[10130] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: One last IIA note
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Barney Wolff)
Tue Feb 8 14:41:59 1994
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 94 14:05:31 -0500
From: Barney Wolff <barney@databus.com>
To: Doug Humphrey <doug@ss1.digex.net>, com-priv@psi.com
>From: Doug Humphrey <doug@ss1.digex.net>
>
>"If you do not use the 800 number you will never be charged. If you
>find the 800 more economical than direct dial, you will be billed in
>$10 increments. A charge will be rolled over until all time has been
>exhausted."
>
>The strange part is the "$10 increments", and the unclear part is
>the "charge will be rolled over" part. Does this mean that they
>are rounding UP to the nearest $10?
>
>Yow! This is, ah, somewhat unusual, to put it in polite terms.
>I can see rounding cents, and maybe nickles or quarters, but to
>the next $10? I am impressed.
However much fun it is to kick IIA around, this seems pretty clear to
me, and perfectly legitimate. In order to avoid zillions of tiny
charges to your credit card, they charge $10 at a time, but then
credit you for $10 worth of time, and don't charge again until that's
used up. That's exactly how the NY State Thruway Authority charges
me for my electronic toll payer, and for the same reason.
It gets them paid a month earlier than they would be if they accumulated
charges and then did one transaction at the end of the month. It also
leaves open the question of what happens to the credited time when you
quit the service. In that respect, it's no worse than a landlord's
taking a month's rent as a deposit, but also no better.
I have no connection whatsoever with IIA, and don't ever expect to.
Barney Wolff <barney@databus.com>
