FIGHT BACK : `TOLL-FREE' WEB SURFING COULD COST YOU AT SOME HOTELS.

Byline: David Horowitz 

For those of you who have laptops and travel with them, it's a wise cyber road warrior who does some basic telephone checking before accessing the Internet.

I found that out the hard way when I assumed I could use the local toll-free number my Internet service company provided me for low-cost surfing.

I dialed it as a local call from my hotel room and then spent almost two hours working with my high-speed modem and finally went to bed satisfied that I had done my work for Monday morning and also did a little surfing on the side.

When I checked out of the hotel, I got sticker shock when I saw my phone bill. That toll-free local number was charged to my room as a long-distance call at 95 cents for the first two minutes, or $1.90. Then, 50 cents per minute for the other 118 minutes, or $59. The total bill was $60.90, $15 less than the room cost me.

I complained to the manager, and he politely removed the charge from the bill as a goodwill gesture; however, I learned a lesson.

I shouldn't have assumed the access number for my online service would automatically go through the hotel switchboard as a local call.

I should have dialed the number through my telephone long-distance calling card. On Sunday night, it would have cost me a lot less.

Price gouging 

It's getting more and more expensive to rent a car, not only because rates are up due to the increased costs of the cars, but because rental rates are a magnet for local taxes.

The out-of-towner tourist or business traveler has no choice; you pay the extras or you don't rent.

I was amazed to find out smaller cities are some of the worst abusers of special taxes. In a small New England town, it cost me $268 to rent a midsize 1998 Chevy Malibu after a 5 percent coupon discount when I returned the car to the airport.

The car cost $52 a day, plus normal city and state taxes. Then came the laundry list of extras: airport use tax, 15 percent; state excise tax, $3.55 per day. Then, there was the 10 percent daily concession recovery tax. Then, a $10 daily convention surcharge, and finally a 30 cents-a-day parking fee at the airport.

I declined the extra collision damage waiver and other insurance. If I hadn't, that could have run up my bill another $27 a day. I think the time has come to stop making visitors dig into their pockets to pay abusive taxes to keep these levies off the back of the residents.

Jacket mix-up

I really feel silly when I get a gift item like a jacket, jeans or athletic shoes where the manufacturer's name is displayed on it. It makes me feel like a walking billboard or commercial for the product.

My family spruced me up with a birthday gift of a black designer sport coat. It looked like any other dark-colored sport jacket, but the fabric was lightweight and felt good.

The label inside said ``expensive'' when you read the name of the manufacturer. Since then, my sport coat has walked out of a restaurant on somebody else's back when they accidentally took it instead of their own off the coat rack .

It also was taken by mistake by a flight attendant and given to another passenger who also had the same coat. At my barber shop, a guy who was in a hurry took my jacket and left his identical jacket for me, with his wallet inside the pocket.

All the incidents and mix-ups luckily were straightened out, but enough is enough; I don't want the hassle. I have sewn a label with my name and phone number in the coat and had a red fabric coat hook placed in the collar to customize it.