phone cards, calling cards, international phone cards, international calling cards

Customer Services Charter

Whilst the vast majority of phone card calls are made without any problems, from time to time, problems may occur. This charter has been created to address such occasions.

1st4Phonecards.com believe in offering strong customer services and support. As the vast majority of the cards we supply are manufactured by a selection of 'telco/card producers', it is these telcos who offer first line support. Typically the 'telco/card producer' will have access, via their computers, to information such as call history, call length, 'from' and 'to' caller numbers, date, time and duration of calls made, card balance etc. They will also typically have the current status of their telecom infrastructure should there be any problems. Using this equipment they may also make credit to your card balance as appropriate. 1st4phonecards do not have access to this information, and so leave first line support to the 'telco/card producer'.

First Line Support

The card producer (the telco), for any given card will give first line support. When you first receive your order, either by email or mail, you will also receive contact details for customer support for the phone card ordered. Usually customer support lines are open for extended hours. Many card telco's will have extended hours such as 8am to 8pm , 6 days per week. Some operators have 24x7 support. Usually these support lines are via a free phone number. If you have a problem with any card we recommend that you report the problem right away to the 'card specific' number. We recommend that you do not wait until many days after the problem has occurred, because some phone card telco's will not make retrospective call credits for problems experienced greater than 48 before reporting. Apart from 'invalid pin number' notification all support calls should first be made to the telco customer support line.

In the event that you get a message 'invalid pin number' please check that you are using a 'touch tone phone'. Touch tone phones are needed in order to use phone cards. If you are using a touch tone phone and still get this message then please contact support@1st4phonecards.com or + 44 (0) 845 108 108 1. We will verify the number and rectify the problem.

The vast majority of support issues with all cards are usually rectified fairly quickly by the relevant telco for the card being used. However if the problem is not rectified or if it persists please contact support at 1st4phonecards.com at support@1st4phonecards.com or + 44 (0) 845 108 108 1.

Second line support - 1st4phonecards.com

It is our objective to resolve all complaints, where possible, within 2 business days. In exceptional circumstances this may take longer. Delays may occur if either we need more information from yourselves and are finding it difficult to contact you or if the telco for your particular card has an on going problem. In both circumstances we will make repeated attempts to get the information we need to rectify the problem or to find an alternative solution. Our general opening hours are 9am -10pm, 7 days a weeks.

It is the objective of 1st4phonecards.com to resolve or find an acceptable solution to ALL support issues no longer than 5 working days from the time we are notified.

Recommendations to help you choose the right phone card for your particular needs

The following recommendations have been put together to help you through the decision making process of finding the best phone card for your particular needs. Before you read these it may be worth while explaining how phone cards/operators work.

Summary of terms

Phonecard resellers: 1st4phonecards.com are resellers of phone cards. We would typically purchase cards from a telco. We believe that our customers need variety and we therefore purchase cards from several telcos throughout the world. Some phone card resellers might have the own brands developed such as card4anywhere.com which is our card.

Telcos: A telco will normally produce several phone card brands, each with their own particular strengths. As with most things in modern free enterprise the more you buy the cheaper it becomes. They are able to produce phone cards with exceptionally low rates because they will normally be purchasing millions of phone minutes from carriers.

Carriers: A carrier is a call carrier / router. They normally provide the service of routing a call from one location to another. Some calls may involve many carriers. Most callers are not aware of this fact as carriers are usually transparent. Telephone calls may route through many carriers to get to their final destination. For example a call made from London to Preston, UK, may just involve BT as the carrier whereas a call made from the UK to the USA may involve BT, AT & T etc.

Example of carriers might be BT, AT&T, MCI Worldcom, Deutche Telecom, Altantic Telecom etc. It's worth pointing out that if there is a problem calling a specific country then it might be that there is a carrier problem. This may affect several telcos, including phone card telcos. It might be that this adversely affects several phone cards from one or more telco. It is for this specific reason that 1st4phonecards supply many cards from many different telcos.

When choosing a phonecard

When first choosing a phonecard you may be inclined to select the cheapest card to the country of your choice. You may do this using the best rate calculator 'Find best rate' (on the left hand menu). But you may wish to purchase a selection of cards from different telcos to establish which card has the most acceptable quality vs price your particular needs. Whatever brand(s) of card you first select we recommend that you first purchase a small denomination to test out the card of your choice. Some people purchase 3 or 4 small value cards from different telcos. For example in the UK you may select a Pay Peanuts Ł5 card, a Savers card Ł5 card, a 1st national Ł5 card and a Ł5 Unity card. This would give you 4 different cards from 4 different Telcos. Of course you can purchase all of these from our web site. We even compile multi packs specifically for the purpose of finding your ideal card. We would then recommend that you use all of these cards and evaluate them for

a) call quality
b) ease of use
c) customer services (if needed)
d) call cost

Cards may vary in quality depending upon the country being called. It doesn't always follow that a specific card is better for all countries, which is why we sell selection packs and recommend this overall approach. When evaluating the charges please the a moment to understand the difference between local rate and toll free access

After selecting your ideal card we then recommend that you make a note of your findings. You may even wish to drop us a line with some feedback. Once you have found the best card from your selection then you may want to order a higher denomination of this card.

Having used your higher denomination card for a period of time you may then wish to start ordering in higher quantities which will save you even more money, as we generally offer discount on multiple purchases of higher denomination cards.

By adopting this approach you are much more likely to find the best card for you, and be happier with your purchase. Of course if the countries you are phoning vary or change then you may wish to go through a similar process. As we mentioned earlier, cards may vary in quality by country being called and it doesn't necessarily follow that one card is better for all countries. Because of the enormous saving that phone cards give, they are worth persevering with to find the best card for you.

So in summary

1) Purchase a selection of small denomination cards that are produced by different telcos. You may wish to purchase one of our selection packs for this.

2) Evaluate the cards for countries that you need to call. Remember to evaluate for call quality, ease of use, customer services and call cost. Make a note of the best card(s) for your requirements

3) Purchase a higher denomination for your preferred choice(s).

4) If needed you may wish to purchase higher quantities to receive greater discounts.

5) Repeat the same process 1) to 4) if your requirements change.

6) Please note that when you performed this test it was at a specific moment in time. Whilst a particular card may be routed through a certain carrier it is not unusual for a Telco to change the carriers. Therefore one should not think that a snap shot in time will always be the same in the future. Card brands/performance/rates do change. They are not static but dynamic.

This is only a recommendation, but a logical one. Many people who have purchased phone cards from news agents may have already gone through this process subconsciously! Hopefully this explanation together with the outline of how calls get routed will start to explain why this approach is worth while.

After finding your preferred card you may wish to try other cards from the same card producer. Some cards have lower rates but will incur a connection fee. these are ideal for calls of longer duration. The same card producer may also produce other brands with more competitive rates to your country of choice.

1st4phonecards.com use a continuous improvement program for change. We welcome constructive suggestions that may improve our service / offering. If you have suggestions please email them to mailto suggestions@1st4phonecards.com.