CONSUMER ADVOCACY - Page 15 of 22

Aer Lingus aircraft, green and white airplane.

What would you do if you were given this terrible airline seat?

May 26, 2023March 14, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Have you ever wondered what the worst airline seat in the history of modern-day air travel looks like? Well, wonder no more! Aer Lingus passenger Matt Madrigal sat in it on a flight to Dublin.

Madrigal endured the dirty “seat” with no cushion and exposed metal for his entire transatlantic flight to Ireland from the United States.

Ouch!

His mom is furious with the airline’s treatment of her son. And she wants to know if our advocacy team can help.

This case underscores the importance of learning how to self-advocate in real-time. If you’re presented with a wholly unacceptable situation, it’s critical to voice those concerns at the time. If you don’t, you may endure unnecessary, unpleasant conditions that should have — and could have — been corrected immediately.

Editor’s Note: I first reported on this awful excuse for an airline seat in 2018. This article was last updated on March 14, 2023, as it moves to its permanent archive home here at Consumer Rescue.

I didn’t damage this rental car! Why should I pay $600 to fix it?

May 8, 2023March 10, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Could a car rental company bill you for damage you didn’t cause — six weeks after you return the vehicle? As you’ll soon read, the disturbing answer is, “Yes, definitely.”

Hertz recently accused Akshay Ghalsasi of causing $600 in damage to a rental car he drove in January. But Akshay says he returned the vehicle in precisely the same state of disrepair as he received it.

He claims the rental car had a plethora of pre-existing damage, and he’s sure that the company knew about it. Akshay insists he has some powerful evidence that proves he isn’t responsible for the repair of the vehicle.

But unable to get anyone at the car rental company to review his photographic evidence, Akshay is looking for help. He hopes Consumer Rescue can deliver those photos to Hertz and get the car rental giant to drop the damage claim against him.

So what exactly do those photos of the damage on the rental car show?

Holland America kicked a couple off this ship. HAL, Cruise ship on the ocean.

Here’s how to get kicked off a cruise with no refund included

February 17, 2024March 7, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Could you be accused of a crime, convicted and kicked off your cruise without any supporting evidence?

Halfway around the world, Elaine Chan discovered the answer to that question is yes. She and her husband were summarily ejected from their Holland America cruise in Helsinki. The captain accused Chan’s 65-year-old husband of assaulting a crew member. He then ordered the shocked couple to gather their belongings and get off his ship.

Chan wants to clear her husband’s name and get a refund from Holland America.

I promise this story will make you angry. It’s yet another troubling case of a company leveling a wild accusation at a customer and refusing to provide even a shred of evidence to support it. And it’s the consumer who pays the price — financially and emotionally.

Editor’s note: I first reported this couple’s cruise fiasco in July 2018, and it was subsequently covered by many media outlets. This article has been updated to include five things that will get you kicked off your cruise in 2023 as it moves to its new archive home here at Consumer Rescue.

This is a dirty rental car being driven through a muddy bog. There are yellow reeds on the sides of the waterway. The car is becoming engulfed in sludge.

You should never return a rental car dirty. Here’s why

May 12, 2023March 3, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Messy people, beware! Car rental companies will charge you up to $450 if you return a dirty vehicle.

Avis customer Bart M. recently found this out the hard way. Shortly after returning his last rental car, Avis notified him that the vehicle was excessively dirty. As a result, the company intended to bill him hundreds of dollars to clean the car.

Bart admits he left behind “some” garbage in the rental car when he returned it.

However, he says there is no way it cost Avis much of anything to remove that trash. He suspects the fee to clean the messy rental car is just an illegal cash grab.

Now Bart is hoping Consumer Rescue can convince the car rental company to drop its pursuit of the cleaning fee.

But just how dirty was this rental car?

Let’s have a look…

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?

June 2, 2025February 24, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

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?

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?

March 11, 2024February 17, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

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.

Elderly couple sitting in a field, must you join Medicare at age 65?

Reader question: Am I required to join Medicare when I turn 65?

July 10, 2023February 16, 2023 by Abe Wischnia

There’s a lot of confusion about whether you are required to join Medicare when you turn 65. Unfortunately, depending on who you ask, the answer you get may be wrong.

Recently, my wife and I had lunch with some long-time friends. He’s retired and enrolled in Medicare. She will soon turn 65 but does not plan to retire for at least another two years. The health insurance coverage she has through her work is fine.

She told us that she had attended a retirement planning session offered at her workplace, where the presenter said you must enroll in Medicare at age 65. She wanted to know if that was true. I told her that if the presenter actually said that, then she received some bad information.

Then just last week, an acquaintance asked me that same question.

So the purpose of this article is to give you the real answer, which is: “It depends.”

Thrifty is watching...don't drive your car rental where you can't.

You’re not paranoid. Someone is watching you — it’s Thrifty Car Rental!

June 5, 2025February 13, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

As Marc Markowitz drives out of the Thrifty Car Rental lot in St. Louis, he has no idea that his whereabouts are being tracked. But when he returns the car, he receives an expensive surprise — someone was watching.

Thrifty Rental Car.

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?

March 1, 2025February 10, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

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?

April 4, 2023February 8, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

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.

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