Well, folks. I decided to get a new wallet! I outgrew my original wallet. I was quite delighted when I found this wallet in Carrefour! It was only NT$248.

It has lots of pockets on the right hand side, each of which can take several cards. There’s a small pocket for change, too; though I use it for my SD cards. I’ve added my Cruzer on the keychain in the center. There’s also a slot for a pen in the middle. On the left hand side, there are two long pockets for notes, and other things. Originally, this wallet was designed for traveller’s to put things in like passports and traveler’s checks (hence the generous pockets), but I’m finding it quite useful!

Of course, you are thinking why did I change? Well, during the previous weekend, I did a really dumb thing: I threw away all of my bank books for my business! Now that was really dumb. After that I decided that ALL of my financial affairs needed sorting out, things were just getting too messy. While I don’t carry bank books in this wallet, I do think it would be big enough, should I do so.

Having a sensible wallet is really essential these days; and sometimes those sleek little leather ones just don’t cut it any more! What are you using? Show us a picture in your blog!

In this regular feature, we publish stories and experiences that credit card users face everyday.

Our Reader writes:

I never used to look at my credit card bill carefully because I used e-billing, but the amount a couple of months ago was so high that I checked the charges and found $7500 of airline tickets on it! Well, I called the issuer and essentially, they said it wasn’t their problem and I’d have to file a claim with the fraud department. What I wasn’t aware of until now is that most companies allow only 60 days in which to file and if it’s not in writing, they could “lose” the complaint!

I’ve switched back to paper billing now so I can check off the receipts. Good thing, too, because I found a couple of little charges that I didn’t make. Apparently, my wife was doing free offers to earn a little cash. She didn’t read the fine print that authorized a company to charge our credit card $3.95 per month when she signed up for a contest page. She earned thirty cents from the offers-for-cash site and the “free” contest site was going to be charging us $47.40 a year!

Luckily, I caught the fraudulent charges on my card. Pay attention and check your bills!

Thanks, A.

Credit Card Swiper

writes:

Fraudulent charges are a regular problem for many credit card users, and can arise from many sources. Whatever format you receive your credit card statement in, make certain that you check your statements regularly and understand all the charges to your account, including payments, penalties and so on. There is only a small window of time to make a formal complaint, so you need to do this right away.

Our little business has been using the same phone for nearly three years: a base system with two handsets that are wireless. It’s a traditional analogue signal telephone system made by Philips.

Just as we were clearing up for Chinese New Year, the units became less and less functional, and the base unit developed a cable problem: every time someone called, and you grabbed the handset quickly, the cable would fly out. Not good for first impressions.

So, today, I went shopping: I ended up by two separate phone systems for our business: a wireless phone system with an answering service and two handsets for the teachers room, and a small business phone system that could handle two lines. It also contained a ‘hold’ function.

Of course, I chose two Panasonic models: a traditional business type phone with dual lines, speakerphone, a decent memory function for the reception desk; and a pair of digital wireless phones, one with a phone answering machine. For those three phones, I spent nearly US$200 (or NT$5700) but I’m hoping I’ll get more reliable service from each of them, as I didn’t buy cheap models like before.

For some kinds of consumer goods, especially phones and other items that get a lot of abuse, buying cheap really means buying dear. Over the years, I have bought numerous phones from the local hypermarts, wireless and traditional types. But because I never bought expensive ones, I ended up paying a lot more than the $5700 that I originally paid.

Oh, well, let’s see how it goes. How did you guys solve your own business communications problems? Did you make the same mistakes I did?