traveller333

I have a ATT calling card to make calls from Italy to USA. I was given a phone number to reach an operator (hopefully and English speaking one?) but not sure about the pay phones. What is the cost to reach an operator? The phone number I was given is 800-172-444 but I don't think this is an 800 (toll free) number as we Americans know it. Any advice on how to call home? Thank you.

jimcolorado

We bought calling cards, which are widely available in Italy, at tabbachi shops, small stores, AMEX, etc. We found that some public phone booths accepted them and others didn't, no particular rhyme or reason. Also found that for each USA call we made, we got disconnect at least once during the call. So one call always seemed to turn into two. I had tried ATT before trip and was told that there was no local numbers available in Italy, but that might have changed.

MizzEve

I use a Sprint calling card both in the States and in Italy. Both at private and public telephones. You are right, the 800 local access number is not a toll free number.

My experience was this, to use the calling card at a public telephone, I had to purchase a Puntotel Telecom card. These can be purchased from machines or from tobacchi vendors/shops. They can be purchased in 2,50 & 5,00 euro increments. You put the Telecom card into the payphone, then enter your ATT local access number, then your calling card number.

It is very expensive because you are being charged minutes from the Telecom card and ATT and you don't get many minutes from the Telecom card.

Otherwise, and much more economical, I used my Sprint card from my hotel and friends' cellphones. In these cases, I didn't have to buy the Telecom card and only paid for the time used on my Sprint card. Of course, my friends had to pay the regular minute usage charges on their cellphones.

There may be a work around for the public phone usage, but I couldn't figure it out. Maybe Ira will know when he returns.

As all of my Italian friends have told me, it is less expensive for them to call the States than it is to call make calls within Italy. They all use calling cards, similar to ATT and Sprint, but they use them with cell phones, not public phones.

I hope this helps.

Also, make sure that you get more than one access number from ATT before you leave. Also, a local customer service number will be helpful.

I ran into problems with the access numbers that had been given to me before I left. Fortunately, I had the non-toll free number for Sprint and was able to get through to someone who got me the correct number to use.

Good luck.

traveller333

Thank you for the information.

I always thought it would cost MORE to call an operator from our hotel room. I will look into this though. I already charged my ATT calling card before leaving the USA so I don't want to have to buy yet another card if I can help it.

ecat

Hi,

My experience with calling cards has been that I found the best and easiest way to phone the US was to purchase a phone card in Italy. Make sure to purchase an International card.

It was really very cheap and you can use it very easily from a phone booth, and I also used from my hotel.

As both posters above noted, you can get them at newsstands or tabbachi shops.

MizzEve

My hotel didn't charge me for local calls and the access number is a local call.

johnian

I found the local LD cards in Italy (got the best ones at the Internet stores) to be much cheaper than the US branded ATT and Sprint. Also easier to use. Would recommend using a pay phone vs hotel. Notwithsandings claims to the contrary-we were charged for some calls that involved local access numbers by at least on hotel. Not worth the bother to argue-just put it down to experience.

Patrick

Last summer I didn't bother with calling cards. We mainly stayed in 3 star hotels. I made a number of calls back to the US, and I dialed them all direct on my hotel room phone. The most expensive one was for about 25 minutes and the hotel charged me about 3 euro. I did a number of others and most were either 1 or 1.5 euro for 5 to 15 minutes. I had 2 different hotels send faxes for me. One charged me 1 euro for each of two faxes, and the other hotel didn't charge me at all (although it was a 12 page fax -- a real estate contract). I mentioned this on checking out and they said, "oh, we do so many faxes and have a special rate, we don't worry about it". I have said it before and I'll say it again. If you are staying in Europe in a Marriot or Hilton or something, expect to pay huge sums for phone calls. But if you are staying in small family owned hotels, you are likely to pay less for your calls than if you bought a calling card. They often have special international rates and pass those savings on to the customer.

xyz123

But please ask and check with the hotel before making any calls...

I'll tell you something interesting that happened to me in Amsterdam this past June.

I made several calls to my Net2Phone account. BTW they are pretty reasonable considering everything charging 15 cents a minute from Western Europe to the US and the good thing as opposed to individual country plans is it can be used throughout Western Europe and in the US too (not that many people make LD calls anymore in the US thanx to national LD plans on mobiles but that's another story).

Anyway, Net2Phone has a 00800 number to use when making calls. As I had been to Amsterdam before, I didn't bother to ask and there were no signs.

Anyway, as I was leaving the hotel, the clerk told me I had a phone bill. I said impossible all I made were 00800 calls. He told me they charged for 0800 calls. Having a train to catch, I didn't feel like arguing figuring the bill would be for 5 calls perhaps €5. Imagine my anger when he told me the bill was for €44. So I paid with my Amex call knowing full well eventually I would get Amex to charge this highly questionable charge (no signs etc) back to the hotel. Instead of signing the charge slip, I wrote under protest.

Upon arrival home, I e-mailed the hotel. Basically I told them that unless they credited my account, I would report them to the Better Business Bureau of Amsterdam (wonder if there is such a thing) and that I would smear them all over the internet and that if they lost one customer because of the bad publicity they were going to get, it would cost them more than trying to rip me off.

A day later, I got a return e-mail from them. According to them, they had somebody in to check the system and found the system was charging for 0800 calls and that I was right, such calls should be free. They said they were crediting my account (indeed they did) and apologized and asked me not to blame the clerk as he was just doing his job.

Moral of the story...check with the hotel on individual policies, pay with a credit card as you have the leverage to have them credit the account back for illegal or unethical charges. (Wonder if I would have gotten my money back if I had paid cash...another reason you use credit cards whenever and wherever they are taken).

jal716

Just got back from Italy and used ATT. That is the number you call. I have the card that you get at Sams. You dial that 800 number that you have, then you dial the 800 number that is on the card, then follow the prompts. (when you put the US 800 number in, DO NOT dial 1..if you put the 1, it won't work) They key is that you have to dial Italy's 800 no. then the USA's 800 number. Hope that makes sense. Email me if you have any more questions. I never used it at a pay phone, but used it every day from our hotel rooms. The hotels never charged a fee for using the card.

Example: dial 800172444/hear prompt
dial 800 no. on your card
dial no. you are calling or your charge no. whichever your card requires you to dial first

It was so easy...worked great!!!!