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Michelle Couch-Friedman

Michelle Couch-Friedman is the founder and CEO of Consumer Rescue. She is a consumer advocate, ombudsman columnist, mediator, writer, and licensed psychotherapist. Michelle is a public speaker, and her expert guidance has been cited in Consumer Reports, Travel & Leisure, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Popular Science, CNN, CNBC, Travel Weekly, Reader's Digest and more. You might even catch Michelle on tv helping fix a situation. :) Michelle is also an travel ombudsman columnist for The Points Guy and is the former executive director of the nonprofit Elliott Advocacy. During her six years in that position, 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 since 2016 here on Great Nonprofits. Today, she continues to spend as much time as possible fiercely defending consumers and traveling the world with her family. Contact her at Michelle Couch-Friedman or on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook.
Norwegian Cruise Line Getaway, cruise ship, Getaway sailing, NCL Getaway, Ocean, and a large cruise ship

Norwegian Cruise Line denied boarding to my pregnant wife!  Can we get a refund?

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Last August, Allen Nicholsen and his wife used a Norwegian Cruise Line consultant to book their first-ever cruise together. But when they attempted to board NCL’s Getaway last week, a now-pregnant Lindsey was stopped, questioned, and denied boarding.

Then things took a really bizarre turn for the parents to be.

As the expectant couple’s friends and family boarded the ship without them, the Nicholsens asked crew members about their options. That’s when an NCL agent cheerfully told Allen the good news: he was still welcome to join the cruise. But his pregnant wife would not be allowed to sail on the Getaway under any circumstances. 

Of course, like any sane husband, Allen quickly let the crew member know he wouldn’t be taking the cruise without Lindsey. An NCL supervisor then handed the stunned couple denied boarding cards, and the Getaway sailed without them. 

Now Allen is asking Consumer Rescue for help. He’s hoping we can convince Norwegian Cruise Line to give the disappointed couple a do-over or refund their money.  

But when a passenger is denied boarding – even a pregnant one – does the cruise line owe them anything?   

Spain, colorful street in Barcelona, nearby Airbnb

I accidentally locked myself out of my Airbnb. Whose fault is this, really?

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What if you locked yourself out of your Airbnb rental thousands of miles from home? Would your host or the caretaker immediately come and rescue you?

Xiamin Qi discovered the answer to both questions after she locked herself out of her Airbnb rental in Barcelona. Despite the host warning her about the self-locking feature of the front door, she says jet lag caused an oversight. That fatigue led Qi to walk out of the vacation rental and leave the keys inside.

Now she is asking the Airbnb host to refund $500 for her trouble. But is this a reasonable request?

This passenger brought an expired passport to board her cruise, Carnival Cruise Line's Celebration, arriving in the Caribbean for the first time.

Carnival Cruises rejected me and my expired passport! Can I get a refund?

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Angela Romero and her buddy Gail recently arrived in Miami ready to sail on Carnival Cruises’ newest ship, Celebration. But the two shocked friends were rejected for boarding the cruise when Angela discovered she had accidentally packed an expired passport.

Gail says Carnival Cruises made a mistake rejecting Angela for boarding Celebration. While she concedes that passengers can’t cruise with an expired passport, she maintains Angela had other acceptable documentation with her. 

Now the friends are asking Consumer Rescue to investigate. They hope our team can convince Carnival to admit its mistake and provide a future cruise credit to the pair.

But what did Angela hand over to Carnival Cruises besides that expired passport? This case hinges on that detail. 

Viking cruise ship, passengers missed bucket list cruise, cruise ship sailing away

We landed just in time… to miss our bucket list Viking cruise! Now what?

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An elderly couple flew halfway around the world only to miss their $28,000 bucket list Viking cruise. Is there anything Consumer Rescue can do to help?

Last November, Thomas and Jane Entenza began a grueling 20-hour journey via United Airlines from Jacksonville, Florida to New Delhi, India. The excited couple was on their way to take a much-anticipated bucket list Viking cruise through the Bay of Bengal. 

Or so they thought. 

Unfortunately, the Entenzas would miss that bucket list cruise. In fact, the only part of India they would see was New Delhi airport’s immigration hall.

A row of vacation rental homes on a beach illustrating an article about a missing security deposit refund.

My vacation rental host won’t refund my security deposit. Is this a scam?

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Can a vacation rental host refuse to refund your security deposit — no questions asked? I discovered the answer from one unreasonable VRBO host is, “Yes, I can.”

I have news for her: No, she can’t.

This story is another in our file of outrageous tales of travelers being fleeced by vacation rental hosts and franchise hotels alike. These owners are helping themselves to hundreds and even thousands of dollars of their guests’ money with little to no justification. And unfortunately, the cases are piling up at an alarming rate.

A shopper making retail returns, warning about The Retail Equation

How does The Retail Equation protect merchants from shoppers who love to make returns?

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When Mahitha Saldana headed to CVS to make some returns, he wasn’t expecting any problems. So it came as a shock when the cashier firmly refused to accept the items. When he asked for an explanation, she referred him to something called The Retail Equation.

Like Mahitha, you may have never heard of The Retail Equation. But if you frequently make retail returns, your name and information about your shopping patterns may already be stored in this nationwide database.

Cruise ship sailing away, What happens if you miss your cruise?

Surprise! You just missed your cruise ship home. Now what?

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What happens when you miss your cruise ship home? Kevin Rohrer knows the answer to that question: many costly and unpleasant things.

During a Norwegian cruise aboard the Sky, Rohrer and his girlfriend missed the deadline for reboarding the ship by two hours. The boat sailed home without the couple, and they suddenly found themselves stranded on the island.

Rohrer says NCL changed the cruise’s departure time with no prior warning, abandoning them in Cuba to fend for themselves. He wants Norwegian Cruise Line to refund the cruise and pay all of the couple’s costs to return home. But is that a reasonable request?

This case highlights the importance of understanding the fluid nature of cruise itineraries. All cruise lines can and do change departure times and even ports of call in some circumstances. Anytime you step off your ship for a shore excursion, it’s imperative to reconfirm the reboarding time. Or you, too, could miss your cruise home.

Editors note: I originally reported on Rohrer’s case and published this article on July 3, 2018. Despite the cautionary warning that this story offers, our team continues to receive similar requests for help from cruise ship passengers in 2023 and the guidance remains relevant. (This column has been updated and checked for accuracy and republished on Feb. 2, 2023.)

Empty gate area after missed flight connection, missed connecting flight, sitting at the gate alone.

What happens if you miss your flight connection (and it’s your fault)?

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What’s the correct thing to do if you miss your flight connection? The answer depends on why you failed to board your connecting flight. But it’s a question that Alla Machavariane is asking.

She has an unusual tale to tell. Alla says she and her husband missed their flight connection in Chicago while sitting at the gate in full view of the aircraft and crew members.

The duo is unsure why they never heard any announcements or noticed all the passengers around them boarding the plane. But they believe Spirit Airlines is somehow responsible for their missed flight connection and want the airline to reimburse them $2,200. That’s the cost of the new tickets they were forced to buy to get home.

But what caused the couple to miss their flight connection? 

That is the $2,200 question.

car rental might not have unlimited miles, car rental mistakes

Warning: Your rental car may not come with unlimited miles

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Richard Wallerstein and his wife made an expensive car rental mistake when they assumed their reservation included unlimited miles. It didn’t. Unfortunately, they discovered the zero mileage allotment on their rented SUV only after they completed a 1,150-mile road trip.

If you’re like the Wallersteins, you may be unaware that not every rental car comes with unlimited miles. Their tale is a reminder that when making your own reservations, it’s important to pay careful attention to all details. The information this couple needed was in plain sight — if only they had looked — before they took their lengthy road trip.