European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 4, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Dealing i deutschland the Cost can be catastrophic by Mary Neth consumer editor americans overseas who Don t venture out of Lille America military communities sometimes forget they Are in a foreign country. In Germany however a Bill irom the Deutsche Hund Spost Tia Federal Agency Hal runs the country s postal and telecommunications system can na0li o reality. The american Habil of Curling up with a prone for a relating Chat can Lead to disaster particularly if the Call is being in do la friends or family Back Home a 30 minute Call Day or to Reghl to the United sales Coli around t65. Ii docs 1 Lake Many such Calls to equal n budget breaking Bill. The toil of Bunde Spost Calls and the manner of Billing Ohrn arc met Viln anger and indignation by americans according to army Community service Asci Lini Inual Counselor americans lend to forget Hal the service is the Samo As German subscribers Werner Hugentobler. Public relations representative Lor Thi Deutsche Bunde Spost in Frankfurt says to regrets Hal information on charges is not published in English in the country s Telephone books in Germany Calls Are my itemized on Bills As they Are in Iho Umid sales. They Ara measured says Hugen Lobler. In units which Are counted by a motor similar to Iho one that registers electricity consumption. American subscribers often find the Bunde Spost s Phon re Bills confusing. There arc iwo dates on German Telephone Bills. The abscond tag Dale tells when the Bill was mailed. More important is the  Date which tells the Day the Mel or was read. Calls billed Are covered for about a month up to that Date. This Means Tor example that a february Buji is mainly Lor Colls made in january. Customers who question a Bill should eel immediately. They should either Lake it to a Telephone Billing office or seek advice from a financial Counselor who can Contact the Telephone company. If a Bill is not paid within seven Days of mailing an overdue fee is charged. After a Bill has lapsed for iwo months the service May be blocked or terminated often this is no soon enough according to Tamara Jones a financial Counselor Tor Hie acs in Piank Lurt one of her american clients ran up a Bill of 3.000 Marks t1 ,775 in a month. The client did t pay. But kept dealing Booie the phone was turned Oil the Bill had gone up lo5,s99 Marks 13.313. Jones wishes there were some Way the German Telephone company could set a limit that would keep people from running up such exorbitant charges use of a Telephone however is a personal responsibility. For that reason neither the army emergency Relief nor the american bed Cross will help when subscribers Are unable to pay their phone Bills those organizations provide Loans for emergency needs. Hilde Cole civilian processes clerk with usage aft s staff judge advocate office of International affairs in Frankfurt says the average unpaid Bill thai comes across her desk ranges from 1,000 to 6,000 Marks $591 to $4,733 the largest she can Focasi was Lor 17,000 Marks $10,059. Friedolin Wicker a Bailiff Lor the Bunde Spost in Frank Lull says that there Are As Many germans As americans who fail to pay. The main difference is in Iho size of the Bills. Americans usually have larger Bills because of Calls to the United  tha largest Bill he has seen was for a whopping 28,000 Marks $16,568. The brides Post goes through Usa eur jag Cost of direct dial Telephone Calls from Germany to the United states charges Are the same irom any cily in West Germany on any Day and at any Timo to any ally in the United Stai is cos equals number of units used a single unit equals 3.762 seconds and costs 23 pfennig. For example to roughly arrive Al the Cost of a 10-Minule, self dialled Call to the United states you Divide the total a mules j60q seconds by the unit Cost of 3.762 and mul Lipty by 23 Plonnigs. The of lowing unil figures were supplied by the German Telephone company. Dollar Cost is based on an Exchange rate of $1 to 1.69 Marks the minimum charge for a Callol less than i Roe minutes placed by an operator is 24 Marks or $14,20. An to jul a charge of 8 Marks is added to person to person Calls placed by an operator. Number of units do Cost Dollar coat 3mmulos 46 11.04 j6.53 Lomi Nules l�9 36.57. $21.63 30 minutes 478 109.94 $63.00 45 minutes 717 164.91 j97.58 Cost of local and nearby Calls daytime rate runs from 8 . To 6 . Monday through Friday. All other times plus Legal German holidays Are figured Al the cheaper nighttime Rale. A charge of .23 pfennig is made Lor the Lime allowed in each designated zone. Daytime rate  he zones local Calls 20 to so Kilometres 50 to 100 Kilometres Over 100 Kilometres g minutes 45 seconds 30 seconds 12 seconds 12 minutes 67.5 seconds 38.6 seconds 38.s seconds local Calls Are figured basically the same Way As Long distance Calls. The total seconds of the Call Are divided by the allowed rate of seconds and multiplied by 23 pfennig. A 10-Minule Call before 6 . Made to u distance of More than 100 Kilometres would be approximately 11.50 Marks $6.80. German Telephone books include charts thai show the area  of local Calls eight minutes for 23 pfennig. Headquarters in Heidelberg when demanding payment of overdue Bills irom members of the command in Frankfurt Colo is then contacted. She in turn contacts the person who owns the bin. People usually Are willing to cooperate and an agreement is made with the Bunde Spost to make instalment payments. She says. Until january of this year the Bunde Spost collected no interest on such time payment. Now there is a charge of 6 percent Ole notes that she can t Oiler Legal advice,11 but she translates documents and suggests How arrangements can to made to Mike monthly payments to the bund spool. If the person recluses to pay Cole contacts his supervisor or first sergeant. I Hal action is not successful she contacts the commander. If All attempts to collect fall Wicker moves in. We can t attach a military person s pay but we can confiscate valuables he says. The confiscated items Are Ihen auctioned with the Money earned going to the Bunde Spost Lor payment on the debt. Acs Counselor say that Large phone Bills often can be traced to family separations or marital problems. Wicker says he is frequently told that the Calls were made by visitors in the Home. Robert Ginkel technical advisor Al the Bun despoil s Telephone sales shop in Frankfurt advises using a meter to chock Home Telephone use. In cases of Ali Pula Bollt the Home meter won t stand up As proof in court. In general taking a Telephone dispute to court is futile the meter can however help control a. Case of 1eephoni1is, people who Back off irom leasing a Motet because o the monthly charge Are guilt of false logic cays Pinkal. He notes that Telephone locks also Are available. One Type in particular could be the solution to that teen age baby Sitter s use of the phone says Ginkel. With it the phone can be locked so incoming Calls can be received but Only one specific outside number dialled. The baby Sitter can t run up a Bill but the parents can be reached in Case of emergency. A separate Meler with lock can be leased from the Bunde Spost for 3.35 Marks a month 11.98telephones Wilh built in meters begin in Price with the Comfort Teto Fon Beta Model Al 10 60 Marks a month $6.27 this phone offers the baby Siller lock and has a display which shows than umber being dialled Trig Cost of the individual Call and Cost of cats recorded to Date either in units or Marks. A lock that can a set so Only incoming Calls can be received can be Tea oct Lor a simple dial Telephone Lor 90 pfennig 53 cents a month. Probably the beat lip of All when it comes to talking to friends and family in the United Stales is no to use Bunde Spost lines. If possible make arrangements by letter or a super Brief phone message or them to cat you with the understanding you will pay the . Telephone my when it comes duo. They will understand if you Supply them with a comparison of the rates. The Cost of Long distance Calls varies across the United states. All however Otter a savings when compared to the German Telephone company the Cost of direct dial Telephone Calls irom the Stales also varies depending on the time of Day this Cas is placed. Calls Mades Between 6pm. And 7 . Are usually the most reasonable Cost for a 1 a Pinula Call from new York is $13.36 and Lor a 30-Minule Call s3c 05 see Chad for comparable costs irom Germany Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday March 4. 19bb