Nina66

Last month I found a number on line for the French Tourist Board - 514-288-1904. I called for infomation.

Today my AT&T phone bill arrived with a $4.93 charge for a four minute call to Montreal, Canada. I didn't recognize the number and I haven't called Montreal in years.

After wasting 25 minutes on the phone with AT&T and being transferred from one office to another, they said that I had to pay it and that if I wanted to know who the call was to, I would have to call the International Operator and pay for that service.

So, I do as I always do with international calls, I called the number using 1016868 and found that the call was indeed made by me to the French Tourist Office.
Eights cents a minute with 1016868 and $1.23 cents a minute with AT&T - some difference.

It never dawned on me that area code 514 was not in the U.S. and the phone companies make it so hard to check things.

xyz123

I don't know if I have a good answer for you...Canada is perhaps the only country in the world that doesn't have its own country code...for whatever the reason when everything was put together years ago, the Canadian and US grids have been lumped together (much like the electrical grids in a way)....1 represents the country code for both Canada and the USA...if you are in a European country to call either the USA or Canada on a land line you would dial 001 then the area code and the phone number....on a mobile you would dial +1 area code number...there is no rhyme or reason...I recognize 514 as a Montreal area code but you clearly did not.

Also AT&T ld international rates are extremely extremely high unless you purchase on of their packages.

As you note, you should prefix ld calls with 1016868...it also affects mobile calls from the USA if you dial a Canadian number and I agree there is no way to tell, the call doesn't come out of included minutes, you pay and pay through the nose.

The solution would be to give Canada its own country code but I don't see that happening soon.

francophile03

Yes. I called this same number on my cell phone and wondered at first where it was I called when I got my statement. I didn't realize I was calling Canada at that time. Oh well.

FainaAgain

It's not "oh, well". It's "eh, well"

francophile03

I forgot about that Canadian accent! But I believe we called Quebec so is it still going to be 'Eh' or 'C'est la vie!'?

hopscotch

Some of the Caribbean countries share +1 with Canada and the USA. For international calls 1010987 is also economical.

Dukey

Area Code 514...where DID you think it was when you called it, Nina?

Randy

Using someone besides AT&T for your long distance could have saved you some money. I am with Sagetelecom http://www.sagetelecom.com/ and I pay 5 cents a minute to call Canada and 10 cents a minute to call Europe. I also get 100 free long distance minutes each month. Also when you call customer service you get a human voice and not one of those electric ladies that askes you to push the buttons.

I know this is like closing the barn door after the horse is gone, but google for "514 area code" and you will get a nice map showing that it is in Montreal.

Nina66

Dukey, I rarely if ever call Canada. Seeing just 514 with no country code, I _assumed_ that it was somewhere in the U.S. I had no reason to not to _assume_ or suspect that it was out of the country. I've never had the time nor the inclination to memorize every area code in the U.S.

When I saw the phone number on another site, there was no mention that it was not in the U.S. and so I believe that it was a reasonable assumption.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to give up one crepe from a street vendor next month ... sigh.

Nina66

By the way, I didn't post this to berate AT&T, it certainly wasn't their fault. It was my bad, but I wish that they could have offered some help in determining who the call was to, instead of wasting 25 minutes of my time to switch me to three different departments.

I just wanted to warn others who may see the number somewhere and do the same thing.

Just a coincidence, but we are in the process of changing phone companies. The new one gives us free, unlimited toll and long distance calls, including Canada.

ira

Hi N,

We forced AT&T to not be our LD carrier.

We also refused everyone else's offers.

When we want to make a LD call, we dial 1016868 or 1010987.

francophile03

I didn't realize I was calling Canada either. Perhaps the French tourism board should include a small notation that it's a Canadian phone number.

xyz123

I almost never call long distance within the USA anymore....my US cell phone has lots and lots of included minutes and all calls within the USA come out of these minutes but as noted it doesn't cover calls to Canada. And the problem remains, when you see a Canadian number, you don't know it is in Canada unless you're a walking encyclopedia of Canadian area codes.

(I don't know if it would be possible or desirable (actually from my view point it would be desirable but nobody likes their phone number being changed) to give Canada its own country code and then there wouldn't be any question one is making an international call (Mexico has its own country code so why not Canada?)

Nina66

We use 1016868 for all of our international calls, no exceptions. Like xyz123, we too use our numerous cell minutes for U.S. and toll calls.

We are thinking of switching to Comcast. They are our cable company already and DH is considering their wireless internet service, so it's cheaper to include our phones and existing cable in the package too.

I can't seem to get an answer to this question from Comcast. If the cable goes down, does that effect the phone also? Comcast says no, that they are on separate connections, yet someone else (who doesn't work for them) said that that is not true.

I've gotten so many different prices, answers etc... from Comcast, that I am getting fed up before I even start. Each call, different rep, different answers. If they throw in a waterbed and a used car, I might be more easily persuaded to make the change!

Except for buying a dish, Comcast is our only cable company.

Does anyone use Comcast phone service?

Pros, cons welcome. I have a few weeks until the installation date.

Thanks