Illustration by Denis Shifrin

Beware! The Internet providers are on the prowl again . . .

If your Internet Provider is offering you a special bargain to include the Web Infrastucture make sure you double check with your Infrastructure Provider that this is also OK with them.

Netvision has just offered me a new deal. Till now I have been paying them NIS59 including VAT a month for the internet for 15MG (including 2 internet addresses).

For the modem I am currently paying Bezeq NIS99 including VAT. Netvision has now come up with an offer of NIS89 for both Provider and Infrastructure.

I told them I would double check this out with Bezeq which I did.

I then found that according to Bezeq, Netvision would be changing my Bezeq Modem to one of Netvision's. Netvision never mentioned this, nor did they reply to my email querying this.

When something works well I have learned to avoid altering or changing this in today's world – where everything new is supposed to be better than the old and half the time the people selling you this do not know too much about it themselves.


Please take notice when shopping: Those supermarket shelves can be misleading

At my Mega Be'Ir there was a discount notice on the shelf of the cooking oils "NIS10 1 liter Sunflower Oil – Etz Ha'Za'it". I took two bottles. At the cashier desk I was told that the price for the oil I had brought was NIS15.90. I went back and got the notice from the shelf.

The cashier then pointed out that the code number was different – she was correct. I went back to the shelf and it took me a few minutes to find at the back of the 5-deep row of oils one bottle of Sunflower oil that matched the code of the advert. All well and good and I paid my NIS10.

So why was the notice at the front, and the goods – only one bottle – at the back?


Leak was due to piping, not air conditioner

We suddenly had a water leak from the air-conditioner into the room. As we were still under guarantee, we called the company – Electra.

To our surprise, the technician told us that as the air-conditioner was working properly and in good condition, the problem was probably in the piping. For this we have to approach the technician who installed the machine.

I now remember that with our first air-conditioner many years ago, the technician gave us a written 5-year guarantee on all the installation and pipes and the gas.


Wallets bursting with credit cards but do we need them all?

The woman in front of me in the queue at the cashier's desk at Supersol pulled out her wallet and chose a credit card from half-dozen or more in there.

I asked her if she really uses all of them and she said 'Yes'.

I wonder if she is aware of how much she is paying monthly to her bank/credit card company for just having these cards?

For example, I hold a Super-Pharm credit card which I use mainly for buying medicines and special bargains that I am interested in.

The monthly cost of this card is only NIS13 but adds up to more than NIS150 a year. So I suggest you take a second look at all those cards that are in your possession.


Because of discounts, sometimes I don't know what day it is

Why oh why do we get inundated with adverts from all the various supermarket outlets telling us about their wonderful discounts of 10%, 20% and 30%, but no mention is ever made of the original price this discount is being given – the price it was last Sunday or the month previously, or maybe even the discount price it was the previous Wednesday?

Many supermarkets have specific days during the week when they start their "specials". To the best of my understanding, Supersol usually start theirs on a Tuesday, Super-Pharm every alternate Wednesday and they usually advertise this on alternate Fridays, Mega Be'ir seem to end their "specials" on the Friday – but I have not worked out when they start them…


New free magazine is aimed at foreign workers

I recently picked up at my local Post Office an interesting free magazine in English and Filipino called Manila/Tel-Aviv. It's for foreign workers in Israel and contains general information, including advertisements of Israeli professionals such as lawyers, doctors, dentists, et al.

If you have a caregiver this might be of interest to them.