LA stylist learns modern meaning of 'pay phone'

[November 30, 2009]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When a Los Angeles hairstylist accepted a collect call from a customer, she had no idea it would run more than $45. And no idea that's just what collect calls from pay phones cost in the mobile age.

Barbara James gladly accepted the call from 84-year-old client Pat Devine, who said she was running late and called from a pay phone because her cell phone had died.

James' bill from Network Communications International showed about $37 for the quick call, about $5 in regulatory fees and taxes, and about $3 for a "billing cost recovery fee."

NCIC president Bill Pope says the tiny number of collect calls makes such prices inevitable.

Federal Communications Commission spokeswoman Rosemary Kimball says collect calls are largely unregulated since most major companies left the business.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/

[Associated Press]

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