Help! Hampton Inn accused me of damaging the mattress in my hotel room
What would you do if a hotel accused you of causing damage to your room’s mattress in the most embarrassing way?
Michelle Couch-Friedman
Consumer reporter and ombudsman columnist
Norwegian Cruise Line sent my refund to my enemy. How can I get it back?
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?
Help! I’m stuck in a $6,079 international roaming charge disaster
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.
Agoda charged me $5,886 for three nights in a budget hotel. Help!
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.
Can United Airlines really refuse to refund my canceled flight?
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?
What if your child was banned from taking a Carnival cruise forever?
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.
Why did American Airlines call me a no-show for a flight it canceled?
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.
A struggling student made a $2,500 Zelle mistake. Can we fix this?
College student Shlome Goldenberg made a shockingly expensive but not at all uncommon, Zelle mistake recently. While attempting to repay a loan to a friend, he sent $2,500 to a complete stranger by accident. Worse, when he asked Chase Bank to refund the payment, he learned for the first time that voluntary Zelle transactions aren’t reversible.
This traveler didn’t buy $4,800 of coffee beans. Or did he?
Simon Khin is a victim of a scam aimed at international travelers. He’s sure of it. While touring a Balinese coffee plantation, he bought two small tins of fresh beans for $48. He didn’t think much about that purchase until several weeks later. That’s when his Capital One statement revealed that the merchant had actually charged his credit card $4,800.
But the worst was yet to come.
Where are the earrings I bought on my Royal Caribbean cruise? Help!
While jewelry shopping aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, cruise passenger Robin White purchased a beautiful pair of earrings. The gems were to be shipped directly to her home in time for her wedding day, which was just weeks away.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and White walked down the aisle in an alternative pair of earrings. So what happened to the $1,600 baubles that she bought?
