Most of the Republic Trainers are in the Senate Tower area, probably in the market area below the plaza. To easily find them, open your map (M), select Crew Skill Trainer from the lower left hand side and they should show up. To find the area I'm referring to, when you hit the large plaza area and are facing the Senate Tower, there are staircases on the left and right. Take one of those down. All the crew skill trainers, vendors, bank and GTN are in that area. I know for certain the Smuggler trainer is down there, and I'm pretty sure the others are there as well.

Toward the end of your starter planet, after you get your companion, you should have received an option to get one of three companion customization items. To use it, hit C, then click the Companion tab, and place it in the lower left hand slot on the paper doll area. Not sure about the Capital worlds, but once I got my Bounty Hunter to Balmorra (leading that there should be one on Taris, and further beyond), there was a companion appearance vendor in the Cantina. Each cost around 12,500 credits. As for what's customized, it's not much. Skin tone, makeup (if female), hair, tattoos, jewelry is about all that gets changed.

There is a PayPal option available, which can be set up to draw directly from his bank account. Also, you can potentially use a VISA or MasterCard gift card you can pick up about anywhere. The only issue there might be with that, however, is that the billing service may require an address, which some gift cards aren't set up for.

You're granted access to the special vendors based on the account keys that are registered to your account. CE key - Access to the VIP lounge area and the CE vendor, no access to the Security Key vendor based solely on this. DDE key - Access to the VIP lounge area only. Authenticator enabled on your account - Access to the Security Key vendor. Essentially, the Authenticator being applied to your account only gives you access to the Security Key vendor (which isn't located in the VIP areas).

Just read something about this somewhere (can't recall exactly where), but it was an interview with one of the devs that basically stated (my paraphrasing): Respec within the current AC: Yes (and is in-game) Respec to the opposite AC: Possible (they have to think about that more before making a decision) Respec to another Class: Won't happen. It screws up the story and if done, the game will no longer make sense story-wise. So, the devs knows that it's something that's wanted, but they want more time to consider all the ins and outs before they allow it to happen. Keep in mind that they not only have to look out for what we'd like to see but the overall health of the game comes first.

I picked this one up the other day and it is indeed a great read.

If you go here, they have been releasing music tracks that weren't on the CE CD since the beginning of December. Not sure if the track you're looking for is there...but they do have a few days to go before the 20th.

Two weeks? Try just shortly after they are able to log in to play.