Do 1-890 and other toll free calls to the U. S. A. Count?

[Mhon]

Hello friendly neighborhood smart and kind people.

i pray you're all doing well.

i recently called 1-800- MY-APPLE to get resolution to my locked APPLE ID.

since it was a toll-free number, I thought it wouldn't count towards my minutes with my Public Mobile account.

Well, it ate up 30 mins usage 😂 😆 😝 

finding out the hard way, I also realized that calling the voice mail box to retrieve voicemail messages also are up minutes .

any suggestions from our smart neighbors if there is a work around not to have minutes deducted when calling voicemail retrieval and toll free numbers?

Please and Thank you in advance.

your newbie neighbor,

@Mhon

[Nezgar]

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@HALIMACS wrote:

I'm afraid it's YMMV when it comes to outgoing calls to toll free numbers.

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It's not YMMV, it's just not "official". I've never once seen a call to a toll-free number (1-800,833,844,855,866,877,888) consume minutes, nor ever seen anyone show evidence proving so.

I'm all ears if someone ever finds outgoing calls to these numbers consuming minutes on a $15 plan.

[Nezgar]

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@Mhon wrote:

i recently called 1-800- MY-APPLE to get resolution to my locked APPLE ID.

since it was a toll-free number, I thought it wouldn't count towards my minutes with my Public Mobile account.

Well, it ate up 30 mins usage 😂 😆 😝 

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Are you sure this actually used 30 minutes from your 100 outgoing minutes? The only way to know this for sure is to take note of your current usage on the overview page of the self-serve portal before and after this call. You cannot rely on the usage page, as every call is shown there and it doesn't show a differentiation between calls that use your minutes, and those that don't.

I highly suspect your call to 1-800-MY-APPLE did not actually consume any minutes from your $15/100 minutes plan. I actually have that same plan, and just tested this myself. Before calling, I showed 4 minutes used and 96 minutes available.. Made the call for 2 minutes, and after refreshing my usage in the subscription usage section again it still shows only 4 minutes used, and 96 minutes available.

[softech]

@Mhon 

by policy, calling 1-800 will cost you your outgoing minutes for those with limited outgoing minutes, however, many confirmed that it shouldn't  Again, since the policy is YES, there is nothing much you can do

As to checking voicemail, it is true that it will be counted towards your minutes bucket too.  Many will use a landline to check VM instead.  Another workaround is to download VoIP app TextNow.  It gives you another 10 digits number for you to receive and make calls on the app.  it is free and will work with Wifi or Mobile Data.  Many uses that to check VM at home or anywhere with Wifi. Try it 

[HALIMACS]

@Mhon 

I'm afraid it's YMMV when it comes to outgoing calls to toll free numbers.

Some have reported that some 1-800 and some 1-888 numbers do not count toward your minutes, however I would go into every single outgoing call with the expectation that they will...

YEAH,  it's crappy! 

The only work around would be downloading a calling app to use in Wi-Fi zones or when calling your voicemail, do it from another line by calling your own number, then pressing the star button when your announcement starts, enter your voicemail pin code, and listen to your messages.