On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 17:17:33 UTC, "tim....."
wrote:

As a caller, you would also be charged if they had an answering
machine that took the call.

As callee, you get the message for free but are charged if you use
"ring back".

I'm not disputing that. I'm just explaining what the OP meant.

It's a bloody pain; the callee probably wouldn't have bothered with an
answering machine anyway, so the caller ends up with the expense. I
generally tell people I just won't call them if they have 1571.

I think that's a ridiculously extreme view. Loads of people deliberately
have 1571 instead of buying an answering machine. If you're worrying about
7 pence then you must have noting else to worry about.

You're missing the point. Answering machines don't answer when the
person is on the phone - 1571 does. And it won't just be 7p - more like
10p in practice - every time you try. If you're trying to contact
someone, you'll probably call them more than once - the fact that they
have a 1571 message isn't as overt as an answering machine message, and
they often don't listen to them very quickly either. Why should they
shift the cost onto me?


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