Why Should I Not Dial a 1-900 Telephone Number?
There are plenty of reasons why you should not dial a 1-900 telephone number. The biggest of these tends to be the expense involved because most of these calls offer you little in the way of assistance or help, but will definitely add huge charges to your phone bill. You’ll usually end up paying several dollars per minute of use, and sometimes you may be in for worse circumstances. Occasionally if you dial a 1-900 telephone number you’ll get absolutely nothing but participation in a scam.
900 numbers exist to offer you jokes, adult chats, psychic readings, weather forecasts and other things that you certainly can get without making a phone call. They may work in one of two ways. You may be charged a toll for making the call, which will appear on your phone bill, or alternately, you might be asked with certain types of numbers to provide your credit card information. Many 976 numbers that you might receive in the mail offering you “free” trips or sweepstakes winnings will collect your personal information and operate primarily as scams. In order to collect prizes, you’ll have to pay the company in fees to call the number and also possibly make direct payments to the company. Additionally, you’re giving out your personal information to an unknown source that can’t be said to have your best interest at heart.
When you dial a 1-900 telephone number that charges your phone bill only, you still may be have drastic surprises waiting for you when your get your bill. In fact, in the 1980s, the California state government empowered people to block making 1-900 calls from phone lines because of the amount of charges that can accumulate very quickly. This decision was made after a child racked up an amazing $17,000 in debt to the phone company through 1-900 number use. California’s decision to allow customers to block 1-900 dialing led the way for the US Federal Trade Commission to also work to protect consumers from the potential massive debt involved in using these numbers.
The heyday of the 1-900 number was clearly the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many celebrities offered special messages if you would dial a 1-900 telephone number. Plenty of 1-900 numbers were marketed specifically to kids offering kid oriented jokes and puzzles. These numbers have become less common as consumers have grown increasingly wary of them. Some have been replaced by cellphone texting to joke lines, weather forecasts or the like, which may also have special tolls. Yet there are still many people who consider whether they should dial a 1-900 telephone number. The answer is don’t; these commercial services just aren't worth your time or money.
Written by Tricia Ellis-Christensen
