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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), the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), and the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA). 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.
Consumer alert, gas station card skimmers warning, don't use debit card at gas station.

How did a gas station skimmer drain my prepaid debit card balance?

Danger could be lurking at the pumps of your local gas station in the form of a tiny card skimmer. These small, almost invisible devices quickly retrieve and store all of your card’s information as you make your payment. Then the “owner” of this illegal apparatus uses that data to extract whatever funds he can from your account. 

Sylvia Powers wishes someone had warned her about gas station skimmers before she swiped her prepaid American Express Bluebird debit card at the pumps. Unfortunately, her education on the topic came in the most unpleasant way – after a skimming device drained all her money from her Bluebird card. But she assumed that American Express would protect her against this fraud.

She assumed wrong.

SSSS stamp on boarding pass meaning, How do passengers get selected for the SSSS stamp?

Help! What does this SSSS stamp mean on my boarding pass?

SSSS — behold the four letters that you don’t ever want to see on your boarding pass. If you find the Secondary Security Screening Selection — SSSS stamp on your ticket, you should know that the TSA agents will be treating you to an extra-special and in-depth security screening.

Lucky you! But what does it mean and what can you do to avoid it?

American Airlines stolen miles problem, hacker stole miles

How can I get my stolen American Airlines miles back?!

Bonnie Orlin doesn’t know the two people who used her stolen American Airlines miles to travel around the world. But, she says, the airline promised to restore the hacked miles to her account.  However, nearly a year later, her 120,000 miles are still missing. 

Is this case hopeless?

An all-inclusive resort without anything included? Can Consumer Rescue fix this problem?

Help! Why is my all-inclusive resort missing the most important part?

Sara Hernadez recently found something critical missing from the all-inclusive resort she booked on Priceline: the inclusive part. After booking the Sheraton Buganvilias All-Inclusive Resort in Puerto Vallarta, she received a confirmation for the Sheraton Buganvilias Convention Center. Her rate included a room — but nothing more.

Now Sara wants Priceline to confirm her reservation for an all-inclusive vacation, as advertised. So why is the company blaming the problem on her?

Medicare alert for cruise ship passengers.

Can you cruise with Medicare? This widow has a painful warning to share

When Medicare beneficiaries Maureen Niland and her husband booked their last Holland America cruise, their thoughts were on new adventures — not medical insurance. But tragedy struck just hours after the ship left the port in Ft. Lauderdale. John Niland suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and died.

Couple removed from cruise in Korea, Holland America refuses refund request.

This is how to get removed from your cruise with no refund included

If you get involuntarily removed from a cruise halfway around the world, does the cruise line owe you compensation?

William Coats believes so. Holland America booted him and his wife from the Westerdam in Korea just days into their 14-day cruise. As a result, they’re out thousands of dollars and he wants the cruise line to pay.

United Airlines marked this passenger as a no-show and canceled her return flight, but she was not a no-show!

Why did United Airlines call me a no-show and cancel my return flight?

Bernadine Fong has a strange story to tell. United Airlines called her a no-show for a flight to San Francisco that she flew. As a result, when she tried to fly back home, the airline informed a stunned Bernadine that it had canceled her return flight.

Can we figure out what’s going on here?

This rental car went missing after it was towed. Now what?

My rental car was towed after an accident — now it’s missing!

Traveling through the mountains of Colorado at dusk during a snowstorm, Annoris Perez suddenly lost control of her rental car. She was shaken but unharmed. The vehicle? Not so lucky. The rental car was towed from the accident scene, and she assumed she was no longer responsible for it.

She was wrong.

Weeks later, when the rental company called asking for its missing vehicle, Annoris found out just how wrong. Now, she needs our team’s help to determine what happened to her rental car after the driver towed it away.