I agree with you on this one - however, our European friends always tell us that.
When I lived in Germany in the '80's, it was prohibitively expensive to call home, but today, with internet provided phone service, it is ridiculously cheap.
Compare your ISP companies rates and maybe (hopefully?) it will be much less than you thought.
That being said, Dirk is much better getting ahold of via e-mail, and Barry is better via his cell. But they have always gotten back to me in a timely manner.

Good luck regardless!
Greg