# Has anyone used Yak long-distance?



## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

Just realized with our latest Telus bill that they are nickle and diming us with a new $2.95 per month charge if you haven't specified a long distance provider.

I cancelled our Telus long distance several years ago, when they kept upping the rate on their original $20/month plan until it reached around $24/month. On top of that they started with a long distance "administration" fee that kept creeping upwards, so that with taxes we were spending almost $30/month for long distance, mostly just the ability to call Vancouver. 

I then discovered a brand of long distance calling card that I was happy with, dirt cheap rates and it was pay as you go. I just phone them up and top it up from my credit card a few times a year. The downside is that you have to dial their 888 number first and enter the card's PIN number. But I learned to program that into our cordless phones with a pause to enter the pin so it's not a big pain.

So with Telus now they demand to be paid $36 per year so they can administrate something or other, even if we don't use their long distance service. It's obviously just a gouge job and there's not much I can do to avoid it outside of either signing up for their overpriced long distance or signing up with another LD carrier. Apparently this is being disputed to the CRTC, but they are divesting themselves of the regulatory power they had, so nothing may come of it.

So I was looking around for a cheap long distance plan to avoid giving Telus any more #%@!! money and came across Yak Long Distance. It's as cheap as a calling card at 3.5 cents/minute and is pay as you go, which I like. A cursory look around the web and I found some complaints and some praise (for the savings). It seems likely that they are understaffed in comparison to their growth so their customer service might suck. Anyone have any first-hand experience with them?


----------



## duosonic (Jan 7, 2004)

I've been using Yak (10-10-925) for about 2 years & am very pleased with it - no problems with calls, and it has cut our long distance bill to a fraction of what it was.


----------



## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

duosonic said:


> I've been using Yak (10-10-925) for about 2 years & am very pleased with it - no problems with calls, and it has cut our long distance bill to a fraction of what it was.


So I gather you're not using their long distance plan but their "dial-around" plan if you use the 10-10 prefix. Does the LD billed amount show up on your regular phone bill then? Are the rates better than the Yak LD plan?


----------



## medic03 (Aug 2, 2005)

I use a similar number and have only had it not work once but that was calling a party line in Northern Ontario. Other than that it has been very reliable and much cheaper than any plan I can find to suit my needs. It shows up on my bill in the long distance section as ' other carriers' - Yak communications and billed at the Yak amount. Easy and no fuss.


----------



## TrevX (May 10, 2005)

I use Yak long distance (do not have to dial 10-10-925 before the number) and its been great. Been using it for about 6 months now. I get the bill in my email and I set it up with pre-authorized credit card. The most I have had to pay in LD was about $20 one month, and that was my wife calling California and talking with her family for hours upon hours. Its truly been a god-send money saver.

Trev


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Been using a Link Tel long distance card from 7-11, costs us 3 cents a minute. We can tie the pin number to several phones and we use the phones memory function to dial the 1-800 number. Been very happy. We have discontinued our regular long distance provider altogether. 

I believe it is good for 6 months starting from the first use. Some cards such as Best Buy or ATT are only good for 30 days  so read all that fine print.


----------



## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

TrevX said:


> I use Yak long distance (do not have to dial 10-10-925 before the number) and its been great. Been using it for about 6 months now. I get the bill in my email and I set it up with pre-authorized credit card. The most I have had to pay in LD was about $20 one month, and that was my wife calling California and talking with her family for hours upon hours. Its truly been a god-send money saver.
> 
> Trev


Is their offer of 3.5 cents per minute and no additional charges the way it actually works?

Boy at 3.5 cents/min that must have been quite a few hours on the phone. 

Thanks for the info.


----------



## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

eMacMan said:


> Been using a Link Tel long distance card from 7-11, costs us 3 cents a minute. We can tie the pin number to several phones and we use the phones memory function to dial the 1-800 number. Been very happy. We have discontinued our regular long distance provider altogether.
> 
> I believe it is good for 6 months starting from the first use. Some cards such as Best Buy or ATT are only good for 30 days  so read all that fine print.


That's the method I'm currently using, except that Telus wants to add on a $36/year charge unless we choose them or someone else and get a long distance plan. I don't know how they get off doing this and I hope that the CRTC challenges work.

I'm using a calling card called Budgetline that I picked up at the corner store several years ago with $5 on it. They allow me to top it up with my credit card and I think it expires in a year if I don't use it. This allows me to keep the same PIN number from the original card. Since I have their 888 number and the PIN programmed in our phones it's good that I can keep using the same card.

Their service has been fine and usually when I call every few months and add $20 or so on the calling card they throw in 2 or 3 extra dollars as a bonus - I guess since I'm a loyal customer who has used them for years.


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

GratuitousApplesauce said:


> That's the method I'm currently using, except that Telus wants to add on a $36/year charge unless we choose them or someone else and get a long distance plan. I don't know how they get off doing this and I hope that the CRTC challenges work.


Insist on talking to a supervisor, the guys in India have no idea what they are talking about. We are paying no charges for long distance from Telus. Once I did forget and dialed direct. As they had warned us the charges were usuary on that occasion  but I have never repeated that blunder.  

We started when we were running telephones in different locations. Couldn't see paying $10 a month before we made a call. Besides that the cards are also quite a bit less on the per minute rate than most low use plans.

Now if I could just find a similar solution for my electric bill. Those extra charges are absolutely obscene.XX)


----------



## sergeg1 (Sep 22, 2005)

Yak is actually very good... until I discovered Skype!!

Imagine paying $30.00 + on monthly basis to Rogers, Telus or some other rip off artists, and suddenly you discover Skype, which has a ONE time charge of $37.00 or so for ONE full year for unlimited calls to land lines all over North America!

That's awesome, and Skype itself is free.

I only keep my land line to receive and make local calls and ALL my long distance calls anywhere in North America is Skype only.

Seems cool to me.


----------



## TrevX (May 10, 2005)

GratuitousApplesauce said:


> Is their offer of 3.5 cents per minute and no additional charges the way it actually works?
> 
> Boy at 3.5 cents/min that must have been quite a few hours on the phone.
> 
> Thanks for the info.


Yes, it works that way exactly. All we pay is what we've used in long distance. No hidden or admin fees or anything like that. Almost seems too good to be true, but its legit.

And yes, my wife talks to her family for many many hours a month. Its saved me thousands for sure.

Trev


----------



## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

Sorry to dredge up the past on New Year's Day but as with many Google searches, ehMac comes up in the first page!

I'm trying to reduce my landline costs as all I use it for is making an occasional call, a few faxes and my DSL. One way to do this is eliminate any long distance plans which also removes Bell's 'network charge'. This will end up saving me $15.00 + a month that I can put toward the HST ptptptptp).

For the occasional long distance I use I want to try YAK's 10 10 925. Any recent experiences out there? Hidden costs, SC from Bell etc. etc. Can I use it with my cell as well? Also, how much per minute for North American calling. I'm having trouble finding that info.

Thanks and Happy New Year!


----------



## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

In the past, I've used TekSavvy's long distance. Their rates are really good, usually better than Yak. And there's no stupid network crhager, either. Can't be used with a cell phone though.
TekSavvy Solutions Inc


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

You can also pick up the appropriate DataWave card at your local 7-11. You can tie the PIN to your particular phone. Works out around a straight 3¢ a minute. 

Whether you go YAK or the card route, once you fry the long distance leech, do not make any direct dial LD calls as they will cost you about 50¢ a minute.


----------



## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

John Clay said:


> In the past, I've used TekSavvy's long distance. Their rates are really good, usually better than Yak. And there's no stupid network crhager, either. Can't be used with a cell phone though.
> TekSavvy Solutions Inc


Does Teksavvy offer the pay as you go 10 10 service? As my long distance usuage varies wildly, that's all I'm interested in.


----------



## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

Anyone yakity yak?


----------



## Manatus (May 11, 2009)

I use Telehop 10-10-100 and 10-10-620. No need to sign up for anything, just dial one of those first and then the phone number, and it goes on your regular phone bill. The 100 one is for short calls, you get 15 minutes for 25c, and then 4c a minute after (for Canada/US, rates may be different for other countries). The 620 one gives you unlimited minutes for $1. Quality seems OK, no billing problems or anything, I've been using them for over a year now.


----------



## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

Since the original thread I've signed up for Yak's long distance plan, which eliminates the Telus surcharge for not having a long distance provider (I was previously using inexpensive phone cards). Yak is the same price as the phone cards and they bill my credit card monthly for actual use at their cheapo per-minute rate monthly with no extra charges. My monthly bill from them is usually no more than what Telus' made up surcharge was.

I had to phone them to get it set up and I remember that experience was not optimal (long waits on hold), but it eventually worked and since then I've been happy.


----------



## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

GratuitousApplesauce said:


> ...
> I had to phone them to get it set up and I remember that experience was not optimal (long waits on hold), but it eventually worked and since then I've been happy.


Cannot possibly have been any worse than the Telus Telephone Hell Anti-support System.beejacon


----------



## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

mrjimmy said:


> Does Teksavvy offer the pay as you go 10 10 service? As my long distance usuage varies wildly, that's all I'm interested in.


They don't offer a 10 10 service. It's added to your phone bill on a per-call basis. They act as your long distance carrier, so any long distance calls you make are through them. No monthly fee, aside from usage... and it's quite a bit cheaper than those silly 10 10 services.


----------



## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

" ... I'm trying to reduce my landline costs as all I use it for is making an occasional call, a few faxes and my DSL. ..."

You might be able to eliminate the landline altogether. You may be able to find an alternative to faxing from your landline (there are online based fax services, for example).

You don't need a landline for DSL with my phone company, at least, and it doesn't cost you anything for bundling purposes to kill the landline because the bundle discount of $5 is for when you include a teleco long distance service, not the landline itself.

They just assign a non-working phone number to the account for DSL billing purposes. There is the 457 Area Code available to all telecos in North America for assigning non-working numbers, and that's what they gave me (the actual area code here is 306).


----------

