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Your Fiasco Fixer
Consumer reporter and ombudsman columnist
Scam call centers are having a moment on the internet, bizarrely appearing in the top search results for many of your consumer questions. Here’s what you need to know about spotting and avoiding these World Wide Web predators.
This adventurous traveler assumed he was covered by his parent’s car insurance policy during his recent car rental. But if that’s true, why won’t the company pay this damage claim?
What would you do if a belligerent tour guide canceled your trip and then refused to refund your deposit? It happened to this photographer. Here’s her frustrating story.
What would you do if a hotel accused you of causing damage to your room’s mattress in the most embarrassing way?
Lynette Hampton was looking forward to a trip aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Viva with her friend Gloria. That is until the two had an irreversible falling out, which caused Hampton to cancel her part of the cruise. Things only got worse between them when NCL mistakenly sent a portion of Hampton’s refund to her newly minted enemy — and she refuses to give it back. Now what?
International travelers beware: Taking your cell phone on vacation can lead to sky-high roaming charges if you’re not careful. This Spectrum customer wishes someone had warned him before his recent business trip to Asia.
Two weeks after Robert Perry’s recent stay at a $54-per-night budget hotel in Thailand, he got an unpleasant surprise. That’s when he discovered that Agoda, his third-party booking agent, had made a mistake and charged him $5,886 instead of $162.
When United Airlines canceled part of Brian Ostenso’s flight to Australia, he responded with a request for a refund. But then, just as swiftly, the airline sent him a $6,824 future flight credit for the missed trip instead.
But Ostenso didn’t want a future flight credit. He wanted a refund for the entire flight that United Airlines canceled.
So what went wrong?
Would Carnival Cruise Line really ban a nine-year-old child from cruising for the rest of his life? The answer for one family is “absolutely.” Does the punishment fit the crime? You decide.
How could American Airlines consider a passenger a no show for a flight it canceled? The answer to that question is, of course, it can’t. Yet that seems to be precisely what happened to Sherri Gleason – and at the worst possible time for the grandmother-to-be.
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© 2025 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
