vetting
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posted on October 8, 2001 09:16:33 AM new
A friend of mine took his computer to college. However, since he thought it was close enough he kept the same dial-in number for his ISP. Now he has a $1000 phone bill this month because of long distance charges. Is there anything he can do?
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revvassago
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posted on October 8, 2001 09:21:36 AM new
Is there anything he can do?
Sure. Pay the phone bill, and next time, call his telephone company to find out if it is long distance.
He ran up the charges. He is responsible for them.
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nefish
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posted on October 8, 2001 09:22:52 AM new
I am always amazed when I hear stories like these. I mean, don't you check these things out before you start using them?? Duh!!!!
Sorry for your friend. Pay the bill, chalk it up as an expensive learning experience, and move on...
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shoshanah
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posted on October 8, 2001 09:23:29 AM new
Did your friend not check the ISP for alternate access-numbers???? It is unfortunate, but one should never assume...
Most likely, there might be nothing your friend can do about this high long-distance bill  Maybe he can work out a payment plan with this phone company...
Gosh Shosh
Moi
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vetting
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posted on October 8, 2001 09:26:48 AM new
The funny thing is - he was using something like netzero (a free ISP) and ended up having to pay $1000. Also he said that there wasn't another number for the area that he was in, plus he's not the sharpest guy that I've known
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thepackratsattic
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posted on October 8, 2001 09:57:03 AM new
So much for all that "FREE access" to the porn sites!
Hope he is enrolled in Finance 101 next semester!
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captainkirk
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posted on October 8, 2001 10:19:01 AM new
they can always try calling the phone company and begging for mercy. Sometimes they will forgive part/all of the bill based on extenuating circumstances.
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commentary
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posted on October 8, 2001 10:34:14 AM new
If long distance is about 10 cents a minute, this works out to about $6/hour. A phone bill of $1000 equates to more than 160 hours or around 40 hours a week.
How does your friend have time to go to college?
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captainkirk
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posted on October 8, 2001 11:21:36 AM new
Its easy to rack up 40 hrs/week with automated connect/download programs. At midnight point them towards, say, a whole disk of images on a web server, go to bed, in the morning they appear on your hardrive...and, in this case, they've racked up yet another 10 hours or so of long distance connect time.
Some people even just stay connected just because they hate the "pain" of waiting for the dialer to connect. There are programs that simulate user activity to keep you connected.
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batsnbeans
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posted on October 8, 2001 11:51:20 AM new
CaptainKirk~
There are programs that simulate user activity to keep you connected.
Can you tell me what programs there are out there that do this?
Leslie
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captainkirk
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posted on October 8, 2001 01:08:29 PM new
go to www.shareware.com, for example, and search for "ISP connected" and it will pop up, among others, "stay connected" that does what you are lookng for. I don't use any of these personally, so do some web searches if that doesn't meet your specific needs.
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