The agency has produced public service announcements promoting a toll-free hotline number for counseling.

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Public-service sites such as local portals might be toll-free and subsidised by governments.

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The services are heavily marketed to cardholders, particularly when you call a toll-free number to activate a card or ask a question, or when a customer-service rep calls to answer an inquiry.

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In November 2001 Roberts had recommended printing toll-free customer hotline numbers on soda cups and sending mystery shoppers to restaurants to conduct anonymous reviews of service using a hard-number scoring system.

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