So called “Unlimited” toll free plans, sometimes called “flat rate” 800 services, are kind of an all you can eat for one price concept. They’re made to look and sound good but they’re mostly scams that take advantage of people who don’t realize how little toll free service they actually need or they’re used to attract customers and then once they’ve adverted the numbers and gotten things going enough to come out ahead they’re forced to switch over to more expensive plans. It’s kind of like the carnival games that look easy to win, but the game is fixed by the house and the fine print makes it almost impossible to actually come out ahead.

I’m not going to mention any companies selling this by name right now because I’m not writing this to hurt or piss off anyone. But I may add that later when the provider section is done. This isn’t about any one company, although you can certainly mention or ask about specific companies in the comments below. This is about something that I believe a number of people are falling victim too, and someone needs to point out that the emperor really has no clothes. This is a follow up to an old page about unlimited toll free service from a couple years ago.

I can be more honest and tell you about this for several reasons.

• With 13 years of experience in the forefront of the toll free industry typically emailing or talking to 50 to 100 people per day I personally interact with tens of thousands of people per year about toll free service.
• I’m the only one in the toll free world not even trying to sell anything that competes with it.
• I worked on a project to offer flat rate toll free service a while ago and actually still have several flat rate 800 number domain names.
• I’m my own boss and can be more honest than anyone that works at a big phone company because they can be fired. Nobody can fire me.

There are 3 main reasons why so called unlimited services really don’t work for most customers.

1. Most customers never justify the cost.

One of the companies we work with showed us the numbers on their whole book of toll free only customers (toll free service with no other long distance or other service) and the average monthly usage for thousands of customers is $12 and change. This combined with the fact that nearly all toll free customers almost universally seem to over estimate their use, means that a lot of people are paying $49 per month for $12 worth of actual service. Ironically the people who need it the least (the smallest customers with no idea how low their usage will be) for some reason tend to be the ones the flat rate unlimited services appeals to the most.

2. You’ll over pay at least a couple hundred bucks

Even if you’re going to use enough to justify the cost it’ll take you several months to ramp up. I also think the number one rule in starting a small business is that everything takes longer and costs more than you think it should. You also don’t control the amount of calls you get to your toll free number. It takes a while to get the new advertising produced and out there and then fine tuned again before people even begin to call. So you’ll almost always pay for at least a couple hundred bucks of service that you don’t use before things even start to ramp up.

3. It’s not really as unlimited as you thought

Then once you do manage to really get your business going enough to justify the monthly cost and actually start coming out ahead you’ll find that it’s not quite as unlimited as you thought. The system is actually designed to look and sound unlimited, like you’re going to get more than you’re paying for, but in the end you find out the system is “fixed” to look great but actually favors the house and gives them all of the control and power. And when they shut off you’re phones you’ll be surprised how easy it is to agree to almost any fee or penalty they impose because you were “threatening” the network (or at least it’s profitability).

So after paying a fee to reconnect your toll free number they’ll just make you switch to a per minute plan with a not so competitive rate. That’s when you ask them if there’s any hidden fees to release your 800 number to another carrier and hope they don’t hold you hostage.

No reputable company offers “Unlimited” 800 service.

Another red flag that indicates that it’s less than honest is that some of these plans won’t transfer toll free numbers in (or out!). They won’t transfer toll free numbers in because they don’t want big customers to transfer really high volume numbers in and run up a large bill before they shut it down. They typically won’t transfer numbers out because then once you’ve advertised the 800 number, you won’tever be able to move or stop paying them.

They count on the fact that it takes a while to ramp up most programs. They also count on the fact that they can shut you down or hold your number hostage and that the cost of missing that volume of calls is so high that you’ll agree to anything. Plus in many cases these companies are often the same type of company that don’t let you transfer numbers out, so they can make you switch to a per minute plan and then keep you there for a long time.

The bundles or blocks of 800 minutes some toll free companies offer are also a variation of the same thing. Again, no major phone company sells minutes that way because it’s just a trick to charge people for minutes they’re not using. Even if you do use enough once you get going most companies take several months to ramp up. Those blocks of minutes aren’t as bad as the unlimited scams, but they are a variation of the same thing you should avoid.

If you use consistently just a little more than you’re paying for but never a lot more, you can probably come out ahead. But most businesses have cycles, seasons or growth spurts and you’d hate to have your phones shut off in the middle of your growth spurt. My advice is to get an honest company with a competitive rate and hope that your bill is very high because that means your advertising is working and you’re probably going to be making a lot of money.

You would think if what the advertising and webpages for the unlimited service said was true, that the largest companies would be the ones that want it the most. But it’s not what it appears to be. The bottom line is that there’s a reason why no large customer uses this type of service, and why no regular phone company anywhere, offers this service. It’s not hard to make a page that looks good and sounds good. And as long as they get rid of the larger customers they can take advantage of a lot of people that don’t realize how inexpensive toll free service really is. I just don’t want them to take advantage of YOU!

Feel free to post any specific feedback you’ve had with these plans. But if you offer this type of service don’t pretend to be a customer.

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