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Michelle Couch-Friedman

Consumer reporter and ombudsman columnist

Michelle Couch-Friedman is the founder and CEO of Consumer Rescue. She is a journalist, consumer advocate, travel writer, mediator, and former psychotherapist. Michelle is also the travel ombudsman columnist for The Points Guy, contributing author at Fodor's Travel and previously served as the executive director of the nonprofit Elliott Advocacy. During her six years managing that organization, she resolved thousands of cases for troubled travelers and other consumers. You can read hundreds of 5-star reviews Michelle earned during her service to the nonprofit on Great Nonprofits. Michelle is a public speaker, and her expert guidance has been cited in the Washington Post, MarketWatch, Consumer Reports, Travel & Leisure, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Popular Science, CNN, CNBC, Boston Globe, CBS News, National Geographic, Travel Weekly, Reader's Digest and more. You might even catch Michelle on TV reporting on a situation. :) Professionally, Michelle is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the American Society of Journalists and Authors (asja). Today, she continues to spend as much time as possible fiercely defending consumers and traveling the world. Contact her at Michelle Couch-Friedman or on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook.
Bad behavior on cruise, Passengers misbehaving on cruise ship, Avoid poorly behavior passengers on your cruise, ruined cruise

Will your cruise be ruined by the bad behavior of fellow passengers?

You’ve likely seen the video of the Carnival passengers brawling in the Galveston, Texas, cruise port this week. Sadly, that footage, which shows a large group of cruisers assaulting each other as they disembarked from Jubilee, is not particularly shocking in 2025. Unfortunately, egregiously bad behavior among cruise ship passengers is becoming more commonplace. Should you be worried that the bad behavior of fellow passengers will ruin your next cruise?

American Airlines aircraft change, AA agent promises refund and gives travel credit, American Airlines airplanes

American Airlines promised me an $18,349 refund. Why did I get flight credit?

Several weeks before her family’s American Airlines flight to Portugal, Ashley Macus learned there had been an aircraft change. That switch left the family of six without the assigned seats together Macus had confirmed months earlier. Most disturbingly, her two little boys, ages 7 and 8, no longer had any seats at all.

Celebrity cruise, Celebrity Equinox, cruise ship on the ocean, Celebrity cruise passenger forgot passport

A Celebrity cruise passenger forgot her passport. FedEx made things even worse

As Sherry Warren and her husband prepared for their upcoming Celebrity cruise, she bought a colorful passport case. The little wallet was stylish and protective, with Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) blocking features. It would be the perfect way to carry their passports, Warren thought. 

And it surely would have – had she not forgotten the wallet with their passports inside when they left for the cruise.

Internet romance scams, job scams, scammers everywhere

I fell for an internet romance scam. Can anything be done now?

As she searched for a new job, love suddenly was in the air — or so Karen C. thought. But behind the inappropriate emails she received from her recruiter with carefully typed romantic promises lurked a scammer weaving a web of deceit.

Karen couldn’t believe her luck. She thought she had found a dream job and a romantic partner, but the reality was much, much different.

UTOvacation offered trips to Beijing for $494 per person, Colorful house in Beijing

Is UTOvacation a scam tour operator? This ex-customer says “yes!”

UTOvacation sold Shih (Richard) Liu and his wife a once-in-a-lifetime trip to China and Japan. But Liu, like many other customers of this particular tour operator, now says he’s the victim of a scam. Nearly a year after collecting full payment from the Lius, the company changed the contract and added new fees.

The couple maintains that the tour operator pulled this bait and switch without any notification or follow-up. But worse than that deception was what UTOvacation did next – also without informing the couple.

Carnival Cruise Line passenger gets scammed, Zelle scam, scammers everywhere, cruise scam, Carnival Freedom cruise ship

This Carnival cruise ship passenger lost $3,556 to a Zelle scam

Cruise ship passengers beware: Never use Zelle to pay for a cruise, excursion or any other part of your vacation. If you do, you could end up like L. Williams, a former Carnival Cruise Line customer. 

A scammer pretending to be a cruise consultant tricked Williams into paying for her last cruise with Zelle. That set off a chain reaction that left her $3,556 in debt – and banned indefinitely from the cruise line.

LA Wildfires, Residents flee to Airbnb rentals, illegal Airbnb rental problems, Evicted from Airbnb rental

We were evicted from an illegal Airbnb rental! Aren’t we owed a refund?

The recent LA wildfires temporarily displaced Rahul Kapur’s family and pets from their home. The Kapurs temporarily relocated to an Airbnb rental in nearby Marina Del Rey. They reserved the unit for two weeks and hoped to return home after their stay. But as the fires continued to burn, it became clear that wouldn’t be possible.

They were displaced again when that apartment wasn’t available beyond the original contract. However, the good news came when an Airbnb rental in the same condominium became available. The family migrated to the new unit and settled in.

Kapur and his family are still reeling from what happened next.

How to get U.K. Electronic Travel Authorization, Avoid scammers, Flying to Great Britain get E.T.A

Flying to Great Britain soon? Here’s how to get your UK ETA without getting scammed

Since January 8, 2025, United States citizens need an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to visit Great Britain. The ETA costs about $13, and the online application process is fairly simple. But like lightning, scammers have hit the internet, with official-looking websites aimed at victimizing unaware ETA-seekers.

Hertz says this rental car is totaled, does this rental car look like it has front-end damage?, an undamaged white rental car

Hertz says I ruined my rental car! Can I just ignore this phony $6,562 bill?

Would Hertz accuse a customer of completely ruining a rental car even if it was returned in perfect condition? According to Darleen Brazoban, the answer is yes. 

Brazoban says she drove a Hertz vehicle for four days last November without even the hint of a problem. When she returned the rental car to the Nashville Airport, an employee inspected it with her. He noted no damage, handed her a receipt, and Brazoban was on her way.

…On her way to big rental car problems, that is, but she didn’t know that yet.