Collect call or llamada por cobrar can cost the receiving party much more than if they call you, so you may prefer to pay for a quick call to the other party to ask them to call you back.

If you do need to make a collect call, you can do so from pay phones without a card. Call an operator on 020 for domestic calls, or 090 for international calls. Mexican international operators can usually speak English.

Some telephone casetas and hotels will make collect calls for your, but they usually charge for the service. Be careful with casetas and shops that announce that you can place collect calls for free, because they usually charge exorbitant rates to the receiving party.