About Consumer Rescue

Consumer Rescue is dedicated to educating, defending, and protecting consumers. If you have a problem with a company and you’re unable to resolve it on your own, you can ask our team for help, and we’ll investigate. Our direct consumer mediation and customer service and executive company contact finder are always free of charge to anyone who needs our assistance.

We also publish a free and friendly weekly newsletter filled with helpful consumer tips, guidance, alerts, and links to our latest articles. You can subscribe to the Consumer Rescue newsletter.

Follow us on Facebook. If you need assistant submit your request for free mediation assistance here.

The Consumer Rescue Team

Michelle Couch-Friedman is an author, consumer advocate, investigative reporter and the CEO of Consumer Rescue.
Michelle Couch-Friedman

Founder and Consumer Advocate/Reporter

Michelle is an experienced consumer reporter, advocate and mediator, author, and licensed psychotherapist. She is the founder and CEO of Consumer Rescue. Michelle is also a consumer advocate and travel ombudsman columnist for The Points Guy and is the former executive director of Elliott Advocacy. During her six years serving that nonprofit, she mediated thousands of cases between consumers and businesses and successfully retrieved hundreds of thousands of dollars for the people who contacted her. You can read the many 5-star reviews she earned during her service on Great Nonprofits.

Michelle’s tips and advice for consumers have been cited in The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, CNN, CNBC, CNT, CBS News, Travel Weekly, Cruise Critic, MarketWatch, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Newsweek, and other media outlets. She is a public speaker and also often appears on television, providing guidance and insight into many consumer issues, with a heavy focus on travel-related topics.

When she is not busy fiercely defending consumers, she’s sure to be exploring the world with her family. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. You can reach Michelle here.

Find out Michelle’s backstory and more about Consumer Rescue in a recently published interview.

She is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW).

Access Michelle’s library of articles here.

Dwayne Coward is an advocate and mediator at Consumer Rescue. He helps resolve problems for consumers free of charge.
Dwayne Coward

Consumer Advocate

Dwayne Coward is a consumer advocate who has skillfully mediated thousands of problems for consumers alongside Michelle since 2016.

After a 40-year career with the U.S. Air Force, having been assigned to Florida, Greenland, Texas, Montana, and Germany, Dwayne is now retired, living in South Texas. When he is not here helping consumers, he is working on his latest scroll saw project. You can check out the many 5-star reviews Dwayne has earned as a mediator on Great Nonprofits, too.

Meera Sundram, Researcher at Consumer Rescue
Meera Sundram

Your Research Valet

Meera is Your Research Valet at Consumer Rescue. She is the lady to reach out to when you need to find someone inside a company who can help you solve your consumer problem. She is the former research director of Elliott Advocacy and has been working with Michelle and Dwayne for many years. She loves to quickly find customer service and executive contacts for the consumers who contact her.

Meera is a retired healthcare executive and therapist. She currently travels the world learning languages and doing volunteer work wherever she goes. If you need an executive customer service contact for any company you’re battling, you can Just Ask Meera.

This is Stephanie Patterson a travel columnist for Consumer Rescue. She is also an author of multiple travel-related handbooks.
Stephanie Patterson

Travel Columnist

Stephanie is a travel columnist at Consumer Rescue. She has authored several books for corporate travelers (available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble) and also publishes an informative website with a focus on promoting smart and safe travel.

Stephanie formerly was in top-level management at an international organization that publishes multiple magazines, sponsors trade shows and conferences, and developed a global membership. She is a facility interior designer. Stephanie had first-hand exposure to problems consumers and travelers face from two of the departments she managed — purchasing and travel. 

Her relationships with vendors, contractors, hotels, airlines, insurance companies, and a diverse group of employees sharpened her negotiating skills and became the foundation of her appreciation for consumerism. 

You can read Stephanie’s articles here.

Abe Wischnia, Special features columnist at Consumer Rescue
Abe Wischnia

Special Features Columnist

Abe Wischnia is a special features columnist at Consumer Rescue, focusing heavily on the Medicare system. His goal is to help seniors navigate the complex rules, coverage issues, plans, and premiums while also helping his readers steer clear of scams and fraud.

Abe started his career as a television news reporter and newscaster. He later transitioned to roles as a senior public relations and investor relations executive for companies in technology and biotech. With degrees in journalism and an MBA, Abe has written for newspapers, television news and documentaries, magazines, and corporate publications. His volunteer activities include serving as a certified Medicare counselor in the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).

You can read Abe’s articles here.

Tanya Anticevic copywriter and digital marketer based in Los Angelas.
Tanya Anticevic

Copywriter/digital marketer

Tanya is a copywriter and digital marketer at Consumer Rescue. Once upon a time, Tanya was a teacher and an actress in Hollywood, buzzing with the energy of movies, TV, and commercials. The next thing she knew, she became a passionate word wizard helping clients burst out their brands, curating copy that pops, tag lines that sparkle, and fresh, quality content… using all those prior life experiences. She’s so pleased that her degree in English Language Arts has finally been put to good use!

Tanya started copywriting in digital marketing ten years ago and has continued to grow with the flow of high-speed trends. She has polished her chops working for an ad agency, as a word-slinging sharpshooter for hire, as a freelance content curator, documentary film writer, and a ghostwriter for some celebs — with secret cred for numerous successful publications. She also likes to be of service to her community, volunteering her time to a variety of projects.

Irene Rawlings, Editor at Consumer Rescue. She is also an author and podcaster.
Irene Rawlings

Senior Editor

Irene Rawlings is a senior editor for Consumer Rescue. She is an accomplished freelance journalist and writes for LM (Luxury Magazine), Saturday Evening Post, Art & Antiques, Hemispheres, AFAR online, National Geographic Traveler, WSJ, and O, the Oprah Magazine.

Irene is the author of 4 books, including Sisters on the Fly about women, vintage trailers, and fly-fishing. She hosts an award-winning radio show on the iHeart stations and divides her time between her home in Colorado, a small vineyard in California, and an extremely small house in Greece.

Art Ellis is a senior editor at Consumer Rescue.
Art Ellis

Senior Editor

Art Ellis is a senior editor at Consumer Rescue. He has served as a trusted editor for Michelle for many years.

Married for 59 years, he has two adult children and lives in Sacramento. He retired after 36 years of California State service 20 years ago. A Master’s degree in social psychology prepared him for a career in research, with his last position being a Research Scientist working in injury prevention in the California Department of Health. Art learned to edit by writing articles in professional journals. Art is a yogi, a member of the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), and mediates twice daily. He produces the Sacramento Center of SRF’s weekly newsletter, in addition to being an editor for SRF’s Volunteer League of Disciples. Art is a world traveler and his travel articles have been published in a variety of periodicals. He keeps physically active with daily walks and visits to the gym. He has two hobbies: reading nonfiction books and baking nutritious no-fat-added desserts.

Teri Bergin is a senior editor at Consumer Rescue.
Teri Bergin

Senior Editor

Teri is a senior editor for Consumer Rescue. She is a Physician Assistant working in Hospital Medicine.

She has been volunteering for consumer advocacy for ten years. She lives in Orlando, Florida, where she is owned by two cats and a dachshund-mix.

Jennifer Finger is a senior editor at Consumer Rescue.
Jennifer Finger

Senior Editor

Jennifer is a senior editor for Consumer Rescue. She thinks with both halves of her brain! She’s a freelance writer and editor based in Houston, Texas, and is the founder of KeenReader, Inc. and Pen and Pixel LLC, online-based literacy and editing organizations. She has edited fiction and nonfiction works on a variety of subjects, including taxation, religion, and business management. In addition, she has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1996. She has been a long-time volunteer at a variety of nonprofits.

This is Robyn Whittingham, a senior editor at Consumer Rescue.
Robyn Whittingham

Senior Editor

Robyn has been a trusted part of Michelle’s team for many years as a senior copy editor.
She is an accomplished Human Resources and business leader and received her
master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Organizational Dynamics.

Throughout her international leadership career, she traveled extensively throughout the
U.S., Europe, and Asia, Adventure travel became her passion, and she’s visited all 7
continents, most recently gorilla trekking in Rwanda and witnessing The Great Migration in
Kenya.

In 2018, Robyn left the corporate world to pursue her dream and opened a yoga
studio (Enjoy Yoga, Stamford, CT), which thankfully survived the pandemic. Robyn is active in her local community, serving on the Board of Directors for Make A Wish Connecticut and as an advisor to Mill River Park Collaborative. She previously served for six years as an editor for IWorkWell, an online human resources advisement company.

Karen Roberts

Senior Editor

Karen Roberts is a retired software engineer with a B.S. in Biology.
She has edited books, manuals, and articles on various topics and has
been an invaluable editor for Michelle for many years at the nonprofit and now here at Consumer Rescue.

She also teaches Tai Chi Chuan and studies French, Spanish, German
Hungarian, Japanese, and Arabic — but only after she and her husband
take their dog for his walk!

Sam Kent, IT super guru at Consumer Rescue
Sam Kent

Website Designer and Developer

Sam is our website designer, developer, and IT super guru. He has over 16 years of experience working with a number of award-winning design agencies and brands to deliver some very exciting projects. Sam runs Studio 200, a software design and development company based in the UK.

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