Wednesday, August 12th 2009

2:38 AM

3 Reasons to Buy a Calling Card Online vs. Over-the-Counter

Every month, millions of people buy thousands of different calling cards from over-the-counter retailers such as convenience stores, gas stations, liquor/beer stores, and large retailers like Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Costco. With such a wide variety of options available (locations to buy from and number of cards), trying to find the right calling card for your needs can be a daunting task. Fortunately, a small number of savvy online calling card retailers have made buying a calling card easier than ever before.

Here are three reasons to consider buying your next calling card online vs. over the counter.

Total Shopping Convenience
Accurately Advertised Rates
Dedicated Customer Support

1. Total Shopping Convenience

From the comfort of your home via your personal computer, quickly and easilycompare prepaid calling cards that are ideal for calling to any country worldwide. Most calling card retailers offer multiple cards for you to compare by displaying them in an easy to read top-down format, which aligns card details, rates, and available denominations.

After finding the right calling card for your needs you can buy it within a few clicks. Leading retailers make your purchase secure and easy by offering trusted payment options like PayPal or Google Checkout, in addition to credit cards or debit cards. Some even allow you to purchase with a money order or personal check. Upon approval, your calling card PIN and dialing instructions will be sent to you via email and posted to your online account for future access.

TIP: Before purchasing a calling card from any online retailer, look for trust symbols and seals related to safe shopping (i.e. Verisign), business associations (i.e. Better Business Bureau), guarantees and even third party security partners (i.e. McAfee Secure).

2. Accurately Advertised Rates

The Internet makes it very easy for online calling card retailers to publish rate updates for any of their products in real-time or near real-time. As a result, you will see much more accurate advertised rate schedules for any of the calling cards you are interested in comparing or purchasing. Some retailers even publish a time stamp to let you know when a card’s rates last changed.

TIP: Research indicates that most advertised rates are based upon exhausting all available minutes on a calling card in a single call. If there are not any minutes left, on a calling card then the carrier cannot assess any additional fees; fees directly reduce the number of available minutes on a calling card. As such, customers should consider purchasing the lowest available denomination, which will allow them to enjoy their conversation and exhaust all available minutes in one phone call. If you plan to leave minutes remaining on your calling card, consider purchasing one with no fees beyond the advertised per minute rate. These are known as “clean calling cards.”

3. Dedicated Customer Support

Buy a calling card online and get the benefit of having access to two customer support teams (Retailer and Carrier). The carrier is your primary contact for card performance inquiries and the retailer can help you with any purchase related questions.

TIP: Consider buying a calling card from a retailer that clearly publishes customer support and contact information for the carrier and themselves. It’s also a good idea to find out if a guarantee is offered. Do not settle for anything less.

Source: http://speedypin.com/phone/card/articles-3reasons-to-buy-calling-card-online-vs-over-the-counter.html

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