When his 18-year-old son had problems getting on-line, he called the ISP's tech support line for help.  Tech support instructed him to change the modem dial-up access number to their toll free 800 number instead.  After solving the problem, several hours later, the son thanked tech support and hung up and proceeded to have no further problems surfing the web.  Now this family typically turns their computer on when they get up in the morning, and turns it off after the 10 o'clock news, spending about 5-6 hours of on-line access per weekday, more on weekends.  Now that might not sound like much, compared with, perhaps my own computer usage where all of my multiple computers at home live on the Internet 24 hours a day using Road Runner's cable, but when you are using a 'so called' toll free number to dial your ISP, and then find out that ISP is billing you $6.95/hour of usage, it adds up really quickly.

The first month, he noticed that the balance in the family checking account was "a bit lower than expected", but by the time they received their statement from the bank, nearly $1800 had been deducted from their checking account.  A small difference from the perhaps $20 maximum deduction he had expected, wouldn't you agree?  His story had a happy ending, after disputing the charges and getting legal help, but it still cost him considerably more than $20 for the month.

Customers have frequently told me that they had recently signed up for one of those "700 free hours" CDs.  The common statement from them is, "We haven't used up all of the free time yet." When I point out that there was only 720 hours in a typical 30 day month, and the "free 700 hour deal" had a fine print clause that requires it to be used up within 30 calendar days, well their first action is to pick up the phone to be sure their account had been canceled.  When you sign up for any of the national "free trials", you still are required to provide some method of payment for use after the "free trial" period has ended.  Unless you follow their requirements for notifying them that you intend to cancel, your account will be charged for next month's service, in full and in advance.Guaranteed.

I am only aware of one local San Antonio ISP which offers an actual limited use free national 800 number for their customers when they travel away from the area, and they also have over 10,000 local free access numbers for those who spend a lot of time in one or more remote areas.  But even with them, be sure to read the fine print about constitutes limited use.

The bottom line here is read the fine print.  If you subscribe to an ISP which deducts their monthly access charges direct from your checking account or debit/credit card, keep tabs on how much gets applied.  And if you use one of their toll free numbers, make sure there is no monthly charge, or that you are aware of your usage if you choose to spend the money.