and I should check in ten minutes.

On checking there was nothing and after a day there was nothing and I just decided it was easier not to use that card again.

This is a total ripoff I think. I have talked to a few people and they just phone but don't complain and sometimes a whole $10 card is finished without making a single call.

Also why should customers be expected to call each time and why is that the message is not written on the card.

Because this is happening a lot the customer care numbers must also be free calls.

I wonder if other people have had a similar experience but for me its time to look for alternatives.

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