atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General Telecom News AT&T announces death of pay phone by end of 2008

Like most, haven't used 1 in years, my wife tells me the one outside wally world where she works is 75 cents. John C. (Not Garand)

Interesting post. thanks for that.

Sad but most payphones gets mistreated anyway. Some people that use these phones have no manners.

Nothing better than using a phone that someone may have spit on once or twice..

This explains why I lost a couple pay phones around the corner. But this is just the Exit of AT&T/SBC payphones. I still have Pellican Phones and Verizon Phones but the Verizons or 75 cents a call.

In the last few months many of the payphones outside of towns in my local area have become non-coin phones, the coin slots being blanked off and "No coins accepted" stickers being placed on the outside of the booths. It seems to represent BT's latest policy of trying to maintain the phones for emergencies or so people can use calling cards etc., but without having to go and empty coin boxes regularly.

Paul, the people in your area must be geniuses compared to idiots around here.

As I stated above, I rent out two every year for a fair.

I have to temporarily disconnect one so they can use the line for OTB (Off-Track Betting).

While disconnected, I post signs all over it in LARGE letters, in English & French saying that it is Temporarily O/O/S and to use the other one. I was having a coffee and sitting near the phones and sure enough you should have seen the number of idiots that would drop in the coins and try to dial THROUGH the paper that was covering the dial pad. The coin mehanism is rigged so the coins go straight into the box, no refundss. Easiest money I ever made and just about %*#@*%'d my pants while watching.

dave, that the brome fair?

Payphones here in NYC are either .25 or .50 - depending (I think Verizon's are .25 qnd other peoples are .50)

My wife (who's younger then me) remembers not having a phone in the house when she was young. Everyone in the apartment building she lived in used the coin phone in Rosie's candy Store downstairs. Neighborhood kids would hang out by the phone and answer it and then go to the called party's home and notify them that they had a call. My wife said that there was a standard tip for doing this, but she doesn't remember what it was (it couldn't have been too much). This was in East NY (Brooklyn) about 45-50 years ago.

Sam

Here's my old GTE payphone in my garage. It works great as a 'piggy bank' :dance:

Jay....

No it's the Ayer's Cliff Fair around the 26th of August. Always the week before Brome.

Brome is in DuoTel's territory. He's a buddy of mine & the guy that watches my area as I do his when either is away, plus we help each other out in many ways....ideas, parts, etc.

Tried to get him on here, but he's not too computer savy...

ahh, interesting, we have the ormstown fair in my backyard, bell drops off this trailer and dodge ram van with holes in its sides to provide 2 banks of phones one at each end of the site