Cheers International www.cheersinternational.com

No service offered at Cheers International and monies taken in excess of limits stated on card

T-Africa phonecard £5 from Cheers International.

It is the one with £5 on the top left had corner, a little toy with "Mr Phone Card" on the near top right corner, a picture of African women phoning home and an Acacia tree with the sun setting/rising behind it in the middle and "T-Africa phonecard" on the left/middle bottom. Also "118033" plus other texts written vertically across its right hand corner.

It claims to give 17 minutes for a £5 card, but once you dial your destination number, it announces 15 minutes. 2 minutes gone already! But the worst is still to come.

As soon as you dial your destination number it immediately starts charging! That's right, charging for nothing. Just for the privilege of touching those numbers on the telephone pad, even though you are not connected to anyone yet. I mean, nothing is happening yet - apart from your money disappearing at an alarming rate of about 50p a minute.

Now, what's the point of using a calling card I hear you ask?

You can call many places around the world for MUCH less than 50p a minute from the comfort of your armchair using you current landline, mobile and many call shops etc., AND get through to your recipient on the other end of the line, rather than just listening to endless squeaky noise and spending your hard earned cash on hold. So, indeed, what is the point? It really defeats the purpose!

In my experience, most calling cards are just a COMPLETE waste of huge money. In addition, they target the most vulnerable members of the society. That's those people who can not afford to dial their family, friends and loved ones directly because of the call costs involved. By the way, have you ever wondered how many such companies are operating in this business, with new ones springing up all the time while old ones/names disappear with huge sums of customer's money overnight?

And how can they achieve their claims since they are not Telephone companies, and they don't own any telephone network?

Yes, I know. They reroute your call via a third party network, the Internet, VoiP or Satellites etc. But how many calls can be done in this way, and by how many such companies?

It is like those salespeople who keep repeating "cheaper than BT", "cheaper than BT by this much per year etc", "cheaper than BT by %". In my opinion, that's how they get your money. By promising savings, only to make huge profits for themselves.

My advice to anyone interested in using calling cards, especially from this company, is don't, unless you really do not have any other way to waste your money!

The only exception to this is if you do not have any other option. That you are actually phoning some hard to reach places, where there are no public networks, big telephone companies such as in some war-torn countries in Africa and similar places around the world. In this case, please, please, please, SHOP AROUND carefully. Do NOT rely on listings on boards outside shops, on websites, or even the automated message that you hear the first time you use the card.

Ask friends and family members for their recommendations, or even the shopkeeper which card is best (or suitable) for a particular destination. Because, most sellers actually become familiar with which card is best for which country since they have been selling these cards, and they probably receive feedback from loyal customers, or they may have even tried or used some for themselves! But will they tell you the truth? Well, that's the tough question! I think honest ones will.

Failing that, depending on where you live, these days many companies are offering unlimited talk, broadband talk and such other deals (similar to dial-up, broadband and all that) for a one-off payment of £7.99, £9.99 or £10 per month, plus very cheap (sorry, competitive. I hate the word cheap because it has been overused by dishonest people/companies) international calls (though it depends on your destination(s). If like me, you are fed up with money wasted on calling cards, you may consider signing up with one of those companies I mentioned.

It might be worth it in the long run, especially if you call abroad a lot. But please, shop around first!

Just consider the up-front pointless costs, the hassle, the inconvenience and the broken promises associated with such cards. You NEVER know what you are actually getting on any one of them until you try! And you can not keep experimenting with them until you find a good one that actually works. You have a limited amount of money available to you! Very limited for most of us.