Just 7 pence per minute to call Tobago from UK?!

Glyn Kirpalani · Post by **Glyn Kirpalani** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 7:30 pm

Dear all

Can anyone please confirm or otherwise that one of my UK friends got it right when he told me of a new company offering really cheap calls to Tobago from UK, @ 7p a minute?

He said that you simply call 08717721721 to access the cheap calls - grateful to find out if this is right, as BT calls are circa 40-60p a minute and Onetell 32p, so 7p is dramatically less - which will also assist readers wishing to make 'phone enquiries with businesses this end, or to keep in touch with friends made on the island. It seems to cheap to be true, so grateful for feedback?

I shall now stand next to my 'phone holding my breath for the deluge of test calls!

regards

Tanja Mohammed · Post by **Tanja Mohammed** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 8:03 pm

Hi Glyn

thanks for that helpful information. Cannot confirm it. However I would like to add that there is such a service in Germany, the cheapest one at the moment is 22 cents Euro per minute from Germany using this number 0190051 and then continue dialing through to Tobago. The user of this number will get confirmation about the price and it is billed with the regular phone bill. It is working OK, my family back home uses this number to call here.

Look forward to getting confirmation on the UK one.

Reagrds and have a good weekend
Tanja - Yes Tourism

Post by **Steve Wooler** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 8:50 pm

Well, Glyn – it might work if somebody was at home to answer the blooming ‘phone. I tried you at 18:30 hrs GMT and it rang, and rang and rang. I then tried Tanja. Same thing. So I tried the Blue Haven and then the Coco Reef and then the Hilton (just working down our hotel listing in alphabetical order). Where is everyone in Tobago? I hope somebody switched out the lights when you all left.

Joking aside, the service is operated by a company called Telediscount. Never heard of them, personally, but they could well be the service Tanja mentioned. They appear to be based in Amsterdam. You don’t need to subscribe or anything, you simply dial a specific access number, pause until the message has played, quoting you the rate (yes, 7p for T&T), then dial 00 for an international line and then your Tobago number. So, I was trying the following:

0871-7721-721 ~ pause ~ 00868 + localnumber

There seems to be a problem though – it simply didn’t work. What was interesting was that the numbers rang with a UK “ringing” tone – not the “American” tone we normally get for T&T. I’ve sent Telediscount a fault report and I’ll try again in a day or two.

Here is a bit of blurb from their site:

Telediscount: Easy to use!

You do not need to subscribe to our service as you simply have to dial one of our access numbers to connect to our system before making an international call. All you pay for is the cost of calling our access numbers, as we run this service using the revenue the numbers generate. Your normal telephone provider will charge you for calling our access numbers which will appear on your normal phone bill. You will not receive any bill from us.

So for example, if you make a 5 minute call to South Africa from a BT phone via access number 0871 7 540 540 which is charged at 6p/min; Next time you get your BT bill you will see a call to our 0871 7 540 540 number, a duration of 5 minutes and a total charge of 5 min x 6p = 30p. Furthermore, before each call, the operator will confirm the current call charge per minute so you will know exactly what the call is going to cost, no unpleasant surprises!

The price stated behind every access number is all-inclusive (including VAT). There are no further subscription or connection costs for the international call.

Please be aware that calls from mobile phones may be surcharged, click for more info.

If you still have any doubts how the service works or any questions, please click here to go to the Frequently Asked Questions.

Glyn Kirpalani · Post by **Glyn Kirpalani** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 1:08 am

Hi Tanja and Steve

Thanks for the info. Never mind, maybe Telediscount will work tomorrow, assuming it is not a fly by night scam which charges folk for the minutes they spend listening to the ringing tone, 7p per minute. Hope it is pukka, since it will save family and friends without email a fortune in calls.

Steve - I usually dial 001 868 from UK, not 00 868 - ever since the yanks started running the phones here we have been on the 1 north american dialling system - perhaps it will work with the 1 inserted?

Thanks, regards

Post by **Steve Wooler** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 8:50 am

Hi Glyn

Yes, fingers crossed. I've had an auto-reply email back from them thanking me for reporting the error and saying try again later, but I'm not overly hopeful.

As regards the '00' - you are quite correct that you dial 001-868 from normal lines. However, the voice instructions on the Telediscount service do say to dial 00 for an international number. I've tried it with an 001, but with the same results.

I really don't know whether this is a genuine service or not, to be frank.

Post by **Steve Wooler** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:14 pm

Hi Glyn - and everyone else who want to 'phone Tobago from the UK

I've got it to work. I don't know whether I was being thick (and increasingly common occurrence these days) or whether they've changed the system, but I've just successfully called Tobago.

The TeleDiscount system says you have to dial '00' after the access number and before the country code. The message should say dial '001'. Anyway, just to confirm, I successfully dialled:

0871-7721-721 - 001 - 868 + localnumber

I'll be interested to see my phone bill and make sure that I was only charged 7p a minute, but I think it’s all kosher.

Glyn Kirpalani · Post by **Glyn Kirpalani** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 4:08 pm

Hi Steve

Many thanks for proving this number - it is such a bargain that I am now assured of regular calls from mumsy in Kent now so will need to buy new earplugs!

Look forward to finding out what charges were on your bill in due course, just to make sure it is not some underworld scam

Regards

Christine Nelson · Post by **Christine Nelson** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 9:52 pm

Dear All,

Have tried this and had my bill in and yes it does work at 7p per minute.

regards Chris

Post by **Steve Wooler** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 3:19 pm

May I offer my thanks to the reader who has just notified me that the Telediscount code for call to Tobago from the UK has changed. It is now:

0871-7-723-723

The rate remains the same at 7p a minute.

Brian Taylor · Post by **Brian Taylor** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 11:07 am

did we ever have the topic to call abroad from here? since tstt canceled the cheap number there is still the chance to buy a "talk fuh so" card and use it from a public phone to let the loved ones know you reached well or make them jealous that you are going to eat lobster looking at a beautiful sunset the same night....
just thought it might be interesting...

steph (beeing called from germany with the cheap numbers quite regulary)

Jacqui B · Post by **Jacqui B** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 3:42 pm

Hi all,
I use telediscount regularly to call my sister in France (1p or 2p a minute) and have just started using it for New Zealand at 1p per minute. Have checked phone bill and no problems always works fine, but would advise that it's best to check the website, http://www.telediscount.co.uk ,regularly as the numbers and prices do change sometimes.