On the way back from the airport last year, I realised I had left my mobile phone charger in the US. I stopped at a phone shop on the way home to pick one up - heaven forbid being able to cope without a mobile phone - and was stunned to discover they cost £20. As I had never had to buy a replacement before I was truly shocked. And these things get lighter and smaller, which suggests there is not much to them. Certainly not £20 worth. A while later, I managed to pick up an in-car charger for £2 in Lidl.

Now, finally, the European Union has come in handy for something. It has persuaded the telecoms industry to commit to a universal charger. Not only will this save us money and be more convenient (we will be able to borrow anyone's charger) but it will cut down on waste when old chargers are thrown out. Of course there will be some initial waste and expense when ditch our old versions gradually after the new universal charger comes out. It's also unlikely that chargers will be sold with mobiles in future but I can imagine the price will remain the same.

Manufacturers supporting the move include Apple, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Texas Instruments. Like most customer-friendly mobile developments prompted by the EU, the deal, which covers only the EU area, followed threats of legislation if a voluntary solution could not be found.

The first generation of "inter-chargeable" phones should be in the high street from 2010, the Commission said. In most cases, they will charge within two hours.

Have your say... are universal chargers a good thing? Leave a comment below...

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I was delighted to hear the news that the FSA is planning to ban commission by 2012. This is the money paid by financial services companies to advisers who sell their products.

Sounds simple enough, I know. You sell a product and get paid. But when you are dealing with someone's finances, there should be no opportunity to sell them anything other than the best possible product for their needs and circumstances.

And this is where commission falls down and fees make sense. Take away commission and you take away the incentive for an unscrupulous adviser to flog you the product which pays him or her the most, regardless of whether it's any use to you. Pay a fee and you know the adviser is working in your interests.

To this end, I'd like to see the FSA close the 'tied' and 'multi-tied' adviser routes so that we just have independent financial advisers. It has become clear over recent years that if you want anything other than a current account, you don't go to your bank. I'm not one for a nanny state but I'm pretty sure we could all do without tied advisers.

Have your say....leave a comment below..

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I think the Sun's headline 'Licence to bill' says it all as the BBC caves in to Freedom of Information requests about the expenses claims of its top executives.

When the 2007 figures were released it became clear that you, me and every TV licence fee payer (paying £142.50 a year) has stumped up £363,085 to cover the cost of their chauffeurs, private jets, hotels, Christmas dinners, champagne and flowers.

Yes, you have read that correctly. I am talking about the BBC and not the Saudi Royal family.

Director General Mark Thompson is paid £816,000 a year decided that was nowhere near enough cash and so put in claims totalling £77,823.35 in one year. He spent £1,277 of our money on a private jet so that he could rush back to office and deal with the expenses scandal of one of his staff. And even though he has a chauffeur, he billed the corporation for his annual London congestion charge of £1,696. He even claimed for amounts as small as 23p and 37p for parking meters. Thompson also blew £2,236.90 on tickets to fly his entire family home with him after he cut short another break to deal with the Sachsgate obscene phone call affair involving Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand.

Information on the salaries of the Beeb's 50 top-earning managers reveal 27 make more than the Prime Minister's £195,000. How can any of them claim their jobs involve more responsibility than the PM?

The salaries and exes of the BBC's top 100 executives and decision-makers will be published for the first time in September. Meanwhile the BBC continues to fight to keep salaries of star presenters secret. And guess what, we pay the legal bill for that too - it's around £250,000 and counting right now.

But why do we have to force it out of them? They are a publicly-funded body and should be completely transparent. And they have no place squandering public money on luxury lifestyles. Read more about how our cash is wasted by the BBC here.

Have your say.. is it time for the BBC to lose its licence fee? Leave your comments below...

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When a friend of mine started getting a mind-numbing amount of unwanted calls, many of them silent, she decided to take action and searched online for a way to stop the ringing. She found a company that could do this but only while she was registering for the service did she discover  (buried in small print) that there would be a charge. It wasn't cheap either at £37.75 a year. She mentioned it to me and I pointed her towards the excellent Telephone Preference Service, which is completely free.

It's a central opt-out register, funded by the direct marketing industry and it's a legal requirement that companies do not make sales and survey calls to numbers registered on the TPS. Once a number has been registered it will become effective in 28 days. At present around 15 million numbers are registered with the TPS.

But I was curious about these other sites that charge. Firstly, they don't make it clear that they charge unless you click through several pages of their sites. Like my friend, you could find yourself registering before you realise - perhaps they like it way if it allows them to capture data. So they are not transparent and their fees are not insignificant. Both sites make digs at the TPS which are not helpful to customers. All of this makes a mockery of their claims to be 'consumer champions'.

Callpreventionregistry.co.uk charges £35.75 a year (the information is in the terms and conditions  you get just before the final click when registering) and says this covers the cost of preventing international calls as well as domestic - something which the TPS does not do, although it is very hard to diagnose what percentage of nuisance calls come from outside the UK.

Optoutuk.co.uk has a basic service which is 'free' (unless you count the 'one-time payment of £2.50 for admin') but then depending on how much 'protection' you want it costs between £5 and an incredible £97.50 per year. It owns another website - stopunwantedcalls.org - which may look independent but is a holding page directing you back to the optouuk site.

Reduce unwanted calls....

Register your home and mobile phone numbers with the TPS: www.tpsonline.org.uk or call 0845 070 0707. You can reduce silent calls by registering your number with the Silent Callgard Service on 0870 4443969. Silent calls do not fall under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations as no marketing message is sent. For further advice about the rules on silent calls, visit the Ofcom website.

Reduce junk mail....

To reduce the volume of unwanted direct or junk mail, register your name and address with the TPS's sister organisation the Mailing Preference Service (MPS). The MPS is a free service set up by the direct-marketing industry to help people who don’t want to receive junk mail. Register your details online at www.mpsonline.org.uk or phone 0845 703 4599. If you have registered with the MPS but are still receiving unwanted mail, you can complain directly to the MPS, who will investigate and contact the company sending the mail.

Have you used TPS or have you used a service which charges? What impact did it have on your unwanted calls? Leave a comment below.....

Image: Progets.com

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They don't get more desperate than Setanta. I note that even as it teeters on the edge, the sports channel is urging subscribers not to cancel payments. Worse still, they are still pushing new subscriptions via their website and helpline. The channel is still broadcasting but for how long is anyone's guess.

Those of you that are paying by direct debit and have not cancelled it yet need to think about whether you want to take the risk. If you were paying via debit or credit card each month then you have what is called a 'recurring payment' and incredibly you cannot cancel it - only they can.

You could ask the company to cancel the recurring payment. If this is proving tricky then the way to get around this is to change your payment method to direct debit and then cancel the direct debit.  Either way you have call 0871 200 62 03 (between 8am and 9pm) and then go through the menu to speak to someone. There is also an FAQ on the company website. If you have any problems, let me know.

Then make a note to yourself never to sign up to a recurring payment again. The system works entirely in favour of the company and not you. All credit to my friend Martin Lewis for getting this out there.

Have your say... are you staying with Setanta or cancelling? Leave a comment below...

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