Mastercard ATM problems: Warning!

Madonna wrote:
JohnT wrote:
Whilst agreeing totally with Miguel that US 800 numbers can be dialled
from Europe, he didn't mention that the call is not free. It is always a
chargeable Transatlantic call unless it is one of the very rare breed of
International free numbers.

So how does it work? You use AT&T access number first or use straight
Deutsche Telekom 0-800 prefix?

Deutsche Telekom 0-800 prefix is for calling numbers that are registered in
Germany. It has nothing to do with calling numbers that are part of the
US/country-code-1 numberspace. To call a number in country code 1, you dial
it just like any other number in country code 1.

Sometimes companies will register numbers in multiple numberspaces to make
things simpler or cheaper for their customers but that is a red herring.

Or you dial long-distance as if you were calling a number like NYC
zzz-212-xxx-yyyy but use zzz-800-aaa-bbbb instead?

As far as the phone system in Germany is concerned, there's no difference
between '800' and '212'. It just some digits that get routed to the US phone
system because the dialing began with '001'. The trick is to stop thinking
of '800' as having some sort of global magic significance.

For country-specifc 800 service. If you watch ads on satellite tv like
SKY they list a dozen toll-free phone numbers, one for each country.

That's completely separate and has nothing to do with the topic of dialing
US toll-free numbers from outside the US.

And what about Asia/Australia/... can you dial US or Canadian 800
numbers from Nepal or Japan?

Most likely.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

Miguel Cruz wrote in message ...
wrote:

Turkey is an Asian country.

Like Russia?


Have you been to Turkey?

Have you been in Canada ?

JohnT wrote:
If the US 800 number is, for example, 1-800-123-4567 then from the UK one would
dial the international access code 00 then the Country code 1 then the number
excluding the US long-distance access code. Thus I would dial 00 1 800 123 4567.
Often there will be a recorded announcemebt saying that the call is chargeable,
and then it is connected.

Thank you for the clear answer.
That's the information I was trying to get.

Chris Blunt wrote:
There are basically two systems used in most places in the world. One
is a national system, just like the US, where you dial 0-800, or some
variant of that. That usually connects you to a company located in the
same country, although sometimes the call will be routed
internationally to a call centre elsewhere in the world.

So if I'm in North America, can I call one of those German 800 numbers
by dialing 011-49-800-... ?

Then there is the international toll-free service, where you dial the
number in the same format as you would an international call, but
using 800 as the country code. That will route your call anywhere in
the world at no cost to the caller.

Interesting. Haven't seen those yet. They'd be nice for reaching
emergency travel insurance services.

Most people have learned from personal experience that the statement
you quoted above is incorrect. Reality learned from experience is
better than any web site you might come up with.

If you're going to the other side of the planet, it's a bit too late to
'learn from experience' that you can't access your bank account!
Seems like this should be documented somewhere and not left to luck.

For fun, come to Canada and try to access a bunch of american 1-800
numbers and see what happens.

wrote:
Miguel Cruz wrote:
wrote:
Turkey is an Asian country.

Like Russia?


Have you been to Turkey?

Have you been in Canada ?

As I described elsewhere, Canada is not like Europe. Canada is in country
code 1 and therefore there are special rules.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

On Mon, 24 May 2004 22:06:12 -0400, Madonna wrote:

Chris Blunt wrote:
There are basically two systems used in most places in the world. One
is a national system, just like the US, where you dial 0-800, or some
variant of that. That usually connects you to a company located in the
same country, although sometimes the call will be routed
internationally to a call centre elsewhere in the world.

So if I'm in North America, can I call one of those German 800 numbers
by dialing 011-49-800-... ?

The dialling format is right, but there's no guarantee it will work.
Those numbers are designed for domestic use, although they may work
from overseas if you're lucky.

Then there is the international toll-free service, where you dial the
number in the same format as you would an international call, but
using 800 as the country code. That will route your call anywhere in
the world at no cost to the caller.

Interesting. Haven't seen those yet. They'd be nice for reaching
emergency travel insurance services.

Most people have learned from personal experience that the statement
you quoted above is incorrect. Reality learned from experience is
better than any web site you might come up with.

If you're going to the other side of the planet, it's a bit too late to
'learn from experience' that you can't access your bank account!
Seems like this should be documented somewhere and not left to luck.

But you can learn from other people's experience in newsgroups such as
this.

Miguel Cruz wrote in message ...
wrote:
Miguel Cruz wrote:
wrote:
Turkey is an Asian country.

Like Russia?


Have you been to Turkey?

Have you been in Canada ?

As I described elsewhere, Canada is not like Europe. Canada is in country
code 1 and therefore there are special rules.

If I recall right, in your opinion Canada is non-American. And now it
seems that Turkey is European.

And what about Asia/Australia/... can you dial US or Canadian 800
numbers from Nepal or Japan?

You can dial 800 numbers in Japan, but it is NOT free.

Miguel Cruz wrote in message ...
Madonna wrote:

Tom Bellhouse wrote:

My card was blocked in Turkey. I was able to call
the 800 number on the back of the card, identify
myself, explain that it was "really me" in Turkey,
and get the block lifted. Much easier to d it
before leaving home, tho.

Since when do 800 numbers work in Turkey?

Why wouldn't it? They work pretty much everywhere else in Europe.
Just dial 001 first.

Some 800 numbers (national ones, anyway) can be called from overseas.
Only 00800 numbers are free. Certain 800 numbers only work from a
specific state or region, and would be ambiguous if called from
overseas, even on a paying basis.

Of course if you are a vonage.com subscriber, with access to the
Internet while traveling ...

I periodically get letters from AT&T Universal regarding overseas
purchases -- even from US military facilities. Also, cards that work
everywhere else sometimes don't work in France, apparently because
their chip + PIN system means that they lack the full redundancy of
other systems (apparently the data are recorded twice on the magnetic
strip of cards). This problem may be coming to a place near you as
chip + PIN expands, as it is to the UK now.

Compass Bank refuses to issue a plain ATM card without an extra fee.

They will issue a visa debit card that can be used in ATMs. But if lost
your bank account can be depleted by the "charges" on the card.

If ATM is refusing to work you may be able to go inside during banking
hours and get "cash advance".

I can recommend BankofAmerica. They issue plain ATM card on request (no
chance for thief to run up charges) and they have ATM Global Alliance
partners in some countries that do not charge ATM fees.