Do any of you remember "900 numbers"?

[abefroman329]

900-976-1313.

For some reason, that number has always stuck out in my head, even though I can't remember what it was for.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Phone

I thought it might have been from a movie.

[SP Cook]

While 900 numbers were mostly commercial ventures, I would say about 50-50 between audio porn and stuff like stock quotes, ball scores, weather and the like; it did have some serious uses as well.    There was a data base of fugitives that cops were supposed to call.  It was a 900 number and some genius at the courthouse had blocked all 900 numbers from the government phones. 

[SectorZ]

I need to mention the primary purpose for 900 and 976 numbers, at least in French Canada: hotlines for not too family friendly stuff.

Yes, they were primarily phone sex lines in the US as well.  People are tiptoeing around that fact for reasons that are unclear to me.

Apologies I didn't call sex lines as a 13 year old and only had less prurient experiences to share.

[abefroman329]

I need to mention the primary purpose for 900 and 976 numbers, at least in French Canada: hotlines for not too family friendly stuff.

Yes, they were primarily phone sex lines in the US as well.  People are tiptoeing around that fact for reasons that are unclear to me.

Apologies I didn't call sex lines as a 13 year old and only had less prurient experiences to share.

Neither did I, but I knew they were phone sex lines.  Didn't you ever see the video for Love in an Elevator?

[steviep24]

Phone psychics used 900 numbers back then, especially that Jamaican one that was on tv all the time back in the 90s

[jp the roadgeek]

Phone psychics used 900 numbers back then, especially that Jamaican one that was on tv all the time back in the 90s

Miss Cleo (RIP)

[In_Correct]

Youree Dell Harris, or " Miss Cleo * " for short, ( among many Nick Names / Alternate Spellings ) was on the verge of getting her own Programme, " Mind And Spirit " until it was revealed that despite earning Money from the 900 Numbers, she allegedly had the habit of not paying her employees.

I was still a Fan. She also voiced Auntie Poulet in Grand Theft Auto.


* = Apparently The Psychic Readers Network, the place she was reguarly employed for many years, stuck around much longer after the 900 Fad went away, maintaining Ownership of the Miss Cleo identity, and preventing her from continuing her career as such.

The 900 Fad also was infamous for: " CALL SANTA !! " ...

This:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDobftLSgXg

utilizing different Voice Actors, made This:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JTAxgBc2eg

As for today, if I understand correctly, some of the former 900 Fad numbers reverted to their Choke Exchange purpose.

However, any telephone number ought to be able to do that.

[Hobart]

The 900 Fad also was infamous for: " CALL SANTA !! " ...

This:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDobftLSgXg

utilizing different Voice Actors, made This:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JTAxgBc2eg

As for today, if I understand correctly, some of the former 900 Fad numbers reverted to their Choke Exchange purpose.

However, any telephone number ought to be able to do that.

It is refreshing to know that there were means to get a child to spend their parents' money under their nose all the way back then!

I grew up well after the 900 number fad, but for some reason I had a hyperfixation on landline telephones for a while and know they used to exist for things from fan club advice to "phone activities". It's interesting that they just used to bill all of this stuff back through the phone system, rather than having you enter credit card numbers or anything crazy.

[GenExpwy]

I remember a TV news report back in the '90s about a 900/976 scam in NYC. Some guys set up a line with a $35/minute charge, then went around to Manhattan offices in bicycle-messenger outfits:

"I'm here for your pickup."

"We didn't call for a messenger."

"Oh, my dispatcher must have given me the wrong address. Could I use your phone for a minute, please?"
(most people did not carry around cellphones back then)

[SectorZ]

I need to mention the primary purpose for 900 and 976 numbers, at least in French Canada: hotlines for not too family friendly stuff.

Yes, they were primarily phone sex lines in the US as well.  People are tiptoeing around that fact for reasons that are unclear to me.

Apologies I didn't call sex lines as a 13 year old and only had less prurient experiences to share.

Neither did I, but I knew they were phone sex lines.  Didn't you ever see the video for Love in an Elevator?

LOL, of course I saw that video!

[abefroman329]

I remember a TV news report back in the '90s about a 900/976 scam in NYC. Some guys set up a line with a $35/minute charge, then went around to Manhattan offices in bicycle-messenger outfits:

"I'm here for your pickup."

"We didn't call for a messenger."

"Oh, my dispatcher must have given me the wrong address. Could I use your phone for a minute, please?"
(most people did not carry around cellphones back then)

That scam lasted well into the smartphone era, actually.  I think they'd borrow your phone and then send a text that signed you up for some sort of subscription that also came with a sizable monthly fee.

[abefroman329]

I grew up well after the 900 number fad, but for some reason I had a hyperfixation on landline telephones for a while and know they used to exist for things from fan club advice to "phone activities". It's interesting that they just used to bill all of this stuff back through the phone system, rather than having you enter credit card numbers or anything crazy.

Back then, credit cards weren't accepted (or held) nearly as widely as they are now, and the companies didn't need to worry about Ma Bell giving them the money they were owed - she was good for it.

[hotdogPi]

I've had several people (estimating 5 over 7-8 years) ask to borrow my phone on the bus because their battery had run out or similar. I said that I had to hold the phone myself and the area code had to be one I recognized. (I would have also accepted area codes I wasn't familiar with but had low enough digits that they would have existed in the original 1947 plan.) Interestingly, one of these was a 202 number.

[golden eagle]

The first one I remember was a 900 number set up by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince in the late 80s.

[abefroman329]

The first one I remember was a 900 number set up by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince in the late 80s.

Oh, I just remembered that one!

[Hobart]

I was at orientation today for a new internship, and they actually listed dialing 900 numbers as "unacceptable phone use."

I thought it was interesting, especially considering they use Webex for everything, and 900 numbers are going wildly out of fashion. It wasn't even an old training presentation either, it came out in at least the last couple of years.

[zachary_amaryllis]

I need to mention the primary purpose for 900 and 976 numbers, at least in French Canada: hotlines for not too family friendly stuff.

Yes, they were primarily phone sex lines in the US as well.  People are tiptoeing around that fact for reasons that are unclear to me.

Hell, I tiptoed around calling them sex hotlines myself. Then again, we're not all adults here.

I was creative about it. I had a phone with alligator clips, so I could just open the box on the side of the house and use YOUR line.
Looking back, I wonder what that would have looked like had my neighbor(s) caught me.

[Rothman]

I need to mention the primary purpose for 900 and 976 numbers, at least in French Canada: hotlines for not too family friendly stuff.

Yes, they were primarily phone sex lines in the US as well.  People are tiptoeing around that fact for reasons that are unclear to me.

Hell, I tiptoed around calling them sex hotlines myself. Then again, we're not all adults here.

I was creative about it. I had a phone with alligator clips, so I could just open the box on the side of the house and use YOUR line.
Looking back, I wonder what that would have looked like had my neighbor(s) caught me.

O.o

I guess some people really needed their fix.

[mgk920]

Some people are just strange and try to make others responsible for their 'strangeness'.



Mike

[abefroman329]

I need to mention the primary purpose for 900 and 976 numbers, at least in French Canada: hotlines for not too family friendly stuff.

Yes, they were primarily phone sex lines in the US as well.  People are tiptoeing around that fact for reasons that are unclear to me.

Hell, I tiptoed around calling them sex hotlines myself. Then again, we're not all adults here.

I was creative about it. I had a phone with alligator clips, so I could just open the box on the side of the house and use YOUR line.
Looking back, I wonder what that would have looked like had my neighbor(s) caught me.

Caught you or *caught* you?

[zachary_amaryllis]

I need to mention the primary purpose for 900 and 976 numbers, at least in French Canada: hotlines for not too family friendly stuff.

Yes, they were primarily phone sex lines in the US as well.  People are tiptoeing around that fact for reasons that are unclear to me.

Hell, I tiptoed around calling them sex hotlines myself. Then again, we're not all adults here.

I was creative about it. I had a phone with alligator clips, so I could just open the box on the side of the house and use YOUR line.
Looking back, I wonder what that would have looked like had my neighbor(s) caught me.

Caught you or *caught* you?

First one, then the other.

[GCrites]

Dork alert for myself, the only 900 line I ever called (and yes with my parents permission) was the Nintendo Power Hotline, that I think I called three times in my life over a period of a few years.

I can't imagine having a job where you played video games and help people (mostly kids) try to get thru difficult spots over the phone.

So, yes, file that 900 line under things that became extinct and unnecessary when the internet arrived.

For many years the Nintendo Power Hotline was only an ordinary long distance call with a Seattle area code. It wasn't until the late '90s or early 2000s that they started charging 1-900 rates. Because I called a LOT in the late '80s and early '90s. Then I got back into games a little in college and saw there was a charge and was like, "NOPE, I'll just figure it out on my own, ask a friend or do without".