phone posts

Remember when payphones were the only option to contact someone when you weren't at home?

With the extensive mobile network we all enjoy, the payphone seems like an antique of the past.

But sometimes they're needed, and for one user, who made a one-minute call to a family member from an airport-based payphone, the cost appearing on his credit card bill was a shocking $11.49.

Would it cost that much to have made the call on a mobile phone? And why would almost $12 a minute be acceptable?

What are the real costs are for payphone calls - and does there need to be clarification of the rates to users?

These days, you needn't brave the mall chaos to nab a few Boxing Week deals. Online shopping yields lucrative savings, too, and the best part is you can stay glued to the couch in your post-turkey coma.

If you're looking for some high tech gadgets, surf on over to Newegg.ca, where a clearance sale is underway. Some of the items are marked down by 80% and there's free shipping to boot.

For example:

HP LaserJet Pro Printer - $64.99 (from $149.99)

BlackBerry 8820 Unlocked Phone - $149.99 (from $199.99)

Rosewill Electric 4.2 Litre Water Boiler and Warmer Dispenser - $39.99 (from $59.99)

I'm sauntering along a shaded path at the south-east end of Central Park in New York City. There's something intoxicatingly relaxing about this 150-year old city oasis and I soak it in as my guide explains how it took 20,000 men to build the 840 acre landmark. In an attempt to imitate the green spaces of Europe, the workers blasted away rocky outcrops, sculpted the land with soil and planted over 270,000 plants to create one of the most famous parks in the world.

I arrive at the Musical Clock arching whimsically above the path. My guide is telling me about the animals that will dance out of it on the hour and half hour. It is a few minutes to 2pm and I want to see the spectacle, so I switch my guide off and wait. That's right, I switch her off. After all, she's just a walking-tour audio guide I downloaded for free from Central Park's website.

There are hundreds of thousands of audio tours on the internet for just about any destination you can think of. Some are free, such as the Arts and Architecture Tour of Central Park.

It's looks like a credit card, but it's not. It's the CIBC Advantage Visa Debit Card -- a completely new type of product, for Canada at least. About 160 countries already use Visa and Mastercard debit products, which give consumers greater control of their finances by allowing them to ditch the credit card and make online, phone or overseas purchases using their debit card.

This type of debit product was first introduced in the United Kingdom 23 years ago, and while Canada has been slow to jump on the bandwagon, elsewhere, the popularity of the cards continues to grow. Visa says the number of purchases made around the world using Visa Debit cards jumped 18% in the 12-months up until the end of June.

There is an art to getting what you want. I have a friend who never pays full price for anything. He always gets upgraded at hotels, free bottles of wine with dinner, and discounts on his home entertainment packages. He's a keen bargainer and an even better complainer.

Most people, including me, would not be able to pull off what this friend of mine can. It involves digging your heels in and sounding very authoritative about your complaint, even if you are in the wrong.

While my pal sometimes goes a little too far and resorts to rudeness, his behaviour is counter-balanced by another friend of mine who doesn't go far enough. After being robbed in Peru and stranded there without a passport for three months, her insurance company has now 'forgotten' to process the claim -- twice!