working assets

We did Working Assets for years, especially because of the great deals on calls to Europe. Sure, it's great that they make donations to charities, but to me, it's more important not giving money to the big boys. Though now, me and the roommates have evolved away from long distance all together, with our cell phones, making the monthly long-distrance phone bill breakdown a thing of the past. We do miss the free ice cream though… more

Caution: I'm admittedly a "bleeding heart" who's happy in Western Washington. No need to go on if you feel we don't really have inequality in our society or some screwed up policies. I've been with Working Assets http://www.workingassets.com/index.cfm for my long distance for as long as I can remember. Sure, I use my cell phone most of the time, but we still have a land line and gotta pick a long distance company, so why not pick one we feel good about? It may not be the cheapest, but it's certainly competitive, and what sets them apart is what they do with their money. First and foremost, though, you get a FREE PINT of Ben & Jerry's every month for 12 months if you are new (you get a coupon each month). That sold me. A company who knows the value of good ice cream. What can go wrong? In short, every time you talk on the phone, 1% of your charges automatically go to progressive nonprofits at no extra cost to you. Since 1985, Working Assets has donated more than $50 million to different organizations; in 2005 they raised almost $4 million. You get to nominate and vote for what organizations receive funding each year. You can also voluntarily "round up" your bill, to make a tax-deductible donation. Each month they also include "Citizen Actions" in your bill, which talk about some current issues that could use activism on your part. They would do a targeted campaign to call a certain representative, and you can make those phone calls to Washington FREE if you use your registered phone. If you so choose, instead, you could send "CitizenLetters" for a fee, and they'll send a letter to the targeted representative on your behalf. It's no-pain activism for busy folks (or a lazy person like me)! You may not agree with every action they bring up, but at least you have an option to be a collective voice if you agree with something. For example, this last month they were 1. urge Pres. Bush to seek a UN peacekeeping for Darfur, 2. raise minimum wage (still $5.15!!! That's $10,700 a year) and 3. restore funding for Hanford Nuclear Reservation. They also recommend some current books and you can buy those from them if you so choose. There are a lot of stuff they include in their bill (but no more pages than a typical phone bill) - if you're busy or don't agree, you can choose to ignore it. The rates are very competitive I think - since we moved and signed up with a new account, we got 2.9 cents a minute for a full year, and 5c a minute thereafter. They have good international rates, too (with their optional international plan I believe it's 10c a minute to call Japan). I've been happy with their service - we've never had any problem. And when you call their customer service, you don't have to wait forever like you would with a huge company, and they seem actually happy that you are their customer. They'd started offering wireless services as well as a credit card, but I haven't tried those since we're against credit cards and we have a wireless service contract. But for long distance they pay your fee to switch, so there's usually no pain. more

the best way to learn about working assets is really for you to check out their website (http://www.workingassets.com), they have much more than i can describe. but i'll talk about their L-D since it's been fabulous. but first about WA - 1% of all bills got to nonprofit groups. the donate millions every year (almost $7 million last year) to groups working for peace, human rights, equality, education, and a clean environment. it's a wonderful ideal, and i wish more companies would follow suit. BUT every phone bill, correspondence, etc. reads like an ACLU newsletter. so either be a supporter or be able to ignore all of the 'extras' that come with each bill. and it's easy to ignore the overload of info when you are paying 2.1cents a minute for the first year! (after that it only goes to 5 cents per minute). in-state calls are 5 cents per min. international is also very cheap - canada is $4/month and 6 cents per minute. my last few phone bills have been $10 or so, down from $30 plus. they also give you a voucher to make up for the money that your current company will charge you for making the change. AND they send you a gift certificate for a free pint of ben & jerry's every month! through WA you can also get wireless service, credit cards, etc. but as promised i'll keep this review to their long-distance. more