Kokua Line
Kokua Line
What is the difference between the toll-free 800 and the new 888 number I keep seeing these days? Is 888 also toll-free, or do you have to pay? Toll-free numbers grow
popular, fill up quicklyYou've just gotten used to seeing 888 all over the place, but soon you'll also be seeing 877.
They're all toll-free numbers.
The new 877 exchange is being introduced this month because consumers are grabbing the available toll-free numbers -- very rapidly, said GTE Hawaiian Tel spokesman Keith Kamisugi.
"Each toll-free exchange provides 7.6 million possible phone numbers," he said. It took more than 20 years to exhaust the 800 numbers, which were introduced in 1972. But the 888 exchange, introduced just two years ago in March 1996, is already near capacity.
The reason for the growing popularity of toll-free numbers is that their costs have decreased considerably, Kamisugi said. "Many companies, including GTE Hawaiian Tel, now offer toll-free numbers to residential, as well as business, customers," he said.
Families are finding it convenient to get a toll-free number to keep in contact with family and friends, such as children attending college, Kamisugi said.
Call your preferred long-distance carrier to find out how to get a toll-free number and what the charges are. Costs vary.
I had to go to St. Francis Hospital frequently to pick up prescriptions for my dad. They have about a dozen stalls for free short-term parking. The last time, there was no stall open, so I waited about 10 minutes until a guard told me to move. I asked her why the cars were not moving and she said they don't enforce the 15-minute limit. I called the security office and was told the same thing. Why can't they keep tabs on this, like announcing the license plate numbers of cars parked too long? Security officers do give out "notification tickets" to people who abuse the short-term parking privilege, said St. Francis spokeswoman Angie Carson, wondering who gave you information otherwise.
"Officers turn in their ticket books at the end of every day so tracking can be done," she said. About six months ago, guards did notice one car abusing the 15-minute time limit. The owner was tracked to someone who was visiting a hospitalized relative. The hospital's patient representative talked to the driver about not using the short-term parking privilege, Carson said.
"When someone is in the hospital, we do give out partial validation" for relatives, she added.
Auwe
To a couple who cheated our 4-year-old son out of a puppy. We went to the Humane Society on March 18. They have a policy where, if you find an animal you like, you go to the reception desk with the tag number. We were the first ones to pick up this puppy and were holding it for 20 minutes. I told my husband the tag number, but this couple overheard us and rushed to get ahead of my husband. We were doing the right thing, but by cheating, they got to take the puppy home. Try to explain that to a disappointed 4-year-old.(The Humane Society set up a sign-up system more than a year ago to help avoid situations like this, "so we could have a truly fair first-come, first-served system," said spokeswoman Eve Holt. "But this incident pointed out a weakness that could be taken advantage of if someone was determined to do so."
Holt said the system has now been fine-tuned "to fulfill its mission of fairness." Also, arrangements were made for you to get another puppy, she said.)
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com
