Perhaps my tinfoil hat is screwed on too tightly

But I am MAD! My adopted soldier needs a phone card. No problem. They have a really good deal here for international students - ten bucks for 300 minutes with no minutes used for connection.

I told my soldier about it and she said that the only cards that work are AT&T cards. Okay. I returned the unusable cards and went to several stores including a phone store. No AT&T cards. The guy at the phone store was puzzled because he said they did have them, but for some reason, they are no longer on the computer.

Derby said, "I'll bet they only sell them at WalMart."

"That can't be true," I say.

Well, this morning, I looked at the AT&T website and it lists all their nice government contracts. They'll sell you cards on their website. I searched for a place near me that sells them. That hasn't been updated in a looong time. It lists an Eckerd - CVS bought out Eckerd a long time ago here.

So, I look further into the website and it says, "Now available at Sam's Club and Walmart."
http://www.consumer.att.com/prepaidcard/

Can you fucking believe it???? Am I insane?

:puke: No, you're not insane.

A government contract would mean that the various government agencies and departments would look to you first to provide a service, not that the government is locked into using only your services.

When you use a pre-paid calling card, you dial a 1-800 number then enter information off your card, then enter the number you wish to phone. So, for AT&T cards to be the only ones that work, all other 1-800 numbers must be blocked from all phone lines.

:dunno:

She said other soldiers have tried to use other cards and the pin numbers don't work.

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

Derby's going to WalMart tonight. He's taking a bullet for me because I refuse to set foot in that thing. He's ONLY going for the phone card because I need to send it to my soldier.

on deployment in Iraq could ask them what they know about this.

It could be that your friend had some experiences with bad cards, and misunderstood the situation?

It just seems kinda weird, and if true, maybe the cold light of the blogosphere could open up the market there.

I thought that she misunderstood since they only have AT&T phones available. But the lack of availability of AT&T cards anywhere except online or Walmart seems odd.

If someone does have connections, I'd love to hear about it. I don't want to ask her - she's a buck private.

do you have a link that I can check into?

http://www.soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

Once they vet you, they send you a soldier's address and email address (if they have one). She and I have been emailing every day unless she's out in the field. She was dying for Lemonhead candy so I sent her 10 boxes. I told her she's going to be sick of them by the time I'm through with her!

thanks for the info!!

I have known for a few months that you can ONLY get AT&T cards at Wal Mart or Sams. I have several family members that have jettisoned their long distance service in favor of AT&T calling cards.

When I learned you can ONLY buy them via the Evil Empire Retailers, I told my family members who use them that I won't accept their calls made with AT&T cards...they will need to leave a message and I will call them back. When I see that "Georgia Call" come up on my caller ID, I know it's an incoming ATT calling card call and it goes to voice mail. They think I'm over-reacting, and maybe I am, but I hate Wal-Mart THAT MUCH!

I just want this soldier to be able to talk to her mom without using IM. I had no idea that anyone could be this evil - it's just hard for me to wrap my head around. I know the BFEE is evil, but jeez!!

This whole thing is so disgusting. I was able to get her a card to talk to her mother for a little less than 4 cents a minute. Now it's about 15 cents because of these fuckers. Support the troops my ass. AND they take off 4 minutes each time she connects!!!!

:kick: