# How do you make a collect phone call?



## AllHeart

Hi. I hope to appeal to those who believe there's no such thing as a stupid question.  I need to make collect calls to Canada to the government for taxes, but I haven't made a collect call in decades, as I've always had a long-distance plan. Decades ago, collect calls were made through the operator simply by dialling zero and saying it's a collect call. But the exit code to Canada starts with zero. So I'm not sure how to do this. 

Also, since mobile phones are new, I don't know if I make a collect call on my cell phone will I still get charged on my cell phone? 

I hope someone can help out. :fingerscrossed:


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## mrypg9

AllHeart said:


> Hi. I hope to appeal to those who believe there's no such thing as a stupid question. QUOTE]
> 
> Just to say that in my experience so-called 'stupid questions' are those that everyone wants to know the answers to but won't ask for fear of being thought stupid.
> Hence they are the ones the answers to which are the most needed and most useful...
> 
> But sorry, I have no idea how to make collect calls.


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## AllHeart

mrypg9 said:


> Just to say that in my experience so-called 'stupid questions' are those that everyone wants to know the answers to but won't ask for fear of being thought stupid.
> Hence they are the ones the answers to which are the most needed and most useful...
> 
> But sorry, I have no idea how to make collect calls.


Thank you, Mary. That's very sweet of you.  You've taken some of the blush tinge from my face.


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## Stevesolar

Hi,
Just found this link on Google!
FAQ | International Collect Calls
Cheers
Steve


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## AllHeart

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> Just found this link on Google!
> FAQ | International Collect Calls
> Cheers
> Steve


Here's your answer:

_To make a Collect Call from Spain to USA or Canada is that easy:

In Spain, dial 900.951.586.
Follow the instructions of the operator._

Thank you so very, very much Steve! You just rocked my world!

P.S. I triple love this forum!


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## ddrysdale99

In the UK you can only do this via the operator and from a land line. There are companies that set up freephone numbers and bill the called party (UK only) that are accessible from mobiles.

No idea what's possible in Spain but wonder why the Canadian government would be wiling to pay $10-$20 to let you call them?


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## AllHeart

ddrysdale99 said:


> In the UK you can only do this via the operator and from a land line. There are companies that set up freephone numbers and bill the called party (UK only) that are accessible from mobiles.
> 
> No idea what's possible in Spain but wonder why the Canadian government would be wiling to pay $10-$20 to let you call them?


Thanks for addressing my second question. Yes, I'm thinking this is only going to be for my land line, not my cell phone. But my land line is in my landlord's name. I'll check with my cell phone company to find out, because it may vary between companies. I've used calling cards before in Canada, and they couldn't be used on cell phones.

I can't answer for the Canadian government as to why they're accepting collect calls for taxes. But my guess is that it helps people pay their taxes, which in turn helps Canada collect their taxes. This is just with Revenue Canada, who deals with taxes. I have found no other government agency that accepts collects calls.


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## baldilocks

ddrysdale99 said:


> In the UK you can only do this via the operator and from a land line. There are companies that set up freephone numbers and bill the called party (UK only) that are accessible from mobiles.
> 
> No idea what's possible in Spain but wonder why the Canadian government would be wiling to pay $10-$20 to let you call them?


That's what I was thinking. To my mind it would be far easier to use skype. Ok, it may cost a little but not much and it would be so much simpler.


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## AllHeart

So I just checked with Orange (my cell provider), and I can't make collect calls on my cell. But they have a deal of 5 hours international calls for one euro! This is for fixed lines in Canada, but my cell calls are coming up as fixed lines too. So I bought that deal. Since Snikpoh posted about the WhatsApp free calls, I've been using that to call Canada to save money, but it's often not good quality. So when the WhatsApp connection is poor, I can now use my cheap cell minutes. Yay! 

I'm still tempted to use the operator and land line to make collect calls to Revenue Canada, so I'll talk to my landlord to be sure that it's okay with him. 

Maybe by using the collect-call service this will put pressure on Revenue Canada to get up to speed with Skype and WhatsApp. But my guess is they've got a pretty good deal with their phone company. 

Again, thanks all for your generous help.


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## baldilocks

AllHeart said:


> So I just checked with Orange (my cell provider), and I can't make collect calls on my cell. But they have a deal of 5 hours international calls for one euro! This is for fixed lines in Canada, but my cell calls are coming up as fixed lines too. So I bought that deal. Since Snikpoh posted about the WhatsApp free calls, I've been using that to call Canada to save money, but it's often not good quality. So when the WhatsApp connection is poor, I can now use my cheap cell minutes. Yay!
> 
> I'm still tempted to use the operator and land line to make collect calls to Revenue Canada, so I'll talk to my landlord to be sure that it's okay with him.
> 
> Maybe by using the collect-call service this will put pressure on Revenue Canada to get up to speed with Skype and WhatsApp. But my guess is they've got a pretty good deal with their phone company.
> 
> Again, thanks all for your generous help.


It doesn't matter whether they have Skype - the calls are still very cheap - the only difference if they are on Skype is the calls are free otherwise they are 1.4p (2 euro cents) a minute.


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## ddrysdale99

The North American Numbering Plan means that there's no difference between mobile and fixed line numbers so they cost the same to call.
Calling North America should be very cheap - in the UK the cost (to the telco) of calling a US/Canada number is less than the cost of calling a UK landline number due to BTs wholesale pricing which they got Ofcom to approve.


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## AllHeart

ddrysdale99 said:


> The North American Numbering Plan means that there's no difference between mobile and fixed line numbers so they cost the same to call.


Exactly.



ddrysdale99 said:


> Calling North America should be very cheap - in the UK the cost (to the telco) of calling a US/Canada number is less than the cost of calling a UK landline number due to BTs wholesale pricing which they got Ofcom to approve.


It's dirt cheap! I'm already on a plan for 5 cents for international calls, which I thought was a steal. But this is for over 50 countries - not just Canada and the US. Here's the info, in case anyone else is interested:

Tarifas Orange para llamar al extranjero

http://movil.orange.es/tarifas/llamar-a-otro-pais/llamadas-internacionales/


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## AllHeart

I just figured out that the phone # Steve gave for the operator is for a company:



AllHeart said:


> _To make a Collect Call from Spain to USA or Canada is that easy:
> 
> In Spain, dial 900.951.586.
> Follow the instructions of the operator._


Because this is a 90 #, I think I will be charged, but I'm not sure. So I did a little more digging, and found this is how to reach the international operator, and that this has to be done through a land line (the country code is the same for Canada):

_Dial to reach an international operator from inside of Spain by dialing 1-005 and then wait for the prompt and push the number which corresponds to "cobro revertido," or collect call. You will be asked to enter the country code for the U.S., which is 001, plus the area code and telephone number. An operator will come on the line to help you with your call._

Copied from eHow: How to Make a Collect Call From Spain to the United States | eHow


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## michaelbr51

AllHeart said:


> Here's your answer:
> 
> _To make a Collect Call from Spain to USA or Canada is that easy:
> 
> In Spain, dial 900.951.586.
> Follow the instructions of the operator._
> 
> Thank you so very, very much Steve! You just rocked my world!
> 
> P.S. I triple love this forum!


I also need to make a collect call, I tried the above number, but it's not available any longer, do you have any updated collect call info? I need to call from a land line (the other party only accepts collect from land line).


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## AllHeart

michaelbr51 said:


> I also need to make a collect call, I tried the above number, but it's not available any longer, do you have any updated collect call info? I need to call from a land line (the other party only accepts collect from land line).


Yes, I said above that those instructions are for a company. Here is what I posted about reaching the international operator. I haven't done this, as I've just been using my long-distance plan on my cell. Please let me know if it works.



AllHeart said:


> _Dial to reach an international operator from inside of Spain by dialing 1-005 and then wait for the prompt and push the number which corresponds to "cobro revertido," or collect call. You will be asked to enter the country code for the U.S., which is 001, plus the area code and telephone number. An operator will come on the line to help you with your call._
> 
> Copied from eHow: How to Make a Collect Call From Spain to the United States | eHow


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## michaelbr51

AllHeart said:


> Yes, I said above that those instructions are for a company. Here is what I posted about reaching the international operator. I haven't done this, as I've just been using my long-distance plan on my cell. Please let me know if it works.


Thanks AllHeart, tried that one too, no luck, that number does not work any longer.


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## baldilocks

According to my researches:


Use Skype via Collect Calls | www.collect-call.eu | Call USA & CA Collect


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## AllHeart

baldilocks said:


> According to my researches:
> 
> 
> Use Skype via Collect Calls | www.collect-call.eu | Call USA & CA Collect


You can do this with or without Skype, right? Also, does the other person have to have Skype for me to call on Skype?


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## AllHeart

michaelbr51 said:


> Thanks AllHeart, tried that one too, no luck, that number does not work any longer.


Sorry it didn't work.  Thanks for letting me know.


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## AllHeart

I just tried those numbers on my land line. The first I gave (1005) is for the US and Canada from Spain, but it just dials and then gives a busy signal. This is for the company AT&T. The same thing happened with the company that Baldilocks gave - dialling followed by a busy signal. For Skype, they charge a connection fee.

When I tried on Skype, Baldilocks' number dialled, but then it gave an error message and said it could not be completed. The AT&T # wouldn't even dial.


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## baldilocks

AllHeart said:


> I just tried those numbers on my land line. The first I gave (1005) is for the US and Canada from Spain, but it just dials and then gives a busy signal. This is for the company AT&T. The same thing happened with the company that Baldilocks gave - dialling followed by a busy signal. For Skype, they charge a connection fee.
> 
> When I tried on Skype, Baldilocks' number dialled, but then it gave an error message and said it could not be completed. The AT&T # wouldn't even dial.


Perhaps the US hasn't paid its bills and has been cut off.


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