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These are some of the most popular articles published by Consumer Rescue — covering travel and non-travel-related consumer issues.
False claims for car rental damage are through the roof. To protect yourself from being unfairly billed for rental car repairs, download Consumer Rescue’s free rental car inspection checklist. Print and use these pre- and post-rental checklists when you rent … Read More
Christian Forthomme made a critical, but common error while booking a round-trip business-class flight to Paris for his wife. After asking Google for United Airlines customer service, he called the first number that popped up in the search results. Instead of reaching the airline, he dialed right into a scam call center where a fake UA agent was waiting. That fraudster easily booked the ticket and charged the unaware Forthomme a whopping $1,750 service fee for her efforts.
Many cruise ship passengers aren’t even aware that getting banned forever from their favorite line is possible. I’m here to tell you that cruise lines are more willing than ever to blacklist troublesome customers — permanently.
Verizon customers are being targeted by phone scammers pretending to be helpful agents of the wireless titan. The predators deliver troubling news to their unaware victims and then provide urgent solutions to “fix” the problem.
I know this firsthand because one of these crooks called my Verizon number and tried his scheme on me. As you can imagine, things didn’t go quite as this phone scammer had planned.
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.
Could you be accused of causing costly damage to your next rental car even if you didn’t do it? Several hours after returning his Budget rental car Derek Melber found out the answer to that question. That’s when an employee emailed him with the surprising news that the driver’s side window of the vehicle was shattered.
Despite Melber’s best efforts to convince Budget that he didn’t damage the rental car, the company charged him for repairing it.
Melber says it wasn’t him who shattered that window, but he thinks he knows who did. He’s hoping Consumer Rescue can prove the rental agency has wrongly accused him. And of course, he wants Budget to refund the nearly $500 repair charge it billed to his credit card.
But without any proof of what the rental car looked like when Melber returned it, that might be impossible.
Or maybe not. Let’s break this case down.
All types of Zelle scams are reported to the Consumer Rescue advocacy team every week. Blindsided victims reach out to us, minutes too late – after they’ve sent their cash to cunning thieves through the instant money transfer app.
And although Zelle scams are a common theme with consumers who fill out our help form, it’s rare to hear from the thieves themselves. In fact, it’s unheard of.
That is, until this week. That’s when a criminal called me posing as a Bank of America executive. He tried his best to scam me into using Zelle to fix a problem he said the bank had detected.
Can American Airlines make wild changes to your flight schedule and, if you object, refuse to issue a refund?
With $8,171 on the line, that’s what Michael Spanel wants to know after his recent experience with American Airlines.
Now Michael is asking the Consumer Rescue team for help. He wants American Airlines to give his money back, and he’s hoping we can make that happen.
So what is a passenger really owed when American Airlines changes their flight schedule? Let’s find out.
What if you don’t want to tip on your cruise? Or maybe you’re not against cruise gratuities but prefer to give on a person-by-person basis. Can the cruise line force you to pay a set amount for the crew’s bonus?
That’s the question Laurie May wants to be answered. She says Oceania recently blindsided her by adding $320 to the cost of her 10-day European cruise. The reason? Automatically added gratuities.
Now she wants our advocacy team to retrieve the crew bonus and put it back in her wallet. But is that something we can do?
Getting a surprise hotel smoking fee reversed isn’t easy — even if you’re a non-smoker like Kelsey Russell. Or a determined consumer advocate. But it can be done. Here’s how.
Kelsey’s case is yet another story that illustrates a disturbing trend that seems to be developing in the franchise hotel industry. Increasingly, we’re receiving complaints from guests who say these branded properties have hit them with an array of surprising post-stay charges — no proof included. But, as you’ll see in this case, even when the hotel provides “evidence,” it might just lead to more questions than answers.
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© 2026 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
