Auren Hoffman's Summation Push for the week of January 23, 2000

This issue:

* Telecom Taxes are Outrageous
* Kozmo's Y2K Problems
* Open a PayPal Account
* Summation Mentioned in Fast Company
* Response: Watch Wearing
* Summation Push Pick Links
* Hoffman Reading List

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TELECOM TAXES ARE OUTRAGEOUS

By Auren Hoffman

Do you know how much you are paying in taxes on your telecommunications needs?

Take a look at your phone bill -- you'll find lots and lots of taxes. There have been months where I paid more in taxes than I paid for my local phone calls.

My cell phone charges are even more outrageous. I have Sprint's 500 minutes for $50/month plan. Great deal, but my monthly bill is over $58.68 per month -- that means I pay $8.68 in taxes -- or 17% tax!

The taxes break down as follows:

Cal 911 tax: 0.37
Cal PUC tax: 0.05
Cal Teleconnect Fund Surcharge: 0.03
Cal Relay Service Device Fund: 0.10
Cal High Cost Fund Surcharge: 1.90
USA Federal Universal Svc Fund Surcharge: 0.40
USA Federal Tax: 1.58
San Francisco City Utility Tax: 3.75
San Francisco City 911 Tax: 0.50

Notice that I have to pay the lion's share of these taxes, $4.25, to the City of San Francisco. Is the city really providing me with that many more added benefits? If I lived two miles away, in Marin or in South San Francisco, I would be able to forgo half of my tax bill.

I think these little consumption taxes -- whether on telecom, the Internet, or on our restaurant bill, are going to be one of the big issues in the next few years.

(Are you paying too much? Write auren@summation.net)

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KOZMO.COM HAS Y2K BILLING ERROR

Kozmo's system upgrade in late December created a lot of unhappy customers. Thousands of customers were accidentally billed $3-$5 in the last few days of December for no reason -- including myself.

The problem is that Kozmo has no idea who they incorrectly billed. Now thousands of people are tying up Kozmo's phone lines (1-877-GO-KOZMO) trying to get their credit card charges reversed. Even worse, the operator told me that Kozmo is having system trouble reversing the charges!

And if that's not enough, when I called I got the serious run-around. They wanted to give me the name and phone number of a guy in accounts receivable -- and of course he could only be reached from 9-5 EST. I finally settled for 1000 Kozmo which might get me a free video or two.

(Your thoughts on Kozmo? Write auren@summation.net)

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OPEN A PAYPAL ACCOUNT

PayPal is a cool company that allows you to beam money to your friends via the web or through your Palm Pilot. I highly recommend the service.

They are currently giving away $10 free when you sign up -- and $10 free to any person that refers you.

I told you that free stuff is going wild -- but this is $10 cash, gratis.

You have to register a credit card with them, but it is worth your time. Click on this link to sign up and see for yourself:

https://secure.paypal.com/refer/pal=hoffman@bridgepath.com

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SUMMATION MENTIONED IN FAST COMPANY

Remember Summation's Free Houses? That was an article a few months back about giving away a free house.

Fast Company mentioned Summation's Free Houses in last month's edition:
http://www.fastcompany.com/online/30/rftf.html

Thanks to Dave Visschedyk for pointing it out to me.

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RESPONSE: WATCH WEARING

Regarding last Summation's article about wearing a watch, Larry Kahaner, author of the well-reviewed book Competitive Intelligence, writes:

"About your watch. I find that I don't need a watch at all because I see the time everywhere: in my car, on my computer and on my cell phone (when I carry it). But.... I wear a Timex datalink cause it has all my phone numbers and I use it as a wakeup alarm when I travel. It's the best gadget cause, since I don't own a day-timer, I can still have all my phone numbers available. As you probably know, it's the easiest thing to move phone numbers from computer to watch."

(Got a good idea? Write auren@summation.net)

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THIS WEEK'S SUMMATION PUSH PICK LINKS:

* Thomas Weisel Partners (http://www.TWEISEL.COM) - some of the best financial research is located here.
* PayPal (https://secure.paypal.com/refer/pal=hoffman@bridgepath.com) - great service that lets you beam money to your friends.
* SF Girl -- (http://www.sfgirl.com) -- Great place to find parties in San Francisco.
* Get a Free House now! -- (http://www.summation.net/freehouses/) -- Is free stuff getting ridiculous? Get a free house.
* What am I reading? The Hoffman Reading List (http://www.summation.net/reading.html)

NOTE: Auren Hoffman works for BridgePath.com but the opinions expressed herein are solely those of Mr. Hoffman.

NOTE: You may reprint in full or in part (for free) with permission from author.

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