Do you still use payphones?

[i remember]

After walking past 3 this morning that had been smashed in/ pissedd on / spewed on/ graffiti and what not, do people still actually use payphones?

I mean ive used one in my life and have had mobiles since i was young so ive never felt the need, but im thinking how many people still use them?
I suppose they are good in emergancy situations!

[Elskeggso]

Drug dealers probably still use them

[soad]

Don't use them for the above reasons - also noticed trampy looking older men checking coin change slots in the city centre.

[Halb]

i remember said:

After walking past 3 this morning that had been smashed in/ pissedd on / spewed on/ graffiti and what not, do people still actually use payphones?

I mean ive used one in my life and have had mobiles since i was young so ive never felt the need, but im thinking how many people still use them?
I suppose they are good in emergancy situations!

Well where do you make your heavy breather calls?


I have two traditional red boxes in walking distance of me. Look ace.

[kma]

I had to use one a few weeks back, i didn't have any money or my mobile, luckily someone lent me the 20p i asked them for, it had been so long since i'd used one that i didn't realise they now cost 40p!! so i had to scrounge another 20p

[davido140]

not used one since I was 18! (14 years ago!)

[Gareth350]

My mate works for BT, he says, no phone boxes, apart from ones in tourist spots, e.g. London & problem drug areas, make any money & are actually run at a loss!
The reason for them are that BT has to provide X amount of public phones per certain area/population by law for emergency use!

[Halb]

Gareth350 said:

My mate works for BT, he says, no phone boxes, apart from ones in tourist spots, e.g. London & problem drug areas, make any money & are actually run at a loss!
The reason for them are that BT has to provide X amount of public phones per certain area/population by law for emergency use!

It was on the MT Product. In the case of a national emergency, phone lines may be switched off, mobiles as well etc. But public phone boxes are category 1 and will remain switched on.

[miniman]

BT are removing the payphone in my village. I can't blame them; it has only been used 78 times in the last year.

[Techn0]

miniman said:

BT are removing the payphone in my village. I can't blame them; it has only been used 78 times in the last year.

Its a shame really as the only time I really use payphones are in some backwards village where the mobile won't work.

[nlldavies]

Had to use one about a month ago as my mobile decided making calls was not an option that morning and I was urgently trying to find someone who hired vans at short notice after being let down by a local company.

2 local rate calls, one with no answer and the other with a 20 second conversation took about £1.50 off me in the end.

[GetCarter]

They are good when there is no mobile signal!

[bimsb6]

i went out to repair the line to my local payphone, for some reason the fault was a year old ! we replaced the cable feeding it ,god knows why if it hadn't worked for a year who needs it ?

[H_Kan]

Haven't used one in probably 7-8yrs. Living in the suburbs, went to uni in a city and work in central London- so mobile reception isn't a problem.

Funnily enough, I was waiting for the bus during the week and had a nosy around the phonebox next to the bus stop as it had been so long since I've used one. Was suprised to see I could apparently make a 20min landline call for 40p! Quite why I'd want to stand in a freezing smelly phonebox for that long is beyond me.

[CooperD]

I haven't used one for about 10 years now. There are still a few dotted about Suffolk but I can't think the last time I saw one being used. Virtually everybody has a mobile phone now don't they?

[GetCarter]

The one here is used every day... people come here on holiday expecting to get a signal. (You can on some networks, not others)

[F93]

There are 2 near my house, one i've never seen used since there was an accident about 25 metres away from it about 2 years ago. The one outside a co-op gets used fairly often, I see people in there every few months.

[gilla]

they exist as advertising sites these days - barely ever used

[Gareth79]

I used one this week in baggage claim in LHR because my mobile charges for 0800 calls (was calling for the parking shuttle), also used one to activate the cable service after moving into my house, for the same reason.

Edited by Gareth79 on Saturday 28th November 17:25

[Los Palmas 7]

The last time I used one, you had to press button "A" to speak.