Hi guys,
I'm sure the answer to my question is some where in the Forum site. But I can't find it. My question is--one of the ladies I have been writing (for a short time)keeps asking me to call her. She is so insistent about calling that it has raised some flags for me.
I was wondering if some how there may be a kick back to the girls for minutes spent on the phone? Has anyone had this thought as well? Or am I out of line here?
Knight
Knight just ask her for the number and call her with a phone card. No big deal. I had a girl in Chelayabinsk that wanted me to call. She wanted to hear my voice that is all, no plot involved :)) She had terrible English but at least she got a chance to practice a little.
Unless you're doing a phone call via an agency she has nothing to gain.
There are many 'keyboard romeos'. I was talking with a friend recently, she is Ukrainian, she had been writing with a man, he had boasted in his letters of his financials assets but when she asked him to phone he claimed that he could not afford it. He was in UK and using www.telediscount.co.uk numbers it is 9p a minute, approx 15c, to phone Ukraine, this guy had supposedly so much wealth he couldn't afford a USD5 phone call!
The lady doesn't know you and your letters do not cost you anything to write, she knows that. She should genuinely want to hear your voice to establish what you sound like, are you not curious the same about her and if you can take the time to spend a few dollars on a phone call then it coud reap rewards in the future.
DO NOT go for this 3 way phone call via an agency though.
Check online for calling cards like Noble.com, 5starscall.com, etc. Depending on where you are calling it will probably only cost five to ten cents a minute. The girls say it makes it seem real when they hear your voice. Yes, stay away from the phone call using an agency.
I posed the same question awhile ago, and a number of people recommended this (for US residents):
https://www.mcctelco.com/Cards/Welcome.asp
I personally use the 'Red Card', sold by these guys:
http://www.uniontelecard.com/ProductLine.asp
I like this one because I can buy it at the local convenience store, I can access their service via a local number, and I can toss it when I'm done.
You should consider the following factors :
* Access - How do you access their service - a local number, long distance number, or 800 number? Access via 800 numbers usually incurs a connect fee and/or higher per-minute rates.
* Connect fee - How much do they charge just to make the call?
* Rounding: Is your call rounded up to the nearest minute, or 2, or 5?
* Maintenance Fee: Are you charged just to keep the card active? If so, how often, and how much?
* Rechargeable: Can you add money to the card, or is the card a one-shot?
* Expiration: If the card is a one-shot, does it have a 'shelf life' (e.g. 3 months after first use)?
The number of minutes you'll get depends not only on where you're calling, but whether you're calling to a land line or cell phone.
For example, a $10US card gets me over 4 hours of time when I call one of my friends in Yoshkar-Ola, but only about 1:15 when I call a young lady in Chisinau, because I'm calling her cell phone.
Does anyone have a recomendation on a good all around card. I wnat to call, Moldova, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, from what little I've looked into ti appears that the bigger cities have cheaper rates?