sherbert wrote on Feb 9
th, 2010 at 5:29pm:
Name us a package that gives you a free call..... There isn't one. .....Inclusive calls maybe but never a free call. There is a difference.
While I am no longer familiar with UK telephone packages, I do consider that my package here can accurately be described as providing
free calls. Basic phone service (which could be described in British terms as line rental) here, excluding taxes and fees, is $13.68 per month. I consider this to be the cost of providing a line into my location which further provides a dial tone and an ability to make and receive calls, either through the local provider or through any provider of my choice. Some people simply need a line for signalling purposes, whether it be alarm-related or some other facility. It just happens that
basic phone service also allows calls to me made to anywhere within the local call area at
no cost. Furthermore, such calls are neither metered nor itemized. The phone bill does not list such calls nor does it provide the number or type of calls made. This is usual throughout this country for residential lines, and any such description of free or inclusive calls is not generally used as a marketing tool; rather it is a given that
free calls come with basic phone service. So, as I have stated before, with basic phone service, one could happily make a call for 31*24*60 minutes in a typical month (which may well have been popular during dial-up internet imes) and no one would really care. There would be no record of the call on the bill as there is no itemization. Now is this call free or inclusive? My belief is that it can correctly be designated as free. Whilst it can also be considered as inclusive, the
free description is not, I would argue, incorrect.